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	UN Special Rapporteurs call for investment in women & girls to ensure gender equality by UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights   Mar 8, 2008   On the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and 15 years after the Vienna Human Rights Conference, the reality of women around the world is still far from the ideal of rights.   Furthermore, civil and political rights are still perceived to be the foundation of rights without due consideration of the equal importance of economic, social and cultural rights. In this respect, the theme of this year"s International Women"s Day, "Investing in Women and Girls" is a timely reminder that women"s access to sources of finance, participation in decision making processes on macro economic and fiscal policies, and entitlements for sustainable livelihoods are paramount towards bridging the gap between universal human rights standards and the realities of the majority of the world"s women.   Economic policy and management continues to be seen as a neutral and technical process, insulated from the prevailing power dynamics, including gender relations, on which societies are based.   The neo-liberal economic approach, which has become a strong policy framework applied in the context of globalization, has favoured the primacy of markets over human development concerns.   Current economic conditions bear upon women"s welfare directly, by transforming their family and community on the one hand, and often prodding them to become providers of cheap and flexible labour for the globalizing markets on the other.   In the past two decades the participation of women in the labour force has experienced considerable growth. In some cases, this has resulted in greater autonomy for women; however, the process has also in many cases increased the vulnerability of women and girls to unchecked exploitation, abuse and violence.   Trade and fiscal policies largely privileging property rights and investors interests over human rights, privatisation, and the exploitation of natural resources by businesses, without appropriate regulatory and monitoring mechanisms by Governments, have in many cases resulted in loss of livelihood, dispossession from homes and lands, impoverishment and a widening of the gap between the rich and the poor and women and men.   Despite the growing commitment on the part of States and other actors to combat violence against women, increased poverty and marginalisation and lack of protective mechanisms fuel violence, make women and girls easy targets for abuses such as trafficking and erode women"s enjoyment of their rights.   In this regard, the announcement by the Secretary General on 25 February 2008 of a United Nations campaign to end violence against women is a most welcome initiative. While such a campaign promoted by the highest authority of the United Nations demonstrates the much needed leadership that will give momentum to the anti-violence efforts of the past decades, its success will ultimately be determined by the allocation of sufficient funds for its implementation.   On the occasion of International Women"s Day, we call on States, bilateral and multilateral donor agencies and business enterprises to step up efforts to respect, protect and fulfill women"s civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, and allocate adequate resources towards addressing discrimination and violence against women.   It must also be borne in mind that investing in women and girls has a multiplier effect on productivity, efficiency and sustained economic growth. Women must be empowered to claim the full range of their human rights, and cannot do so until they are liberated from charitable dispensations and the vagaries of the market.   * Yakin Ertürk is the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences; Miloon Kothari is the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing; Bernards A.N. Mudho is the Independent Expert on the effects of economic reform policies and foreign debt on the full enjoyment of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights.
	East Africa: 14 million "face hardship from drought" by IRIN News Horn of Africa   KAMPALA, 3 March 2008   Warnings have been issued that pastoralists are especially vulnerable to drought in the next three months.   Up to 14 million people in the greater Horn of African region are expected to suffer under harsh weather conditions in the next three months that threaten food security, according to climate specialists meeting in Kampala, the Ugandan capital.   Experts under the regional body, the IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre, urged governments to take immediate action to protect the region.   Professor Laban Ogallo, head of the centre, based in Kenya, said that unless governments took steps to stem the impact of the impending conditions, development targets would not be met. “Lack of rain should not bring about a crisis if people in policy management take the advice we are offering. These climatic conditions can forestall whatever they want to do on development,” he said.   “It is estimated that between 11 million and 14 million people, or 10 percent of the regional population, will be affected. Pastoralist communities are going to be the most vulnerable and this may cause conflict as these communities move from their areas to look for water and pasture,” said Patrick Luganda, the media official of the Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum.   Luganda said the cattle corridor of the region would experience tension as most of it is forecast to experience dry spells, putting pressure on available water and pasture. Other agricultural areas are also expected to suffer as a result. “We forecast tension between cattle keepers in Kenya and those in Uganda. Kenya will be drier so these communities will try to move while those in northeastern Uganda will move further inland. This will bring about conflicts over water, pasture and over animals,” Luganda said.   Much of Somalia, eastern, central and southern Ethiopia, as well as much of Kenya and southern Sudan is expected to be affected.   Whereas much of Uganda is likely to have near-normal or above-normal rainfall, the southwestern region will experience harsh conditions. Areas such as southwestern and eastern Sudan, western Ethiopia, southwestern Kenya, extreme southern Burundi, as well as northern, western and southwestern Tanzania, are also likely to have near-normal or above-normal rainfall.   However, because of the political crisis in Kenya that has kept many people in camps, they have not tended to their farms and this threatens food security in the east African country, according to Luganda.   “This outlook may help governments to plan better as it tells them which areas are safe and which will need help,” Luganda said.   The specialists noted, however, that despite the expectation of poor rainfall, “episodic wet spells and flash floods could occur” over areas expected to be dry. Flash floods over the east African region displaced thousands last year and compromised food security.
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