NEWS
Fact Sheets | Press Releases | Speeches
2010
JAN | FEB | MAR | APRIL | MAY | JUNE | JULY | AUG | SEPT | OCT | NOV | DEC
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005
JANUARY
January 7, 2010
ICRW research contributes to HIV-related stigma publications in Tanzania, Vietnam
HIV-related stigma and discrimination hampers the effective prevention, treatment and care of people living with the virus. It also undermines national efforts in developing countries to reduce the transmission of HIV.
A pioneer in the field of HIV-related stigma, ICRW continues to analyze stigma, develop interventions for mitigating it and evaluate programs that aim to reduce it. One of the latest results of this effort is a national guide on how to incorporate the issue of stigma and discrimination into HIV programs. The guide is based on research and recommendations by ICRW and its Tanzanian partners, Kimara Peer Educators and Health Promoters Trust and Muhimbili University of Health Sciences. It will be used for various audiences in Tanzania.
Another new publication is a fact sheet that aims to help Vietnamese better understand and address HIV-related stigma as well as stigma directed toward drug users. Reducing stigma is a key component in Vietnam’s national AIDS strategy, and since 2002, ICRW and its partner in Vietnam, the Institute for Social Development Studies, have conducted research, interventions and advocated policymakers in an effort to tackle the issue.
DECEMBER
December 24, 2009
ICRW Congratulates Dr. Rajiv Shah on Confirmation as USAID Administrator
ICRW applauds the U.S. Senate’s confirmation of Dr. Rajiv Shah to head the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Shah provides much needed, long awaited leadership for USAID as the agency aims to modernize foreign assistance and elevate the pivotal role of development in U.S. foreign policy objectives.
ICRW looks forward to working with Shah to ensure that gender is effectively integrated into USAID programs – which Shah stressed during his confirmation hearing is “often the difference between success and failure of a broad variety of development investments.”
Read ICRW’s statement on Shah’s nomination.
December 14, 2009
ICRW Experts Examine the Role of Women as Leaders
In a newly-published article, a team of ICRW experts examine the leadership roles women occupy in the household and public sphere as well as in formal and informal economies. Published by the SAIS Review of International Affairs, the piece aims to fill a gap in information about the ways in which women serve as leaders and how their leadership can improve lives in developing countries.
ICRW found that as wives and mothers, community and labor organizers, political advocates and entrepreneurs, women are exerting control over resources, relationships and the actions of others. Case studies reviewed in the article indicate that these increases in women’s leadership improve child development, spur political change and encourage economic growth.
ICRW’s findings come at a significant time, as policymakers and programmers deepen their focus on increasing women’s leadership capabilities in an effort to amplify the impact of development activities. But while evidence of the effectiveness of women’s leadership is growing, more data is needed to learn how to sustain their leadership over time as well as determine how they impact their communities. ICRW experts say that part of acquiring that information will require new approaches that incorporate women’s unique leadership style.
ICRW experts Kirrin Gill, Ann Warner, Ellen Weiss and Geeta Rao Gupta authored “From Beneficiaries to Change Agents: The Rise of Women’s Leadership in International Development” in the SAIS Review of International Affairs vol. XXIX no. 2.
Read the article. (Log-in required)
December 1, 2009
ICRW Calls for Integration of HIV Prevention Programs Into Existing Services for Women
In commemoration of World AIDS Day, the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) urges the global community to improve efforts that coordinate HIV prevention and treatment programs with other services for women, such as family planning, reproductive and maternal health services.
“We must comprehensively address the complex economic and social inequalities that underlie women’s vulnerability to infection,” said Sarah Degnan Kambou, ICRW’s chief operating officer.
The world’s women remain highly vulnerable to HIV infection, according to UNAIDS 2009 AIDS Epidemic Update. They continue to be disproportionately affected by the virus in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounted for 71 percent of all new HIV infections in 2008. In Asia, the number of women living with HIV nearly doubled from 19 percent in 2000 to 35 percent last year. And women account for about half of all HIV infections in the Caribbean.
“One way women would be better able to protect themselves is if more HIV prevention programs were integrated into existing health and social services and the reach and quality of those services were improved,” explained Katherine Fritz, ICRW’s director for gender and HIV. “It’s critical for such efforts to also include effective screening, treatment and referral services for women affected by violence.”
December 1, 2009
Experts Gather at ICRW to Address HIV-related Stigma and Discrimination
The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) recently wrapped up a three-day workshop on measuring stigma and discrimination related to people living with HIV.
Hosted by ICRW in collaboration with Global Network of People Living with HIV, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and UNAIDS, the meeting brought together programmers, evaluation experts, academics and people living with HIV to assess the effectiveness of current stigma measures. The long-term goal is to develop, test and validate a universal set of indicators that measure the causes, levels and consequences of HIV-related stigma.
“Everyone is working in isolation right now, and researchers are independently developing measures to assess the same thing,” said Anne Stangl, ICRW behavioral scientist and stigma specialist. “This makes it difficult to compare data across diverse settings, which is one of the challenges we’re facing globally.”
A pioneer in the field of HIV-related stigma and discrimination, ICRW over the last decade has analyzed the causes, manifestations and consequences of stigma. Its efforts also included developing interventions for mitigating stigma as well as evaluating programs that aim to reduce it.
ICRW studies found that regardless of culture or context, stigma and fear of it prevent people with HIV from telling their partners about their status; threatens their ability to receive medical care and increases their vulnerability to physical violence, among other social repercussions.
Despite such findings, ICRW’s Laura Nyblade said more still needs to be addressed in the field of HIV-related stigma and discrimination.
“Without a standardized set of global indicators, the impact of stigma on people living with HIV is not reported to policy-makers,” said Nyblade, who directs ICRW’s work on stigma and discrimination. “That in turn diminishes funding and advocacy efforts for programs to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination.”
Learn more about ICRW's stigma work.
NOVEMBER
November 24, 2009
ICRW and CARE India share results from HIV prevention project with sex workers
After participating in an International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and CARE India project, sex workers in India’s East Godavari district reported that they had less sex against their will. More of them used condoms. Some enrolled in school to finish their education. And all pledged to delay their daughters’ marriages and first sexual encounters.
Those were among the results of the three-year project that were shared during a recent “Insight to Action” presentation by Annie George, group director of health and development for ICRW’s regional office in Hyderabad, India, and Suman Bisht, manager of gender equity and diversity for CARE India in New Delhi.
Supported by MAC AIDS Fund, the program, called “Festival of Love,” aimed to reduce sex workers’ risk of HIV exposure by using harm reduction principals and a community empowerment framework.
The project largely was designed around activities that encouraged sex workers to share their experiences and focus on their rightful choices as women – instead of looking at their lives solely through the prism of their occupation.
Festival of Love ultimately reached about 1,700 sex workers who were on average 35 years old, from a low caste and mostly illiterate. They practiced their livelihoods on the streets and highways, in brothels and from home in East Godavari, where 25 percent of female sex workers were HIV positive in 2006. Nationally, less than 1 percent of Indians carry the virus.
ICRW and CARE India found that sex workers in East Godavari were more vulnerable to HIV because of their low social status as well as gender inequalities and social norms that exist in everyday society.
But when given the opportunity to reflect together on their lives and recognize the inequities they face – all while learning how to save money and protect themselves from harm – many sex workers were motivated to make changes in their lives.
NOVEMBER 20, 2009
Indian president releases ICRW and partner evaluation of anti-domestic violence law
India President Pratibha Patil this month released a report(PDF) by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and India’s Lawyer’s Collective Women’s Rights Initiative that addressed, among other objectives, whether the country’s new anti-domestic abuse law is effectively protecting women from harm.
The report’s release took place at the third conference on the implementation of India’s Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, which was established in 2005. Ravi Verma, ICRW’s regional director in Asia, presented the report’s findings during the event.
Combating violence against women globally is a longstanding area of work for ICRW. In India, the organization since the early 1990s has played a key role in gender-based abuse prevention research and policy-making. Data from ICRW studies were used in public campaigns to end violence and helped prompt India’s anti-domestic violence legislation.
In ICRW’s latest collaborative effort, the lawyer’s collective is, among other efforts, holding training workshops for police, judges and others responsible for enforcing the new law. ICRW’s role in the partnership is to measure the effectiveness of the collective’s interventions with various groups, including women.
At the conference, Verma discussed data from the third evaluation of the law’s impact in the states of Delhi and Rajasthan, which was conducted by ICRW and the collective.
ICRW found, in part, that the primary forms of violence against women were economic and physical; that police, judges and the protection officers who respond to cases still don’t have a clear understanding of the legislation’s provisions and many fail to recognize that sexual violence within a marriage violates the law.
Among its recommendations, the report said that the government should allocate funds and develop a process to hold accountable those responsible for implementing the law, among other suggestions.
"To make the act more effective, it is imperative to engage men and bring about an attitudinal change towards this issue," Verma added. "It is equally important to have a trained and gender-sensitized body of implementers of the law available for women and families in distress."
According to news reports, Patil called the monitoring and evaluation of the legislation critical to ensuring that it meets its intended objectives.
She said the government’s overall efforts to address constraints women face is not yet complete.
"Gender equality," Patil said, "is work in progress."
NOVEMBER 11, 2009
Closing the Gender Gap in HIV
ICRW expert Katherine Fritz appeared Nov. 11 on CNN to discuss women’s vulnerabilities to HIV and AIDS. The network invited Fritz to respond to a new World Health Organization report that says AIDS is the leading cause of death and disease among women ages 15 to 44.
ICRW began addressing HIV/AIDS and women nearly two decades ago.
Read the interview transcript.
Learn more about our HIV and AIDS work.
