Capacity Building

Against the backdrop of the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly, UN Women in partnership with the Government of Canada today launched the Global Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Economic Empowerment (www.empowerwomen.org). This open online platform seeks to re-vitalize women’s economic empowerment by building connections, and bringing together people who need resources with those that have them.

Some say history repeats itself. In 2004, UNDP issued what I believe is one of the best of its global Human Development Reports, Managing Cultural Diversity. The report argued that managing cultural diversity is one of the central challenges of our time and that policy choices about recognizing diverse ethnicities, religions, languages and values “are an inescapable feature of the landscape of politics in the 21st century.”

Change in the mind set of people, especially among the minorities, is necessary to address various issues related to the backwardness of women on various fronts, National Commission for Women chairperson Mamta Sharma said.

Inaugurating the first of the NCW’s regional conferences christened “Voice of the Voiceless”, on the topic Muslim Women: Challenges and Solutions, in Hyderabad on Sunday, Sharma said ignorance of rights has been the undoing of women not only among Muslims but in every community.

“I hope that this Mock Congress exercise will give the participating women the confidence to realize their potential as leaders in Palau, and can give them the courage to put up their names and stand for national elections.” These were the encouraging remarks from Senator Uduch Sengebau-Senior, during the Mock Congress for Women in Palau. Senator Sengebau-Senior is one of only three women in the Palau Congress.