New
Age Islam News Bureau
16
October 2021
• All
Afghan Girls Will Be Allowed To Attend Secondary Schools: UN Official
• Female
Former Afghan Lawmakers, Judges Meet Greek PM
• Tanzania’s
Cash Scheme Lifts Rural Women Out Of Poverty
• Two
Deaths Shine Spotlight On Violence Against Women In Kenya
• 15
Nigerian Women, Children Escape From Boko Haram Captivity
• Saudi
Arabia’s Role In Empowering Women Highlighted At Euro-Asian Forum
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/hindu-muslim-women-sindur-khela/d/125590
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Hindu
And Muslim Women Participate In Sindur Khela Wearing PPE Kits In Kolkata Pandal
Indrajit
Kundu
October
15, 2021
Amarpalli
Sarbojanin Durga Puja Committee organised Sindur Khela while wearing PPE kits.
(Photo: Indrajit Kundu)
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The
five-day-long festivities of Durga Puja have come to an end with Vijaya
Dashami. However, Bengalis have made sure to enjoy these last few moments to
the fullest. Since the pandemic has still not allowed people to heave a sigh of
relief, puja pandals have taken their own measures to let people enjoy the
festival. One such pandal in Kolkata’s Dumdum area has come up with a safe way
to play Sindur Khela, an important ritual done by women before Devi Durga’s
visarjan.
Videos
from Amarpalli Sarbojanin Durga Puja Committee have now gone viral as the women
there were seen playing with sindur while wearing PPE kits.
The
organisers focused on the fact that they wanted to spread the message of
harmony and awareness against Covid-19 in such a safe way. And that’s not all!
Both Hindu as well as Muslim women were spotted taking part in the ritual.
As
per tradition, on Vijaya Dashami, Devi Durga will be immersed in the River
Ganga as people chant ‘Asche bochhor abar hobe’ (It’ll happen again next year).
Source:
India Today
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All
Afghan Girls Will Be Allowed To Attend Secondary Schools: UN Official
Oct
16, 2021
UNITED
NATIONS: A senior UN official said Friday the Taliban told him they will
announce “very soon” that all Afghan girls will be allowed to attend secondary
schools.
UNICEF
Deputy Executive Director Omar Abdi, who visited Kabul last week, told
reporters at UN headquarters that five of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces -- Balkh,
Jawzjan and Samangan in the northwest, Kunduz in the northeast and Urozgan in
the southwest -- are already allowing girls to attend secondary school.
He
said the Taliban’s education minister told him they are working on “a
framework” to allow all girls to continue their schooling beyond the sixth
grade, which should be published “between a month and two.”
“As I
speak to you today, millions of girls of secondary school age are missing out
on education for the 27th consecutive day,” Abdi said. “We are urging them not
to wait. Any day that we wait -- it’s a day lost for those girls that are out
of school.”
During
the Taliban’s previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996-2001, they denied girls
and women the right to education and barred them from working and public life.
Since their Aug. 15 takeover of Afghanistan as U.S. and NATO forces were in the
final stages of their chaotic withdrawal from the country after 20 years, the
Taliban have come under increasing international pressure to ensure women’s
rights to education and work.
Abdi
said that in every meeting he pressed the Taliban “to let girls resume their
learning,” calling it “critical for the girls themselves and for the country as
a whole.”
When
the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001 by a US-led coalition for harboring
Osama bin Laden who masterminded the 9/11 attacks on the United States, only
one million Afghan children were in school at all levels, he said.
Over
the past 20 years, that figure rose to almost 10 million children at all
levels, including 4 million girls, Abdi said, and in the last decade the number
of schools tripled from 6,000 to 18,000.
“Education
gains of the past two decades must be strengthened and not rolled back,” he
said.
But
the deputy chief of the United Nations Children’s Fund said despite this
progress, 4.2 million Afghan children are out of school including 2.6 million
girls.
If
all girls are allowed to attend secondary school, Abdi said, efforts must still
be made to overcome resistance from conservatives to allowing them to get a
secondary education.
“The
authorities that I’ve met said that when they put in place the framework that
they are working on, it will convince more parents to send their girls to
school” because it will address concerns in conservative societies about
separating girls and boys and female teachers, he said.
“So,
that has to be seen,” Abdi said.