OCTOBER
October 20, 2009
Asia Regional Office Participates in Consultation on Domestic Violence
The Asia Regional Office participated in the National Consultation on Domestic Violence and Uniformed Services: A Public Health Perspective on Oct. 1 in New Delhi, India. ICRW Regional Director Ravi Verma delivered the key note address, an overview of violence in India which highlighted the magnitude and determinants of violence. Hosted by the New Delhi-based Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, the event featured leaders in the field, including representatives from UNFPA, UNAIDS, Stanford University, IDS, and the Ministry on Women and Children. ICRW’s Nandita Bhatla also presented on gender, violence and HIV.
Girija Vyas, who chairs the National Commission on Women, spoke on the need for greater sensitization at all levels and emphasized the need for effective implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act. ICRW and the Women Cell of Lawyers Collective is currently involved in a national study to help enhance the effective implementation of the act.
October 9, 2009
Study Examines Employment and Domestic Violence
ICRW researcher Jeffrey Edmeades co-authors the article, "Do changes in spousal employment status lead to domestic violence? Insights from a prospective study in Bangalore, India” in Social Science and Medicine. This study shows that occupational instability among men is associated with increased domestic violence in Bangalore, India.
October 9, 2009
ICRW President Named Senior Fellow at Gates Foundation
International Center for Research on Women President Geeta Rao Gupta announced that she will be leaving the organization in April 2010 to join the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a senior fellow in its global development program. Rao Gupta has served as ICRW president for 13 of her 20 years with the organization.
“The time is right to pursue this new opportunity for me and for ICRW,” said Rao Gupta. “I am fully confident that ICRW’s strong leadership team, world class staff, quality work, global reputation and firm financial footing will continue to lead the world’s efforts to empower women and promote gender equality.”
ICRW’s board of directors is developing a transition plan to identify a new leader.
October 1, 2009
ICRW president testifies before Senate committee on economic costs of violence against women
With an energized, standing-room-only crowd behind her, International Center for Research (ICRW) on Women President Geeta Rao Gupta on Thursday told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that ending violence against women worldwide will require a comprehensive, adequately-funded approach that strengthens women economically and also engages men and boys.
She also stressed that if the U.S. wants to show moral leadership on the issue, it must ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Without doing so, “the U.S. lacks a certain international credibility to be a true global partner with other countries in calling attention to violence against women,” Rao Gupta said to applause.
Rao Gupta was one of six witnesses invited to testify before the committee chaired by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) The hearing aimed to make a case for the International Violence Against Women’s Act, which was introduced in 2008 by then Delaware Democratic Senator and current Vice President Joseph Biden and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.). Kerry said Thursday he intends to reintroduce IVAWA, although he didn’t specify when.
Witnesses’ testimony centered on the importance of treating violence against women – particularly sexual violence in conflict zones – not as a “women’s issue,” but as a matter of human rights and international security. They stressed the need to expand programs that already are working and enforce existing laws against violence.
Rao Gupta told the committee that the ill treatment of women globally is rooted in a host of reasons, and combating it requires afar-reaching approach. She said that multiple sectors within a country must give women access to and control over economic resources to help reduce women’s vulnerability to violence.
“Violence against women is the single most significant barrier to women being able to access services or take advantage of all the economic investments we make in developing countries,” Rao Gupta told Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) during questioning.
“All of this economic growth that you see in these emerging countries is going to be capped at some point,” she said, “if women are dragging behind.”
Read the testimony (as prepared).
SEPTEMBER
Septmeber 30, 2009
ICRW in the spotlight at Clinton Global Initiative
The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) shared the stage last week with former President Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), which included an unprecedented focus on investing in women and girls.
CGI, dubbed by some as the "Oscars of philanthropy," brings together non-governmental organizations, private companies and global leaders to address the world’s most pressing problems.
President Clinton called the vital role of women an important addition to CGI’s agenda. "Whether the issue is improving the involvement of young women and girls in education to climate change and all political, economic and social issues in between…" he said, "empowering women is central to what the world has to do in the 21st century."
In an opening plenary, a diverse panel from public, private and grassroots organizations discussed how programs that invested in women and girls were having an impact. ICRW submitted a question via YouTube asking how the world could use cutting-edge innovations to improve the lives of women in the developing world. The videoed question was the first one shown during the plenary.
CGI also announced new initiatives or “commitments to action” that aim to help the most vulnerable. Several commitments to invest in women and girls were revealed, including one involving ICRW, ExxonMobil and AshokaChangemakers that will use technology and innovation to help women in developing countries become more economically stable. As part of the commitment, ICRW will produce new research (PDF) on areas where technological innovation can advance women’s economic productivity.
"This effort will address a critical barrier to women’s economic participation and have a significant impact on boosting women’s economic activity and productivity," ICRW President Geeta Rao Gupta said.
Rao Gupta – who served as an informal adviser to CGI on its women’s track – also moderated a workshop focused on how best to create public-private partnerships that would open up opportunities for women and girls to have equal access to education, health care, jobs and the political arena. Nearly 100 people attended the session originally reserved for 50, including representatives from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Pakistan National Forum on Women’s Health and the U.S. Department of State.
Relates links:
Bridging the Technology Divide to Economically Empower Women (PDF)
September 1, 2009
Brooke Shearer Fellowship in India
The International Center for Research of Women (ICRW) has established a fellowship in memory of Brooke Shearer, a former ICRW board member and dedicated advocate for improving the health and economic status of women in the developing world. The Brooke Shearer fellowship in India is an opportunity for U.S. early career professionals with graduate degrees to contribute to research and programs that advance gender equality and empower women in Asia.
Shearer was a stalwart supporter and contributor to ICRW’s mission and work. ICRW honors her commitment to women with a fellowship program based in our Asia Regional Office in New Delhi, India, a tribute to Shearer’s fond memories of her time spent in India during her youth and her tenure on ICRW’s board.
The 2009 fellow will work in collaboration with the Asia director of the social and economic development group on programs, research, advocacy, and business development related to the group’s portfolio of work. The specific activities of the fellow will be determined based on the substantive and technical skills, interests, and experience of the candidate selected and the current opportunities in the group. Likely projects for engagement include:
- The PACE program—an ICRW collaboration with Gap Inc. on workplace and personal advancement of female garment workers in India, Cambodia, Bangladesh.
- The Counting Girls Project—a project examining son preference in India and China, the effectiveness of specific policy efforts in addressing sex selection and discrimination against girl children, and the potential conflict between the human rights of girls and reproductive rights for women.
- Delayed Marriage—project examining the social norms that would need to be changed to eliminate early marriage.
AUGUST
August 31, 2009
Allies against AIDS
In a new UNICEF podcast, ICRW expert Gary Barker discusses why and how to work with men and boys to reduce the spread of HIV among women.
August 28, 2009
Building Positive Support
HIV programs in Andhra Pradesh, India, often do not address the core issues of treatment, care and support for sex workers who are HIV positive. ICRW’s Asia Regional Office organized a workshop for thirty HIV-positive sex workers, mostly non-literate women, to increase their knowledge about HIV, care and treatment through interactive games and songs, and to impart skills on how to mobilize their communities through street theater and drama.
Workshop participants are part of a study, ‘Positive Support: Structural Support Mechanisms for Female Sex Workers Living with HIV in Andhra Pradesh,’ supported by the M·A·C AIDS Fund. The study found that sex workers are unable to address their main areas of concern – livelihood, food, shelter and child care – because of economic instability; inadequate information about HIV services; stigma and discrimination; and the absence of a strong collective presence to advocate for their rights and needs.
Workshop facilitators helped participants develop skills of street play and theater. Participants prepared songs and skits that depicted their life challenges and special needs as a means of sharing messages of health and overcoming challenges in leading positive lives with government stakeholders and nongovernmental organizations.
“Through this study, we will provide program and policy recommendations to strengthen efforts to involve HIV-positive sex workers and sex worker organizations in HIV-positive networks and program development and policy-making processes,” says Annie George, group director, health and development in the Asia Regional Office.
August 13, 2009
No Quick Fix to Gender Inequality and HIV
ICRW president reflects on progress and the road ahead
In 2000, ICRW president Geeta Rao Gupta first emphasized the need to address gender inequality as a key social driver of the HIV epidemic in a groundbreaking speech at the XIII International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa.
Nearly 10 years later, Rao Gupta, speaking at the IX International Congress on AIDS and Asia in the Pacific (ICAAP) in Bali Indonesia, recognized the laudable progress made to address gender inequality in the global AIDS response, which has, in turn, catalyzed action on gender in other fields including food security, education and economic empowerment.
Despite progress, Rao Gupta cautioned that gender-related vulnerabilities continue to undermine the AIDS response and recommended a more sophisticated, comprehensive approach to achieve the social change necessary to curb the epidemic.
“There is no quick fix to gender inequality,” she explained. “The ‘one-size-fits-all’ model does not work on the ground, where gender vulnerabilities are part of a complex web of social, cultural and economic factors that drive the epidemic. To address social inequalities requires long-term perspective, and HIV programs and policies must reflect this reality.”
August 11, 2009
ICRW provides input on anti-stigma film
ICRW’s HIV stigma experts were consulted by Cannes Film Festival award-winner and film director Sai Paranjpye for her new film Suee (Needle), a video story of drug use, HIV/AIDS and poverty. The film was launched at the IC International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific.
August 11, 2009
Sex, Rights and the Law in a World with AIDS
Sex, Rights and the Law in a World with AIDS explores why the AIDS response has made little progress on the prevention of sexually transmitted HIV, and what should be done to ensure a more effective long-term response.
August 6, 2009
Assessing Domestic Violence Laws in India
ICRW will conduct a comparative in-depth study of the implementation of the act, passed in 2005, and provide recommendations for a monitoring system to improve the application of the PWDVA Act to protect the human rights of women who experience domestic violence and facilitate their access to justice.
Through this project, funded by the U.N. Trust Fund, ICRW will work with the Lawyers Collective Women's Rights Initiative to document how various interventions conducted by the organization – such as capacity development workshops for implementers of the law (police, protection officers and magistrates), training materials, and provision of legal aid to women facing violence at home – promote change. ICRW also will assess the attitudes and practices of various stakeholders towards the law and women accessing the law and review the practical implementation of the act.
