India: by TrekEarth

a glimpse of India, from TrekEarth

India is the most dangerous place to be a girl...

Today on CNN is a sad story about the death of a 3 month old baby girl- killed because she was not a boy.

Some startling info from the report:
India has a growing gender gap: The 2011 census showed that for every 1,000 boys six years or younger there were only 914 girls. It is the lowest child sex ratio since India's independence in 1947.

The United Nations has said India is the most dangerous place to be a girl. Dr. Anand Krishnan at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), who has studied the gender gap for years, agrees.

"Yes, largely this is from the point of view of mortality statistics for girls versus boys," Krishnan told CNN.

Sex-selective abortions are against the law in India but are still happening at an alarming rate, he said.

His study shows a surprising trend: Sex selective abortions among the educated and well-off seem to be more prevalent than among the desperately poor and uneducated. Despite greater prosperity, their mindsets have not changed and they have the money to pay for ultrasounds and abortions.

"A boy is seen as a better investment. They prefer boys," Krishnan said.

Go here to read more

Women’s UN Report Network Article Round-up

In the news this week:

Afghanistan - Stoning of Woman Accused of Adultery

Uzbekistan- Rural Women Groups for Skills & Livlihoods

India- Stop Child Marriage Entrapment

Egypt - Evolving Analysis of Women's Issues, Rights

Women Confronting Violence in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala- From Survivors to Defenders

Welcome to Nika

Have you head of Nika Water? A featured non-profit org of More Than Me Global, Nika has been featured on this blog several times, so I'm sure you've seen them around. If you haven't, allow me to introduce you:

"Through the sale of our premium bottled water, NIKA hopes to bring a voice to the world’s poor who suffer without the basic right to clean water and simple sanitation. And by donating 100% of our profits to support clean water projects in impoverished countries, NIKA will provide the basic tools and critical assistance to help thousands of families improve their lives in a meaningful way and end the cycle of poverty. Our goal is to create awareness and knowledge to serve as a catalyst for thousands of youth to get involved in our quest to bring clean water to the impoverished world.

Mindful of our duties as stewards of the Earth, NIKA has been certified as CarbonFree® by Carbonfund.org through our investment in carbon offsetting programs such as a reforestation project in Nicaragua. In addition, NIKA has developed a very unique recycling program where we pay high schools around the country a small fee for each plastic bottle that the school collects and recycles. Through this "One-for-One Recycling Program," our aim is not only to be plastic bottle neutral but an advocate of the importance and simplicity of basic recycling as well.

Our founders are a group of seasoned business executives who have successfully built and expanded for-profit businesses and who now share a common focus of creating social and environmentally responsible businesses that can be used to help solve global problems. Our founders have funded all of NIKA's startup and launch/operating losses and will realize no compensation or economic benefit from NIKA's operations. We are committed to making NIKA truly the most ethical bottled water brand on the market."

With the warm summer months approaching, commit to ONLY drinking Nika Water this year and make a difference in the process!

China's Children Poisoned

China's Children Poisoned by Lead
Officials Deny Necessary Blood Testing and Intimidate Worried Parents

Xiao Wu is a fragile, listless 10-year old, whose thinness reflects her difficulty digesting food. She has lead poisoning, caused by the smelter across the street from her home in Henan province. Xiao Wu is one of hundreds of thousands of child lead poisoning victims in an epidemic spreading across China, a new report says.

China’s deputy environment minister has spoken of health problems caused by pollution, and in recent years the country has passed a number of environmental regulations. However, these protections are enforced sporadically. Local government officials often shield economic interests, ignoring competing health problems.

Local authorities in contaminated areas offer limited blood testing. Often, sick children have suspiciously normal blood test results. Sometimes authorities withhold results. Officials tell children with high blood lead levels to eat garlic or drink milk, denying them legitimate care.

Children with acute lead poisoning need to be hospitalized and given chelation therapy. Failure to provide prompt treatment can lead to permanent mental and physical disabilities, or even death.

The Chinese government needs to enforce its environmental controls, ensure its children’s right to health, and hold violators accountable. Otherwise, it will be responsible for the children, like Xiao Wu, who suffer the consequences.

Update on Japan

For us in DC, life is back to normal. Spring is here, and although I couldn't quite make myself go to view the cherry blossoms this year-associated as they are in my Japanese mind with celebration-it's hard not to feel all revved up at the prospect of warmer weather, longer days, and days off. And this year, I feel keenly that it's a luxury to feel this way.

Because for people in Japan, life is full of reminders that it's not back to normal. Aftershocks continue, as you can see here in a map covering just the last week, and my mother tells me you just can't get bottled water in Tokyo ever since the radiation scare that started 22 days ago. And people in the Tohoku area are mourning the 25,000+ people who were killed or are still missing, more likely than not at an evacuation center - for there are still more than 170,000 registered at the official centers. Then there are still others, official numbers unknown, who are squatting in buildings they were able to reach and take shelter in.

