Although women perform nearly 66% of the world's work, produce half of the world's food, they in return receive less than 5% of its income and own less than 1% of the world's property . 70% of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty around the world are women.

According to UNFPA, women over the age 15 in the least developed countries are almost twice as illiterate compared to men . 75% of the world's 876 million illiterate adults are women - and still today two thirds of children deprived of primary education are girls.

More than half a million women die in pregnancy and childbirth every year - that's one death every minute. In developed countries, one woman in 2,800 dies from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. In developing countries, it is one death in 67woman. At least 35 % of women in developing countries receive no prenatal care. Almost half give birth without skilled attendance (doctor, nurse or trained midwife), and 70 % receive no care after delivery .

At least one in every three women, or up to one billion women, have been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in their lifetimes. Rape, the most violent form of sexual violence, is also associated with unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. 51% of all people living with HIV/AIDS today (over 20 million) are women and 55% of the 16,000 new infections occurring daily are women... *

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News | Articles | Links | Organizations | Voluntary Initiatives:

- A documentary film ‘Shame', that tells Mai's tale of being ordered gang-raped as retributive punishment by a village council. For Mohammad Naqvi, the documentary producer, working with Mai, 34, was a "life-changing" experience. "I think I am a better man after working with her and spending time with her," he says in an e-interview with IPS. Source: IPS

- Friends of Island Academy (FOIA) is collaborating with the International Center of Photography (ICP) to use art therapy with formerly incarcerated teenage girls in Manhattan, New York, USA. Source: Communication Initiative

- ICT4Peace is a blog that explores the use of technology (including internet and video games) for conflict transformation; from youth violence to gender issues. Gender related

- Women Make Movies is a multicultural, multiracial, non-profit media arts organization which facilitates the production, promotion, distribution and exhibition of independent films and videotapes by and about women.

- Snapshots of Change: A series of 32 five-minute films produced in 31 countries around the world by a network of broadcasters and producers called the Broadcasting for Change Network. Initiated by Television Trust for the Environment (TVE) in 1995 in the lead-up to the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing +10), the Network has created 5 series of short films examining the status and condition of women in their respective countries. Source:TVE Website

- Too Young to Wed: Child Marriage in their Own Words (Photo Essay) highlights the personal stories of young girls and women around the world. Source:ICRW

- Small World Theatre (SWT) collaborated with Tanzanian performers to find out what prevents people, particularly women in economically poor communities, from participating in elections by voting and standing as candidates. The project used drama - participatory theatre - as a research tool.

- For Women By Women Initiative from Turkey (Photo Exhibits and Educational Events in USA/Washington DC)

- Soul City 4 television series, supported with a daily radio drama, full-colour booklets, an advertising/publicity campaign, and an advocacy and social mobilisation campaign highlight the issue of violence against women in Southern Africa.Source: Soul City

- Gender Montage: Films from Post-Soviet Space | A series of Documentary Films. Open Society Institute (OSI)'s Women's Program, the Institute for Social and Gender Policy, the International Gender Policy Network, and OSI partners from 11 countries launched a series of documentary films exploring the lives and struggles of women in post-Soviet countries. Source: OSI News

- Article on a national puppetry festival in India that shows how puppetry is helping to pass along messages of family planning. 'Banjarbali bachcha band,' the puppet show illustrated as an example in the article, uses a humourous story to convey a strong social message of curbing population explosion. Express India

- Imagining Ourselves:  A Global Generation of Women Online Exhibit and Global Gatherings. Source: International Museum of Women

- Create Africa South, Amazwi Abesifazane (Vocies of Women) provide, promote and develop collective and individual creativity. CAS

- "Maid in Lebanon" a 26 min. documentary directed by Carol Mansour. This film exposes the little known world of the domestic migrant worker, tracing women's journeys from Sri Lanka to Lebanon. It provides an insightful and sensitive look into the lives of these migrant workers with interviews from family members, employers, hiring agents and specialists in the field. Source: email by ARCPA

- Born into Brothels Photo Exhibit and Film: Source by email Nolfo, Jessica (HBO-NS)

- Eve Ensler’s play, The Vagina Monologues, addresses the issues of sexual violence and disempowerment in a provocative, entertaining manner. The script is based on Ensler’s interviews with over two hundred women about their personal experiences and includes topics such as genital mutilation, incest and rape. Source: CCMS of University of KwaZulu-Natal (pdf. file)

- Postcard Pledge Campaign in South Africa is to fight violence against women and children across the country.The campaign includes postcards produced by the South African Post Office and the pledges were used to raise money for organisations that support women and children who are survivors of abuse. Source: Peace Women

- Gender, Culture, and Urbanization. Source: UN Habitat

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promote gender equality and empower women & improve maternal health

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* Sources for the Statistics:

- World Development Indicators, 1997, Womankind Worldwide
- The State of the World: Brief Introduction to Global Issues by World Revolution Internet Source: http://www.worldrevolution.org/projects/globalissuesoverview/overview2/BriefOverview.htm
- United Nations Population Fund Internet Source: http://www.unfpa.org/icpd/10/icpd_ed.htm AskaWoman Source Internet.: http://www.askawoman.org/
- WHO. Maternal Mortality in 2000: Estimates Developed by WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA. Geneva, 2003. Internet Source: http://www.savingwomenslives.org/Countdownmaternal.htm#end
- 'L Heise, M Ellsberg, M Gottemoeller, 1999' in Making Violence against Women Count: Facts and Figures - a Summary, Amnesty International. Internet Source: http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGACT770342004
- UNIFEM and UNAID, 2003; South African Institute for Race Relations 2003; US Department of Justice, 2000; European Women's Lobby, 2001; Women and sexuality in Muslim societies, WWHR Publications: Istanbul, 2000 respectively in Making Violence against Women Count: Facts and Figures - a Summary, Amnesty International. Internet Source: http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGACT770342004
- EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality - DRAFT REPORTon the role of women in Turkey in social, economic and political activities (2004/2215(INI)) Internet Source: http://www.abhaber.com/haber_sayfasi.asp?id=4313