Who Was Gladys Porter?

From Nova News Now:

Due to repairs on the Gladys Porter Bridge in Port Williams, many motorists waiting for the light to change are wondering, who was the namesake?

According to the Women's Institute history of the village, the current bridge is named after Porter because she was the MLA responsible for securing provincial funding for its construction. The bridge was opened in 1968, at a cost of $650,000, 50-feet west of earlier bridges over the Cornwallis River.

Although the bridge is more than 40 years old and undergoing a two-year repair project, the sign indicating Porter's name was only installed by the transportation department about a year ago.

Kazumi Inamura: Japan's Youngest Female Mayor

From Asia One News:

Kazumi Inamura saw her husband off to the construction materials company he runs Monday morning, and took their 5-year-old daughter to nursery school. She then bicycled to work, her first commute as the youngest female mayor in the history of this country.

Just 38 years old, Inamura was elected mayor of Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, in November.

Describing herself as a "mom mayor," she said she wants to "fully utilise my experiences as a housewife to improve our city's measures to help residents raise children and care for the elderly."

Inamura became a member of the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly in 2003, and was elected the nation's youngest ever female mayor on Nov 21.

The previous record was held by Kaori Ito, the current mayor of Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, who took up her post in 2008 at the age of 41.

Year of Women in Local Government

From the Macarthur Chronicle:

WOLLONDILLY Council gets excited about International Women’s Day each year but this year is different because 2010 is the official Year of Women in Local Government.

To celebrate the event on March 8, the council will once again put on several activities for residents.

Wollondilly Council acting community services manager Gay Hardwick invited shire women to get involved on the day.

“Council will host a morning tea to celebrate International Women’s Day 2010 and the theme will be Women Evolving in Wollondilly,” she said.

“Guest speakers will be involved throughout the morning discussing what life was like in Wollondilly.”

The event will be organised in partnership with Community Links Wollondilly, the Wollondilly Heritage Centre and other community organisations.”

“International Women’s Day is a time to celebrate the wonderful and varied talents of local women and the contributions they make to their communities,” she said.

“It is also a time to reflect on the hardships that many women around the world face and this year’s theme is Empowering Women to End Poverty by 2015.”

Nigeria: Women Given Pride of Place

From the Nigerian Compass:

GOVERNOR Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State said that apart from appointing women to key government positions, his administration also offered free medical services to pregnant women and children below the age of five.

The governor spoke when the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Salamatu Hussaini Suleiman, paid him a courtesy call at the Government House, Damaturu.

Geidam said that a VVF unit would be established at the Mariam Sani Abacha Maternal and Child Health Clinic, Damaturu.

The governor restated the commitment of his administration to continue to empower women, children and vulnerable groups in the state.

The governor appealed to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), well-meaning individuals and other stakeholders to join hand with government in its effect to improve the general wellbeing of women and other vulnerable groups by establishing orphanages, daycare centres and motherless babies homes.

The minister, who called for more effort by the government for maximum result, disclosed that her ministry had mapped out strategies that would be better the lives of women and children.

Troublemakers Luncheon

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

The monthly luncheon spans two tables and two generations, women munching salads and sandwiches at a suburban steakhouse. The menu may be mundane but the agenda is anything but: These women are here to dish on political elections, government reform and civic redevelopment.

Membership in this 2-year-old lunch club, which includes current and former mayors and councilwomen, has swelled since the informal group of political junkies finally donned a title last fall: Troublemakers.

"It became more appealing" once it was known as the "Troublemakers' lunch," laughs founding member Jennifer Scott, district director for U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz. "Women should make a little trouble."

The name is spoken tongue-in-cheek -- a lighthearted jab at people who would believe that any time women get involved in politics they are up to no good.

"Troublemaking," former Taylorsville Mayor Janice Auger explains, "that's in the eye of the beholder. I don't think that we start out to be troublemakers, but the people who disagree with us perceive us as troublemakers."

Jaipur: Madam Mayor

From the Times of India:

A lottery draw by the directorate of local bodies on Saturday decided that Jaipur along with Kota and Udaipur will have women mayors.

There are 184 urban local bodies (ULBs) in the state which will have a mayor or municipal chairman as their elected chiefs. Out of these 184 posts, 87 have been reserved for women following the 50% quota guidelines.

Besides, 38 posts of mayor/chairman of municipal councils have been reserved for other backward classes (OBCs), out of which 18 have been reserved for women.

In fact, between 1999 and 2004, Jaipur has had two women as mayors. Nirmala Verma took over as the mayor in 1999 and after her demise in 2002, Sheel Dhavai took over. However, both these mayors belonged to the OBC category.

Karen McKeown

From the Western Week-ender:

Penrith City Councillor, Karen McKeown, has been named a National Ambassador for the 2010 Year of Women in Local Government.

An initiative of the Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA), the Ambassador Program celebrates the outstanding achievements of individual champions for women in local government, and raises awareness of the valuable contributions of women in the sector.

Across the nation 21 ambassadors were selected, with Cr McKeown’s being one of only four selected in NSW, recognising her active involvement in local government and her passionate advocacy for women in our region.

Alabama Women

From MSNBC:

"Two women who made Alabama political history are trying to become president of the state’s utility regulatory board..... Democrat Lucy Baxley, Alabama’s first female lieutenant governor, is trying to restart her political career after losing the 2006 race for governor and suffering a crippling stroke. Republican Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh, the first woman to lead a major political party in Alabama, is trying to move into the public spotlight after many years in support roles.

