International Women’s Day: ARTICLE 19 Affirms the Rights of Women with the Right to Free Expression

8 March 2010

International Women’s Day: ARTICLE 19 Affirms the Rights of Women with the Right to Free Expression

ARTICLE 19 joins the global community on International Women’s Day to celebrate the leadership and contribution of thousands of women around the world who strive for women’s equality and empowerment through their daily work.

ARTICLE 19 reaffirms the importance of gender equality as a key component of the right to freedom of expression. As ARTICLE 19 Executive Director, Dr Agnes Callamard, states: “Women’s voices are all too often silent in the media and other public spaces. Women must be heard and must be able to receive information on issues that affect them. Women journalists, activists, community leaders and others must be allowed and encouraged to articulate their views and tell their stores. They must be able to engage freely in their work, without fear of censorship, harassment or violence.”

ARTICLE 19 here reflects the experiences of just a few women who have stood up for freedom of expression in some of the countries in which we work.

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Brazil: Special Commission Passes Right to Information Bill

For immediate release – 26 February 2010

Brazil: Special Commission Passes Right to Information Bill

A draft bill on the right to information was approved by consensus by a Special Commission in the Lower House of the Brazilian Congress on Wednesday. The Special Commission had been specially organised to review and pass the bill. To become law, the bill must be passed in both the Lower House and the Senate, and then be signed by the President.

ARTICLE 19 urges Brazilian legislators to bring the bill into line with international standards, including by taking into consideration civil society recommendations, and to concentrate efforts to adopt a final text of the Brazilian Right to Information Act during 2010.

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Shrove Tuesday Shannanigans

Claire Thompson, freelance PR consultant, Waves PR

OK - I know it's clip art, but it fits

I was about to say ‘how could a simple religious tradition cause so many problems?’ Then I thought about it, and realised the error of my ways.

So: who’d have thought a fun pancake race could be such a hotbed of gossip and foul play?

Vocal tweeters queued to reveal the dark side of the annual frivolity:

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Journalists and bloggers offshoring?

‘Mum’s gone to Iceland’?

So, it would seem have all manner of journalists and bloggers, with more to follow:

http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/02/iceland-aims-to-become-an-offshore-haven-for-journalists-and-leakers/