[APWW-Meet] THE WFS LOG September 22, 2008

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An announcement list of the Asia Pacific Women Watch network
working for the advancement of the status of women.
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THE WFS LOG               September 22, 2008=20
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Israel:          Tzipi Livni: Cracking the Glass Ceiling
By Noa Cohen

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was elected leader of the Kadima
party, giving her the opportunity to seek to form a government. With
women in Israel holding only 14 per cent of the seats in the parliament,
her victory could promise improved gender equality in the political
arena. Furthermore, Livni's success is said to have significant
implications for the peace process since she has demonstrated more of an
ability to dialogue with the Palestinians than her male counterparts.
From Tel Aviv, a profile of the leader.

* 'We hail her recent victory and perceive it as a good sign of progress
for women. Her election is a big crack in the glass ceiling of Israeli
politics.'
 WFS REF NO: ISRh918
850 words=20
Gender\Politics
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Canada:           Taking In the Air As Toronto Unspools
By Ranjita Biswas

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) ranks among the most
prestigious international film festivals of the world. This year, too,
film lovers, filmmakers, industry professionals and the world media
gathered in the Canadian city, for the 33rd edition of TIFF, and got to
see the best in new cinema from established masters and new talent. The
10-day event, which concluded on September 13 with the usual fanfare and
awards ceremonies, was marked with plenty of off-screen fervour -
bustling venues, enthusiastic volunteers, fabulous cafes and a musical
event - that brought alive Ontario's film city, offering enough action
worthy of a film script.=20

* Retired teachers Hope and David Finimore were happy to do volunteer
work at TIFF: "You meet so many people from all walks of life and they
have the same interests - films."

WFS REF NO: CANh915
1,150 words=20
Films\Events
Photographs Available
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Opinion:          Women Are The Key To MDGs
By Anuja Agrawal

Accountability to women is the key to achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). This is the message given by 'Progress of the
World's Women 2008/2009', a report brought out by UNIFEM halfway towards
the deadline set for the achievement of the MDGs. The report, released
on September 18, garners new evidence from across the globe to show the
urgency and rewards of making public institutions accountable to women.
The writer, a reader at Delhi University, highlights data from the
report, indicating that women's participation in political and economic
processes enhances gender equality.=20

* Research in sub-Saharan Africa suggests that women spend some 40
billion hours a year collecting water - the equivalent of a year's worth
of labour by the entire workforce in France.

WFS REF NO: OPIh916
1,000 words=20
Development\Empowerment
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India:           Stitching Together the Fine Art of Patience
BY Aparna Pallavi

Rajani Shirke is one of the few practising exponents of Madhya Pradesh's
ancient craft of kaseedakari - the delicate embroidery work that was
patronised by royalty more than a century ago. Despite the several
hundreds of hours it takes to produce a single piece of kaseedakari, not
to mention the prohibitive expense involved, Shirke has not given up. In
fact, she even trains young tribal women in this needlecraft, in the
hope that they may earn a living out of it.=20

* "At the MP state museum, the curator could not believe that I was
actually practising the art. The specimens he had were all 150 years old
or older."=20

WFS REF NO: INDh915
1,090 words=20
Arts\Women
Photographs Available=20
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Austria:          Her Green Footprint
By Mehru Jaffer

Ulrike Lunacek, 51, Member of Parliament from the Austrian Green Party
and spokesperson of the European Green Party - a federation of green
parties in Europe - is a more reassured woman these days. The
environment and climate change concerns, which she has been highlighting
for several years now, are finally a part of the agenda of mainstream
politics. According to the Greens leader, climate change can deprive
millions of their livelihood, which can lead to war and the further
destruction of the planet. Lunacek also strongly opposes the use of
nuclear energy, for she fears it will lead to the creation of nuclear
radiation and nuclear waste. Recently, she led a protest march outside
the venue of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting in Vienna,
which eventually decided to lift the ban on India doing business in
civil nuclear energy.

* "To know that nuclear power is economically speaking an insane idea is
not to be a hippie."

WFS REF NO: AUSh917
990 words=20
Politics\Environment
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Nepal:            Manufacturing Feminists in South Asia
By Amrita Nandy Joshi

At the recently concluded month-long course on 'feminist capacity
building on gender, sustainable livelihoods, human rights and peace',
organised each year by South Asian feminist group Sangat, 37 women
engaged with women's issues in different capacities across seven South
Asian countries, gathered in Kathmandu to question their own
conditioning.=20

* 'The objective was not just to understand 'the system' that produces
gender but know why it needs to be subverted, starting from one's
personal life.'

WFS REF NO: NEPh916
1,110 words=20
Gender\Civil Society
Photographs Available
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India:            Baby Bloom In Orissa's Famine Belt
By Manipadma Jena

The Positive Deviance Approach (PDA), a concept that refers to children
with normal growth and development despite being raised in impoverished
homes, has been implemented in the tribal belt of Orissa with tremendous
success. Malnourished newborns now experience a greater chance of
survival and mothers are more informed about the importance of
cleanliness, safe drinking water and proper nutrition. The efforts of
the Anganwadi workers who implement the PDA find resonance in healthy
figures too: in the National Family Health Survey III (2005-06) the
number of underweight children under three years in Orissa came down by
a substantial 10 per cent, as compared to a marginal all-India
improvement of one per cent

* "We want two children, so that we can take care of them and also send
them to school."

WFS REF NO: INDh917
1,290 words=20
Health\Governance
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FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT OF THE STORIES PLEASE CONTACT
WOMEN'S FEATURE SERVICE AT: wfsdelhi@vsnl.com or wfsdelhi@yahoo.com=20
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Views reflected in these features do not necessarily reflect those of
Women's Feature Service.
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The Women's Feature Service office is located at:
G-69, Second floor; Nizammudin West, New Delhi: 110013; India.
Phone: +91-11-2435 9886, +91-11-2435 2546; Fax: +91-11-2435 4606
Email: wfsdelhi@vsnl.com; Website: www.wfsnews.org=20


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