The winner will make history again. She will join the other two members of the Public Service Commission—Democrats Jan Cook and Susan Parker—to create an all-female commission. The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners says it has no record of any other state having an elected utility board consisting entirely of women."

Ban on Jirga System

Further to my June 30th post "Ban on Jirga" comes this article from Dawn:

Signature campaign against jirga system
"HYDERABAD, Sept 9: The Hyderabad chapter of the Women Action Forum launched a signature campaign against jirga system at Allama I.I. Kazi campus of the University of Sindh on Tuesday.

More than 4,000 students, teachers, research scholars, writers, deans of the faculties, directors and chairpersons of teaching centres, institutes and departments and a majority of faculty members participated in the campaign, which was inaugurated by Sindh University Vice-Chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui.

Mr. Siddiqui said it was a tragedy that an ancient custom that encouraged treating women like chattel had been continuing through jirga system. The barbarity must come to an end now and the society should work against it in a collective manner to eradicate it.

He said that the university students should work as ambassadors and play their role against barbaric traditions and customs. He appreciated the forum’s struggle against different evils of society and called for collective efforts for the development of the society.

Akhtar Jabeen Siddiqui said that the jirga system was a challenge not only for the poor of backward areas but also for the educated people and the society as a whole.

Women Action Forum activists Professor Amar Sindhu and Professor Irfana Mallah also spoke on the occasion. Professor Sindhu said that the launch of signature campaign at the university was aimed at creating awareness among the youth who represented rural and urban areas.

She said that the list of signatures would be handed to the members of Sindh Assembly to persuade them to make laws against jirga system.

Vice-Chairman of Sindhi Adabi Board Shaikh Aziz, noted sociologist Dr. Tanveer Junejo, Dr. M.Q. Bughio, Registrar Mohammad Saleh Rajar, Dr. G.M. Lakho and Dr. Mehrunnisa Larik visited the campaign camp."

Politics & Nigerian Women

Yet another article from the allAfrica website giving support to women to take an active role in local government and politics.

This story is from Hilda Esin, in Nigeria:

Nigeria: Group Applauds Women Participation in Politics
"A non-governmental organisation, Gender and Development Action (GADA), has affirmed that the number of women's participation during the 2007 elections in the South West was higher than the previous elections."

The Director of GADA (Gender and Development Action) Agina-Ude revealed that "during the election the project group supported the women in training on feminist transformative leadership to empower them, and embarked on various activities such as sensitisation and constituency building exercise in all the six states in South West Nigeria.

Agina-Ude commended the results of women gains at the local government election which recorded women 8.6 per cent, representing 2 per cent increase compared to 2003, albeit still a far cry from the minimum of 30 per cent or the desirable 50 per cent.

A breakdown of the figures showed that women were elected into the following positions: five Deputy Governors, 54 members of state Assemblies, 27 in the House of Representatives, and 9 senators.

According to the GADA official, over 110 women aspired and fought through the party primaries and stood gallantly as candidates for the presidency, governorship as well as national and state legislatures, a departure from previous elections where there were few women candidates."

Ban on Jirga

From: Dawn

HYDERABAD: MPA proposes village-based committees, ban on jirga: Violence against women
HYDERABAD, June 27: Pakistan People’s Party MPA Humera Alwani has said committees with women representatives should be formed at the village level to curb violence against women and shelters homes should be formed for women victims of violence at district level.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Friday, she said that soon a women protection bill will be presented in the Sindh Assembly.

Ms Alwani said that it was the state’s responsibility to bring about appropriate changes in social and cultural patterns and eliminate prejudices, customs and practices based on the idea of inferiority or superiority of either sex.

The MPA called for banning jirgas and punishing violators and barring them from holding public office.

She said there was a need to repeal all discriminatory laws against women and enact new ones to protect them from all kinds of violence, including domestic, besides sensitising police and judiciary.

Ms Alwani said political representation of women should be strengthened at local, provincial and national levels by providing them with due powers.

She suggested terminating police officer involved in declining to register FIR of honour crimes.

She said there was a need to create awareness among men about the impacts of violence against women and children. She also recommended making aware children of bad impact of violence through curriculum at school level. She said we needed to create financial resources to make women economically independent.

She said extraordinary power used against women or a girl with regard to physical or sexual action was violence against women.

She said in these cases accused were male family members like husband, father, brother, father-in-law and brother-in-law, cousin, close relative, same caste person and in rare cases mothers and daughters-in-law who directly or indirectly were found involved in murder or injuries to women.

Ms Alwani said at least one out of three women around the world had been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused by usually someone known to her. Pakistani women faced crimes as there was room for legislation and implementation to provide safety, liberty and honour to them.

MPA Alwani said their goal was to provide relief, justice and honour to women for living a respectable life.

She said education was a human right but unfortunately female literacy in Pakistan stood at 28 per cent, much below the Third World average of 66 per cent.

She said without literacy there was no hope to help them in understanding religion and outdated tribal and feudal customs and traditions.

She called upon religious scholars, political leaders and other segments of the society to play their active role for elimination of violence against women.—APP"


So, you may ask (and I certainly did) - what is a "jirga"???

Apparently, according to the ever-reliable Wikipedia: "A jirga is a tribal assembly of elders which takes decisions by consensus, particularly among the Pashtun but also in other ethnic groups near them; they are most common in Afghanistan and among the Pashtun in Pakistan near its border with Afghanistan."