March 2005


March 2005		Leading Issues Journal
WORLD FOCUS Learning the Lessons of the Tsunami – One Month On Tsunami Analysis & Timeline NATIONAL FOCUS Arundhati Roy Women Chiefs of Enterprises Sexual Harrassment in the Workplace Discrimination, Good Practice Guide CURRENT RESEARCH Attitudes to Social Justice Women and the Economy NEWS FLASH Beijing Plus Ten (2005) 2005 is an important milestone for international women’s rights, as it marks the 10th anniversary of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, where the Beijing Platform for Action was adopted. The 10-year international review and appraisal of the Beijing Platform for Action will take place at the 49th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March 2005. The Commission will also discuss current challenges and forward-looking strategies for the advancement and empowerment of women and girls. Calling all Indigenous women and girls to enter a new anthology entitled Father Tongue Co-editors: Chrystos (Menominee) a poet from the north-western US. Nancy Cooper (Ojibway/Irish) a poet/photographer from central Canada. Format: poetry, fiction, non-fiction, essays, narratives, songs, cartoons Countries: Indigenous women and girls from North and South America, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand Deadline July 28, 2005 Submission Guidelines indigenouswomen@hotmail.com.		world Learning the Lessons of the Tsunami – One Month On By OXFAM One month after the tsunami struck on 26 December it is still a crisis for millions of people. As well as the tragic toll in life, homes and livelihoods have also been lost. More than a million survivors remain displaced. This paper sets out Oxfam’s own response, which started on 26 December, in the context of these continuing needs. It covers our work in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives and Somalia. It ends with an update on how the international community has – and has not yet – responded with sufficient aid, debt relief and trade reforms, and how Oxfam has tried to contribute to that debate. Learning the Lessons of the Tsunami Tsunami Analysis by The International Warning Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific Ocean On Sunday 26 December 2004: at 0100 GMT, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake occurred on the seafloor near Aceh in northern Indonesia. This earthquake generated a huge tsunami wave, hitting the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and even Somalia. The International Warning Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific Ocean featured an animation of the Tsunami that recounts approximate times at which the tidal wave hit the coastal areas of Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, and The Maldives. The Tsunami Timeline & Analysis		national Arundhati Roy, Winner of Sydney 2004 Peace Prize Lecture: Peace & The New Corporate Liberation Theology "When this year's Sydney Peace Prize was announced, I was subjected to some pretty arch remarks from those who know me well: Why did they give it to the biggest trouble-maker we know? Didn't anybody tell them that you don't have a peaceful bone in your body? And, memorably, Arundhati didi what's the Sydney Peace Prize? Was there a war in Sydney that you helped to stop?" Women Chiefs of Enterprises 2004-5 National Research Project Voicing Women Managers’ Unemployment Experience in Australia: The Hidden Toll Complaints of Sexual Harassment in Employment A package of materials on workplace sexual harassment, including the results of a national telephone survey which found that more than one in four Australians have been sexually harassed, was launched by Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward and Attorney General Philip Ruddock in 2004. ‘Good practice, good business’ – a step-by-step guide to a discrimination free workplace Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner and Commissioner responsible for Age Discrimination, Pru Goward, also launched on 1 December 2004 a new employers’ pack titled ‘Good practice, good business’ – eliminating discrimination and harassment in your workplace.	Research Attitudes to Social Justice by Peter Taylor-Gooby, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Kent This Paper published in February 2005 by the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr), UK’s leading progressive think tank established in 1988, reveals that 21st-century women are still expected to take on the majority of household duties, including childcare, while holding down demanding jobs. Despite the invention of househusbands and the rise of the so-called new man, gender inequality is rife among couples, with many people still believing that a woman's primary role is to stay at home. The analysis is based mainly on the annual British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey, the most authoritative survey of public attitudes in the UK which is carried out on an annual basis by the National Centre for Social Research. Women and the Economy: Recent Trends in Job Loss, Labor Force Participation, and Wages A new briefing paper from The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), a scientific research organization in USA dedicated to informing and stimulating debate on public policy issues of critical importance to women and their families. This Paper by Heidi Hartmann, Ph.D., Vicky Lovell, Ph.D., and Misha Werschkul, presents new findings on women’s economic status following the 2001 recession and reviews some key trends in women’s employment. In the months since the official end of the recession in November 2001, women’s employment has returned to pre-recession levels, but the lack of job growth in this period means millions of jobs for women are missing. At the same time, the long-term increase in women’s labor force participation has stalled, and the gender wage gap has increased.