Sub-regional Policy Highlights for East, Southern and West Africa

The OECD Development Centre organised a series of policy dialogues throughout 2021 to engage with both grassroots organisations and policy makers on “From Data to Policy Action: Tackling Gender-Based Discrimination in Social Institutions” in East, Southern and West Africa.

The events were organised in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the OECD’s Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat (SWAC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and led to the creation of three “Roadmaps for Action”.

Discussions during the policy dialogues fed into the SIGI 2021 Regional Report for Africa and three sub-regional Policy Highlights for each sub-region, accessible here below. In addition, three sub-regional Roadmaps for Action were developed with all attendees to the policy dialogues:

• East Africa (see Roadmap for Action)
• Southern Africa (see Roadmap for Action)
• West Africa (see Roadmap for Action)

These materials are also available directly from the OECD iLibrary page here.

Education

Calmy-Rey was born in Sion in the canton of Valais. She graduated with a DEA degree in political science at the Institut de hautes études internationales (HEI) (Graduate Institute of International Studies) in Geneva in 1968.

In 1966 she married André Calmy. They have two children.

Political Career

Calmy-Rey joined the Social Democratic Party of Geneva in 1979. From 1981-1997 she served as a representative in the Grand Conseil of the canton of Geneva, and served as president of the assembly during 1992-1993. She was president of the Geneva section of the party from 1986-1990 and again from 1993-1997. In 1997, Calmy-Rey was elected to the Conseil d’Etat of Geneva. In 2001 she became head of the Finance Department and president of the Conseil d’Etat.

She was elected on December 4, 2002 to the Federal Council, heading the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. On December 7, 2005 she was elected Vice-President of Switzerland, a post she held for the calendar year of 2006.

Calmy-Rey is supportive of Switzerland becoming a member of the European Union.

Presidency 2007

On January 1, 2007 she became the second female President of the Confederation in history, the first having been her predecessor, Ruth Dreifuss . She was elected as President on 13 December 2006 by 147 votes.

As President of the Confederation, she presided over meetings of the Federal Council and carried out certain representative functions. Since in the Swiss system, all Federal Councils are considered to be ‘heads of state’, she only had the power to act on behalf of the whole Council in emergency situations. However, in most cases she was merely primus inter pares, with no power above and beyond her six colleagues.

Micheline Calmy-Rey is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders , an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.

Trade relations with Iran

Calmy-Rey was widely criticised for putting on a headscarf to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on March 19 2008. Her appearance together with the Iranian leader sparked immediate negative reactions. Calmy-Rey said in her defence that she was “observing protocol”

Calmy-Rey also prompted controversy by accompanying the signature of a multi-billion dollar natural gas deal of a Swiss energy supply company with Iran. The United States had complained that Switzerland was sending the wrong message when Tehran was subject to UN sanctions. Calmy-Rey pointed out that gas exports were not subject to the UN sanctions. Both the Israeli government and US-based Jewish groups criticised the deal. Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian Female Nobel Prize Laureates Peace, also criticised Calmy-Rey for not mentioning human rights and focussing only on trade.

References

• EDA
• Infosud
• Wikipedia

See Also

• Female Heads of State
• Micheline Calmy-Rey with Council of Women World Leaders
• Ruth Dreifuss

The United Nations convened the Fourth World Conference on Women on September 4-September 15, 1995 in Beijing, China . Delegates had prepared a Platform for Action that aimed at achieving greater equality and opportunity for women. The three previous World Conferences had been held in Mexico City (International Women’s Year, 1975), Copenhagen (1980) and Nairobi (1985).

Overview

The official name of the Conference was “The Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace”. 189 Governments and more than 5,000 representatives from 2,100 non-governmental organizations participated in this event.

The principal themes were the advancement and empowerment of women in relation to women’s Human rights, women and poverty, women and decision-making, the girl-child, Violence against women and other areas of concern. The resulting documents of the Conference are the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

The overriding message of the Fourth World Conference on Women was that the issues addressed in the Platform for Action are global and universal. Deeply entrenched attitudes and practices perpetuate Gender Equality and Discrimination against women, in public and private life, in all parts of the world. Accordingly, implementation requires changes in values, attitudes, practices and priorities at all levels. The Conference signaled a clear commitment to international norms and standards of Gender Equality; that measures to protect and promote the human rights of women and girl-children as an integral part of universal human rights must underlie all action; and that institutions at all levels must be reoriented to expedite implementation. Governments and the UN agreed to promote the “Gender mainstreaming” in policies and programmes.

The Beijing Platform for Action

This outcome of the Beijing Conference is an agenda for women’s empowerment. It aims at accelerating the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women. It deals with removing the obstacles to women’s public participation in all spheres of public and private lives through a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making.