“This is a unique opportunity to build evidence that helps effectively implement and improve laws to prevent violence against women,” says Ravi Verma, regional director. “It has the potential to impact the lives of millions of women and contribute to the movement towards a world free of violence.”
Since late 1990s, ICRW has played a key role in gender-based violence prevention research and policymaking in India. Data from ICRW studies were used in public campaigns to end domestic violence, including public service announcements that helped prompt passage of this act in India.
Read more about ICRW's Asia Regional Office.
JULY
July 20, 2009
ICRW to Congress: Women Key to food security and nutrition
Women in the developing world play crucial roles - as farmers and caregivers - in bridging food production and nutrition, a message delivered to Congress during a recent briefing on legislation aimed at improving food security.
ICRW’s Krista Jacobs was among the experts who spoke on the panel, “At the Heart of Hunger: How Women Bridge Nutrition and Food Security.”
Jacobs drew from ICRW’s research to explain how women’s lack of access to agricultural resources reduces their productivity and, consequently, the nutrition of their families and communities. But by measuring women’s participation at the onset, agricultural projects can better identify tasks men and women perform in order to ensure equitable access to resources, which will lead to increased earnings from labor – for both women and men.
The briefing was cosponsored by ICRW, Women Thrive Worldwide and Friends of the World Food Program in coordination with the office of Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.). Rep. McCollum recently introduced legislation in the House of Representatives to improve food security initiatives by focusing on women.
Learn more about the legislation.
Learn more about food security and nutrition.
JUNE
June 30, 2009
Beyond Positive Support for Key Populations at Higher Risk
ICRW examines support mechanisms for female sex workers living with HIV
Effective HIV programs must involve those most impacted – people living with HIV. Understanding their realities can improve uptake of HIV prevention, treatment and care services. ICRW’s Asia Regional Office is examining how sex worker groups, nongovernmental organizations and governments can better engage and support sex workers living with HIV at two sites at Andhra Pradesh.
"This study will provide crucial insights into conditions needed on the ground to foster effective participation of sex workers and their organizations in local and state level HIV/AIDS programs," says Annie George, who directs ICRW's health and development work in the Asia Regional Office. Recommendations based on study findings will be shared with programmers and policymakers to initiate and strengthen efforts to involve HIV-positive sex workers and their organizations.
June 18, 2009
ICRW Shows Women’s Clubs How Investments in Adolescent Girls Can Improve Global Community
ICRW and the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) mobilized women community leaders across the United States to advocate for the social and economic welfare of adolescent girls in the developing world.
ICRW’s Margaret Greene was the keynote speaker at GFWC’s 118th annual conference, “A Vision of Possibilities.” Her remarks made a strong case for the benefits of investing in the millions of girls who make up the largest youth generation in history.
“When women are not a productive part of a country’s economy and society, poverty persists,” says Greene. “Adolescent girls in the developing world are an enormous opportunity to transform their families, communities and countries, making the world a better place for everyone.” Greene spoke of the great potential for women’s clubs to reach out to women and girls in the developing world. She urged attendees to raise awareness in their communities of the importance of girls and advocate for policies and investments targeted toward improving their lives.
Learn more about ICRW’s advocacy for adolescent girls.
June 11, 2009
ICRW to Congress: Men and Boys Essential to Reducing Violence against Women
International efforts to reduce violence against women must engage men and boys, ICRW’s Gary Barker told Congressional staff at a recent Senate briefing. Barker shared with policymakers his research and programmatic experience working with men and boys in anticipation of the reintroduction of the International Violence against Women Act. This forthcoming legislation would increase U.S. foreign assistance funding for programs that address violence against women, including those that involve men.
Barker spoke on a panel with several other experts at the “Partners for Progress: Engaging Men to End Violence against Women and Girls Internationally” Congressional forum organized by ICRW, the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Women Thrive Worldwide and Amnesty International USA in coordination with the office of Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.).
 |
Pictured: Andrew Levack- Engender Health, Marcos Nascimento- Promundo, Feroz Moideen, Family Violence Prevention Fund, Gary Barker- ICRW, Regis Mtutu and Orly Stern, Sonke Gender Justice Network and Claudia Moreno- Garcia, WHO |
MAY
May 28, 2009
Promoting Men’s Participation in Women’s Health
A majority of women in India are exposed to HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) because of the behavior of their spouses. ICRW’s Asia Regional Office is currently working on an innovative program to develop and evaluate culturally appropriate, health facility-based interventions to promote primary prevention of HIV and other STIs among married women in Mumbai.
The project, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and in partnership with the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, has completed the formative research phase. The preliminary results indicate that interventions need to focus on promoting spousal communication and enhancing men’s participation in women’s health by changing inequitable gender norms and related attitudes and behaviors.
As part of the intervention to promote men’s participation in women’s health care, the public health facility run by TN Medical College, Mumbai, opened one of the first specialized gynecological centers at the primary health care level. The women’s health center, which was inaugurated with a ceremony on May 11, aims to reduce STIs, attend to women's gynecological problems and address violence against women within marriage.
The inauguration was attended by all the participating institutions, local partners, community members and prominent religious leaders of the community who strongly encouraged men’s participation in promoting women’s well-being and health.
May 22, 2009
Count the Costs of Violence
Violence against women is widely recognized as a human rights violation and a public health epidemic. But its impacts on economic development are not fully understood. ICRW and its partners – Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Hassan II University in Morocco and Economic Policy Research Centre in Uganda – with support from UNFPA, undertook a three-country study to estimate the costs of violence.
The study pilots a methodology designed to address the structural challenges of three diverse developing country settings, estimate the costs of violence and explore potential negative impacts on development outcomes. Findings show that women in all three countries experience multiple and severe forms of violence by an intimate partner yet a majority do not seek help. Still, both the direct and indirect costs were high and drain economic resources from households and communities. Results also suggest that estimates represent only a fraction of the economic, health and social costs of violence against women.
This groundbreaking work adds a new dimension to the growing body of evidence that calls for urgent action to end violence against women.
Links:
Intimate Partner Violence: High Costs to Households and Communities (Report). 
Intimate Partner Violence: High Costs to Households and Communities (Overview).
May 6, 2009
Communities Confront HIV and AIDS Stigma in Vietnam
Stigma and discrimination pose a major challenge to fighting the spread of HIV and AIDS. Fortunately, there are tools to reduce HIV and AIDS stigma.
In Vietnam, ICRW and its local partner, the Institute for Social Development Studies, worked in two communities to build understanding of HIV and AIDS stigma and the capacity to reduce it.
To learn more, take a look at our video and see the publication.
Communities Confront HIV and AIDS Stigma in Vietnam 
Communities Confront HIV and AIDS Stigma in Vietnam
APRIL
April 24, 2009
Men, Boys Increasingly Seen as Key to Gender Equality
How can public policies more adequately engage men and boys in achieving gender equality? The Men and Gender Equality Policy Project, coordinated by ICRW and Instituto Promundo, seeks to help answer that question and many others around equitable relationships between women and men.
The project looks at how interventions in various areas, including health, gender-based violence and parenting, influence and change men's behaviors in gender-equitable ways. It also analyzes policies that support gender equitable behaviors in men, such as those that focus on paternity leave or address violence against women. Findings will support recommendations to policymakers at the local, national and international levels.
"There is growing momentum around the need to engage men and boys in our efforts to empower women," says ICRW expert Gary Barker. "ICRW and our partners in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe are pursuing research to understand how to effectively involve men and boys through programs and policies."
The project also includes a seven country household survey with more than 1800 men and women on men’s attitudes and behaviors related to gender, public polices to promote gender equality, and men’s use of violence against women.
Barker was one of the organizers at the recent Rio de Janeiro for the Global Symposium on Engaging Men and Boys in Achieving Gender Equality in Achieving Gender Equality, which included some 450 participants. The conference produced the "Rio Declaration," which highlights the goal to expand awareness of and action around engaging men and boys.
April 9, 2009
Gap Inc. Plays Unique Role in Empowering Women Workers
Findings Show Social and Business Benefits
Globalization has brought millions of women in the developing world into the formal employment sector. Many of these women work in factories, yet once employed, they rarely have opportunities to gain the skills needed to advance in the workplace - largely because job programs in the developing world focus on connecting women to jobs, rather than growing skills women need to advance.
ICRW is Gap Inc.'s strategic partner for P.A.C.E. (Personal Advancement for Career Enhancement), one of a growing number of corporate social investment programs that aim to empower women in their personal and work lives through life skills and technical training in the workplace. Early findings from our three-year engagement with P.A.C.E. show that these investments in women workers have improved their effectiveness at work with higher productivity and performance. Additionally, women are able to use their newfound skills to improve their personal decision making and gain respect from their families.
"Social investments and business investments are not mutually exclusive," says Priya Nanda, who directs ICRW's social and economic development work in the Asia Regional Office. "This intervention provides crucial insights into what it takes to change the lives of women in developing countries and the very unique role the private sector can play."
The PACE program has successfully completed its pilot in India and will be expanded into other sites within India. The program was recently launched in Cambodia, and Gap Inc. is looking at the many ways it can share its model for developing female garment workers with industry peers as well as other private sector actors that employee women in developing countries.
April 9, 2009
Walkathon in Mumbai Launches Community Education Effort
Intervention Seeks to Decrease HIV Risk among Married Women
Marriage can be the greatest risk factor for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among women in India, according to ICRW research. As such, ICRW is working on an innovative program to develop and evaluate culturally appropriate, health facility-based interventions to promote primary prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (HIV/STIs) among married women in Mumbai.
“The planned interventions will focus on promoting spousal communication and increasing men’s participation in women’s health by changing behavior and norms," says ICRW Asia Regional Director Ravi Verma. Expanding on a seven-year effort that focused on men’s sexual health, the Center for International Community Health Studies, University of Connecticut, local partners and ICRW will work to develop and evaluate effective interventions for married women.
