basic human rights and societies

Global Policy Forum

Representation of Women in National Parliaments: 1995-2004

> Global Policy Forum, February 2006 (Source: UN Statistic Division)

http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/ (...)

Worldwide, the representation of women in single or lower chambers of national parliaments has increased by 50% since 1995. Africa and Latin America show promising results while women in Asia and Oceania remain poorly represented. However, men still hold the vast majority of parliamentary seats in most countries.  read

date of on-line publication : 20 June 2006

MASIIWA Medicine

Yearning for a fair deal: EPAs and their effect Eastern and Southern African countries

> Pambazuka, 6 Jan 2006

http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?i (...)

This article presents a summary of recent research by the Trades and Development Studies Centre Trust in Zimbabwe examining the implications of current Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) for Eastern and Southern Africa. The article asks whether it is wise for these countries to continue with the the EPA negotiations considers what are the alternatives.

• See also "Economic Partnership Agreements: territorial conquest by economic means?"

date of on-line publication : 13 January 2006

SAIDASIMOVA Gulnoza

Women & Power In Central Asia (Part 1): The Struggle For Equal Rights

> RFE/RL, December 2005

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle (...)

In Central Asia, gender stereotypes and discriminatory legislation continue to hinder women’s ability to pursue careers in politics, business, and many other fields. Nonetheless, hope remains. In the first of a four-part series, RFE/RL looks at the status of women in the region.  read

date of on-line publication : 11 January 2006

Coalition for the ICC

Questions and Answers on the International Criminal Court

> Coalition for the ICC, updated Dec 2005

http://www.iccnow.org/documents/FS_I (...)

A factsheet providing answers to some of the most common questions regarding the ICC (such as "To whom is the ICC accountable?"), thus also serving as an introduction to the institution.  read

date of on-line publication : 4 January 2006

Global Exchange

Most Wanted Corporate Human Rights Violators of 2005

> Global Exchange, Dec 2005

http://www.globalexchange.org/getInv (...)

This is Global Exchange’s list of the 14 worst corporations for violations of human rights. However, not only does the article give an introduction to the human rights abuses committed by each company, it also gives a list of the associations working to make the specific companies more accountable, thus stressing the need for citizen’s action.  read

date of on-line publication : 16 December 2005

KANOUTE Amadou

Africa’s GM Dilemma

> July 2005, The Globalist

http://www.theglobalist.com/StoryId. (...)

"As Africa continues to struggle with civic wars, poverty - and AIDS - hunger remains the continent’s most critical problem. Promoters of genetic engineering believe that genetically modified organisms are the answer that will eradicate starvation. The other side questions the safety and nutritious value of GM foods, as well as its bend toward dependency. Amadou Kanoute, Africa Regional Director for Consumers International, offers his perspective." The article also continues with what Kanoute believes are the principale causes for hunger in Africa.
article originally appeared in The Nation  read

date of on-line publication : 1 December 2005

THAROOR Shashi

Are Human Rights Universal?

> New Internationalist 332, March 2001

http://www.newint.org/issue332/essay (...)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is half a century old, but critics are still asking whether anything in our multicultural, diverse world can be truly universal. Some ask, isn’t human rights an essentially Western concept, ignoring the very different cultural, economic and political realities of the South? Can the values of the consumer society be applied to societies that have nothing to consume? Isn’t talking about universal rights rather like saying that the rich and the poor both have the same right to fly first-class and to sleep under bridges? At the risk of sounding frivolous: when you stop a man in traditional dress beating his wife, are you upholding her human rights or violating his? The fact is that there are serious objections to the concept of universal human rights which its defenders need to acknowledge honestly, the better to refute them.  read

date of on-line publication : 17 November 2005

Zeenat Niazi

Technological Democracy for Poverty Reduction

> July 2005, Development Alternatives

http://www.devalt.org/newsletter/mai (...)

Following on from the South Asia Conference on “Technologies for Poverty Reduction”, the article studies the importance of technology in shaping livelihoods and social development, and in turn its influence on poverty reduction. In addition to “Technology Pluralism”, the article stresses the need to address the issue of poorer communities’ access to technological services and their delivery, in what the author refers to as “Technology Democracy”. It also looks at the relationship between institutions, finance and technology and how people without access to this triad are affected.  read

date of on-line publication : 14 November 2005