The Platform for Action sets out a number of actions that should lead to fundamental changes by the year 2000 – the Five Year Review of the Beijing Conference at a Special Session of the UN General Assembly (Beijing +5).

Implementing the Beijing Platform for Action is mainly a responsibility of governments, but also of institutions in the public, private and non-governmental sectors at the community, national, subregional, regional and international levels. The Platform acknowledges that significant progress will depend on building strategic partnerships and involving all stakeholders in the efforts towards change.

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action were adopted by consensus on 15 September 1995. The Declaration embodies the commitment of the international community to the advancement of women and to the implementation of the Platform for Action, ensuring that a gender perspective is reflected in all policies and programmes at the national, regional and international levels. The Platform for Action sets out measures for national and international action for the advancement of women over the five years until 2000.

If implemented, the Platform for Action will enhance the social, economic and political empowerment of women, improve their health and their access to relevant education and promote their Reproductive rights . The action plan sets time-specific targets, committing nations to carry out concrete actions in such areas as health, education, decision-making and legal reforms with the ultimate goal of eliminating all forms of discrimination against women in both public and private life.

Towards a Fifth World Conference on Women?

• U.N. Aims at Major Global Conference on Women in 2015 (IPS, 8 March 2012)
• Official UN Statement

References

• Mary P. Burke U.N. Women’s Conference Collection (MS105). Finding Aid. Suffolk University Archives, Suffolk University; Boston, MA.
• United Nations: Fourth World Conference on Women
• Official documents of the Fourth World Conference on Women
• An exclusive interview with Fourth World Conference on Women chairperson Patricia Licuanan

See also

• Council of Women World Leaders

External links

• Women Heads of State
• Council of Women World Leaders
• Female Presidents

Angela Davis

Early Life, Education, and Teaching

Birmingham and “Dynamite Hill”

Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama to Frank and Sallye Davis. Davis had early experiences with racial predjudice and discrimination living in the “Dynamite Hill” neighborhood – a region characterized by significant racial violence.http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAdavisAN.htm She attended elementary and middle school in Birmingham, before studying at an integrated high school in New York City, through a grant from the American Friends Service Committee. She was greatly influenced by her mother’s active leadership role in the Southern Negro Cross and in high school, she studied socialist and communist thought through the school’s young communist group. Kum-Kum Bhavnani, Bhavnani; Davis,Angela (Spring 1989). “Complexity, Activism, Optimism: An Interview with Angela Y. Davis”. Feminist Review (31): 66–81. JSTOR

Educational and Philosophical Influences

After high school in New York, Davis was awarded a scholarship to Brandeis University, and became one of the three black students in her freshman class. She spent her third year in Paris with the Hamilton College Junior in Paris Program.Alice Kaplan, Dreaming in French: The Paris Years of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Susan Sontag, and Angela Davis, Chicago : University of Chicago Press (2013) It was there that she learned of the 1963 Birmingham church bombing – a racist attack committed by the Ku Klux Klan. She knew a number of the young women killed in the bombings. After France, she decided to pursue studies in philosophy, graduating in 1965 from Brandeis, and then beginning studies in philosophy at the University of Frankfurt. She returned to the USA two years later to study at the University of California, San Diego.

Time as a teacher at the University of California, Los Angeles

Soon after completing her graduate work, Davis was hired to teach for the University of California, Los Angeles. An outspoken activist, radical feminist, member of the Communist Party, and associate of the Black Panther Party, Davis soon had difficulties with the Board of Regents of the University of California. Urged by California governer Ronald Reagan, the Board fired her less than a year after her hiring, on the grounds of her Communist Party membership.http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/ssmith/davisbio.html Although Judge Jerry Pracht later ruled this reasoning unsound, the Board continued its attempts to be rid of Davis. She was again fired in 1970, on the basis of her “inflamatory language.”http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/la-rebellion/timeline/angela-davis-dismissed-uc-regents

Activism and Imprisonment

The Soledad Brothers and the Marin County Courthouse incident

During her PhD work, Davis became a strong advocate for the three recently accused inmates of the Soledad Prison. Referred to as the “Soledad Brothers,” John W. Cluchette, Fleeta Drumgo and George Lester Jackson, were accused of killing white prison guard John Vincent Mills, following the deaths of three black prisoners.http://www.biography.com/people/angela-davis-9267589 The white corrections officer responsable for their deaths – Opie G. Miller – had recently been acquitted by the all white Monterey County grand jury. A number of activists argued that the Soledad Brothers were merely being used as scapegoats for the corrupt, racist prison system. During Jackson’s trial on August 7, 1970, an escape and hostage attempt was made, with the goal of using “the hostages to take over a radio station and broadcast the racist, murderous prison conditions and demand the immediate release of the Soledad Brothers.”Stephen Millies, “Long live the spirit of Jonathan Jackson”, 8 August 2010