While
in Kabul, the UNICEF deputy chief said he also visited a children’s hospital
“and was shocked to see how packed it was with malnourished children, some of
them babies.”
Abdi
said the health system and social services are on the verge of collapse, medical
supplies are running dangerously low, outbreaks of measles and watery diarrhea
are increasing, and polio and COVID-19 remain serious concerns.
“Even
before the Taliban takeover, at least 10 million children across the country
were in need of humanitarian assistance to survive,” he said, “and at least one
million of these children are at risk of dying due to severe acute malnutrition
if they are not treated immediately.”
UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the world to prevent the Afghan economy
from collapsing and help the Afghan people, an appeal echoed by Abdi who said
“the situation is critical and it will only get worse.”
Source:
Times of India
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Female
former Afghan lawmakers, judges meet Greek PM
15
October ,2021
Six
female former lawmakers and judges from Afghanistan were received Friday by
Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, after fleeing their homeland in
the wake of the Taliban takeover.
The
three former lawmakers and three former judges arrived in September, assisted
by Greek and international charities, and are expected to be resettled in other
European countries. They met with Greece’s first female president, Katerina
Sakellaropoulou, earlier this week.
Afghanistan’s
twin-chamber parliament was effectively dissolved after the Taliban seized
control of the country in August. The future of the national assembly and the
question of whether women will be allowed to hold any positions of authority
remain uncertain.
The
Greek government has taken a tough line on illegal immigration, and recently
announced plans to hire more border guards in an effort to deter Afghan
migrants from reaching the European Union.
In
Washington Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked Greece for sheltering
the former lawmakers. He made the remarks after a meeting with visiting Greek
Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.
Among
the former parliament members present Friday was Shagufa Noorzai from
Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province.
Speaking
at an event in Athens to promote democracy earlier this month, she vowed to try
to continue helping Afghan women.
“We
struggled for 20 years, but this all, I think, went to zero. We lost. They
killed our thoughts, our freedom of expression,” she said. “Our country has
darkened.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Tanzania’s
cash scheme lifts rural women out of poverty
Kizito
Makoye
16.10.2021
MTWARA,
Tanzania
When
Rukia Mtawali was chosen to join a conditional cash transfer program and began
to receive money for purchasing food items for her family, she did not imagine
a small fund would change the life of her family.
But
after a year, the 41-year-old mother of five, who lives in the impoverished
Lyenje village in the southern Tandahimba district, saved enough money to start
a poultry farm where she rears and sells indigenous breed chicken and runs a
small shop selling consumer goods.
“I am
very happy to receive the capital. It has opened the door for me. I earn a good
income to support my family,” she said.
Mtawali’s
family is among millions in rural Tanzania, with the majority headed by women,
who have received cash giveaways to fight poverty.
Extreme
poverty
As
part of a broader strategy to empower rural women, the government has injected
Tanzanian shillings 130 billion ($56.4 million) to be rolled out as conditional
cash transfers to lift extremely poor families from poverty.
Minister
of State, Public Service Management and Good Governance Mohamed Mchengerwa said
the government is committed to helping extremely poor families benefit from the
initiative.
“I
would like to see these funds spent in accordance with the intended purposes to
help poor citizens,” Mchengerwa told a rally in northern Sengerema district.
Funding
is seeking to improve consumption and livelihoods while increasing children’s
primary school enrolment and completion, let alone improving access to health
care, according to the government.
Despite
attaining impressive economic growth figures, poverty is widespread in rural
Tanzania where 30 million people live.
Across
Africa, evidence shows cash transfer programs are effective tools to increase
the quality and quantity of consumption of poor households, improve education,
health and nutritional outcomes.
Based
on the lessons learned from the successful implementation of a pilot project,
the government has since 2010 scaled up the program to reach 1.1 million
extremely poor households (6 million people) in 10,000 villages.
Increasing
resilience to shocks
A
recent assessment conducted by the World Bank suggests the initiative, run by
the Tanzania Social Action Trust Fund (TASAF) which aims to increase income,
food consumption and strengthen people’s ability to cope with shocks, has
lifted families from poverty and contributed to improved access to health,
consumption of food and education services.
Since
2001, East Tanzania has been running conditional cash transfer programs to
support a broader social protection strategy.
