Information
and
articles posted:

Sign the Petition to President-Elect Obama to remedy 8 years of failed women's health policies

Economy Is Only Issue for Michigan Governor

Africa: Gender Budgeting Still Finding Its Feet

"I Heard a Tap-Tap of Gunfire. But I Didn't Realize My Legs Had Gone."

The Post-Election Narrative: A Tale of Two Women

Getting inside Obama's 'brain'

The Barrier That Didn't Fall

Industry, Feds Entice Black Mothers to Bottle Feed

Women hope to fill ranks of Obama’s Pentagon

Will men dominate Obama administration?

Ideal candidate for Hillary’s seat hard to find

Sexual Assault on Campus: Culture Change 101

 

Survey Reveals Global Gender Gap

NORWAY BEST FOR WOMEN, YEMEN WORST

Norway is the country with the narrowest gender gap in the world, while Yemen has the widest. A new global survey of equality between the sexes reveals that despite near equal access to education and health care, women are still way behind when it comes to political and economic decision-making.

The glass ceiling is alive and well, despite women across the world having increased access to health care and education. A new report published on Wednesday by the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows that the gender gap persists in both the industrial and developing world. The 2008 Global Gender Gap Report predictably ranks the Nordic countries as having the greatest equality between the sexes, with Norway now replacing Sweden at the top of the list. Saudi Arabia, Chad and Yemen were the lowest ranked in the survey of 130 countries.

The report found that on average women and men have reached near parity in access to education, health and survival. However, economically and politically the gap is still large...

.....The United States was ranked 27th up from 31st last year due to the higher number of women appointed to positions of power.

Read more about the Global Gender Gap Report
Download the full report
posted 14 November 2008

Bella Abzug: In Hard Times, Look to the Legacy of the Brilliant Feisty Bella, Not the Poser Sarah Palin

By Don Hazen, AlterNet.
Posted November 2, 2008.
Washington Post

In this political moment when Sarah Palin is the new conservative female leader archetype, the image and record of Bella Abzug stands out in profound contrast. Abzug was a one of a kind -- a brilliant, charismatic, caring, impossible, incorrigible, relentless leader, who made an indelible mark in politics in her colorful career as a lawyer, Congresswoman, and leader of myriad causes.

As described in the introduction to the marvelous Bella Abzug: Oral History ( FSG), edited by Suzanne Levine and Mary Thom, "Bella Abzug was an activist and leader in every major social movement of her lifetime -- from socialist Zionism and labor in the 40s, to the civil rights, ban-the-bomb and anti-Vietnam war movements in the 50s and 60s; the women's movement in the 70s and 80s; and, in the years before she died, global human rights."

At the age of 50, in 1970, Bella ran for office for the first time and was elected to Congress, representing a progressive district in Manhattan. Being on the inside was a new experience for her, but Bella became one of the most respected strategists in the Congress. Friend and foe alike marveled at her mastery of Congressional procedure and her innovative approaches to legislation."

Read more about Bella and her activism
posted 5 November 2008