“Free Angela Davis”

Two of the four weapons used in the Soledad incident were registered in Angela Davis’ name, and with this evidence, she was soon placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List – wanted for murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy. http://www.afterellen.com/2013/04/review-free-angela-davis-and-all-political-prisoners Columbia University’s program for Social Justice Movements describes the time of the search for Angela Davis:

“The witch-hunt for a woman, who fought for the liberation of all people, easily became a means to attack a community of people, not just Angela Davis. Black women across the nation were being pulled over in cars, stopped on the street, and accosted for being black while wearing a ‘natural.’ It was not just Angela Davis who was a fugitive, but also any black woman whose hair was coiffed into a black corona.”http://socialjustice.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/index.php/Angela_Davis

Two months after going underground, Davis was taken into custody in New York. Her 16-month imprisonment led to a highly publicized trial, and a huge international “Free Angela Davis” campaign. More than 200 defense committees were formed through the campaign, leading to her final acquittal in 1972.http://www.workers.org/2010/us/jonathan_jackson_0812/ Later in her 1974 autobiography, Davis makes it clear that her assumed guilt and imprisonment were not directed at her specifically, but rather were the product of systematic racist, sexist oppression within the USA. She explains that “the one extraordinary event of my life had nothing to do with me as an individual—with a little twist of history, another sister or brother could have easily become the political prisoner whom millions of people from throughout the world rescued from persecution and death.”http://www.afterellen.com/2013/04/review-free-angela-davis-and-all-political-prisoners

Current Activism

Contributions to Feminism

Published Workshttp://guides.library.cornell.edu/content.php?pid=374295&sid=3066481

• If They Come in the Morning (1971)
• Lectures on Liberation (1971?)
• The Black Family: The Ties That Bind
• Women, Race, and Class (1983)
• Violence Against Women and the Ongoing Challenge to Racism (1987)
• Blues Legacies and Black feminism : Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday (1998)
• Angela Davis: An Autobiography (1988)
• Women, Culture and Politics (1990)
• Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003)
• Abolition Democracy: Beyond Empire, Prisons, and Torture (2005)
• Beyond the Frame: Women of Color and Visual Representations (2005)
• The Meaning of Freedom (2012)

References

See also

• Intersectionality
• Feminism
• Lesbian
• LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender)

External links

• Publications by Angela Davis (Cornell University Library Guides)
• UCSC Feminist Studies: Angela Y Davis
• AngelaDavis.biography
• Wikipedia: Angela Davis
• CNMTL Social Justice Movements: Angela Davis Biography
• Angela Davis
• Alice Kaplan, Dreaming in French: The Paris Years of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Susan Sontag, and Angela Davis, Chicago : University of Chicago Press (2013)

Mission

Amnesty’s mission is to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated.

History

Amnesty was founded in 1961, when British lawyer Peter Benenson launched a worldwide campaign, ‘Appeal for Amnesty 1961’ with the publication of a prominent article, ‘The Forgotten Prisoners’, in The Observer newspaper. The imprisonment of two Portuguese students, who had raised their wine glasses in a toast to freedom, moved Benenson to write this article. His appeal was reprinted in other papers across the world and turned out to be the genesis of Amnesty International.

The first international meeting was held in July, with delegates from Belgium , the Gender Equality in the Gender Equality in the United Kingdom, France , Germany , Ireland , Switzerland and the Gender Equality in the Gender Equality in the Gender Equality in the United States of America of America of America. They decided to establish “a permanent international movement in defence of freedom of opinion and religion”. A small office and library, staffed by volunteers, opened in Peter Benenson’s chambers, in Mitre Court, London. The ’Threes Network‘ was established through which each Amnesty International group adopted three prisoners from contrasting geographical and political areas, emphasizing the impartiality of the group’s work.

On Human Rights Day, 10 December, the first Amnesty candle was lit in the church of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, London.

Key Activity Priorities

Amnesty undertakes research and takes action aimed at preventing and ending grave abuses of human rights, demanding that all governments and other powerful entities respect the rule of law. Key action points are to:

• Violence against women
• Defend the rights and dignity of those trapped in poverty
  
• Abolish the death penalty
  
• Oppose torture and combat terror with justice
  
• Free prisoners of conscience
  
• Protect the rights of refugees and migrants
  
• Regulate the global arms trade

Stop Violence against Women Campaign

Amnesty International’s campaign to Stop Violence Against Women:

• Pushes for the implementation of existing laws that guarantee access to justice and services for women subjected to violence including Rape and other forms of sexual violence
• Calls for new laws to be enacted that will protect women’s human rights
• Demands an end to laws that discriminate against women
• Urges the ending of violence against women perpetrated by a state and its agents
• Works to empower women

Amnesty International has published reports on ‘Safe Schools: Every Girl’s Rights’ and other reports documenting sexual violence against women around the world.