A community education program was launched March 8 in the project communities with a seven-mile walkathon in recognition of International Women’s Day. In Mumbai, nearly 600 men and 300 women joined the effort. Participants included neighborhood communities, nongovernmental organizations, community-based organizations and a coalition of Indian partners led by Community of Recourses Organization.
MARCH
March 26, 2009
Obama Administration, Congress Elevate Global Women’s Issues
Global women’s issues are claiming their rightful place as a policy priority for the highest levels of U.S. government.
The Obama administration recently appointed Melanne Verveer in the newly created position of ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues and established the White House Council on Women and Girls led by Valerie Jarrett and Tina Tchen. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has created a subcommittee on global women’s issues chaired by Sen. Barbara Boxer.
These unprecedented actions - along with the FY09 Omnibus Appropriations bill, which increases funding for global poverty and global health initiatives – would go a long way to ensure that international development efforts are made more efficient by empowering women.
ICRW Statement on Obama Administration’s Recent Actions on Global Women, Economic Development 
Read the FY09 Omnibus Appropriations statement.
ICRW Congratulates Melanne Verveer, First Ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues.
March 12, 2009
ICRW Statement on the FY09 Omnibus Appropriations Bill
Funding Will Support Vital Global Poverty and Global Health Efforts
Increased funding to poverty-focused development programs is vital, particularly in difficult economic times. Our research proves that investments in family planning, maternal and child health programs; HIV/AIDS prevention; and girls’ education are the best use of foreign aid dollars for reducing poverty.
In a time of limited resources, we look forward to working with Congress and the Administration to modernize foreign aid to make sure that every dollar is spent efficiently and wisely and provides the greatest returns.
March 5, 2009
Gala Spotlights Poorer Women to Drive Economic Growth
Goldman Sachs, Small Enterprise Foundation Honored for Work with Women
At first glance, global financial giant Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and the South African microfinance organization, Small Enterprise Foundation, share little in common. But at last night’s ICRW 2009 awards gala, these two entities – and the more than 400 guests who attended – found they share a big vision: poorer women supported as entrepreneurs and small business leaders in their communities and globally.
“If we are smart, we will recognize women’s value as economic agents and leaders and invest, particularly in these hard times, to unleash the full force of their potential – that is the true stimulus package we need,” says ICRW President Geeta Rao Gupta, who introduced the two Investing in Women awardees at the March 4 event in Union Station’s East Hall.
The Goldman Sachs Group received the vision award for its 10,000 Women initiative, which provides 10,000 underserved women around the world with business and management education. The Small Enterprise Foundation received the innovation award for its microcredit program, which fosters self-employment and helps educate women on HIV and violence issues by working with partners like IMAGE (Intervention with Microfinance for AIDS and Gender Equity), based in South Africa.
Read the press release. 
| Slide show. 
FEBRUARY
FEB. 27, 2009
ICRW Asia Regional Office Launches New Effort to Reduce Child Marriage in India
New Research Project Works with Communities in Rajasthan and Bihar
ICRW's Asia Regional Office today announced the launch of a new research project, supported by UNICEF, to delay age of marriage for girls in India. Working in select areas in Bihar and Rajasthan affected by this practice, the project will reach out to role models and influential community members to identify, replicate and scale-up proven strategies to change norms on child marriage.
FEB. 27, 2009
Handheld Survey Instruments Cut Costs, Time
ICRW's Asia Regional Office has found a new cost- and time-saving tool: handheld devices to collect survey data.
Staff in India, where the regional office is based, are using the devices to collect information on the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), a standardized questionnaire to measure men's behaviors and attitudes on a range of issues related to gender equality. "The handhelds are great," says Ajay Singh, ICRW project director. "They not only help us save money and time, they also help to reduce human error."
The survey is being conducted with 1,500 men and 500 women in two Indian cities, Delhi and Vijayawada. It is a component of the Men & Gender Equality Policy Project, a three-year research venture coordinated by ICRW and Instituto Promundo in Mexico, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Croatia and Cambodia.
Staff purchased the devices in November 2008 to bolster creativity and innovation in research. "The new equipment provides statistical analysis on a daily basis and has eliminated the costs of printing and data entry" Singh says.
Feb. 12, 2009
South African Microfinance Group to be Honored
Annual Gala Shines Light on Innovation for Women
The Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF) in Limpopo Province, South Africa, will be awarded ICRW's Investing in Women award for innovation at the March 4 Champions for Change gala. SEF is a microfinance organization dedicated to providing poor rural communities, particularly women, with small loans toward improving their small businesses and realizing other financial goals.
SEF's program IMAGE (Intervention with Microfinance for AIDS and Gender Equity) will be featured in ICRW's forthcoming compendium on gender and HIV. IMAGE is a community-based intervention in South Africa that combines a microfinance program with a gender and HIV curriculum. The compendium was commissioned by PEPFAR and is part of the USAID-funded AIDSTAR-One project.
SEF Founder and Managing Director John De Wit and Lufuno Muvhango, director of IMAGE, will attend the gala to accept the award.
Feb. 12, 2009
ICRW to Probe New Questions to Better Understand, Stop Sex Trafficking in South Asia
ICRW's Asia Regional Office recently launched a new research project, Unpacking Trafficking, which will work to reduce girls' and women's vulnerability to trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.
"Beyond being a human rights violation, trafficking exposes girls and women to multiple risks, including violence and HIV infection," says Ravi Verma, ICRW's regional director.
Researchers do not yet fully understand the social and economic drivers and patterns of trafficking, and the vulnerabilities of and risks to girls and women. Through this project, ICRW will work with academic institutions in Andhra Pradesh, India, to conduct formative research on the determinants, extent and patterns of women's movement within and across Andhra Pradesh for underage and forced sex work, says project lead Annie George, ICRW group director for health and development. This study is funded by Avahan, the India AIDS Initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
JANUARY
Jan. 30, 2009
Amartya Sen, Chair of ICRW’s Leadership Council, Reflects on 60 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Right
Amartya Sen, Nobel laureate and chair of ICRW’s Leadership Council, reflects on 60 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with an essay on its remarkable power to inspire “the deliberations and actions of people across the world.”
Sen highlights diverse struggles – including equal rights for women – that have challenged inequities with the declaration’s core tenant that the dignity and equality of all human beings is a universal right. The article appears in The New Republic.
Learn more about ICRW’s Leadership Council.
Jan. 26, 2009
ICRW Calls for Evidence in Reproductive Rights Talks
On the eve of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, ICRW President Geeta Rao Gupta and other public health experts gathered at the Center for American Progress to discuss reproductive rights, and offer policy recommendations on reproductive and sexual health to the new administration.
As the United States ushers in its 44th president, says Rao Gupta, “We have an opportunity to change the landscape of reproductive rights by basing policies on evidence rather than ideology, to provide women and girls across the world with solid access to reproductive and sexual health information, services and care.”
Watch "Time for a Change" from the Center for American Progress.
Jan. 26, 2009
ICRW statement after President Obama rescinds Mexico City Policy
ICRW applauds the Obama administration’s recent actions to improve the health of women and girls around the world by restoring funds to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and overturning the Mexico City Policy.
Jan. 26, 2009
Gender Equity Program Progresses in Select Indian Schools
Teaches Young Men, Women to Question Unequal Gender Norms
Young men and women are challenging traditional gender norms through an innovative, comprehensive program designed to promote gender equality. ICRW's Asia Regional Office launched GEMS (Gender Equity Movement in Schools) in November 2007 with local partners in India. Since then, GEMS has attracted interest from nongovernmental as well as private-sector organizations. Last month, a few visited the program in a municipal school in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
During a meeting with 12- to 14-year-old students who participate in GEMS, the visitors listened to the group talk about how gender norms influence their lives. Girls were more vocal about their concerns and issues faced inside and outside the home. They spoke about limited career choices and restrictions on their mobility. They reported that they were able to discuss these topics more openly with their families after attending the GEMS workshops. Boys mentioned that they questioned traditional gender beliefs and behaviors, which they had previously accepted without reservations. Many boys acknowledged they would not want to be re-born as a girl, yet they expressed increasing support toward their classmates who were girls and sisters.
GEMS operates in three states (including Goa and Rajasthan), targeting thousands of students and teachers. Next, the project will launch an education campaign and pilot test an activities book to reinforce gender-equitable messages
Jan. 21, 2009
ICRW Statement on confirmation of Sen. hillary clinton as Secretary of state
ICRW is heartened to hear Secretary Clinton declare, in her confirmation hearing, that, "We're going to have a very active women's office" at the State Department. ICRW encourages Clinton to fully fund and staff an Office of Gender Integration, to ensure gender is integrated throughout the foreign assistance structure.
Jan. 21, 2009
ICRW's Asia Regional Office Promotes Social Change by Targeting Game of Cricket
Program Works with Men and Boys to Reduce Gender-based Violence
ICRW's Asia Regional Office launched a program with the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) to reduce gender-based violence by working with men and boys through India's cricket system. This project continues ICRW's expansion of work to engage men and boys as partners for women's empowerment.
The program's aim is to dispel messages that enforce social attitudes that "real men" are aggressive and violent, which helps win matches. Given its immense popularity in India, the formal and informal cricket networks include a large number of coaches, young male athletes, family members and community members.
This three-year program, funded by the Nike Foundation, adopts FVPF's U.S.-based "Coaching Boys into Men" model, which uses mentoring approaches and media campaigns, to an Indian context. ICRW's Asia Regional Office will undertake formative research and quantitative and qualitative evaluation activities.
DECEMBER
Dec. 9, 2008
At Brink of Global Economic Crossroads, Women Farmers Key to Economic Growth
Amartya Sen, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala join ICRW in call to invest in women farmers to end hunger
With the current global financial crisis and the specter of a worsening hunger crisis, the international community is at a historic crossroads. Yet with these twin crises comes an opportunity to rethink strategies for smart investments in global economic development and agriculture.
