Gender Studies

(Part 1 of 6) 11th Annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture
http://ahbbs.net/play/lSO7h1owAyY.htm

(Part 2 of 6) 11th Annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture
http://ahbbs.net/play/JgKTXMyELGE.htm

(Part 3 of 6) 11th Annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture
http://ahbbs.net/play/aqjxqkxUXaE.htm

(Part 4 of 6) 11th Annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture
http://ahbbs.net/play/_qxN3OkLiFg.htm

(Part 5 of 6) 11th Annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture
http://ahbbs.net/play/yUrICsuGIkI.htm

(Part 6 of 6) 11th Annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Fecrbwc9U

Musawah ('Equality' in Arabic) is a global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family. Musawah is pluralistic and inclusive, bringing together NGOs, activists, scholars, practitioners, policy makers and grassroots women and men from around the world. 

 

• Musawah is a global movement of women and men who believe that equality and justice in the Muslim family are necessary and possible. In the 21^st century there cannot be justice without equality; the time for equality and justice is now!

• Equality in the family is the foundation for equality in society. Families in all their diverse forms are central to our lives, and should be a safe and happy space, equally empowering for all.

• Musawah builds on decades of effort to promote and protect equality and justice in the family and in society.

• Musawah is led by Muslim women who seek to publicly reclaim Islam’s spirit of justice for all.

• Musawah acts together with individuals and groups to grow the movement, build knowledge and advocate for change on multiple levels.

• Musawah uses a holistic framework that integrates Islamic teachings, universal human rights, national constitutional guarantees of equality, and the lived realities of women and men.

• Musawah was launched in February 2009 at a Global Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, attended by over 250 women and men from some 50 countries of Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and the Pacific. 
  

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has released its Annual Report 2009-2010.

The report is downloadable in English.   From UN Pulse: 

Permanent Link: UNIFEM Annual report 2009-2010

Co-published by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, and the UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict, Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: an Analytical Inventory of Peacekeeping Practice highlights best practices and emerging elements for a more effective response by peacekeepers to women’s security concerns.

This publication is downloadable in English.

 

From UN Pulse: Permanent Link: Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

AFRICAN SAME-SEX SEXUALITIES AND GENDER DIVERSITY: PRACTICES, IDENTITIES AND COMMUNITIES

First Announcement

International Conference on African Same-Sex Sexualities and Gender Diversity, to be held February 13 – 16, 2011 in Pretoria, South Africa.

Conference Mission: To identify and celebrate indigenous and evolving male, female and/or gender variant same-sex sexual practices, identities and communities, including expressions of gender diversity, and to promote their social acceptance and their physical and social well-being.
Primary target group: Persons knowledgeable about or scholarly engaged in the study of same-sex practices, identities, and communities from a liberating or emancipatory perspective (persons from Sub-Saharan Africa are encouraged to attend), sexual rights advocates, and persons from Sub-Saharan Africa engaged in the artistic expression of gender and same-sex sexuality issues.|

Call for abstract submission will be released soon.
The conference is a joint initiative of the following organizations: AMSHeR (African Men for Sexual Health and Rights), Behind the Mask (South Africa), GALCK (Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya; Kenya), Gender DynamiX (South Africa), HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies (New York), Hivos (Netherlands, main sponsor), Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC; South Africa), Humure (Burundi), International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (ILGHRC), Oxfam, UNDP (Southern & Eastern Africa).

 

Thanks to Fareeda Jadwat for this.

 

We also house the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, a global network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that strives to end violations against children in armed conflicts and to guarantee their rights.