Families
chosen receive a small amount of cash of approximately $18 each month as an
incentive to increase household consumption of food and enhancing health and
education services that poor families would otherwise shun.
The
innovative program identifies and gives money to families to facilitate
positive change.
Under
the initiative, beneficiaries are given up to $18 per month depending on the
family size, conditioned on keeping their children enrolled in school and
taking children younger than 7 for regular check-ups.
The
initiative has had a significant effect on her children’s health and on
household saving, according to Mtawali.
“Before
getting this money, I couldn’t afford medical costs for my children,” she said.
Despite
efforts to fight poverty, analysts said the real number of people living in
extreme poverty in Tanzania increased between 2007 and 2018 due to rapid
population growth.
“Poor
families face many barriers to access livelihood opportunities. We place
stronger focus to remove those barriers,” said Muderis Mohammed, senior World
Bank Protection officer.
The
social safety net program help beneficiaries save money and get more assets, he
said.
“This
support is critical to improving the lives of many more people in need,”
Mohammed told Anadolu Agency.
Affordable
and cost-effective
Ladislaus
Mwamanga, the head of TASAF, said the initiative targeted more than 10% of the
population, approximately 650,000 households living below the food poverty line
and an additional 350,000 on the verge of crossing that red line.
Mwamanga
said cash transfers are affordable, cost-effective and more efficient than food
or other types of aid.
Cash
hand-outs can easily be scaled up to help millions of poor people without
making an effort, he said.
Mwamanga
said the aim is to permanently lift extremely poor families from poverty by
building their asset base, human capital and resilience necessary to keep them
afloat longer.
“We
are very confident to achieve our mission. Tanzanians deserve to live a decent
life,” he said.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/tanzania-s-cash-scheme-lifts-rural-women-out-of-poverty/2393813
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Two
deaths shine spotlight on violence against women in Kenya
October
15, 2021
NAIROBI:
Cynthia Makokha was a 17-year-old student and volleyball player. Agnes Tirop
was a 25-year-old rising athletics star, who finished fourth in the 5,000m race
at the Tokyo Olympics and had won two World Championship bronze medals.
Both
women were found dead in Kenya this week, and while their murders are not
linked they have shone a spotlight on violence against women, which the
government says has grown worse since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tirop
was found in her bed at her home in the town of Iten, with multiple stab wounds
to the neck. Police on Thursday arrested a man they described as her husband,
whom they called “the main suspect.”
Makokha,
who was a student at the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy in Nairobi, was raped,
killed and then dumped in a river. She had been on her way to visit family in
Western Kenya on Oct. 4 when she disappeared. Her body was found days later.
One
suspect is in custody, Mumias East sub-county police commander Stephen Mwoni
told Reuters.
Nearly
half of women in Kenya experience gender-based violence over the course of
their lifetimes, and a third of Kenyan girls experience some form of sexual
violence before turning 18, according to the Gender Violence Recovery Center at
the Nairobi Women’s Hospital.
“I’m
scared,” said 17-year-old Latifah Shaban, who shared a bunk bed with Makokha.
She said Makokha often woke up at 3am, cracked the hallway door open, and used
that light to study. “I’ve heard a lot of rape cases. I’m just always scared
about men… it’s worse,” she said.
The
school’s dorms are only a few months old, created to help protect the girls,
many of whom come from vulnerable living situations, administrators said.
“As
much as we are trying to ensure that the girls are safe, outside they…. are not
safe,” said Claris Akinyi, the school’s principal.
Tirop’s
family told Kenya Television Network that she had separated from the man
suspected of killing her because she suspected he had cheated on her when she
was competing in Japan.
Police
say that after Tirop’s murder, they found a new athletics trophy, still carefully
wrapped, in her living room.
On
social media, fellow athletes and politicians shared messages of condolence, as
did sportswear manufacturer Adidas and the World Athletics governing body.
“Agnes
was an incredible person, a record breaking athlete and a beloved member of our
family,” Adidas posted
https://twitter.com/adidasrunning/status/1448344158087827457?s=20 on Twitter.
