INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Thursday is International Women's Day, which was first celebrated in 1911 in Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland – were one million men and women attended rallies to demand amongst other things voting rights and equal pay. On our planet women perform around 66% of the work, are responsible for the production of 50% of our planets food yet take home around 10% of overall income and own around 1% of the worlds property. When it comes to elected representation worldwide barely 19% of the world's parliamentary seats are held by women, around 16% of the world's elected political leaders are women.

Other statistics are grimmer - more women (between the age of 15 and 44) die as result of violence against them, than die of cancer, malaria, road accidents and war. One in five women will become victim of rape, attempted rape and one in four will experience domestic violence. Clearly a great deal needs to be done before women can enjoy the fruits of their labour, have personal security, and collect their long overdue financial and political rewards.

The United Nations theme for International Women's Day 2012 is "Empower Rural Women — End Hunger and Poverty." Even where political liberation is taking place and dictatorships are falling, women's rights are not necessarily secure, as this BBC Newsnight Report on the Egyptian revolution clearly shows:



In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai, who is preparing the ground to negotiate with the Taliban has commissioned the Ulema Council (Afghanistan's top religious council) to produce a statement which outlines the rights and duties of women under Islam. The council has said that women should not mix with men in school, work or other aspects of daily life and has also said that women should not travel without a male relative.

Outside observers and Afghan women's rights campaigners believe that the release of this statement is no co-incidence, merely part of the president's efforts to cut a deal with the Taliban. Clearly we have come long way from the days when Laura Bush spoke out against the Taliban's oppression of Afghan women, and for Afghan women we may be going nowhere good.

MORE THAN A FAINT WHIFF OF HYPOCRACY

There is more than a faint whiff of hypocracy surrounding William Hague's somewhat belated condemnation of the brutal repression currently being undertaken in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen. If my memory serves me correctly UK PLC has been actively supporting, nurturing, arming up-skilling and re-tooling the forces of repression across the globe in a whole host of unsavoury regimes. Now that for want of a better phrase the various peoples of the Middle and Near East are trying to find their political and economic freedoms then the house of cards so ably supplied and abetted by Old Labour, Conservative, New Labour and Con Dem threatens to come crashing down around the Foreign Offices' ears.  If Hague's musings are somewhat embarrassing to listen to, then just imagine all the sweet nothings he would be whispering to Mubarak if he had survived.

MAKING THE BEST OF IT

It's interesting that David Cameron, has said that Egypt has had a "precious moment of opportunity" to move towards "civilian and democratic rule". Obviously trying to make the best out of the situation, Mr Cameron makes these comments following the resignation of Hosni Mubarak as Egypt's president after 18 days of continuous and largely peaceful (at least on the part of the anti-Mubarak demonstrators) protest. Mr Cameron goes on to say that the UK was a friend of Egypt and stood ready to "help in any way that we can". I wonder how that squares with thirty years of warm support for Mubarak when it comes to repressing the Egyptian people? Mubarak was as much a favoured son of the West as much as Saddam Hussein, oh how the time change. Former New Labour PM, Tony Blair, described Mubarak as "immensely courageous and a force for good" (2nd February 2011), previous British Prime Ministers and other Western Leaders have been equally gushing over the years, quietly brushing the Human Rights violations under the carpet, so to speak, when it comes to supporting Mubark. Lets hope that the Egyptian people have short memories...and don't ask awkward questions about the UK's relationship with Mubarak, especially if Cameron goes to visit.

FREEDOM'S STRUGGLE

Guillermo Farinas

The struggle for freedom and democracy takes many forms, whether through acts of individual courage, as in totalitarian dictatorships like Communist Cuba, where Police in Cuba have again released leading dissident Guillermo Farinas after his third arrest in 48 hours. His latest arrest had come with around 10 other dissidents while laying flowers at a monument to Cuba's independence leader Jose Marti.

The BBC says that he was freed after being taken to hospital, complaining of chest pains. Guillermo Farinas gained international attention in 2010 when he came close to death after staging a 134-day hunger strike and was fed intravenously. He started his 23rd hunger strike in February 2010 in protest at the death of fellow dissident and hunger striker Orlando Zapata. This protest in July, when Cuban President Raul Castro authorised the release of 52 of the island's most prominent prisoners of conscience. The EU awarded him its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought last December, although he was prevented from leaving Cuba to collect the award.

Sometimes, freedom, democracy and liberty can be affirmed at the ballot box, as is the case in South Sudan Preliminary results show that some 99% of South Sudanese have voted to secede from the north, according to the first complete results of the region's independence referendum. Some 99.57 percent of those polled voted for independence, according to the referendum commission. Early counting had put the outcome of the ballot beyond doubt, indicating Southern Sudan had secured a mandate to become the world's newest nation. The poll was agreed as part of a 2005 peace deal to end two decades of war. The final results from the 9th-15th January vote, which Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has said he will accept, are expected early next month. If the result is confirmed, the new country is set to formally declare its independence on 9th July.

And sometimes, as in Tunis people have to stand up and be counted, when it really matters as they collectively brought an end 30 years of tyranny, corruption and wasted opportunities. Hopefully, the Egyptian people we be equally as successful as the Tunisian people were last month.