A doctor from the WHO attending to three women in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. (Garhi Habibullah/UN Photo)

Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

Empowering women and advancing their rights can lead to progress on a range of issues, including the fight against poverty, hunger and violence. This was stressed this week by the head of UN Women, the U.N. agency tasked with promoting women’s rights in Pakistan, former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

Protesters at Tahrir square

Sources: Counter Balance (in English), ANND (in Arabic)

 A group of 67 civil society organizations from across 12 Arab countries raised concerns about the European Union (EU) and United States backed financial aid packages for Tunisia and Egypt, on the grounds that it could damage the process of democratic transitions and divert their revolutions’ economic and social justice goals.

Source: Inequality.org

Milestone study carried out in the United States shows that if economic growth is not equally distributed, people will never grow happier.

Bachelet in Tunisia. (Photo: TAP)

Sources: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse, TunisiaLive, UNWomen.

“From Tunisia and Egypt to Syria, Yemen, Libya and Bahrain, women have been active participants, calling for democracy, dignity and equality,” said Michelle Bachelet, UN Women Executive Director, at an international conference organised by the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women, national focal point of Social Watch in that country. 

Yao Graham, from TWN-A. (Photo: Reflection Group)

Sources: Third World Network, Newsday, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation

African governments should be wary of the mining contracts they sign, as those agreements might not help them to get rid of Occidental powers but facilitate the Chinese exploitation, experts said this week at a conference organised by Third World Network-Africa (TWN-A, focal point of Social Watch) and the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) in Harare.