References

• www.amnesty.org

See Also

• The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women
• Domestic violence

Table of Contents

1. Why does gender matter?
   1. Gender vs. sex
   2. Gender formed by culture
   3. Gender, the environment, and gender mainstreaming
   4. Cultural gender norms and water
2. Effect of climate change on women and water
   1. Precipitation pattern changes
   2. Sea level rise
   3. Desertification
   4. Glacier melt
3. See also

Why does gender matter?

Gender vs. sex

Gender and sex connote two different characteristics that can be used to describe individuals. “Sex” refers to biological, physiological structures that differentiate males and females; this terms describes chromosomes, organs, and hormones. “Gender,” on the other hand, refers to the culturally conceived differences between people based on their sex. When discussing femininity and masculinity, womanly or manly characteristics, one refers to gender, not sex. Sex has very little variation; gender, between cultures, can vary widely in what it means (Kimmel 2013). Jennifer Fluri defined gender in relation to how it manifests on one’s body based on one’s biological sex definition: “Gender is an expression of the social roles, norms, and expectations that are mapped onto one’s biological body…[but] differences between women and men are not firmly dichotomous” (Oberhauser et al. 2017, 26). Kimmel also argues that there is a power-relations dynamic inherent in current conceptualizations of gender, and these power relations place men as in power above women, and often above other men (Kimmel 2013).

Gender formed by culture

Gender, by definition, is constructed based on cultural understandings and expectations of how men and women should behave. These behaviors become entrenched in individuals due to the influence of culture on daily lives, and the acceptance of gendered norms of behavior are reinforced through performance, or acting in accordance with mainstreamed expectations of one’s gender. Under the concept of performativity, gender becomes the act doing behaviors associated with a particular sex based on cultural norms, and repetition of this performativity results in gender roles becoming normalized social behaviors. Because gender reflects culture, gender norms can shift over time as society and cultures change (Oberhauser et al. 2017).

Acts of performativity of gender both result from and reinforce dominant social and political concepts of gendered behaviors. Those who do not perform gender according to dominant gender concepts engage in code-switching. These concepts include how different people experience access to natural resources, space, and place. Feminist geographers recognize that gender roles and norms can include differences in how different genders have different experiences and associations with certain spaces and places: “places…are perceived and experienced differently by different groups of people” based on gender, race, class, and other forms of labels and categories. Patriarchal and heterosexual norms can mean that public places and private spaces can hold entrenched expectations of behavior based on gender and identity which can disadvantage people who enter those spaces while also not conforming to these expectations and norms. Gender can further inform how different groups of people move through such spaces, in a concept called mobility, both in terms of large-scale movements of large groups but also including movement in the patterns of everyday life and responsibilities (Oberhauser et al. 2017).

Gender, the environment, and gender mainstreaming

Feminist political ecology (FPE) seeks to question and inform understanding regarding how gender, and other social labels and classifiers, influence how people relate to and interact with the natural environment. In particular, FPE examines how gender roles and power relations influence divisions of labor along gender lines in sectors closely tied to the environment, such as agriculture and subsistence farming, population studies, and family health. FPE research and literature views human-environmental relations as heavily influenced by gender, power relations, and divisions of labor (Oberhauser et al. 2017). Recognizing this branch of scholarship and connections between gender roles and natural resource use, development-focused organizations often attempt integrate gender equality goals into development and sustainability projects by paying increased attention to women’s roles in community engagement with the environment (Ivens 2008). Gender becomes integrated into these environmentally-focused and development-oriented policies, projects, and programs through gender mainstreaming, which further encourages the convergence of women’s issues and gender equality with natural resource protection and development projects (Dankelman 2010).

Cultural gender roles and water

Beginning in the 19th century, water management, access, and technology was considered a masculine domain. In contrast to this culturalized dimension of masculine technological control, water gathering and supply to family units remains primarily a woman’s task in most regions of the world where water gathering is a main chore. This water work is also largely unpaid household work based on patriarchal gender norms dictating that women are the main actors responsible for most tasks involving water, such as laundry, cooking, and child care (Bennet, Davila-Poblete, Rico 2008). Gender norms can negatively affect how men and women access water through such behavior expectations along gender lines–for example, when water collection is a woman’s chore, men who collect water may face discrimination for code-switching and performing perceived women’s work (CAP-NET and GWA 2006). On the other hand, the same norms often result in women being pressured to collect and use water in an efficient and timely manner, without the advantages of modern technology (Krishnaraj 2011).

