Celebrating International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day (March 8) celebrates the strength, courage and challenges of women and dares us to promote ways to ensure the dignity of all women and support them to live life to the full. The theme for 2008 is “Investing in Women and Girls”. Find out how three Sisters of Mercy of the Australian Institute are supporting women in Papua New Guinea.

International Women’s Day – March 8
March 8 is a day to acknowledge all women around the world. International Women’s Day celebrates the strength, courage and challenges of women and dares us to promote ways to ensure the dignity of all women and support them to live life to the full.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day and listen to the stories of women in our lives, you are encouraged to listen to Sisters Mariska Kua RSM, Theresia Boyek RSM and Agnes Murphy RSM as they reflect on their ministry with women in Papua New Guinea.

Go to Women and Poverty, click on “STORY” and watch three video clips “Unemployment and Violence”, “Polygamy and Prison” and “Education in PNG”.

This week on ABC1 – “Papua’s Babies”
The infant mortality rate of Australia’s nearest neighbour has not altered much in recent years. For every 1000 babies born, more than 70 will die before their fifth birthday. Many are then abandoned. Yet amid the doom and gloom, PNG Correspondent Steve Marshall finds glimmers of hope. Local women, like Social Worker Tessi Soi, are inspirational characters in this story making it their mission to save PNG’s children. In the lead-up to International Women’s Day, Foreign Correspondent highlights their selfless efforts. Without them, many more Papua New Guinea children would miss out on the chance of life. Find out more here or watch the repeat of the programme on ABC1, Foreign Correspondent this Saturday March 8 @ 1:00pm.

The Millennium Development Campaign
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Target 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015.

Indicators:
Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education
Ratio of literate women to men, 15-24 years old
Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector
Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

Did you know?
Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours, produce half of the world’s food, and yet earn only 10% of the world’s income and own less than 1% of the world’s property. Click HERE if you want to know more.

The Millennium Development Goals Report 2007:
Women’s participation in paid, non-agricultural employment has continued to increase slowly. The greatest gains are in some of the regions where women have the least presence in the labour market – in Southern Asia, Western Asia and Oceania. In Northern Africa, where women’s participation is also low, progress has been insignificant. Only one in five paid employees in that region is a woman, a situation that has remained unchanged for the last 15 years. In other regions, women are slowly gaining access to paid employment at a level on par with men.

Women’s political participation is growing, albeit slowly. A number of factors are at play in determining women’s political representation – including political will, the strength of national women’s movements and continued emphasis by the international community on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Further Information

Photo credit: Gaye Lennon RSM

From: Specific Issues Committee, Women and Poverty (Sisters Leonie Crotty, Miriam Grech, Angela Reed, Anne Ryan). The Committee warmly invites your response to the article or the issue.
Email: women.poverty@mercy.org.au

Contact: Carmel Heagerty RSM, Institute Justice Co-ordinator
Email: Institute.Justice@mercy.org.au