CTED’s Trend Tracker shows increased attention to gender issues in a counter-terrorism context across three indicators:

1. A growing number of gender references in Security Council counter-terrorism resolutions on issues such as prosecution, rehabilitation and reintegration of returning foreign terrorist fighters; countering terrorist narratives; and links between terrorism, trafficking in persons and conflict-related sexual violence;
2.  A significant increase in CTED’s recommendations to Member States on gender-sensitive approaches in counter-terrorism and CVE, including recommendations for technical assistance delivery; and
3.  An exponential growth in research on gender and counter-terrorism, which contributes to building a stronger evidence base for gender-sensitive policies and programming.

Landmark resolution calling for greater integration of the Women, Peace and Security agenda and counter-terrorism. àRecognises the differential impact of terrorism and violent extremism on the human rights of women and girls. àRequests CTED to integrate gender as a cross-cutting issue throughout its activities. Integrating gender into counter-terrorism

W-T-W Women and Finance Founder Dagmar Frank announces the winner of W-T-W.org Women and Finance Cartoon of the Year. Congratulations to Doaa Eladl for fighting for Press Freedom

Each and every one of our cartoonists deserves a prize.  W-T-W Women and Finance is proud to publish their important and tantalizing work. From a large pool of distinguished cartoons, voters selected this year Doaa Eladl.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) presents the 2018 press freedom barometerWhy is freedom of the press important in a democracy?

When our leaders threaten journalists, they are threatening the First Amendment, along with our most basic rights. “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press,” said Jefferson, “and that cannot be limited without being lost.”

How would female job hunters fare in the next recession? Likely better than men, if history is any indication.

While the unemployment rate for women has moved in tandem with that of men since the 1980s, there is one notable exception—during recessions. When the economy contracts, joblessness spikes higher among men than women.

The recent downturn offered the latest glimpse of this phenomenon. The male rate hit a high of 11.1% in 2009, well above the female peak of 9.0% in 2010.

This gap reflects the gender concentrations in different industries and occupations, economists say.

“Women are more likely to be in education and health…you don’t fire all teachers…and doctors during a recession,” said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute…wsj

Why 2018 must be the year for women to thrive

More women candidates than ever will contest US governorships and House seats in November’s mid-term elections.

The pink wave makes herstory: Women candidates in the 2018 midterm elections.…brookings.edu

After Tuesday’s primaries across four states, there are now 11 female nominees for governor and at least 182 for the House of Representatives.

The results were hailed as a continuing success story by activists for women in politics.

There was also a key election for a House seat in Ohio, in which President Donald Trump claimed victory.

But US media said the race was still too close to call, in a safe Republican seat held by them since 1983. The outcome could indicate whether Democrats have a chance to overturn the Republican majority in the House in November.

A breakthrough for women

After polling closed in the four states holding primaries on Tuesday – Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington – it became clear women had broken records for gubernatorial and House nominations.

Victories for Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan) and Laura Kelly (Kansas) in Democratic primaries mean 11 women will contest governorships in November – one more than the previous 1994 record.

At least 182 female major party nominees will run for the House, beating the record of 167 from 2016. Another three women are leading in close primary contests.

And one of the candidates for the House in the state is certain to become the first Muslim woman in Congress. Rashida Tlaib won a Democratic nomination and will not be opposed by the Republicans in November. She will also be the first Palestinian-American congresswoman.

There will be two all-female races in Washington state.
US mid-term elections: Women break records for nominations

After last night, more women are major party nominees in House and gubernatorial races than ever before

We-Fi is a collaborative partnership among 14 governments, eight multilateral development banks (MDBs), and other public and private sector stakeholders, hosted by the World Bank Group. It seeks to address financial and non-financial constraints faced by women-owned/led small and medium enterprises in developing countries.

The founding financial contributors are: Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Republic of Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. These 14 governments have committed over $340 million to launch the facility’s activities.

We-Fi finances projects, programs, and activities that are aligned with its objectives and principles. Project implementation is led by Implementing Partners that are screened and accredited by the We-Fi Governing Committee. Under the first call for proposals, the following MDBs were eligible to apply as Implementing Partners: African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Inter-American Development Bank, IDB Invest, International Finance Corporation, Islamic Development Bank Group, and World Bank (the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Development Association). MDBs are encouraged to partner with UN agencies, international financial institutions, civil society organizations, business groups, and/or other entities currently working in this field to help implement activities…..we-fi.org/
call-for-proposals-women-entrepreneurs-financ-e-initiative
women-entrepreneurs-finance-initiative-we-fi

