Diversity Exchange, Issue 23, December 2011

Date: December 16, 2011

Diversity Exchange

Issue 23 | 0ecember 2011

Contents

Editor’s Note

By Saeanna Chingamuka
Welcome to Issue 23 of the Diversity Exchange, the last for the year 2011! The buzz- word during November and parts of December has been COP 17. The global climate change conference ran from 28 November to 9 December. Researchers, activists, ministers youth, faith based organisations and journalists among other groups attended this conference which was marred by controversy as well as disagreements. Gender Links (GL) in partnership with the African Woman and Child Feature Service (AWCFS) produced a daily e-newsletter which featured gender reporting on climate change. Read more…


		GMDC News

GL and AWC make their mark at COP17

From 28 November to 9 December, a team of journalists from Gender Links and the African Woman and Child Feature Service (AWCFS) attended the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th Session of the COP serving as the Meeting of the Parties (CMP7) to the Kyoto Protocol. Read more…

loveLife participates in the African Youth for Climate Change summit at COP 17

LoveLife, South Africa’s largest HIV prevention programme for young people, took part in COP 17 through the event’s Climate Train and African Youth for Climate Change summit from 27 November to 3 December. Among the summit’s objectives was supporting African youth to strengthen their responses to climate change with the ultimate goal of helping them understand and address the impact of global warming. Read more…

Nandos “Last Dictator Standing” advert

If there is any one company whose advertising one has to keep up with, it has to be Nandos. The company is known to create adverts that are controversial. But surely, they take the cup for being creative. A few weeks ago they made fun of South African politics, the Protection of Information Bill (POIB), by releasing a blacked-out ad after the bill passed through South Africa’s National Assembly. Read more…

Gender in Media Education Research launched in Mauritius

On 21 November, the University of Mauritius’ Mass Communications Unit in partnership with the Gender Links (GL) Francophone Office in Mauritius launched the research on Gender in Media Education (GIME). In total, 104 participants (84 female and 20 male) including academics, media practitioners, students and representatives of NGOs attended the launch. Read more…

SA Protection of Information Bill gets the nod

On Tuesday 22 November 2011, the South Africa’s (SA) African National Congress (ANC) party voted overwhelmingly for its Protection of Information Bill dubbed as Secrecy Bill by critics. Despite numerous protests that compelled South African National Press Club (NPC) declaring 22 November “Black Tuesday”, the ANC used its majority in parliament to bulldoze the “draconian” bill. Read more…

IFJ denounces extreme levels of violence faced by women journalists worldwide

In a letter addressed to UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon to mark the International Day of Violence Against Women on 25 November, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) highlighted the high levels of violence women journalists face while carrying out their professional duties. Read more…


		Partner News

Human rights on the internet

In November 2011, 11 civil society organisations in South Africa including Gender Links joined forces to put together a UPR on human rights on the internet status update for South Africa. The submission focuses on: freedom of expression; the right to information; freedom from censorship; freedom of the press; the right to privacy; and the importance of affordable access to the internet. Read more…

Vacancy: Knowledge and Learning Manager

Gender Links, a dynamic Southern African NGO based in Johannesburg seeks to fill the post of Knowledge and Learning Manager. All applications must be received by close of business on Friday 16 December. Late applications will not be considered. Read more…

Call for applications: Internship January-June 2012

A leading regional NGO working on gender equality offers an exciting opportunity to work as an intern in one of its programme areas. Gender Links (GL) is providing a six month long internship programme, which commences on the 13th of January 2012. Read more…


		GL Opinion & Commentaries

The curtain comes down on COP 17, we bow out!