So far, however, industry leaders and development decision-makers risk missing one key component to successful economic growth: recognition of women farmers as key economic actors who contribute substantially to the agricultural economy in developing countries.
View a slideshow of the day's events.
Read A Significant Shift: Women, Food Security and Agriculture.
2008
Dec. 4, 2008
ICRW to Engage Global Economists on Why World Food Crisis Demands Focus on Women Farmers.
Amartya Sen, Lawrence H. Summers, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Join ICRW’s Rekha Mehra
On Dec. 9, the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) will convene a panel of highprofile
economists to discuss why the world food crisis and rising hunger demand a focus on women farmers.
Panelists include former Secretary of the Treasury, Lawrence H. Summers; Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen; and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, managing director at the World Bank. They will discuss a new paper by ICRW economist and agriculture expert Rekha Mehra, entitled A Significant Shift: Women, Agriculture and Food Security in the Global Marketplace. ICRW President Geeta Rao Gupta will moderate.
Dec. 1, 2008
WORLD MUST INVEST IN LONG-TERM SOCIAL CHANGES TO FIGHT AIDS
Gender Inequality, Stigma and Discrimination Key Drivers of HIV
On the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, ICRW calls on the international community to commit the necessary resources to attack HIV at its root causes – the social drivers of the epidemic – gender inequality and stigma.
Long-term social change is essential if the global AIDS response is to make effective inroads against the epidemic. HIV stigma and discrimination, which disproportionately affect women and girls in some communities, undermine efforts for prevention, treatment and care. Gender inequality also leaves women and girls uniquely vulnerable to the social, cultural and economic factors related to HIV’s spread. While the world has made some headway against HIV, a more long-term strategy is needed to end this devastating epidemic.
NOVEMBER
Nov. 25, 2008
COSTS OF VIOLENCE TOO HIGH TO IGNORE
Experts Call For Greater Investment from Governments, Donors to Address Far Reaching Social, Economic Consequences of Violence Against Women
Today, in observation of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, ICRW calls on governments, donors and global leaders to recognize achieving gender equality through a strong response to gender-based violence as part of their broader development efforts.
Nov. 14, 2008
EXPERTS CALL TO ADD 4th PILLAR TO GLOBAL AIDS RESPONSE: FIGHT STIGMA
Ending HIV Stigma & Discrimination Critical to Universal Prevention, Treatment, Care
The global response to AIDS must add ending HIV stigma and discrimination to its three pillars of universal prevention, treatment and care if it is to see long-term results in the fight against HIV and AIDS. This is the cosnsesus of a group of high-level international researchers, program implementers, activists and donors who met this week at an event co-sponsored by The M·A·C AIDS Fund and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) to strategize the best way forward as the world approaches the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day.
Nov. 14, 2008
“What Will It Take? Inspiring Global Action to End HIV Stigma and Discrimination”
A group of high-level global researchers, activists and donors will meet Nov. 17 at ICRW to discuss what can be done to better address HIV stigma, which is undermining efforts to fight HIV and AIDS, and how to put that vision into action. The MAC AIDS Fund is a sponsor of this event.
Experts are available for interviews. Interested media should contact Sandra Bunch (202) 742-1240.
Date: Monday, Nov. 17, 2008
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Place: ICRW Headquarters, 1120 20th St. N.W., Suite 500 North, Washington, D.C. 20036
OCTOBER
OCT. 23, 2008
ICRW Receives $4 Million from Gates Foundation to Grow Work on Women and Agriculture
ICRW announced a $4 million grant over three years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to expand its women and agriculture portfolio.
ICRW is a longtime leader in the field of women’s role in economic growth, which in many developing countries is derived through agriculture. The organization’s agriculture portfolio, one of its earliest core research areas, boasts landmark findings on the link between agricultural resources for women and improvements in economic opportunities for women, girls’ education and overall household nutrition.
OCT. 23, 2008
ASIA REGIONAL OFFICE RECEIVES FUNDS TO BOLSTER GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE WORK
A Nike Foundation grant of $650,007 will support ICRW’s technical assistance to the Family Violence Prevention Fund, a Nike Foundation grantee, in its program development, monitoring and evaluation. Specifically, ICRW will work with the Fund to adapt its U.S.-based Coaching Boys into Men model to an Indian context. The program seeks to engage men and boys to reduce violence against women by building on the relationships between cricket coaches and players.
A $17,620 grant from the CDC Foundation will support ICRW’s evaluation of a genderbased violence prevention campaign in India. ICRW will monitor and evaluate a three-year, multi-pronged campaign by the Indian charitable organization, The Breakthrough Trust, to reduce women’s vulnerability to HIV and gender-based violence, particularly violence among intimate or domestic partners. The evaluation will assess the campaign’s effectiveness at reducing violence against women and reaching key audiences. The evaluation will track behavioral changes among community members, peer educators and HIV-positive women.
OCT. 16, 2008
Women Can Help End Hunger
The recent financial crisis has hit an already insecure global food and agriculture system with devastating force. Food prices and hunger rates continue to rise amid increasing demand and shrinking supplies.
On World Food Day, Oct. 16, world leaders and key stakeholders will meet to consider the best actions to take to help alleviate the unfolding crisis. More than four decades of international development work at ICRW shows that one of the best ways to invest in agriculture and increase food production is to focus on women’s role in agriculture, both as farmers and entrepreneurs.
Read the recently released report, Women Help Solve Hunger. Why is the World Still Waiting?
Related link:
SEPTEMBER
SEPT. 25, 2008
Clinton Global Citizen Award Recognizes Vision of NoVo Foundation
ICRW Leadership Council member Jennifer Buffett and her husband, Peter, received the 2008 Clinton Global Citizen Award for their “visionary leadership and sustainable, scalable work in solving pressing global challenges.” The Buffetts are co-chairs of the NoVo Foundation, which focuses on empowering women and girls as primary agents of change. ICRW is a proud recipient of NoVo Foundation funds.
Presenting the award, former President Bill Clinton praised the Buffetts for their “innovative approach to philanthropy [that] has leveraged the capacity of existing organizations to affect real, positive change.
SEPT. 25, 2008
Mixed Progress on MDG 3 at Midpoint
Today marks the official midpoint to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and progress for MDG 3 - to empower women and promote gender equality — is uneven, according to ICRW.
More girls are enrolled in school, and more women hold political office in national and local government, according to various data analyses. But in the crucial areas of women’s employment and reproductive health, progress has lagged. Worse yet, other priorities cannot be measured due to limited or nonexistent data. For these, we have no idea whether progress is being made, and if so, to what extent.
The MDGs are eight goals established by the United Nations in 2000 to address the world's development challenges. Great strides have been made, but much more remains to be done if the world is to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment by 2015. A global focus that combines the necessary commitment, resources and action will produce results.
Read the MDG media background paper.
SEPT. 25, 2008
Key Experts, Leaders Ponder Future for Women’s Empowerment, Gender Equality
ICRW, World Bank Host Event to Assess MDG 3
Key experts, activists and donors within the development community joined ICRW and the World Bank to assess the world’s progress to date on Millennium Development Goal 3, to promote gender equality and empower women, and map out the road forward.
The event’s lively discussion zeroed in on gender equality as smart economics. Panelists agreed that a key opportunity to increase investment in women and promote growth will emerge from the current financial crisis that has affected global economies. They also called on the development community to make sure that that opportunity is seized.
The event was held in conjunction with the World Bank’s book launch of Equality for Women: Where Do We Stand. ICRW’s Geeta Rao Gupta and Rekha Mehra authored the last chapter on how to make gender mainstreaming happen for various private and public organizations. A key message is that gender mainstreaming can start in a smaller, entrepreneurial and strategic way. Such efforts also are more likely to show success in a shorter time frame, they say, which will further build credibility that gender mainstreaming works.
SEPT. 23, 2008
ICRW Launches Leadership Council, New Leaders Circle to Drive Investment in Developing World’s Poorest Women
Leaders convene to support investing in women to reduce poverty, promote economic growth
ICRW today launched two new leadership groups comprised of an array of influential decision makers and authorities in politics, business, economics, finance, philanthropy, media, education and the arts to help it advance its mission to empower women, promote gender equality and fight poverty in the developing world.
The ICRW Leadership Council, a team of high-profile leaders on the world stage, and the New Leaders Circle, a group of emerging leaders, join ICRW to raise awareness about the crucial roles women play in sustaining the economies of households and nations, despite the burdens they bear.
“ICRW has demonstrated that providing targeted opportunities for women and girls creates sustainable, gender-equitable social and economic change, and this change ripples through the lives of their families, communities and nations,” says ICRW President Geeta Rao Gupta. “We are thrilled that these AUG. thinkers and leaders join ICRW’s call to put women at the forefront of global development.”
Leadership Council members include: Leadership Council chairman, Amartya Sen, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, Susan Berresford, Cherie Booth Blair, Richard Blum, Jennifer Buffett, Mohamed El Erian, the Honorable Nancy Gertner, Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, Hilda Ochoa Brillembourg, Lawrence H. Summers, Nina Totenberg and James Wolfensohn.
New Leaders Circle members include: New Leaders Circle co-chairs Emily Bloomfield and Mona Sutphen, Anisha Abraham, Byron AUG.e, Jag Bhalla, Emily Bloomfield, Clara Brillembourg, Mercedes Fitchett, Raj Ganguly, Anna Gelpern, Lynn Jerath, Cheikh Kane, Eliza Leighton, Susan McCue, Katie Schecter, Meryl Stone, Mona Sutphen, Yael (Gayle) Tzemach.
SEPT. 2, 2008
Youth Reproductive Health in South Asia
Key Stakeholders Move Research Findings Forward
Youth sexual and reproductive health is a crucial issue for policy-makers in South Asia. ICRW’s Asia Regional Office hosted a series of dissemination meetings in India to share research findings from the Development Initiative Supporting Healthy Adolescents (DISHA) project. The two-year initiative, which ended in June, was aimed at improving youth reproductive health in more than 150 villages in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand, where high rates of child marriage, early child-bearing and severe poverty persist.