World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World

The global context has changed dramatically: geostrategic fissures have re-emerged on multiple fronts with wide-ranging political, economic and social consequences. Realpolitik is no longer just a relic of the Cold War. Economic prosperity and social cohesion are not one and the same. The global commons cannot protect or heal itself. @WEF

G20 – a meeting at the highest level

The G20 Summit in Hamburg on 7 and 8 July 2017 will be a meeting at the highest level. Its participants will include the world’s major economic players, the two countries with the largest populations in the world, the world’s biggest island country and the most important international institutions on the planet. But who are these participants of the G20 Summit in Hamburg? Twitter.com/RegSprecher

G20 Womens Entrepreneurship

The G20 also seeks to improve women’s economic empowerment. The G20 thus agreed on the goal of improving labour force participation among women and reducing the gap that still exists in this respect between men and women by 25% by 2025. Germany’s G20 Presidency will build on that and focus on improving the quality of women’s employment. The German G20 Presidency will also work to remove the existing barriers which prevent women from gaining access to information and communications technology in developing countries and to improve education and employment prospects in the field of ICT.

• •  
     

  Financial inclusion
  Promoting female entrepreneurship and access to finance for womenThe G20 has not yet fully acknowledged the potential of entrepreneurship as another driver of growth. Female entrepreneurship as well as women’s access to finance, including full legal capacity for all women, should therefore be promoted by improving access to credit and investor networks, training, information services and technical support.

  Women20 urges the G20 to:

  • • Abolish laws and standards that inhibit women’s full legal capacity
    • Ensure women’s access to financial and productive assets as well as to markets
    • Launch specific programmes to support female entrepreneurs, helping them not only to overcome start-up barriers, but also to grow and sustain their businesses, including via trade
    • Increase the share of public procurement sourced to companies that meet specified gender criteria
    • Update the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), with a particular focus on access to finance and bank facilities for women

   

  Suppression of Corruption on G20 Agenda
  

  With a view to combating international terrorism, the G20 states have decided among other things to dry up channels of terrorist financing by means of closer cooperation and improved exchange of information. Since 2009, the prevention and suppression of corruption has also been on the G20 agenda. The G20 has since been working consistently to expand its existing body of principles. Under the German Presidency, the focus is on measures to improve public sector integrity and the common search for ways to fight corruption in particularly susceptible areas. G20-Anti Corruption
  

On World Press Freedom Day, Cartooning for Peace publishes
its first 2016/2017 report on the situation of cartoonists around the world.

Whether their cartoons deal with politics, economics, sport or religion, cartoonists face the same threats as other types of journalists who cover sensitive subjects.

Whether they are victims of censorship, legal proceedings, unfair dismissal, physical assaults or imprisonment, the threats that hang over the cartoonists inform us about the status of democracy at times of insecurity and troubles.

In an international context in which freedom of expression is under frequent attack, it is crucial for cartoonists to express themselves, to share in their experience and recount their struggles. In doing so, they will help us to not close our eyes on what is going on around the world.

“Most importantly, let’s not give up. We should never abandon the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: freedom of expression is one of its pillars, freedom of the press one of its emanations.” Vladimir Vasak, Board member of Cartooning for Peace, Investigative reporter ARTE. Cartooning for Peace Report

G20-Women Summit 2017 W20 in Berlin Germany.
W20 Communique Final

Diverse, Resilient and Viable –
Stabilising Economies and Societies Through Women’s Empowerment

The main goal of Women20 (W20) is to promote women’s economic empowerment as an integral part of the G20 process. In a broad dialogue using digital tools, expert meetings and roundtables as well as the W20 Summit, W20 joins the global experiences of women’s civil society organizations and women’s entrepreneur associations to implement strong recommendations within the G20 negotiations.

Diversity and full participation are essential for fostering the resilient, sustainable and viable growth of stable economies and societies, whereas homogeneous systems bear risks and uncertainties.  Women’s economic empowerment is thus fundamental for a prosperous world and essential for economic growth, stable economies and social development.

In 2017, W20 will focus on the following four pillars:

Labour Market Inclusion
Increasing the labour market participation rate and the value of work traditionally done by women

Financial Inclusion
Promoting female entrepreneurship and access to finance for women

Digital Inclusion
Closing the digital gender divide

Strengthening the W20
Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment at the core of G20

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, together with Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, UN Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development and Honorary chair of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion; Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland; Director of the IWF Christine Lagarde; Vice Chairman of the Bank of America Anne Finucane; Kenyan high-tech founder Juliana Rotich; Chairwoman of the Trumpf GmbH Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller;  and First Daughter and Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump.

Women20 Germany 2017
WomenTwenty_Ger
 

Harm Bengen
www.w-t-w.org/en/harm-bengen
www.harmbengen.de