As the curtain comes down on COP 17 today, 9 December 2011, the various players who came to deliberate on how best to assist in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts will be heading back home to the four corners of the world. Faith based organisations, mineworkers, rural women, economic justice activists, scientists, journalists, economists, researchers, and youth, among other players, attended the conference. Itââ‚¬â„¢s now time to bow out! Read more…

Open, accountable dialogue needed for climate solutions

Global warming is indeed a global problem that requires global solutions. However, there are concerns about the attitude of some countries responsible for causing the problems. Developed countries make significant contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions (20 countries accounted for 72% of emissions between 1950 and 2000), yet acceptance of responsibility and willingness to assist the most vulnerable countries is sorely missing. Read more…

Small eco-business brings big changes for women

The Sahara desert grows by the size of New Zealand every year, engulfing what was once fertile land and reducing the variety and volume of crops that can be grown in the Sahel region of Africa. Failing rains and unpredictable weather patterns mean that even in fertile areas crops often fail. Read more…


		Seminars


		Upcoming Events


		GMDC Databases

Clippings

How can women rape men? – Daily News

Girls Child Net-work director Betty Makoni yeaterday caused a furore on a social nertworking site, facebook after posting comments that seemed to insinuate that the current noise about the rape of men and trade in semen should be ignored. Makoni said she does not understand how women could rape men and demanded that police should show the video footage of such rape cases. Read more…

“Girls will not have to skip school anymore”

Some 200 schoolgirls will no longer have to skip school because they lack sanitary pads, The pads were donated by Procter and Gamble at Singobile Primary School and Louisville Combined School in Mpumalanga this week. ââ‚¬Å“Many impoverished young girls miss days of school each month because they lack basic sanitary protection. We target schools in the rural areas because it is where knowledge is mostly needed,ââ‚¬â„¢ said Kelebogile Mabe from Procter and Gamble. The girls will get new pads every three months Read more…

Always remember: the words we use shape our world

Discussions around sexual propriety always make me cringe, and thanks to our dear sports minister and his recent sex scandal. I’ve been cringing quite a lot lately. The problem is not with people voicing opposing views, not at all: the issue is afar more fundamental. Listen to enough o these discussions and you could easily walk away with a rather warped sense of the world where women who enjoy sex and unashamedly lay claim to their own sexuality are sluts, while men who do the same are studs. A world where a woman in a revealing outfit is an attention seeking easy floozy while men in tight fitting sleeveless vests are hunks simply showing off how hours in the gym eventually pay off. Read more…

Research

‘Gender and climate change’: from impacts to discourses

Whereas the concepts of class, poverty and race make regular appearances in social scientific analyses of global climate change, the same cannot be said for gender. A survey of the academic literature suggests that there is a lack of research into the many gender dimensions of climate change. The small amount of gender-sensitive work that exists has been carried out by gender, environment and development (GED) researchers working for the UN and non-governmental organisations who focus almost exclusively on the material impacts of climate change on vulnerable women in the Global South. In this paper I make two arguments about the current state of research on gender and climate change. Read more…

The Gendered Nature of Natural Disasters: The Impact of Catastrophic Events on the Gender Gap in Life Expectancy

Natural disasters do not affect people equally. In fact, a vulnerability approach to disasters would suggest that inequalities in exposure and sensitivity to risk as well as inequalities in access to resources, capabilities and opportunities systematically disadvantage certain groups of people, rendering them more vulnerable to the impact of natural disasters. In this article we address the specific vulnerability of girls and women with respect to mortality from natural disasters and their aftermath. Biological and physiological differences between the sexes are unlikely to explain large-scale gender differences in mortality rates. Social norms and role behavior provide some further explanation, but what is likely to matter most is the everyday socio-economic status of women. We analyze the effect of disaster strength and its interaction with the socio-economic status of women on the change in the gender gap in life expectancy in a sample of up to 141 countries over the period 1981 to 2002. Read more…

Interrogating the notion of ‘corrective rape’ in contemporary public and media discourse

Recent media reports have shown a rise in attacks against lesbian women in townships across South Africa. The nature of the violence includes assault, often with grievous bodily harm, rape, murder or any combination of these. The sexual violence perpetrated against these women has become a particular focal point in media coverage, crudely termed “corrective” or “curative rape.” Whilst coverage of these attacks draws necessary attention to the prevalence of homophobia in South Africa, as well as the alarming rates of violence against women, the discursive formations around the issue raise several concerns about how sexual and gender-based violence, homophobia and the linkages between them are understood in society. Read more…

