8 June 2009

AFRICA:

• Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou = YAY! President Blaise Compaoré has launched a nationwide campaign to reduce female genital mutilation/cutting. The National Committee Against Female Circumcision (CNLPE) is supporting this plan and is calling for a “zero tolerance” plan by 2015. (IRIN)
• From IRIN: “Some 260 young girls underwent FGM/C in Burkina Faso in 2008, 40 percent of whom required medical treatment following the procedure, according to the CNLPE.”

MIDDLE EAST:

• Iraq = Narmin Othman, Iraq’s Environment Minister, has appealed for more international support to clear the country of landmines. (IRIN)

CENTRAL ASIA:

• Afghanistan, Herat Province = Anargul, age 25, set herself on fire in a bid to end her life after many beatings and degradations at the hands of her husband. She’s not the first and won’t be the last to do so. Women need adequate access to justice to prevent taking matters into their own hands. (IRIN)
• Kyrgyzstan, Jalalabad Province = Uzbek police are patrolling a disputed village after unilaterally setting up a Kyrgyz-Uzbek border. This shortly follows the June 7 police assassination of a 19 year old ethnic Uzbek Kyrgyz citizen who allegedly strayed on to Uzbek territory. (EUA)

CULTURAL:

• Lisa Jackson’s film, The Greatest Silence, highlights the impact and effects of violence against women in the DRCongo. This is especially timely as the rates of rapes in the South Kivu Province have recently increased dramatically. (HRW, IRIN)

· Zimbabwe = Douglas Gwatidzo, MD, has won the The Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights. (PHR)