Who thinks women’s health and human rights are radical, dangerous, and controversial? Apparently, powers-that-be at the Rio+20 environmental summit.

Their refusal to include sexual and reproductive health in the final agreement is a deterrent to sustainable development, the economy, and education. It also contradicts other UN agreements and most significantly, the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), which prioritized the empowerment and health of women and girls. ICPD clearly affirmed the right of women and girls to quality sexual and reproductive health care, AND their integral role in building a sustainable environment.

We agreed then, that the empowerment of women and making sexual and reproductive health a reality for women was the simplest path to a sustainable earth; it was a major step forward.

The Rio+20 agreement is a leap backwards. While there are references to Cairo and Beijing agreements on sexual and reproductive health, there is no reference to reproductive rights in the final agreement—where it really matters.

How did this happen? We can count the ways. But in the interest of time and space, I’ll focus on two that stand out to me.

The first is a well-organized religious contingent whose ultimate goal is to change the language and message of the ’94 ICPD conference. Most interesting is the Holy See (the Vatican). Is it that the Holy See prefers not to see the human rights of women, or does it not believe the human rights of women are holy enough? In light of the allegations within the Catholic Church around the sexual abuse of children, what moral authority does the Vatican have to be lobbying against women’s health? To be fair, the Holy See was not a lone rider here, several other countries, including Egypt and Syria, were part of their posse.

Second, opponents argued that gender equality and women’s human rights (including reproductive rights) have nothing to do with sustainable development, and in fact detract from the really “important issues” like trade, financing, and the green economy. Tell that to the National Center for Atmospheric Research. It’s recent study shows that a reduction of 8 to 15 percent of essential carbon emissions can be obtained by providing family planning to all women who want it. This reduction would be equivalent to stopping all deforestation or increasing the world’s use of wind power forty-fold.

Women are not asking for the world. They just ask that our leaders open their eyes, do the right thing, and take a giant leap forward.

© Terry Lorant

Global Fund for Women congratulates former President and CEO, Kavita N. Ramdas, on her appointment as the Ford Foundation representative in New Delhi serving India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

Following her tenure at the Global Fund, Kavita served two years at Stanford University, where she developed Ripples to Waves, a program on social entrepreneurship and development.

Founded in 1952, the Ford Foundation's New Delhi office has the distinction of being its first program office outside of the United States and has cultivated a rich history of empowering the citizens of India and the region.

“I am honored by this opportunity to advance social justice and democracy in South Asia,” said Kavita. "The challenges facing India and its neighboring countries at this time of rapid transformation offer a unique opportunity to build on the Ford Foundation's long history of partnership with civil society, government and the private sector. I look forward to working together with my colleagues in the region and around the world to achieve the Foundation’s vision of a more just and sustainable world."

Read Ford Foundation’s news release »

Learn more about Kavita N. Ramdas »

In theaters now, “In the Land of Blood and Honey” is set against the backdrop of the Bosnian war that killed 100,000 and displaced half of country’s four million people in the early 1990s. The film tells the story of two Bosnians from different sides of a brutal ethnic conflict, bringing into focus the use of rape as a weapon of war.

While war rape has been recorded throughout the history, it was the Bosnian war that opened the eyes of the world to the scale of sexual violence crimes inflicted on women because of their gender.

Like the main character, Ajla, an artist and a Muslim, women of Bosnia and Herzegovina have suffered horrific crimes of sexual violence that left long-lasting scars. It is estimated that up to 50,000 women of all ethnic groups, the majority of whom were Bosnian Muslims, were raped by members of military, security and paramilitary groups.

Justice Not Yet Achieved

Underreported even in peacetime, and notorious for being the cheapest war weapon, rape was used to tear families and communities apart. It is because of the courage and resilience of women survivors who came forward to testify that the international civil society campaigned for the recognition and prosecution of war rape under international law. As a result, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) became the first tribunal ever to prosecute war rape as an independent crime against humanity.

Nevertheless, nearly 20 years later, justice is yet to be achieved for many women living in Bosnia and Herzegovina. War rape remains a taboo issue. Survivors are stigmatized and lack adequate social and medial assistance; it is estimated that over 90 percent of war rape survivors do not receive treatment. Despite prosecution in international and domestic courts, impunity reins in place of meaningful justice as perpetrators walk freely in the communities from which survivors were displaced.