At
Makokha’s school, rows of seated girls passed around tissues to wipe their
tears as they remembered their fellow student. One girl untied her sweatshirt
from around the waist to cry into it; another clutched a poster saying: “STOP
KILLING.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1948711/world
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15
Nigerian women, children escape from Boko Haram captivity
OCTOBER
12, 2021
Six
women and nine children abducted by Nigeria's Boko Haram extremist rebels in
the country’s troubled northeast have escaped after months in captivity,
according to a Borno state official.
The
15 former hostages met with Borno Governor Babagana Zulum in the state's
capital, Maiduguri.
“Today
is one of our happiest moments for us to see these young girls and women that
were abducted by the insurgents,” Mr. Zulum said Monday, attributing their
freedom to "prayers and ongoing reconciliation and reintegration programs”
in Borno state.
The
governor said he is hoping for “absolute peace” that would bring an end to the
10-year-old extremist insurgency in which thousands have died and many others
kidnapped.
The
15 women and children were abducted in two separate incidents in October 2020
and May this year when the extremists attacked their villages in Borno and
Adamawa states, both of which have been badly affected by the extremist
violence, Zuwaira Gambo, the commissioner for women affairs in Borno state
said.
The
women and children hiked for six days through the Buni Yadi forest until they
were discovered by security forces and taken to safety in Borno state, said Mr.
Gambo.
Boko
Haram and its offshoot the Islamic State West Africa Province have targeted
women and children in attacks in northeast Nigeria. More than 1,000 children
have been kidnapped since 2013, according to the U.N. development agency. That
includes the 2014 abduction of 276 girls from a school in Chibok which drew
international outrage. More than 100 of the Chibok girls are still missing.
“Abducted
women have been subjected to violence and abuse and used as spies, fighters,
and suicide bombers,” the UNDP said in a 2020 report.
“Women
who have escaped or been released are not always welcomed back to their
communities and those returning from captivity or involvement with armed groups
do not have access to the training, counseling, and reintegration programs that
target men,” said the report.
Source:
The Hindu
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Saudi
Arabia’s role in empowering women highlighted at Euro-Asian Forum
October
15, 2021
SAINT
PETERSBURG: Saudi Arabia participated at the Third Euro-Asian Forum for Women's
in Saint Petersburg to highlight critical economic roles. Saudi women played
vital roles in entrepreneurship, leadership positions and participation in
decision-making in the public and private sectors, and more.
Organized
by the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly (the Senate) of the Russian
Federation in cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the CIS
Member States. A delegation from the Saudi Shoura Council, headed by
assistant-speaker Dr. Hanan bint Abdulrahim Al-Ahmadi, highlighted the
Kingdom's role in empowering women and their essential role in society and
their contribution in different fields.
The
Forum, inaugurated in 2015, is the largest international platform uniting
female leaders from all continents to discuss women's role in the modern world
and work out new approaches to solving global problems.
Russian
President, Vladimir Putin, attended the second day of the Forum. In his speech,
he stressed that the Forum brings together women who are political leaders,
entrepreneurs, and activists in the public sector from more than 100 countries
worldwide, which is unbelievable in light of the current circumstances in the
world today.
Putin
underlined that due to women's great awareness of the value of life and their
compassion, they have always had a special mission in the field of healthcare.
He stressed his confidence that this will continue in the future and that women
will have a role in developing the healthcare sector, medicine, and protecting
public health, considering the lessons learned from the pandemic.
He
also showed his gratitude to the world's doctors and healthcare workers for
everything they do to fight COVID-19 in the whole world.
In
her speech at the open session titled "The Group of Women in the Work of
the G-20 Summit (W20), and the Role of Women in Restoring Stability," Dr.
Al-Ahmadi praised Saudi Arabia's role in hosting the G20 meetings and G20
summit meetings, including the women's Group (W20) during a difficult time due
to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She
noted that empowering women is a journey that has no end and that all countries
are working hard to reach and achieve their goals in women's empowerment.
Dr.
Al-Ahmadi noted that there is a great legislative movement in the Kingdom
regarding women's rights. It includes the issuance of a law related to fighting
harassment, laws supporting women who provide for their families, and decisions
that give them the ability to travel, such as the right to drive, in addition
to many supportive and possible choices for women. She added that this was only
possible with the great support of the Saudi leadership, emphasizing the
critical legislative role of the Shoura Council in this great movement through
its legislative, supervisory, and parliamentary functions.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1948716/saudi-arabia
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