Case Studies

Lindiwe Mazibuko rising high on South African political index

Lindiwe Mazibuko’s campaign and subsequent appointment to a position of parliamentary chief for Democratic Alliance (DA) had the public, but mostly the media and fellow members within her party wondering if she was the right candidate for the job. Her move also unearthed divisions within the DA with some members questioning the motive behind DA leader’s support for the rising female politician. This media highlight offers a comparative analysis of media reportage of Mazibuko’s aspiration and her subsequent promotion. Of the articles analysed, two focussed at the politician’s campaign, appointment and disunions within the DA. However, the pieces were silent at her capabilities and qualifications she was vying for Read more…

Feminist view of gender budgeting in Zimbabwe

Allocating enough resources to women’s empowerment endeavours at national level is one important step to achieving gender equality in a country. It is imperative for government to have a gender responsive budget to adequately address the different needs of women and men. This media highlight analyses a newspaper article that critiques the national budget allocation in Zimbabwe from a gender perspective. The critique traces the budget process since 2007 when the Zimbabwe government adopted a gender budgeting and women’s empowerment strategy. Read more…

50/50 campaign politically incorrect? – News Day

The 50/50 campaign in decision making by 2015 articulated in the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development has brought mixed feelings, views and opinions regarding womenââ‚¬â„¢s empowerment. For some quarters the campaign has brought with it the renewed hope that could improve womenââ‚¬â„¢s empowerment, but others feel that it is ââ‚¬Å“politically incorrectââ‚¬ to go the route of empowerment through legislation. They feel that deliberate policies to attain a certain target reinforce the superiority of men over women. This case study discusses a letter to the Editor by a ââ‚¬Å“female chauvinistââ‚¬ who is of the view that the 50/50 campaign makes women ââ‚¬Å“second class citizens yet they are intelligent enough to make it on their own. Read more…

Publications

Traditional justice and reconciliation after violent conflict

In some circumstances traditional mechanisms can complement conventional judicial systems and provide the potential for promoting justice, reconciliation and a culture of democracy. This book is both a general knowledge resource and a practitioner’s guide. It is aimed at both national bodies seeking to employ traditional justice mechanisms, as well as external agencies supporting such processes. Each case study and the conclusions have clear recommendations for how traditional justice mechanisms can be implemented. Traditional Justice and Reconciliation after Violent Conflict: Learning from African Experiences is based on the findings of a comparative study examining the role played by traditional justice mechanisms in dealing with the legacy of violent conflict in Africa. Read more…

Women in Parliament: Beyond number (A revised edition)

This updated edition of Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers Handbook covers the ground of women’s access to the legislature in three steps: It looks into the obstacles women confront when entering Parliament – be they political, socio-economic or ideological and psychological. It presents solutions to overcome these obstacles, such as changing electoral systems and introducing quotas, and it details strategies for women to influence politics once they are elected to parliament, an institution which is traditionally male dominated. The first Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers handbook was produced as part of IDEA’s work on women and political participation in 1998. Read more…

Political Economy of Climate Change

Despite the inherently political nature of international negotiations on climate change, much of the theory, debate, evidence-gathering and implementation linking climate change and development assume a largely apolitical and linear policy process. As the issue continues to dominate agendas, it is timely to propose a new political economy of climate change and development in which explicit attention is given to the way that ideas, power and resources are conceptualised, negotiated and implemented by different groups at different scales. We argue that in balancing effectiveness, efficiency and equity, climate change initiatives must explicitly recognise the political economy of their inputs, processes and outcomes. Read more…


		Internships				Members

Internships

Call for applications: Internship January-June 2012

Members

Lovelife to soon partner with the GMDC

LoveLife is South Africa’s largest national HIV prevention initiative for young people. LoveLife combines a sustained high-powered campaign with nationwide community-level outreach and support programmes to promote healthy, HIV-free living among South African teens. The organisation will soon sign an MOU with the GMDC. Read more…

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Diversity Exchange, Issue 23, December 2011

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