A national dissemination meeting was held Aug. 22 in Delhi and included local and international NGOs, partner organizations, donors and senior government officials from the office of the prime minister. The importance of sustained community-based youth efforts was discussed among attendees, and program scale-up was identified to further improve adolescent girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health information and support.
Local dissemination meetings also took place in Ranchi, Jharkhand and Patna, Bihar. Key stakeholders, national organizations and government officials from the Jharkhand State Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, discussed results, including increased communication between youth and elders to negotiate reproductive health needs and delayed age at marriage.
Read related media coverage.
AUGUST
AUG. 3, 2008
ICRW, on Creative Capitalism with TIME
Rao Gupta Highlights Role of Women as Economic Innovators
ICRW President Geeta Rao Gupta recently participated in a TIME magazine discussion with business leaders and thinkers to talk about creative capitalism, the notion that corporations can do well by thinking more broadly about how their products can benefit society. Rao Gupta reminded the panel not to discount the important role women play as economic innovators in growing economies, and the significance that the nongovernmental sector can play when partnered with businesses that are looking to do good.
"Some of the most exciting and innovative partnerships to alleviate poverty occur when nongovernmental organizations, and business come together to make a scalable difference in the lives of people," says Rao Gupta. "Importantly, years of evidence show that investing in women pays huge dividends toward reducing poverty and growing economies. When you invest in women, it benefits whole families and communities."
The meeting, a follow up to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates' speech this year on "creative capitalism" at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, highlighted the potential for companies to make a profit while doing good, including reducing poverty.
Panel participants included Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates; Whole Foods founder and CEO John Mackey; Ogilvy & Mather chairman Shelly Lazarus; and University of Michigan professor C.K. Prahalad, author of "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid."
AUG. 3, 2008
ICRW, San Francisco AIDS Foundation Launch New Network to Strengthen Coordination, Response to HIV Epidemic
Researchers continue to gain insights on how best to halt the spread of HIV. Yet program designers and implementers of services for HIV-affected communities often are unaware that this research exists. In some cases, researchers also have no common forum to share findings within their circles. How can we bridge these gaps in communication so crucial to effectively stemming the rise in HIV rates?
At the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, ICRW and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation join forces today and launch the Gender, Sexuality and HIV Research Network, one of the first networks to bring together researchers and programmers to strategize and collaborate on their work related to gender, sexuality and HIV.
AUG. 3, 2008
AIDS Fight Needs Focus on Prevention and Women
ICRW President Geeta Rao Gupta urges global health community to design and fund more prevention programs addressing women’s vulnerability to HIV
To ratchet up success in the global fight against AIDS, ICRW challenges AIDS experts and advocates at this week’s Mexico City international AIDS conference to shift from an emergency-response to a long-term strategy that invests more in HIV prevention and focuses on the social and economic issues that drive the pandemic, especially among women and girls.
"We’ve made important investments in the fight against AIDS – we are beginning to see results in some places and the international community increasingly knows that women face unique risks to infection and barriers to services and care,” says Geeta Rao Gupta, president of ICRW, a Washington, D.C.-based international research organization. “Now we need to build on this success and cut AIDS at its base by addressing its core causes: social, economic and gender inequalities that drive HIV transmission.”
AUG. 2, 2008
EFFECTIVE HIV VACCINE REQUIRES WOMEN IN CLINICAL TRIALS
New ICRW research points to gender inequalities keeping women from trials in Kenya
Developing a successful HIV vaccine will depend on whether researchers can successfully address the concerns and barriers that currently keep women
from participating in clinical trials in many developing countries, according to new research by ICRW.
JULY
July 31, 2008
Value Added: Women and U.S. Foreign Aid Reform
ICRW and Women Thrive Worldwide join the growing call to overhaul U.S. foreign assistance and say aid will go much farther by prioritizing investments in women, according to their new policy paper, “Value Added: Women and U.S. Foreign Assistance for the 21st Century.”
Released in advance of Senate and House hearings on reform aid (July 31), the white paper builds on the broader reform agenda recently issued by the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (M-FAN), a group of U.S. think-tanks, academics and international nongovernmental organizations.
The joint ICRW-Women Thrive Worldwide report emphasizes that investment in women is a crucial component of international development and should be a cornerstone of U.S. foreign assistance. The policy paper recommends capitalizing on women’s roles in reducing poverty and expanding economic growth, guaranteeing gender-equitable development assistance, and increasing funding and improving monitoring for programs that invest in women and address gender inequality.
July 30, 2008
President Signs U.S. Global AIDS Funding Bill – PEPFAR
Strengthens Prevention Efforts; Bolsters Focus on Women, Girls
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2008 - Today President George W. Bush signed into law the reauthorization of President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a five-year, $48 billion initiative to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria worldwide.
The approved reauthorization includes language that calls on the administration to develop a specific strategy to address women and gender in the fight against HIV and AIDS, and sets a policy framework to address related issues of women’s inheritance rights, women’s lack of economic opportunities, and gender-based violence.
The reauthorization, however, falls short of an unequivocal victory for women and girls by including provisions that compromise their right to information and services related to sexual and reproductive health.
July 29, 2008
AIDS CONFERENCE SIGNALS OPPORTUNITY TO SHIFT FROM EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO LONG-TERM APPROACH TO FIGHTING AIDS
The upcoming international AIDS conference in Mexico City marks a crucial time for the international community to make a dramatic policy shift from an emergency response to longer-term prevention efforts in fighting HIV and AIDS, particularly among women and girls around the world.
July 23, 2008
Glamour Magazine Calls to End the Tragedy of Child Marriage
This past spring, extensive coverage about child brides at the Zion Ranch in Texas highlighted girls as young as 14 being forced into marriage. While the harmful practice remains relatively rare in the United States, Glamour magazine’s July issue reminds its readers that child marriage is shockingly common throughout the developing world.
In the article, ICRW’s Margaret Greene discusses the often dire economic circumstances that compel parents to marry off their daughters. “Parents think girls need to be married to have good lives,” she says. In poor, rural communities where child marriage persists, she adds, many girls and their families want to delay marriage but lack alternatives.
Glamour calls for both humanitarian and legislative solutions to “help end the tragedy of child marriage.”
July 16, 2008
Value Added: Women and U.S. Foreign Aid Reform
ICRW and Women Thrive Worldwide released today its think-piece on the issue of foreign aid reform in response to a broader reform agenda recently issued by the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (M-FAN), a group of U.S. think-tanks, academics and international nongovernmental organizations. The white paper, “Value Added: Women and U.S. Foreign Assistance for the 21st Century,” emphasizes that investment in women is a crucial component of international development and should be a cornerstone of U.S. foreign assistance.
More than four decades of development experience shows that where gender inequalities persist, countries pay the high cost of slower economic growth, weaker governance and overall lower standards of living. Without the integration of women, the ambitious goals of foreign aid reform will be met with only limited success.
To maximize the impact of U.S. foreign aid, the joint ICRW-Women Thrive Worldwide report recommends capitalizing on women’s roles in reducing poverty and expanding economic growth, guaranteeing gender-equitable development assistance, and increasing funding and improving monitoring for programs that invest in women and address gender inequality.
Several recent Congressional hearings have focused on the state of U.S. foreign assistance, observing that its approach is based on the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, which was framed to address obsolete security concerns pertaining to the Cold War. Rep. Berman, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House, has said that he wants to rewrite and modernize the above-mentioned Act. Potentially, this could mean the most serious overhaul in U.S. foreign aid policy since its conception.
July 2, 2008
Mixed Progress on MDGs as Mid-point Nears
As the SEPT. mid-point approaches for achieving the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), experts have begun to weigh in on the mixed progress to date and the best path forward.
Winnie Byanyima, director of the UNDP gender team, Bureau for Development Policy, spoke last week at two D.C. events on the slow progress toward increasing women’s political participation, an indicator of the third goal to empower women and promote gender equality. Women have seen some gains in the proportion of seats they hold in national parliaments, she says, but almost no countries are close to parity, including developed countries like the United States.
Progress is uneven for the other Goal 3 indicators as well. Gains in girls’ education have been made, but the midway goal of eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education has been missed, according to U.N. data. And new opportunities for women in the labor market are slow in coming.
This mixed progress on gender equality is especially alarming given that ensuring everyone – women and men, girls and boys – benefits from economic growth and poverty reduction is a cornerstone to meeting the other seven goals.
“Equality in decision making is a human right,” Byanyima says. “It benefits women, men, children, communities and nations. It is a shared goal, requiring a partnership between women and men.
“As it is a missed Millennium Development Goal, we should re-double our efforts to achieve it.”
The MDGs are the first global consensus on the development priorities needed to improve the lives and opportunities for the world’s poorest people. The framework identifies eight broad development goals to be met by 2015, with targets and measures to assess progress along the way.
ICRW contributed to an U.N. Taskforce that outlined the best ways to promote gender equality and empower women. These recommendations are outlined in the report, Toward Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering Women.
Byanyima spoke June 18 and June 19 at roundtables at InterAction and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, respectively. She is a member of the ICRW board of directors.
JUNE
June 27, 2008
Annie George Named Group Director, Health and Development for ICRW’s Asia Regional Office
Annie George will join ICRW’s Asia Regional Office as group director for health and development on July 14. As director, George will serve as the technical lead for ICRW’s research portfolio on HIV and AIDS, gender-based violence, and maternal health and nutrition. She also will help design and implement a global program strategy to expand ICRW’s health and development
agenda worldwide.
June 26, 2008
ICRW names Jeannie Bunton Vice President, External Relations Group
The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) today announced the appointment of Jeannie Bunton as vice president of its external relations group. Bunton brings to ICRW more than two decades of communications, media and public relations experience at the nonprofit and federal levels.