It's required extraordinary efforts to keep a semblance of normalcy together in Japan. One of our project leaders has been just buying fuel, shipping it into Japan, and distributing it to people to power their kerosene stoves to stay warm. It's not a long-term solution by any means, but it's badly needed. To help with these efforts, and thanks to more than 30,000 donors and dozens of companies, GlobalGiving and GlobalGiving UK have disbursed more than $3 million to 14 organizations: Architecture for Humanity, Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA), Association for Aid and Relief (AAR), Civic Force, International Medical Corps, Japan Platform, Japanese Emergency NGOs (JEN), Lifeline Energy, Mercy Corps, Peace Winds, Save the Children, Shelter Box, Shine Humanity, and Telecom for Basic Human Needs (BHN).

But we're also looking at the medium-term transition and a partial return to normal:

-Civic Force has partnered with local carpenters to build bathhouses, making it possible for individuals who have gone weeks without bathing to wash;

-JEN staff and volunteers are removing sludge from public buildings and homes;

-Peace Winds and Mercy Corps have teamed up to train caregivers to help children through the trauma of disaster;

-AMDA has organized movies and sports events and provided exercise equipment to alleviate boredom and restlessness in evacuation centers; and

-The International Medical Corps has partnered with local organizations to provide telephone counseling and training in psychological first aid.

Others have begun to develop long-term plans for recovery. Architecture for Humanity is committed to the physical rebuilding of communities, while Telecom for Basic Human Needs has developed a plan for reestablishing radio infrastructure in collaboration with Japan Platform. You can see - and support - these specific projects on GlobalGiving.org and GlobalGiving.co.uk.

Over the next month or two, we'll be channeling the funds that are still coming in from corporate matching campaigns, cause-marketing promotions, and individual donors. On our blog you can read more about how GlobalGiving's corporate partners are contributing. And in the UK, GlobalGiving UK's partnership with JustGiving continues to provide an easy way for individuals and corporations to fundraise for disaster relief projects. Ocado, the home delivery company, used JustGiving's platform to raise £200,000 from staff and customers for Mercy Corps' work via GlobalGiving UK.

For more real-time updates on our work, you can follow us on Twitter (@GlobalGiving) or "like" our Facebook Page. And updates from the field are all on our "Updates from Japan" page.

Thank you for your support,

Mari Kuraishi and the GlobalGiving Team

GlobalGiving Service in Japan- update

GlobalGiving has almost reached their goal of raising $4,000,000 to help Japan! Thanks so much to all the 34, 686 people who have donated so far. Less than a million dollars left to raise, spread the word!

"This tremor was unlike any I’ve experienced previously, and I’ve lived here for eight years. It was a sustained rolling that made it impossible to stand, almost like vertigo."

- Matt Alt, an American writer and translator living in Japan

Funding Information

Total Funding Received to Date: $3,087,975

Remaining Goal to be Funded: $912,025

Total Funding Goal: $4,000,000 

Japan's tiniest miracle

Amid the silent corpses a baby cried out - and Japan met its tiniest miracle.

On March 14 soldiers from the Japanese Defense Force were going door-to-door, pulling bodies from homes flattened by the earthquake and tsunami in Ishinomaki City, a coastal town northeast of Senda. More accustomed to the crunching of rubble and the sloshing of mud than to the sound of life, they dismissed the baby's cry as a mistake. Until they heard it again.
They made their way to the pile of debris, and carefully removed fragments of wood and slate, shattered glass and rock. And then they saw her: a four-month old baby girl in a pink woolen bear suit.

Go here to read the rest of the article

Japan

To be honest, I have put this post off for several days. Not because I don't care, or don't want to help, but because I have been watching the news and the live footage in Japan has badly hurt my heart. I have seen few things as terrible as the destructin there... and I just haven't had the emotional strength to dwell on a it long enough to write a decent post. But today I decided that avoiding it was helping nobody and the last thing I want to do is not help.

I think this article by GlobalGiving co-founder and Japanese National, Mari Kuraishi sums up March 11th perfectly:

Friday March 11th passed in something of a blur. I woke up, heard about the largest earthquake ever to hit Japan, and started speed dialing my family and friends. Earthquakes happen frequently in Japan, so every couple of years I end up calling, "Just to make sure." But this time, I'd gotten an email in the middle of my night, immediately after the earthquake struck in Japan mid-afternoon, from a friend saying, "This might be it. If anything happens to me, please look out for my daughter." But all circuits were busy. OK, try again later. From the quick snippets of news I saw, neither my family nor friends were anywhere near the epicenter. "Later" eventually got to be too late for me to be hassling people who may have been through a big scare and may have just gotten to sleep. So wait until the end of the day here, when it would be morning in Japan. Distract myself with work.