Date: 13th April 2010 Time: 1215-1345 hours

Venue: S27 Education Faculty

THE WOMEN AND GENDER STUDIES, FACULTY OF ARTS, AND THE EDUCATION FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE

The transformation of the academic disciplines by the inclusion of the experiences and perspectives of women, people of color, and working and marginalized people everywhere is an ongoing process which is now over 40 years old. The transformation of the academic disciplines by the inclusion of the experiences and perspectives of women, people of color, and working and marginalized people everywhere is an ongoing process which is now over 40 years old. The inclusion of women’s lives as objects of study, for example, transforms what we know about economic development, social movements, and wars in history, human development in psychology, and the range of genres in literature. Professors Maher and Tetreault will discuss some of the implications of this vast and still growing scholarship for school and university curricula in the social sciences, humanities and sciences, and discuss with the audience the significance of this work for South African universities

The report, Beijing at 15:UNFPA Partners Charting the Way Forward,analyses the contributions of UNFPA, through its main partnerships, to achieving the commitments made at Beijing in 1995 and those made at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in the previous year. It highlights the shared agendas in the ICPD Programme of Action, the Beijing Platform for Action and the Millennium Declaration and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).The report has recommendations for development partners to accelerate progress towards meeting the goals of all these conferences, with a focus on gender mainstreaming in all programmes and policies. From UN Pulse: Permanent Link: Beijing at 15: UNFPA Partners Charting the Way Forrward

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. In recognition of this important anniversary, the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day – which is observed worldwide on 8 March – is "Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All".
At the UN Headquarters in New York, the commemoration is being held today, 3 March. Read the Secretary-General's message, and view additional resources from the web site. From UN Pulse:  Permanent Link: International Women's Day - 8 March      

The UNAIDS Operational Plan for the Action Framework for Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV was developed in response to the pressing need to address the persistent gender inequality and human rights violations that put women and girls at greater risk and vulnerability to HIV, and threaten the gains that have been made in preventing HIV transmission and increasing access to anti-retroviral treatment. Download the report in full from the web site and read more about the launch of the Action Framework. UN Pulse: Permanent Link: Action Framework for Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids has developed a five-year action plan to address gender inequalities and human rights violations that continue to put women and girls at risk of HIV infection. From Polity.org.za

http://us-cdn.creamermedia.co.za/assets/articles/attachments/26235_20100226_jc1794_agenda_for_accelerated_country_action_en.pdf

 Can Women Ever Become Modern?
Discussant: Jane Bennett, African Gender Institute, UCT
Date: Tuesday 2^nd March, 2010
Time: 2h00 - 3.30 pm
Venue:Centre for Humanities Research Seminar Room, UWC

Women's and Gender Studies and the Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape  Invite you to a seminar by Sandra Harding, University of California, Los Angeles.


Sandra Harding is a Professor of Education and Women's Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.  She is a philosopher.  She taught for two decades at the University of Delaware before moving to UCLA in 1996. She directed the UCLA Center for the Study of Women from 1995-2000, and co-edited the journal Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society from 2000 to 2005. 

She is the author or editor of fifteen books and special journal issues including:  

• Sciences From Below: Feminisms, Postcolonialisms, and Modernities   2008.
• Science and Social Inequality: Feminist and Postcolonial Issues . 2006.
• The Feminist Standpoint Theory Reader .  Edited. 2004.
• Science and Other Cultures: Issues in Philosophies of Science and Technology , co-edited with Robert Figueroa. 2003.
• Decentering the Center: Philosophy for a Multicultural, Postcolonial and Feminist World , co-edited with Uma Narayan. 2000.
• Is Science Multicultural? Postcolonialisms, Feminisms, and Epistemologies . 1998.
• The 'Racial' Economy of Science: Toward a Democratic Future .  Edited. 1993.
• Whose Science? Whose Knowledge: Thinking From Women's Lives .  1991.
•  Feminism and Methodology: Social Science Issues . Edited. 1987.
• The Science Question in Feminism . 1986.
• Discovering Reality: Feminist Perspectives on Epistemology, Metaphysics, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science; Co-edited with Merrill Hintikka. 1983.  Second edition 2003.
  
  
  Prof Harding's visit is sponsored by the UKZN and at UWC by International Relations, Faculty of Arts, Women's and Gender Studies and the Centre for Humanities Research.
  

Women's and Gender Studies Programme
University of the Western Cape
Modderdam Road
Bellville