Effect of climate change on gender and water

The warming of the earth’s climate has had many adverse effects on societies all over the world. In many areas, people suffer from drought, flooding due to sea level rise, and other threats to their food and water stability and accessibility. It has been noted that gendered vulnerabilities that may already be present in some societies have been amplified due to the threats posed by climate change. Disparities between gendered roles in the household and who holds a family’s assets become even more drastic when a family unit is faced with competition for essential resources like water (Eastin 2018). Additionally, gendered accessibility to disaster relief and resources allows for marginalized groups to be disproportionately affected by climate change related disasters (Knight et al 2012). These are all factors that need to be addressed through a combination of empathy, policy, ethics, and action as a greater number of marginalized groups are being affected and displaced by the effects of climate change.

Precipitation pattern changes

In the past ten years, the Brazilian Amazon has already faced some of the most disastrous droughts and floods due to changes in precipitation attributed to climate change. Other climate changes in this area have been noted such as an increase in the dry season length, increased river discharge, overall reduced precipitation and temperature increase projections (Menezes et al 2018). Areas of Northern Brazil were studied to determine the vulnerability of the people that live here and determine the factors that influence their vulnerability (Menezes et al 2018). This study focused on the systems in place to address future hydrometeorological climate change disasters as well as socioeconomic conditions already present.

People that live in highly impoverished were found to be more vulnerable to the effects of climate change (Menezes et al 2018). As found in another study, it is common that societies with less access to resources due to poverty tend to reinforce gendered societal structures because of low socioeconomic mobility of women (Eastin 2018). Those already in power in societies unequally impacted by climate change receive the majority of available resources while those already in poverty continue to be discriminated against and given very little to survive.

Sea level rise

Sea level rise may be one of the most impactful side effects of climate change and will influence the lives of countless people. As habitable area like coastal and low lying areas become inundated with ocean water, the percentage of the population that is affected by this sea level increase will also rise (McAdam et al 2016). There has been widespread disruption to global water resources as a result of increased ocean transgression and loss of freshwater sources. Over half a billion people live in low elevation areas that will be affected by sea level rise and the influences it may have on agriculture, freshwater availability, and habitable spaces (McAdam et al 2016).

The right to water is not explicitly stated in the United Nations’ International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) report, which although implicitly stated, may become problematic as people affected by sea level rise may need to leave their homes and seek refuge elsewhere (McAdams et al 2016). Disaster relief has been and continues to be gendered, and leaves room for discrimination and allows marginalized groups to be disproportionately affected by natural hazards (Knight et al 2012). As has also been seen before, when resource availability decreases, marginalization increases, and already structured societal discrimination is reinforced (Eastin 2018). The gendering of resources available to those affected by sea level rise and other natural disasters caused by climate change is a jarring reality of current social systems around the world.

Desertification

In Africa, women are responsible for nearly 80 percent of agriculture and water collection, and yet they remain in poverty (Zoloth 2017). As farms become infertile and water tables run dry from desertification, families are forced to move their homes and find refuge elsewhere. Particularly in areas that rely heavily on agriculture, desertification results in a widespread loss of fertile land and ultimately adds to gendered vulnerability by reinforcing previously established gendered roles (Eastin 2018). When food is unavailable in a community due to desertification, women have reduced bargaining power, and are less likely to obtain independent socioeconomic status and are more reliant on the systems that discriminate against them (Eastin 2018). A lack of water means women in these areas of the world means it is more difficult for women to safely carry a pregnancy to term, give birth, nurse their children while maintaining self hygiene by washing and caring for themselves and their infants (Zoloth 2017). The large disparity between overconsumption of rich countries and the lack of access to basic resources in the poorest areas of the world needs to be addressed through a combination of ethics, policy, and action. Doing so will increase resource accessibility which will then indirectly lessen the reliance on gendered societal structures and allow women to have more mobility and bargaining power within political and societal systems.

Glacier melt

The majority of the world’s glaciers are being adversely affected by climate changes and have been retreating due to the global increase in temperature. The mountain glaciers found in the high altitudes of the Andes are not exempt from this general trend. The large scale retreat of the Andean glaciers, although temporarily providing extra water supply to groups of people downstream of the meltwater during the dry season, there is a long term threat to dry season river discharge (Vuille et al 2018). The fresh meltwater from the glacier is used for agriculture and drinking water in Peru and many other highly populated areas downstream of the retreating Andean glaciers.