June 26, 2008
U.S. Senate Should Pass Life-Saving Bill – PEPFAR
The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is up for renewal in Congress. Despite overwhelming bipartisan support and five years of accomplishments, the bill is stalled. Six senators are objecting to funding for life-saving international development efforts such as gender empowerment, poverty alleviation programs, education and agricultural assistance. The senators have requested that 55 percent of PEPFAR's funding be dedicated solely to treatment and drugs.
“Their rationale fails to recognize that AIDS is not just a public health problem,” says ICRW President Geeta Rao Gupta in an Op-Ed to Shreveport Times. “The lessons of the past five years have shown the need for effective prevention strategies to address the underlying factors that drive the epidemic, including poverty and gender inequality.”
The PEPFAR reauthorization bill addresses many important factors that increasingly put women and girls at risk of HIV infection.
June 13, 2008
Poor Health, Poor Women: How Reproductive Health Affects Poverty
A multitude of research shows the negative effects of poverty on reproductive health outcomes, but does poor reproductive health prevent poor women from escaping poverty? In a new Woodrow Wilson Center publication, co-authors Margaret Greene of ICRW and Thomas Merrick of the World Bank, found that poor reproductive health outcomes do have negative effects on overall health, and under certain circumstances, on education and household well-being.
June 6, 2008
Tackling HIV-related Stigma in South Asia
The best, most innovative ideas to reduce HIV stigma will be implemented thanks to a competitive small grants program. Twenty-six civil society organizations won grants at the South Asia Regional Development Marketplace last week in Mumbai, India. Ideas ranged from raising awareness of stigma and discrimination through beauty pageants in Nepal to educating journalists about HIV and AIDS in Bangladesh.
"The DM was a fantastic opportunity for grassroots organizations to showcase their innovative ideas for reducing stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV,” says ICRW stigma expert Aparna Jain. “By monitoring these programs, we’ll know more about what works and how we can scale up promising ideas.”
ICRW experts helped select the winners and conducted workshops to equip grantees with the tools to measure and evaluate the impact of their programs.
June 2, 2008
Women Are Critical to Addressing World Food Crisis
ICRW Discusses Gender and Food Security with Voice of America
Rising food prices, expanding poverty, limited resources, climate change, increased energy needs and population growth — the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization convenes global leaders this week in Rome to discuss how best to respond to these mounting concerns. Vital to any crisis or longer-term strategy to improve food security in the developing world is to invest more in women, especially women farmers, says ICRW Director of Economic Development Rekha Mehra in a June 1 interview with Voice of America.
The three-day World Food Summit offers the international development community a chance to re-launch the fight against hunger and poverty and increase agricultural production in developing countries. To meet these objectives, however, world leaders must address gender inequality. Rural women produce as much as 80 percent of the food in developing countries, according to ICRW and other research, and they are primarily responsible for their families' nutrition.
"As the global community discusses how to stem the hunger crisis – targeted food giveaways, food subsidies, seeds and fertilizers to farmers – they must recognize that women should benefit from these programs,” Mehra says.
Women also should be a focus in longer-term agricultural investments like agricultural research, and extension and microcredit programs. Says Mehra: "Investing in women is a sure way to improve families’ food security and nutrition.”
Read a related letter in the Washington Post. 
MAY
May 27, 2008
Nike Foundation Launches GIRLSEFFECT.ORG
Web Site Illustrates Investing in Girls is Powerful Force for Change
Today the Nike Foundation launched GIRLSEFFECT.ORG - a Web site that illustrates the potential girls in the developing world have for creating a positive impact on their families, communities and nations.
The site tells the story of adolescent girls who are at a crossroad in their young lives. Given the chance to stay in school, be healthy and marry when they choose, these girls can become instruments of change who lift themselves and ultimately their families and communities from intergenerational cycles of poverty.
The site includes useful tools on how to get involved and compelling videos to share.
May 27, 2008
NoVo and Nike Invest $100 Million for Girls
Recognizing that investing in the health and well-being of adolescent girls is a powerful force for change, the NoVo and Nike Foundations announced an innovative and unprecedented joint effort to invest $100 million to help adolescent girls in developing countries.
“The Girl Effect” – the powerful social and economic change brought about when girls have the opportunity to participate in their societies – will seek to raise awareness of the state of the world’s adolescent girls and their potential by identifying and promoting the most promising opportunities for girls in the public and private sector. When girls in impoverished communities are supported, educated and empowered, everyone benefits and the cycle of poverty can be broken.
The NoVo Foundation will contribute $45 million over the next three years, and the Nike Foundation will invest $55 million through fiscal 2011.
ICRW works collaboratively with the Nike Foundation, providing its partners with strategic and measurement support on programmatic efforts to empower girls in poor countries. ICRW works with the Coalition for Adolescent Girls, supported by Nike Foundation and the United Nations Foundation, and is also a NoVo foundation grant recipient.
May 21, 2008
Investing in Female Farmers Lifts Nations from Poverty
ICRW responds to The Washington Post
In a letter to the editor, ICRW Economic and Development Director Rekha Mehra responds to the May 16 Washington Post article, "Women Rise in Rwanda's Economic Revival." Mehra explains that as global food prices rise and U.S. foreign assistance is debated in the upcoming presidential election, investing in women farmers should be a fundamental part of any economic development strategy.
Read the article “Women Rise in Rwanda's Economic Revival” 
May 7, 2008
ICRW Highlights Adolescent Programs at Youth Conference in Abuja
ICRW recently participated in Youth Deliver the Future, an international conference focused on current research and policy trends on the health and development needs of young people in low-resource countries. Today’s generation of adolescents is the largest in history, yet their needs often are overlooked by the global development community.
The conference was a forum to discuss and formulate policy, program and research priorities for youth development. Its goal is to direct more resources and investments to youth-related programs at the international, national and local levels.
ICRW’s experts presented research findings from a variety of adolescent programs, such as work with young men to address gender-based violence; stimulating youth demand and access to sexual and reproductive health services; delaying the age of marriage for girls; and sexual agency among young married women.
The event was held last week in Abuja, Nigeria, and hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health housed at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Attendees included researchers, practitioners and youth from more than 40 international and national organizations.
APRIL
APRIL 25, 2008
Child Brides: Stolen Lives Receives Edward R. Murrow Award
Honored for Best TV Interpretation or Documentary on International Affairs
The PBS weekly newsmagazine NOW’s special broadcast on child marriage, Child Brides: Stolen Lives, has received the Edward R. Murrow Award for best TV interpretation or documentary on international affairs from the Overseas Press Club of America (OPC).
“Ambitious in a wholly different way than war or politics - and just as courageous - Child Brides: Stolen Lives does what the best international broadcast reporting is supposed to do: Introduce us to a world we don't know through vivid imagery, compelling storytelling and smart analysis,” according to the OPC, which honored the documentary at a April 24 ceremony in New York City.
In the hour-long documentary, NOW Senior Correspondent Maria Hinojosa takes viewers to Guatemala, India and Niger to explore stories of early marriage, including an illegal midnight wedding in India where children as young as 3 are married, and the courageous efforts of people campaigning to end child marriage in many of these communities.
Televised nationally in 2007, the broadcast raised the consciousness of millions of viewers and continues to educate online viewers around the globe. ICRW's longstanding research and advocacy on child marriage inspired and contributed to the documentary. Through ICRW-sponsored screenings and discussions in Washington and around the nation, the film is a valuable tool in our efforts to persuade Congress to increase U.S. support for programs to end this harmful practice.
Getty Images Honored
OPC also recognized Getty Images for its “dedication to quality international journalism,” and three of its photojournalists - Paula Bronstein, John Moore and Brent Stirton - garnered awards. ICRW is a beneficiary of in-kind support from Getty Images through the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GBC), an alliance of international companies dedicated to combating the AIDS pandemic. Recognizing the ability of photography to educate and affect change, Getty Images commits its resources and expertise to support the global movement against HIV and AIDS.
APRIL 24, 2008
Asia Regional Office Launches Gender Equity Movement in Schools
ICRW's Asia Regional Office recently launched its school-based initiative, Gender Equity Movement in Schools (GEMS), a comprehensive program to educate young men and women on issues of gender equity.
The April 11 event in New Delhi was the culmination of a two-day strategic planning meeting for practitioners, funders, international nongovernmental organizations and U.N. representatives from several countries in South Asia working on issues of gender equity and violence prevention with men and boys. The launch was hosted by ICRW's Asia Regional Office, UNDP - Asia Pacific Regional Center, and Save the Children Sweden Regional Office for South and Central Asia.
The event featured Kamala Bhasin, a leading women's rights activist, and local GEMS partners that will be implementing the program in three Indian states: (1) CORO for Literacy and Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Maharashtra; (2) Ritinjali in Rajasthan; and (3) Sangath in Goa.
The meeting highlighted the unique collaboration of three organizations – ICRW, Population Council and Instituto Promundo – in their efforts to design methodologies for working with young men and women on issues of gender equity. The event also marked the release of regional transcripts of group education training manuals, Yaari-Dosti and Sakhi-Saheli, published jointly by ICRW and Population Council. The manuals will be important tools in implementing GEMS.
APRIL 22, 2008
Financial Independence for Women May Be Key to Changing Social Norms and Help Fight Spread of HIV
Women
who control their own finances may feel more confident in negotiating a
partner’s change in behavior to avoid HIV infection, according to new
research on women and microcredit by ICRW’s Kim Ashburn, and authors
Deanna Kerrigan and Michael Sweat.
“This insight is important because it indicates that gaining financial independence is the crucial ‘empowerment’ factor, not just participating in microcredit programs,” Ashburn says.
The findings, based on research in the Dominican Republic, suggest that microcredit programs could better help women by expanding their focus on client recruitment and loan repayment rates to also include practical financial skills like accounting and business negotiations, which further strengthen women’s financial abilities.
