Publication: Governing Land for Women and Men. Gender and Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Land and other Natural Resources NEW

Source: FAO, Land Tenure Working Paper 19, (Elizabeth Daley and Clara Mi-young Park)
Summary: Summary: Includes gender, government of tenure and the Voluntary Guidelines; key analytical issues and themes; regional summary; conclusions for the Voluntary Guidelines.
Date: February 2011
Download the full paper (PDF 2.2MB) from the FAO website

News: An Uncompromising Woman

By DANIEL BERGNER (NYT)
The Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is trying to lift her country — ravaged by war, rape, corruption and hopelessness — by lifting up its women. Read the article

Event (BERLIN): 1ST ANNUAL WOMEN ADVANCEMENT FORUM – AFRICA 2010

ABN GLOBAL EVENTS South Africa in association with ABN Nigeria and their global partners are pleased to invite you/your nominations to a Female Gender Forum. Theme: WOMEN ADVANCEMENT: THE ACTUALISATION OF MDGs. Venue: HOTEL PALACE, Berlin, Germany. Date: 19-28 September, 2010

OBJECTIVES 1) Perceptions on women’s participation in politics 2) Opinions and suggestions on possible ways active participation of women in the Socio-economic and political spheres could be encouraged and enhanced 3) To build relations between the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and political figures for women’s participation in socio-economic and political affairs

• Exposition of positions and opportunities the socio-economic and political spheres for wives of public office holders
• and lots more.

For more information

Publication: Gender & Governance in Bangladesh

On May 26-27, the Bangladesh Ministry of Food and Disaster Management will convene the Bangladesh Food Security Investment Forum 2010, which will be inaugurated by Bangladesh’s Honorable Prime Minister Sheik Hasina. The Forum is hosted by the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh with the support of the United States Agency for International Development, the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, the International Food Policy Research Institute, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, along with other national and international partners. The goal of the Forum is to discuss and coordinate investment plans, priorities, and strategies to advance agricultural development and achieve food and nutrition security in Bangladesh.

One of the technical sessions is ‘Cross Cutting Issues: Gender & Governance‘ and Regina Birner (IFPRI), Agnes R. Quisumbing (IFPRI), and Nazneen Ahmed (BIDS) have written a background paper by the same name for this session

Access the paper here

Publication: (World Bank) Economic Opportunities for Women in the East Asia and Pacific Region

Economic Opportunities for Women in the East Asia and Pacific Region

By Amanda Ellis, Daniel Kirkwood, and Dhruv Malhotra

This book brings together data and available evidence on the constraints that female entrepreneurs in the East Asia and the Pacific Region region face with regard to: access to assets, business regulations and governance issues, and available avenues for expanding businesses and trading with larger markets.

May 2010. 120 pages. ISBN: 978-0-8213-8300-1. SKU: 18300. US$25

News: Nigeria’s only queen in a land of kings

Kunbwada, Nigeria (CNN) — In a region ruled by kings, the people in the Nigerian village of Kunbwada are celebrating their Queen. They say a curse means any man who attempts to be king in this community will die mysteriously. That makes Queen Hajia Ahmed of Kunbwada the only traditional woman ruler in conservative Northern Nigeria. Queen Hajia told CNN, “Men cannot rule this kingdom. If a man insists we will let him. And then after two or three days, he will die.” No man has ever tried to usurp the throne, and the young men who remain in the village insist they are loyal subjects.

Sunday Shamari, a 25 year-old farmer, told CNN, “People outside always ask about my Queen and I will tell them the whole history. I feel proud.” Nigeria’s kingdoms are officially recognized, and their traditional rulers’ authority comes from customary law. Queen Hajia’s official functions include settling marriages and land disputes and keeping the peace. But she also wants to introduce some changes of her own. “Women must be educated,” she said. “Education means women can be anything they want to be.” In remote regions of Nigeria, women have few rights and little access to education, so for some women Kunbwada offers hope.

Resources: The Drum Beat – Issue 541 – Women’s Political Engagement

How can communication strategies, tools, and activities enhance women’s political participation and candidacy toward enhancing gender equity and democracy and governance around the world? This issue of The Drum Beat examines this question by providing a sampling of summaries from our various knowledge sections. From the Communication Initiative Network – where communication and media are central to social and economic development.

Access this issue online at http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_541.html

This issue includes:

* SHE-CAPACITY: Face-to-face candidacy support.

* VISIT The CI’s Fragile Contexts and Democracy & Governance theme sites!

* RADIO as a tool for empowering women.

* The CI now TWEETS! Follow us!

* TECH to enhance women’s participation.

* POLL: Representing marginalised groups…how?

* Communication RESOURCES for women in governance.

News: Women Spreading Political Wings With Help of India’s Quota System

By MIAN RIDGE NY TIMES

TENT, INDIA — As sarpanch, or chief, of this northern Indian village, Maya Yadav has fought hard for local women over the past five years. She has encouraged more parents to send their daughters to school and fewer to shell out fat dowries when their girls marry. But her proudest moment came when she negotiated a discount on a bulk purchase of latrines.

Today, Tent, in Haryana State, is one of the few villages in India to boast an indoor toilet in every house.

“Before this, pregnant women had to walk into the fields,” Ms. Yadav, 50, said as she sat in her living room — and office — dressed in a scarlet sari. “No man would have thought of this.”

Despite her self-confident manner, Ms. Yadav concedes that she is unlikely to have come to power had the Constitution not been amended in 1993 to reserve at least one-third of the seats for women in India’s 265,000 village governing bodies. More than a million women across India have since been elected into the reserved positions in these panchayats, which administer public services and resolve disputes on matters ranging from marriage to property.

Their experience holds lessons for the central government’s current effort to extend quotas for women to the national level. The Women’s Reservation Bill, which was passed by the upper house of Parliament last month, would set aside one-third of the elected seats in the national, state and local governments for women. If it becomes law, it will usher in one of the most significant social and political changes in India since independence in 1947.

Employment (DRC): IFPRI POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks a qualified candidate to serve as a Post-Doctoral Fellow to work on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for a two-year, fixed-term, renewable appointment. The program has a focus on strategy and policy issues in relation to agriculture, the food system, rural development, and poverty reduction. The position reports to the director of the Development Strategy and Governance Division and is based in Kinshasa, DRC.

For more information or to apply go to www.ifpri.org .  Click on “Careers” and “Research” to link you to Position # 10-121 – Postdoctoral Fellow, DSG. Please complete on-line application, including a complete curriculum vitae and a detailed letter of interest.  Also complete section providing 3 references