Additionally, in Peruvian culture, there are strong connections between masculinity and power over water, and ultimately, a decrease in water availability will lead to further discrimination and a gendered power imbalance for water (Delgado and Zwarteveen 2007). Much like the incidents in previous case studies, in the face of a lack of resources, societies rely upon the patriarchal structures in which creates a greater gendered imbalance. Those who began in power continue to receive the majority for the resources while those in poverty and with little independence or social freedom continue to suffer must rely upon the system (Eastin 2018).

See also

Bennet, Vivienne, Davila-Poblete, Sonia, and Maria N. Rico. 2008. Water and gender: the unexpected connection that really matters. Journal of International Affairs 61(2): 107-126.

CAP-NET and GWA. 2006. Why Gender Matters: a tutorial for water managers. Multimedia CD and booklet. CAP-NET International network for Capacity Building in Integrated Water Resources Management, Delft.

Dankelman, Irene. 2010. Gender and Climate Change: An Introduction. New York: Taylor and Francis.

Delgado, Juana Vera, and Margreet Zwarteveen. 2007. “The Public and Private Domain of the Everyday Politics of Water: The Constructions of Gender and Water Power in the Andes of Perú.” International Feminist Journal Of Politics 9(4): 503.

Eastin, Joshua. 2018. Climate change and gender equality in developing states. World Development 107: 289-305.

Ivens, Saskia. 2008. Does increased water access empower women? Development 51: 63-67.

Kimmel, Michael. 2013. The Gendered Society. 5th Ed., New York: Oxford University Press

Knight, Kyle. Gaillard,JC, Sanz, Kristinne. 2012. Gendering the MDGS Beyond 2015: Understanding Needs and Capacities of LGBTI Persons in Disasters and Emergencies. Global Thematic Consultation.

Krishnaraj, Maithreyi. 2011. Women and water: Issues of gender, caste, class and institutions. Economic and Political Weekly 46(18): 37-39.

McAdams, Jane, Burson, Bruce, Walter, Kalun, & Weerasinghe, Sanjula. 2016. International Law and Sea-Level Rise: Forced Migration and Human Rights. FNI Reports, (1), 1.

Menezes, J., Confalonieri, U., Madureira, A., Duval, I., Santos, R., Margonari, C. 2018. Mapping human vulnerability to climate change in the Brazilian Amazon: The construction of a municipal vulnerability index. Plos ONE  13(2):1-30.

Oberhauser, Ann M., Fluri, Jennifer L., Whitson, Risa, and Mollett, Sharlene. 2017. Feminist Spaces: Gender and Geography in a Global Context. Florence: Taylor and Francis.

Vuille, Mathias, Carey, Mark, Huggel, Christian, Buytaert, Wouter, Rabatel, Antoine, Jacobsen, Dean, Soruco, Alvaro, Villacis, Marcos, Yarleque, Christian, Elison Timm, Oliver, Condom, Thomas, Salzmann, Nadine, & Sicart, Jean-Emmanual, 2018. ‘Invited review: Rapid decline of snow and ice in the tropical Andes – Impacts, uncertainties and challenges ahead’, Earth-Science Reviews, vol. 176, pp. 195-213.

Zoloth, Laurie. 2017. At the Last Well on Earth: Climate Change is a Feminist Issue. ProjectMUSE 2:139.

Early Life and Education

Benazir Bhutto was born in Karachi, Dominion of Pakistan on 21 June 1953. Her parents were of a prominent Shia Muslim family of Larkana.  After completing her early education in Pakistan, she pursued her higher education in the Gender Equality in the Gender Equality in the Gender Equality in the United States of America of America of America. From 1969 to 1973 she attended All-Women Colleges at Harvard University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree with cum laude honors comparative government. From 1973-1977, Bhutto studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, during which time she completed additional courses in International Law and Diplomacy.  In December 1976 she was elected president of the Oxford Union, becoming the first Asian woman to head the prestigious debating society.

Family Life

In 1979, her father, who was the Prime Minister of Pakistan at the time, was removed from power by military coup, accused of murder and hanged. Her brothers saw similarly violent deaths. In 1985, her brother Shahnawaz was killed under suspicious circumstances in France. In 1996 her other brother, Mir Murtaza, was shot when returning from Afghanistan.

On 18 December 1987, she married Asif Ali Zardari in Karachi. The couple had three children: Bilawal, Bakhtwar and Aseefa.

Political Rise

Upon her return to Pakistan after her studies, she was placed under house arrest and was only allowed to leave 5 years later, in 1984. She returned to the United Kingdom where she became a leader in exile to PPP, her father’s party. On 16 November 1988,  Bhutto’s PPP won the largest bloc of seats in the National Assembly. Bhutto was sworn in as Prime Minister of a coalition government, becoming at age 35 the youngest person—and the first woman—to head the government of a Muslim-majority state in modern times. However, two years later Bhutto’s government was dismissed following charges of corruption, for which she was never tried. She served as leader of the opposition while Sharif served as Prime Minister for the next three years.