The article, “Microcredit, Women’s Groups, Control of Own Money: HIV-Related Negotiation among Partnered Dominican Women,” will be published in the May edition of AIDS and Behavior.
APRIL 21, 2008
ICRW Announces New COO
The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) is pleased to announce that Sarah Degnan Kambou, previously vice president for health and development, has been promoted to chief operating officer, effective April 4.
APRIL 11, 2008
Guide for Community Assessments on Women's Health Care
Building awareness of health issues among community members, parliamentarians in Africa
A
new how-to guide from ICRW, designed to help organizations facilitate
community assessments on women's health care, is now available for
download. The Guide for Community Assessments on Women's Health Care outlines practical and effective ways to assess women's access to
health care, particularly in communities hard-hit by the AIDS epidemic.
The guide includes step-by-step exercises in developing programs appropriate for your audience that will help community members and government leaders understand the importance of addressing women's health care needs to stop the spread of HIV.
MARCH
March 25, 2008
Time Magazine Quotes ICRW President
ICRW President Geeta Rao Gupta was quoted in the recent Time magazine article, “Women's Work,” which discusses the need for microfinance initiatives to provide management training for women in addition to capital.
“For any business to grow, in addition to a loan, you also need skills," explains Rao Gupta, "Microloans are not enough. Women are getting stuck."
That message is being heard. Management training for women is increasingly available through initiatives by development agencies including the World Bank and for-profit companies such as Goldman Sachs.
March 5, 2008
Senate PEPFAR Reauthorization Bill Moves Closer to Helping Women, Girls
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved legislation March 13 to reauthorize the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, to $50 billion for fiscal years 2009 to 2013, which will significantly bolster the reach and effectiveness of the U.S. global AIDS program.
ICRW commends the Senate for including provisions to strengthen PEPFAR's priority to women and girls and laying out stronger measures to hold PEPFAR accountable for the gender focus. ICRW also applauds the Senate committee's decision to eliminate the requirement that one-third of funds be directed toward programs promoting “abstinence and be faithful” behavior, which will allow countries more flexibility to tailor prevention efforts to local needs.
Nevertheless, ICRW is disappointed that the Senate committee remained silent on the important issue of integrating HIV/AIDS information and services into family planning programs and retained the requirement that PEPFAR recipients pledge their opposition to prostitution.
Read ICRW's full position statement .
March 5, 2008
ICRW Awards Gala Honors Global Leaders for Advancing the Well-Being and Economic Progress of Women and Girls
Salud y Género, Standard Chartered Bank Honored
for Their Work to Improve Women’s Lives
On the eve of International Women’s Day, the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) has issued a challenge for U.S. and world leaders to take a stand, listen to the needs of women and girls, and use their influence to implement the “right solutions” to advance the progress and opportunities for women and girls in impoverished nations around the world.
FEBRUARY
Feb. 29, 2008
PEPFAR Reauthorization Must Protect Women From HIV Risks by Integrating HIV/AIDS Services Into Reproductive Health Programs
ICRW President Geeta Rao Gupta commends House Committee for adopting HIV prevention strategy for women and girls, but adds reproductive health services are key to strategy
The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) commends the House Foreign Affairs Committee for the recent bipartisan agreement to develop a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy for women and girls as part of the U.S. global AIDS plan reauthorization legislation.
Foreign Policy Magazine Runs ICRW President's Letter to the Editor
No cheap fix for realizing gender equality
ICRW President Geeta Rao Gupta 's letter to the editor was published in the most recent issue of Foreign Policy, the premier, award-winning magazine on global politics and economics. She responded to an essay that includes the assertion that reaching the goal of gender equality “will not cost a dime.”
“Achieving gender equality will require a commitment to implement effective programs and policies,” her letter states. “That costs money.”
Feb. 28, 2008
Worldview of Chicago's Public Radio
Worldview of Chicago's Public Radio recently interviewed students who participated in ICRW's Week of Action to help stop child marriage in Mali.
Feb. 8, 2008
Get Involved!
Week of Action on Child Marriage:
Feb. 25-29
ICRW is launching a Child Marriage Week of Action Feb. 25-29. Working with partners like you, we hope to raise awareness about the child marriage, especially among members of Congress, and to persuade them to support pending legislation that could help millions of girls go to school and prevent them from marrying too young. Please join us.
The good news: 45 legislators are supporting the child marriage bills. And we need only two more members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee to co-sponsor for the committee to consider taking up the legislation. We need your help.
Legislators that we speak with say they would be willing to co-sponsor the legislation if they heard from constituents. Phone calls, letters and faxes from you are powerful tools for moving legislation. Please contact Congress during the week of Feb. 25-29 and make a difference in a girl's life today.
Talking points and background information that you can use in a phone call or a letter can be found on our Web site.
Other methods to reach policy-makers include writing a letter to the editor or submitting an op-ed to your local newspaper. Our Web site has tips for that, too.
Please contact Dan Martin if you have any questions or need assistance. And let us know if your organization has grassroots networks and would like to get involved in the Week of Action.
Feb. 5, 2008
Girls Count in Fight to End Poverty
Gaisu Yari was just a child when a tribal warlord, eager to claim Gaisu as his bride, killed her father. Threatened with kidnapping and forced marriage, with no education, economic opportunity or freedom, Gaisu says she faced a future of domestic slavery and violence. With the help of friends and relatives, she fled to the United States.
At the launch last week of Girl's Count: A Global Investment and Action Agenda, Gaisu described her childhood and how her experience is similar to many other adolescent girls in developing countries who without an education, employment opportunities and sometimes the assurance of basic human rights, cannot break out of the poverty cycle, much less contribute to their countries' economic growth. The report shows how detrimental girls' marginalization is to fighting poverty and achieving broader international development goals.
Researchers, policy-makers and development officials who attended the launch discussed how to get the message out that girls count in international development. For example, girls who receive one year of education more than the current average boost their eventual wages by between 10 percent and 20 percent, according to the report. They also discussed how to shift the international development agenda so that it includes targets for adolescent girls.
ICRW Director of Population and Social Transitions Margaret Greene, co-author of the report, participated in the panel, which included representatives from the Center for Global Development, Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, Population Council, UNFPA, UNIFEM and the U.N. Foundation. Several other authors, as well as other ICRW researchers, contributed to the report.
JANUARY
JAN. 28, 2008
Voice of America Discusses High Costs of Child Marriage
ICRW's Margaret Greene and Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) recently spoke with Voice of America's foreign policy series, On the Line, about the high costs of child marriage to international development and the opportunity Congress currently faces to help curb child marriage worldwide. Policy analyst Farhana Ali from Rand also joined the discussion.
Legislation before both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives would mandate that the U.S. State Department report on child marriage in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights as well as empower the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to integrate child marriage prevention efforts, such as education for girls, into existing programs and implement pilot programs to reduce the prevalence of child marriage. Without additional congressional support, the bills will not move forward.
Currently some 51 million girls in the developing world are married. In several countries, more than half of girls are married before they reach their 18th birthday. The United States spends millions of dollars every year on international development assistance, money that is less effective due to the negative consequences of child marriage.
JAN. 22, 2008
NEW REPORT
Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda
ICRW Director of Population and Social Transitions Margaret Greene contributed to a new report, Girls Count, which illustrates the benefits and means to empower adolescent girls in developing countries to reduce poverty, and offers targeted recommendations for national and local governments, donor agencies, civil society, and the private sector.
In addition to Greene, several other ICRW researchers, working on adolescent issues, contributed to this report.
The problem of global poverty can only be addressed through a comprehensive approach to promote the empowerment of adolescent girls. Investing in their health and well-being will unleash their power to transform their individual circumstances. Unfortunately, issues related to adolescent girls remain invisible to many policy-makers. Without substantial investments in girls' well-being, the international community cannot achieve its objective to reduce global poverty.
The Center for Global Development published the report.
The authors of the report will present their findings and policy recommendations Jan. 30, 2008.
Location:
Hilton Washington Embassy Row
Ambassador Room
2015 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Light breakfast provided.
JAN. 22, 2008
ICRW Meets with Girl Scouts to Discuss Child Marriage
ICRW's Saranga Jain recently met with a group of Girl Scouts in Springfield, Mass., to discuss their thoughts on child marriage after viewing the NOW on PBS documentary, Child Brides: Stolen Lives. The girls, ranging in ages from 14 to 18, shared concerns about the health and social consequences of marrying too young, and made connections between the lives of adolescent girls in developing countries and their own.
“I learned a lot from these girls,” says Jain, the lead researcher of the report, New Insights on Preventing Child Marriage. “So many of the aspirations and hopes for the future that these girls expressed are similar to those of girls in South Asia.” For example, Nepalese girls in an ICRW study reported aspirations of finishing secondary school, going to college, getting a job, falling in love and getting married, activities which they hoped would occur in their 20's. The reality for many girls in Nepal, however, is marriage and childbearing before they have reached adulthood. This often means an end to all other future hopes, including education and earning an income.
The Jan. 21 film showing with the Girl Scouts coincided with a screening in Long Island, N.Y. Afterward, experts at each location led a discussion about child marriage, followed by a live video-teleconference between the two sites.
JAN. 10, 2008
A CALL TO ACTION:
Gender, Sexuality, Violence Concerns Help Shape HIV Policy Debates in India
ICRW's Regional Asia Office and Oxfam Great Britain, with support from the European Commission, recently joined forces in India to help inform national policy aimed at curbing gender- and sexuality-based stigma, discrimination and violence against people at risk of and affected by HIV.
ICRW and Oxfam organized a national “Call to Action” consultation, with various stakeholders, to discuss changes needed in national HIV policy.
Recommendations – ranging from convening a gender and sexuality advisory group to addressing damaging gender norms in programs and messages – have been forwarded to national policy-makers and are outlined in the conference report, Gender, Sexuality and Violence in the Context of HIV and AIDS: A Call to Action.