Men and women in Australia are equal, right? Wrong! Can you guess, for every dollar a man earns, how much a woman earns? Here’s a hint – it’s one of the biggest gaps of all developed nations. And even more worrying? We’re not even heading in the right direction; the gap is getting bigger. It’s a pretty sobering statistic for a country that prides itself on being egalitarian – so we’ve created a pay calculator to show just how the other half lives.
As the world celebrates International Women’s Day this week and despite a century of struggle, whether it’s in the classroom or the boardroom, women across Australia are still not earning equal pay. That’s simply not good enough. But what can we do about it? From paid maternity leave to high-quality affordable childcare – a people’s movement has the
power to convince politicians and corporations to actively remove the stubborn systemic inequalities that still exist, to ensure productive participation – for equal reward.
March 6, 2008 Women inspiring Women to run with the mantle of Equality, Peace and Justice UNIFEM Australia announces five international guest speakers promoting International Women’s Day Five international women who have advanced gender equality, human rights and peace keeping will be the focus of Australia’s global event of International Women’s Day, March 8, 2008.
UNIFEM Australia will be hosting the guests; Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Romy Shapira, Wafa Abel, Milena Pires and Linda Petersen. These women have actively worked globally and in particular Asia, Timor Leste, the Middle East and the Pacific Islands. They will share with wide audiences across Australia their achievements and passionate views which are sure to ignite and engage Australian audiences. Dr. Noeleen Heyzer is a distinguished UN leader and widely recognised for her accomplishments and innovative methods in seeking equality for women. She is the only woman appointed to head one of the United Nation’s Regional Commissions and the most senior UN officer in the Asia Pacific Region, with the title Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok. Dr Heyzer formerly held the role of Executive Director of UNIFEM for 13 years, being the first Executive Director from the South to head UNIFEM, the leading operational agency working for women within the UN. Wafa Abel and Romy Shapira arrive from the unrest of the Middle East from their respective countries Palestine and Israel.
These women testify peace yet their history and culture dictates war with one another. Abel and Shapira are representatives of the International Women’s Commission For a Just and Sustainable Israeli-Palestinian Peace, comprised of Israeli, Palestinian and international women who actively pursue a meaningful peace between the countries. Wafa Abel is the Executive Director of Filastinyat, committed to ensuring the impartial participation of Palestinian women and youth to the public arena. In addition, Romy Shapira is a board member for Bat Shalom of the Jerusalem Link. In Timor Leste (East Timor), less than 400 miles from Australia, Milena Pires, has completed nearly two decades of work in humanitarian rights. Pires work has taken her to Australia, Belgium, and the United Kingdom enabling her to speak four languages. Across each of these countries Pires has held roles as: Community Development Officer for the Timorese, Counsellor for Torture and Trauma Survivors, Asia Policy Officer, member of Timor Leste’s Constitute Assembly, founding member of the national women’s co-ordinating REDE FETO, Country Program Coordinator for UNIFEM in Timor Leste, Sector Working Group manager for Justice, Security and Defence at the Ministry for Economy Development. Her current role is Civil Society Development Specialist for East Timor Justice Sector Support Facility. The fifth important international speaker is Fijian born Linda Petersen who has worked tirelessly for social improvements in the Pacific Islands. She guided Pacific countries in reaching the United National Millenium Development goals and is currently the Manager of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Human Development Programme. This programme reaches out to women’s groups attempting to monitor women’s development, fosters programs to address the unprecedented youth problems causing havoc in so many Pacific communities, provides leadership training for rural women and institutes arts and cultural programs to strengthen traditions. Petersen is qualified by many decades of work with the United Nations Development Programme, before joining the Secretariat of the Pacific Community as Women’s Development Advisor. UNIFEM Australia is honoured to host such passionate advocates of equality on International Women’s Day 2008. Rosalind Strong, National President of UNIFEM Australia, said “Their stories will inspire our audiences and greatly help our work to raise awareness of issues for women in developing countries and support the work of UNIFEM.”
UNIFEM Australia will be the leading NGO promoting International Women’s Day, holding events in most capital cities and across regional Australia. In celebration of International Women’s Day, Air France has generously provided a special giveaway. New members who sign up to support the work of UNIFEM Australia in March will go in the draw to receive two tickets or a trip to Europe.
For Further Contact Information or to arrange an interview:
Savannah Finlay 0425 316 658
intern@unifem.org.au
International Festival for Art, Technology and Locality
September 2008 Yokohama, Japan
Dislocate questions our notions of place and location in the face of perpetual motion through multifaceted environments. The velocity of this passage is accelerated through new technologies, but as a result how does this impact upon our encounter with place and our attempt to communicate this to elsewhere? Through an exhibition, symposium and workshop series Dislocate will examine this encounter and communication, taking a journey through surrounding spaces andexploring our transient connections.Propelled through so many spaces with such momentum, mobility brings freedoms but also responsibilities. While in this state of passage how do we decide which spaces to engage with and what is our dialogue with them? Considering the locations we constantly carry with us, the interaction between the internal/external, virtual/physical, real/imaginary, our locatedness is multiple, fragmentary and in constant flux. Nomadic in structure the festival will focus upon our kinetic force through these various intersecting sites. Employing transitions by foot, bike and public transportation Dislocate will form an expedition into the diverse routes of the city and its hidden spaces, while questioning our relation to the ground beneath our feet. In this state of transit does our mode of transport isolate us from that which we travel through? Is there a destination? And how do we know when we have arrived?
Trying to find time to write a review isn’t easy, so I am not going to try!!. Especially for an actor of the caliber of Daniel Day Lewis in There will be Blood. You might think there is nothing immediately appealing at the rank and rollicks of early American quest for Oil & Lewis’ taciturn tenacity. But trust me it’s a rare treat to see such a talent on screen that could only equal the greats such as Lawrence Olivier, Gary Oldman & Christian Bale (well some of my favourites anyway).
Seems as though David Denby has more time than me; so to read his excellent review check out his column in the New Yorker.
This week Lawrence Lessig, via his blog, launched a new website called lessig08.org. The new site explains two of Lessig’s latest projects — his “Change Congress” movement and his decision about whether to run for Congress.
Stanford professor Lawrence Lessig has taken a leaf out of Frank Capra‘s liberal classic Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939) and is considering a run for the US Congress. Lessig is well placed for this: he has inspired the “free culture” movement that is aligned with open source software, was on the United States v. Microsoft case, and is a clear communicator with the “Lessig method” of rapid-fire phrases and imagery in his public presentations. Lessig has already had a major impact in legal circles for his case reasoning, and has become a major public figure in information technology and civil liberties. A US Congress run could trigger change in Washington DC and inspire others to become involved. Moreover, Lessig’s career and strategy offers Disinfonauts a playbook in how to cultivate influence and become a paragon for progressive change.