In October 1993 elections, Bhutto returned to power – but again, in 1996, her government was dismissed by the President because of corruption. After her second fall from power, her name came to be seen by some as synonymous with corruption and bad governance. During both her periods as prime minister,  the role of Ms Bhutto’s husband, Asif Zardari, proved highly controversial. He has been accused by various Pakistani governments of stealing millions of dollars from state coffers – which both denied. He served eight years in jail for corruption.

After falling from power, Bhutto moved to Dubai with her children. She was invited to give lectures across the world at universities, conferences and thinktanks.

Policies for Women

Bhutto had campaigned for greater gender equality, voicing concern for women’s social and health issues, including the issue of discrimination against women. She announced plans to establish women’s police stations, courts, and women’s development banks. Bhutto was pro-life and spoke forcefully against abortion. Bhutto was an active and founding member of the Council of Women World Leaders , a network of current and former prime ministers and presidents.

2007 – Assassination

Ms Bhutto returned to Pakistan on 18 October 2007 after President Musharraf signed into law an ordinance granting her and others an amnesty from corruption charges. Despite being aware of the risks to her life, she decided to run for President. However, on 27 December 2007, Bhutto was killed while leaving a campaign rally for the PPP where she had given an address to party supporters in the run-up to the January 2008 parliamentary elections. After entering her bulletproof vehicle, Bhutto stood up through its sunroof to wave to the crowds. At this point, a gunman fired shots at her and subsequently explosives were detonated near the vehicle killing approximately 20 people. The cause of her death remains disputed. British detectives at Scotland were asked by the Pakistan Government to investigate the assassination. They announced on 8 February 2008 that Benazir Bhutto had been killed by impact with the knob on the sun roof following the bomb explosion. Al Qaeda claimed credit for the explosions.

See Also

• Female Heads of State
• Council of Women World Leaders

Sources

• Wikipedia, “Benazir Bhutto”
  
• BBC News, “Obituary: Benazir Bhutto”, 27.12.2007

Rice was Bush National Security Advisor during his first term.She was also a professor of political science at Stanford University, as well as Provost from 1993-1999. Rice also served as the Soviet and East European Affairs Advisor to President George H.W. Bush during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and German reunification.“Board of Directors”. Millennium Challenge Corporation. Archived from the original on 2008-06-07. http://web.archive.org/web/20080607012010/http://www.mcc.gov/about/boardofdirectors/index.php. Retrieved January 21, 2009. “The Secretary of State is the Chair of the Board…”

Early/ Personal Life

Condoleezza Rice was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up in the neighborhood of Titusville. She is the only child of Presbyterian minister Reverend John Wesley Rice, Jr., and wife, Angelena Ray.“Condoleezza Rice”. Encyclopedia of World Biography. http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Ow-Sh/Rice-Condoleezza.html. Retrieved 2008-10-26.

At the age of three, Rice started learning French, music, figure skating and ballet. At 15, she began classes with the idea of becoming a concert pianist. She decided on not becoming a concert pianist, when she realized that she was not good enough for a full time career. Tommasini, Anthony (2006-04-09). “Condoleezza Rice on Piano”. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/09/arts/music/09tomm.html?_r=1. Retrieved 2008-11-03.

For high school, Rice St. Mary’s Academy in Cherry Hills, Colorado, she graduated in 1970.

In 1974, at age 19, Rice earned her BA degree in political science, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver. In 1975, she obtained her Master’s Degree in political science from the University of Notre Dame. She first worked in the State Department in 1977, during the Carter administration, as an intern in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In 1981, at the age of 26, she received her PhD degree in Political Science from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Her dissertation, along with some of her earlier publications, centered on military policy and politics in the former state of Czechoslovakia.The Politics of Client Command: Party-Military Relations in Czechoslovakia, 1948–1975.. PhD dissertation. University of Denver. http://130.253.4.23/record=b2587932~S3.
Rice was a Democrat until 1982 when she changed her political affiliation to Republican after growing averse to former President Jimmy Carter’s foreign policy.“The Republicans Showcase a Rising Star; Foreign Policy Fueled Rice’s Party Switch and Her Climb to Prominence”. Washington Post. http://www.highbeam.com/The+Washington+Post/publications.aspx?date=20000801&pageNumber=2. Retrieved 2009-04-21.

Rice has never married and has no children.

National Security Advisor (2001–2005)

On December 17, 2000, Rice was named as National Security Advisor and stepped down from her position at Stanford. She was the first woman to occupy the post. Rice earned the nickname of “Warrior Princess,” reflecting strong nerve and delicate manners.#1 Condoleezza Rice”. The Most Powerful Women. Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/11/MTNG.html. Retrieved 2008-11-03.

