Asia

Women from South East Asia and Pacific countries will meet in Fiji to discuss issues relating to managing home environment, food security and disaster management, the Fijian government announced Tuesday.

Civil society activists in India are hopeful the government led by Nawaz Sharif will work towards improving ties with India, said Delhi Policy Group, Director General Dr Randha Kumar, on Monday. The DPG is a think tank in India.

Of nearly 75,000 prisoners in jails in Pakistan, around 1,100 are women, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

The misery of the women prisoners is that their families no longer care for them or stay in contact with them to pursue their cases due to social stigma, says an official of the top watchdog.

Female authors and books on women's issues have a hard time finding publishers and buyers in the Kurdistan Region, writers and publishers complain.

“Even if you have a very important book ready, a book that tackles an important women's issue, when you try to get permission to publish you run into a load of difficulties,” says Fawzi Manmi, whose book is currently on bookstands.

NCP MP Supriya Sule along with her other colleagues will launch a campaign to make rural women financially stronger. The drive to empower woman will kick start from Nashik on June 11.

The assistant secretary general of the UN, Lakshmi Puri, made remarks on the need for women around the world to address some of the core issues relating to gender equality.

Ms Puri said there were three main areas she thought needed attention.

"Ending violence against women and girls must be a priority. From sexual violence to intimate partner shooting in the US and elsewhere," Ms Puri said.

Rape jokes, such as the one recently made by comedian Vice Ganda, are more than just ill-advised humor and reflect Philippine society's attitudes toward women and women victims of violence, according to the party list group Gabriela.

Imphal-based NGO Women Action for Development (WAD) has taken serious note of the growing crime against women in New Delhi, the latest being the alleged murder of a Manipuri woman, Reingamphy Awungshi. The NGO will place the issue before UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women (UNSRVAW) Rashida Manjoo and the NHRC for redressal.

Rural Women demands right to land, employment quota for rural women, protection of violence against women and a comprehensive framework for implementation of women protection laws to ensure rights and help them to become productive members of society.

Several UN experts on Wednesday criticised Iran's decision to bar women from running in upcoming elections, saying the move violated international law.