When State Institutions Falter

Further, as women’s organizations have documented, the continuum of violence and discrimination against women the years of war and military conflict have proven that violence against women precedes wars, escalates during, and increases in the aftermath of such conflicts. When state institutions falter in efforts to provide for safety, human security, and justice, civil society and women’s organizations, many of them Global Fund for Women grantees, step in to provide needed services and political platform.

Global Fund has been grantmaking in the countries of former Yugoslavia for close to 20 years. While relief aid is the traditional philanthropic response to conflict, Global Fund takes a different approach. By strengthening women-led civil society, including movements to protect women’s human rights and support women leaders, Global Fund uniquely meets a critical need in conflict regions.

Recently launched Women’s Court for the Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia is an example of groundbreaking effort in achieving gender justice, accountability, and peace. A network of seven women’s groups from four countries, Women’s Court intends to establish a new, alternative, and safe political space for women’s vision of justice in communities to become reality.

Learn more about crimes against women during the Bosnian War and the efforts of women's organizations to achieve gender justice:

• Read how women around the world are confronting war and militarism »
• Watch PBS' Women, War & Peace, episode "I Came to Testify", produced by Global Fund board member, Abigail Disney »
• Browse the Women, War & Peace website for interviews and resources about the region's history »
• Read Amnesty International's report on justice not yet served for women raped during the war »
• Watch videos about the making of "In the Land of Blood and Honey" »
• Read about the United Nation's resolution that identifies rape as a tactic of war »

With the first round of Egypt’s parliamentary elections drawing to a close, we asked Mozn Hassan, who’s based in Cairo, for her feminist perspective and analysis on results to date.

Mozn, who will vote in the second round, is an Egyptian activist and executive director of grantee-partner, Nazra for Feminist Studies. Since the January uprisings, Egyptian women and girls have taken center stage in the country’s democratic revolution, challenging the common stereotype of Arab women as being powerless, submissive and isolated from political events. Nazra embodies the spirit of the Egyptian revolution. The group is bold, fearless, and hungry for justice and equality.

Global Fund: Are women turning out in higher numbers to vote?

Mozn: My analysis is that women in rural and Upper Egypt were used to vote, and that men mobilized those women to vote. This time, the number [of women voters] was higher in these places. While there is no gender analysis yet for [why] they went to vote, or who they voted for, it is significant that middle and upper middle class women went to vote for the first time.

Global Fund: Did Nazra receive any news from people who protested voting, or had difficulty voting?

Mozn: Some people did boycott the elections after mass violence happened in Tahrir Square days before the election, but this was not a huge number. Women human rights defenders who answered Nazra’s hotline [received calls about voting] violations and [complaints about] people handing out [campaign] materials.

Global Fund: It looks like the Muslim Brotherhood will come out strong in the election. What does this mean for women’s rights in Egypt?

Mozn: Islamic groups like the Muslim Brothers and Salafists will get a high number in parliament. Salafists are more radical, and I think this could be dangerous for women on social levels. People who voted for these groups are going to put moral and social pressure on women in the public space and on a political level.

I don’t think we will lose the laws we’ve gained [such as divorce rights, custody rights and inheritance laws], but we will definitely not gain more. [These groups] are also creating legal discourse against women, civil liberties and human rights defenders, especially women human rights defenders.

Global Fund: You were recently quoted in Al Jazeera by saying, “I'm worried about the kind of women that will join parliament. Many of them are women who are against women." What is your opinion of the quota for female parliamentarians?

Mozn: This is about not seeing women’s participation as only numbers. It is important to see their discourse and engagement on a political level. This will make people trust women to represent them [in regards to] women's issues… It is always harder to have women against women' rights than men who are doing so.

Global Fund: How does Nazra's Women Political Participation Academy support female candidates?

Mozn: Through training, empowerment and capacity building, we supported Sanaa Al Said, a woman from Upper Egypt who has won in her district. She now has a chance, through the proportional representational electoral law, to gain a seat in parliament on behalf of the labor contingent. This work is an added value to the feminist movement.