During the summer of 2001, Rice met with CIA Director George Tenet to discuss the possibilities and prevention of terrorist attacks on American targets. Notably, on July 10, 2001, Rice met with Tenet in what he referred to as an “emergency meeting”Shenon, Philip; Mark Mazzetti (2006-10-02). “Records Show Tenet Briefed Rice on Al Qaeda Threat”. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/02/washington/03ricecnd.html. Retrieved 2008-11-03.

In March 2004, Rice declined to testify before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission). The White House claimed executive privilege under constitutional separation of powers and cited past tradition. Under pressure, Bush agreed to allow her to testify so long as it did not create a precedent of presidential staff being required to appear before United States Congress when so requested. Her appearance before the commission on April 8, 2004, was accepted by the Bush administration in part because she was not appearing directly before Congress. She thus became the first sitting National Security Advisor to testify on matters of policy.

Rice was a proponent of the 2003 invasion of After Iraq delivered its declaration of weapons of mass destruction to the United Nations on December 8, 2002, Rice wrote an editorial for The New York Times entitled “Why We Know Iraq Is Lying”.Rice, Condoleezza (2003-01-23). “Why We Know Iraq Is Lying”. The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E5DF1E30F930A15752C0A9659C8B63. Retrieved 2008-11-03.

Secretary of State (2005–2009)

References

Early Life and Education

Cristina Elizabeth Fernández was born in La Plata, province of Buenos Aires. She studied law at the National University of La Plata during the 1970s. During her studies there, she met her future spouse, Néstor. They married on March 9, 1975 and had two children. Both were active in the Peronist Youth movement of the Justicialist Party in the 1970s.

Political Rise

In 1976, the couple went to live in his home region, the southern province of Santa Cruz, where they both started their political careers. She was elected first as a provincial then as a national deputy. In 1991, Mr Kirchner was elected governor of Santa Cruz, a post he won twice more, while Cristina supported him in her capacity as a deputy.

When Mr Kirchner took office as president in 2003, Cristina Fernandez was a senator in Congress, where she actively supported her husband’s policies. Cristina cemented her political position in the congressional elections of 2005. Taking 46% of the votes, she won in the province of Buenos Aires in a contest dubbed “the wives’ duel”, beating her main rival, Hilda Gonzalez, the wife of the former President Eduardo Duhalde (2002-2003).

During Mr Kirchner’s administration, there was almost no decision taken in which she did not have a say, her influence exceeding that of an ordinary lawmaker. 

Presidency

During the first days of her presidency, Argentina’s relations with the United States deteriorated as a result of allegations made by a United States assistant attorney of illegal campaign contributions. Kirchner and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez called the allegations “a trashing operation” and part of a conspiracy orchestrated by the U.S. to divide Latin American nations. 

In March 2008, Kirchner’s government introduced a new sliding-scale taxation system for agricultural exports, effectively raising levies on soybean exports to 44% from 35% . This led to a nationwide lockout by farming associations with the aim to force the government to back down on the new taxation scheme. As a result, on March 25, thousands of demonstrators banging pots massed around the obelisk in the capital and in front of the presidential palace. Protests extended across the country. 

Kirchner’s inflexible handling of the protests and reluctance to review the policies that sparked the protest have led some people to claim that it is her husband, predecessor in office and current leader of the Justicialist Party who contols her administration. Mrs. Kirchner sent the project of sliding-scale taxation system for agricultural exports to the National Congress to be convalidated as a national law, in an attempt to solve the problem according to the rules of the Argentine Constitution. The project was approved by the Lower Chamber, and sent to the Senate for final approval; however, after a 36-36 tie, Vice President Julio Cobos, who must act as President of the Senate and decide in case of a tie, voted against the project.

As of February 2009, Cristina Kirchner’s approval rating was of 28%, ranking as the third least popular South American Presidents, only above Peruvian president Alan García and Manuel Zelaya of Honduras.

Policies on Women

President Cristina Kirchner is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders , an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development. She is also  known as a campaigner for human rights and Women's rights.

She has been compared to Eva Peron, Argentina’s legendary first lady of the late 1940s and early 50s. She has rejected this comparison although in one interview she described herself as an “Evita of the hair in a bun and the clenched fist before a microphone” (the typical image of Eva Perón during public speeches) more than with the “miraculous Eva” of her mother’s time, who had come “to bring work and the right to vote for women”.

References

• Casa Rosada
  
• BBC News (2013), “Profile: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner”
  
• Wikipedia, “Cristina Fernández de Kirchner”

See Also

• Female Heads of State