Pakistan's NGOs Publicly Silent that US Is Source of Major Aid
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GivingTracker| USA Today delivers an excellent story on US aid to Pakistan. Not only does the US government want more credit and acknowledgement for the aid it’s delivering into Pakistan, but concerned Americans want the recognition of American foreign aid.
Yet, mum’s the word for vast amounts of US aid that is given to international aid groups via NGOs. Frequently on the ground in places like Pakistan, NGOs argue that American money is tainted money, inviting attacks by the Taliban on groups and villages that accept American aid.
Christy Turlington's Maternal Health 'No Woman No Cry' Full Documentary
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Christy Turlington's Maternal Health 'No Woman No Cry' Full Documentary
Statistically, development experts agree that women are far more likely than men to invest available resources on their children’s education and welfare. When mothers are killed or left debilitated by childbirth, cycles of poverty and misery are particularly harsh for girl babies and young girls in the family.
I didn’t want it to feel like an advocacy film,” says Christy Turlington about her documentary “No Woman No Cry”, which also made its debut at last week’s conference on reproductive health. “I didn’t want it to feel like an advocacy film,” Turlington says, “I wanted it to be an advocacy tool.” That means “No Woman No Cry” is almost wholly free of development speak and policy recommendations. via The Daily Beast
All who know her understand that Christy Turlington Burns is an activist first and a supermodel second. Turlington may have just signed up for the A/W Louis Vuitton campaign, but her focus is sharing the powerful stories of at-risk pregnant women in four parts of the world, including a remote Maasai tribe in Tanzania, a slum of Bangladesh, a post-abortion care ward in Guatemala, and a prenatal clinic in the United States.
An 'Au Naturel" Jolie and Pitt Laugh at Gossipmongers at LA UNICEF Bash
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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are the anti-glamour couple at the UNICEF Ball honoring Jerry Weintraub
An ‘Au Naturel’ Jolie and Pitt Laugh at Gossipmongers at LA UNICEF Bash
Presumably the tabloids won’t let up on the fact that Brangelina is coming unglued and there’s no love left in the house, but Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were beyond joined at the hip last night, at UNICEF’s Ball honoring Jerry Weintraub.
The pair looked very Cultural Creative last evening, perhaps the most “au naturel” we’ve seen them when attending a gala. Angelina Jolie is a UNICEF ambassador and chose to not outshine the grime of the many devastating war and poverty zones that she covers on her international beat.
Diamonds at the Beverly Wilshire and starving camps in Somalia don’t make the best press, although no one would throw even a marsh mellow at Jolie and Pitt, a couple who goes beyond “walking their talk” for humanitarian causes.
Shakira Inspires Oxford University Students
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Shakira at OxfordAs further evidence that embracing one’s Smart Sensuality doesn’t render a woman a corrupting force in nature and among men, I’m sharing Shakira’s Monday video from her speech at Oxford University.
The same voice that last week announced that libido is the “engine of the world” makes one of the most articulate, informative short presentations ever on the importance of education for the world’s poor children. Shakira believes — as do I — that embracing our sensuality invigorates us as women to accomplish important works for the planet and its people.
Simply stated, we’re connected to life and want everyone to live it as well as possible.
Ours is a holistic view of womanhood, one that doesn’t cut women up into good girl and bad girl departments. In Shakira’s playbook, women are pure goodness, with the occasional bad apple, I suppose. She inspires us to embrace our very best selves and then use that goodness on behalf of humankind.
Unlike most religious leaders, Shakira doesn’t see libido and sensuality as corrupting of women’s morality. This is her beauty and gift to women and men both.
"Women of the Wall" Protest Exclusion from Praying at Jerusalem's Western Wall
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Supporters of a group of religious activists called Women of the Wall gathered at the holy site in Jerusalem for prayers on Friday. Conservative Jew Nofrat Frenkel, 28 and a fifth year medical student, was the first woman to be arrested last month on Nov. 18th, during prayers at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Her crime was wrapping herself in a tallit or fringed prayer shawl, a ritual garment traditionally worn only by men.
The group prayed in large numbers last Friday, the first day of the Hebrew month of Tevet. “We are pushing the envelope. History is made of moments like this,” said Nat Hoffman, chairwoman of Women of the Wall, which was founded in 1988.
UNESCO's Director Irina Bokova Says 'No' to Burqas
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Irina Bokova will be installed as UNESCO’s new director today, as the first woman director.
Bulgaria’s Bokova lost no time outlining her positions on women’s issues, telling Radio Netherlands worldwide that she wants to encourage dialogue among Jews, Muslims and Christians in an effort to increase tolerance and respect.
Next she aligned herself with last week’s announcement by Eyptian Grand Imam Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi, saying: “Personally I’m against the burqa. Some women can’t even see properly. It denigrates women, causes problems and gives women the feeling that they are not equal to men.”
In Paris All Eyes are on "Women are Heroes"
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In Paris All Eyes are on “Women are Heroes”
We have two “Women are Heroes” videos, one is a 90-minute documentary with the women’s voices and stories and another six-minute short of JR’s team at work, mounting the pictures in a city and the photographer explaining the concepts behind the project.
APROSAF Midwives in Congo Fuel Lifesaving Rescues with Briquettes
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APROSAF midwives in Congo demonstrate unbelievable courage in trying to save women’s lives.Huffington Post has published a followup to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Congo.
Secretary Clinton wrote about the Mugunga Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Goma. The American press had little interest in covering the horrors Mrs. Clinton saw on her trip, preferring to focus on the infamous question directed to her in the equally-infamous Congo press conference.
Georgianne Nienaber shares details about a project between Virunga National Park and Association pour la Promotion de la Sage Femme, a group of 118 midwives who also act as community leaders.
The respect they garner results from selfless dedication as they transport pregnant women and rape victims, sometimes by carrying them on their backs, to get help. They do this without pay and subject themselves to rape and shootings along the way.
These unbelievably courageous women will receive $20 a month to establish a brisquette business, converting refuse into fuel and then selling it for $.50 a sack. If the women repackage refuse, the trees won’t be cut down in Virunga Park, home to the last remaining mountain gorillas, but also a source of fuel.