But working at GlobalGiving requires us to be on top of disasters, and much of the day we were scrambling like crazy to figure out what the scale of the damage was, where our project partners in Japan were, and how we could make sure to channel the outpouring of generosity that was already hitting our servers starting first thing in the morning. So I became glued to livestreamed TV from Japan. I couldn't get away from it. Knowing all I do about how difficult it is for laypeople to help directly, it was difficult to resist the feeling that I needed to get on a plane back home. Maybe I could get through to my friends and family that way.

It's inevitable when disasters happen that commentators point out that philanthropists might want to wait until after the immediate relief phase is over. But as I kept up my stream of emails into Japan, checking on existing organizations we work with, and looking for the right new organizations, I've been struck by how everyone I have been communicating with is so heartened to hear that someone wants to help, that someone out there cares enough from thousands of miles away to reach out.

GlobalGiving is working hard to identify the best local partners on the ground to receive these funds. Already, our immediate disaster response partners are having an impact.

In the coming days we'll continue to identify additional Japanese organizations providing relief following the earthquake and tsunami and will keep you updated by email about how the funds are used and the impact your donation is making.

I was glued to the livestream most of Sunday too. It was Monday morning in Japan and TV reporters were positioned at train stations to cover how people were getting back to work. But many stations unexpectedly were closed and people ended up waiting for taxis instead. Then, the litany of train lines that were not running came on-for close to 5 minutes. That spoke volumes. It only made me realize that I had an unspoken hope that life would start returning to normal-and it wasn't going to. At least for now. The city of Tokyo is at a virtual standstill. Friends in the suburbs are wandering around looking for ATMs with cash and stores with food. Rolling blackouts are finally being implemented. Everyone-including people who weren't directly affected-is going around in a daze.

And yes, I got through to everybody Friday evening. Everyone I know is safe. But to have thousands of people willing to help means more than I can say.

WANT TO HELP???? Here are a few safe options:

text JAPAN to 50555 to give $10

These 3 GlobalGiving projects are focused solely on helping the earthquake and tsunami victims:
1. Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund

2. Emergency Aid to Tsunami & Earthquake Survivors

3. Response to Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Also, the LDS Church Humanitarian Fund uses donations to provide food, clean water, and shelter to Japan. Go HERE TO DONATE

HR Report 3: Closing China’s Network of Secret Jails

 NEWSLETTER December 2010
IMPACT


Fighting widespread illegal detention


In September, Chinese state media reported that Beijing police had arrested the chairman and general manager of a private company accused of detaining people in “black jails”—secret, makeshift detention centers that Human Rights Watch helped to expose.

Go here to read more.

September News- reports from around the world on Women's Rights

WUNRN lists news reports and articles from around the world that pertain to Women's Rights- such a wealth of information! Some good, some bad, but all of it is essential to learn about the pressing issues women face today.  Here's a sampling*: (my favorite is the report on divorce ceremonies in Japan- clever!)

 

-Beijing China wrote a new Platform for Action on the system of abuse against female children in their country: Beijing Platform for Action Chapter IV, The Girl Child

-UNICEF presents a new plan for progress on children's rights and equality: PROGRESS FOR CHILDREN - EQUITY ISSUES

-A protest of mothers and daughters: Mothers of Palestinian Prisoners in Israel Mark Eid in Protest

-The Philippines debate a new divorce bill: PROPOSED DIVORCE BILL STIRS CONTROVERSY

-Yemen questions the safe age of marriage for young girls: Safe Age of Marriage in Yemen- a case study

-Acid attacks are a growing problem in Pakistan: Acid Victims Try to Rebuild Lives

-An interesting new divorce trend in Japan: Tokyo sees rise in 'divorce ceremonies'

-Prostitution news in Sweden: Sex for sale: Why Sweden punishes buyers -Fiji women restricted in the military: FEMALE SOLDIERS WARNED ON PREGNANCY ISSUES

-The USA calls for equality in the workplace: Pay Equity and Workplace Opportunity:A Simple Matter of Fairness
  -Jordan questions teen marriage:Teen marriage a restless topic in Jordan
-Women win the Prize for Creativity in Rural Life Award: Winners, WWSF

*Many more reports can be found here

WUNRN July 2010

The Women's UN Report Network is a database of reports concerning women's rights, current events, and struggles around the world. Here is a sampling of reports from the month of July 2010:

Haiti - Women's Fight Against Rape - Report

Syria - Ban on Full Islamic Veil at Universities

Japan - Women Hold Record for World's Longest Life Span

Thailand - Roles & Challenges for Malay Muslim Women in South

FGM - UK - British Girls Undergo FGM During Holidays Despite Laws

Turkey - Baby Brides Project Against Early & Forced Marriages

To read more reports for the month of July go here.