June 2012 Blog Posts (512)

As natural disasters, food shortages or political crises are unlikely in a country like Germany I will pick a nuclear meltdown in a German nuclear power plant, something comparable to F**ushima or Tschernobyl. An overheated reactor that goes off in a blast, spreading high amounts of radiation. First thing that needs to be done in this catastrophic scenario would be inform as many people as possible that live or work within a certain radius around the accident site. This could be achieved via…

I read the article about the human chain against sexual harassment in egypt. I think it is a disgusting fact that women and children have to face sexual harassment and don't feel save in the streets there. It is just not acceptable, that they have to suffer from stupid stereotype thinking. I think no one should be afraid of going to public places, they belong to all of us. If women do not feel safe, they cannot be want they want to be or do what they could. I think a big rethinking has to…

I have read articles of the UN gender equality newsfeed page. And I've decided on the article "Better access to life-saving medicines can save millions of women and children". Although maternal mortality world-wide has dropped by nearly half over the past 20 years, millions of women and children are dying because they cannot access medicines and health supplies.

It's very important give a better access to medicines, that millions of deaths can be avoided.

After…

This week I supported an organisation called Global Grassroots to help women in Rwanda to get educated. Rwanda is a country traumatized by a terrible genocide in 1994. Before, gender equality and empowering women was not on the agenda of the policy. Many people - particularly men- died during the genocide. Many women were left - abused or mutilated but with the chance to shoulder responsibility. Altough the nation began to empower women it is still not easy for Rwandan women. A lack of…

I read a lot about different projects on the global giving website. I decided to donate very quickly because I often want to support a project but don't know which one to support. There are a lot of different projects and not every organisation has a good repudation. Global giving convinced me because you can find a lot of infomation, pictures and contacts. Still - there are a lot of opportunities left. In the end, it was a quote from a woman which was crucial for my…

I think in the not-too-far future physical money in the way we know it wont exist anymore. Taking into concern that the credit card system like we know it today is not older than 60 years and there are already countries (e.g. the U.S.) were credit cards have successfully replaced money in the form of bills and coins in almost every area of daily life it isnt hard to imagine that, in another 50 years from now, this development has continued to a point were especially in the western world…

This week I used storytelling as an alternative currency. It may sound crazy at first but get this:

On the street an elderly man asked me for a cigarette. Usually I would just hand him one and think to myself "Damn, I lost another cigarette to a beggar." but this time I had a idea. It wasnt even planned, it just came to me in that second so I said "I will give you a cigarette in exchange for a story of yours." He was confused (as expected) at first and asked "What do you mean? What sort…

New partnership between the EU and UN Women to enhance gender equality worldwide

On 16th of April this year the EU and UN Woman set up a new partnership to strengthen the cooperation between these two organisations. The focuses are:

"to ensure women’s representation in decision- making in the fields of economics, politics and justice worldwide, as well as better access for women to work and social opportunities."

"a commitment to provide more support and protection to…

When I looked through the entries of WomenWatch one thing caught me attention. It was the Headline “Comic book helps Haitian women and girls find their way to career success”. I’m a fan of comics in general. They are a timeless way to tell stories, they never look old as if some films does and they transport there story over more than just written words.

Therefore, I took a closer look at the…

In my opinion the most interesting news story that has been published was the one about the implementation of kaws againat discrimination based on gender: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42120&Cr=&Cr1=

I found it quite shocking that there are still countries in Europe where there are no equal rights for men and women. I thought this is a topic that is on the Agenda in Asia or Africa…

My group would consist of well-known doctors from around the world who could analyze pictures via webcam to help patients with minor symptons/injuries and could give lessons to some via webcam so they could tell others.

I chose the text about inadequate school and teaching resources. It is about the very bad conditions in sub-saharan african schools, like overcrowded classrooms with children with different education levels, few well trained teachers, insufficient and too less school books, nearly no basic services (drinking water, toilets and electricity). A big issue related to this context is the absence of clean, safe and separate toilets for boys and girls. So especially girls are not willing to attend…

Relating to the project in Rwandan, a lot of people and spezific women will learn reading, writing and calculating in the year 2020. The wh*** educational background will grow and more and more knowledge is passed from to generation to generation. On that way the women will have more knowledge more about their rights and they will have more and more interest in using their rights. The community will start to support each other. Through such projects, new ideas will developed. Furthermore…

I chose the post on education for girls:

http://www.educationandtransition.org/resources/what-does-it-take-to-educate-a-girl/

It's about two filmmakers who traveled to Nepal and Uganda in 2010 to find the answer to one question: What does it take to educate a girl? In 2000, 110 million children in the world were not in school and two thirds of them were girls. I looked up the film…

We start our holiday to southern Italy in the year 2020. I am 36 years old. My two children, Katharina, 5, and Jonas, 3, can't wait to see their grandfather who lives in Italy. We pack our car which is an electro mobility car full of luggage, food and drinks for the journey. The food is from our local farmer, and the water is from the local potable water processing plant. We pass the austrian Brenner by paying our fee by the electronic eco-payment system. Because we have an electro mobility…

A scroll, given to UN Women by a Chinese delegation, has showcased a unique female-only script. Deputy Executive Director John Hendra received the scroll from a delegation of experts from Hunan Province, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.…

I've read an article about child marriage:

http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2012/05/american-girls-raise-awareness-and-money-to-fight-child-marriage-in-four-countries/

On further investigation i found this site with various informations about child marriage:…

Probably everyone knows about the reputation of Thailand as a paradise for sex tourists.

But not everyone knows that Thailand is the number one destination for phaedophiles.

Thousands of children in Thailand, especially young and innocent virgins are abducted, drugged and then forced into prostitution.

The girls are brought to brothels where they are constantly raped, beaten and humiliated in order to break their resistance.

Afterwards they are put to work…

Teach 30 Rwandan Women to Read, Write & Calculate

The project will educate 30 women. Every year allowing them to improve the lives of their families, to understand their rights and to actively participate in society. The project will reduce illiteracy among the women by teaching them reading, writing and basic math, providing them with business skills, and training them about their rights.

Nyiranteziryayo Viridian, The new owner of a salon, A former student talks about his…

There are a lot of interesting storys. I choose a Story from Nigeria. In 2008 the UNICEF started a key family practices (KFP). This practise should improve the child health, hygiene and nutrition. The program is for most disadvantaged region in Nigeria.

Five women were choosed for leading the programm for the villages. They are visiting the different villages and analyse the seven key behavoiurs and try to improved them. The seven key behavoiurs are

- exclusive breastfeeding for…