Was at Mandarin Oriental to attend NIEW conference on displaced women.Much of the discussion centred on refugees.There are 43 million displaced people around the world, 2/3 are women and children (subject to all sorts of abuse).An eye witness activist from Liberia related a story how a senior UN Peacekeeper paid for sex of some of these young women they were supposed to protect.Like in many war zones, UN peacekeepers are also rapists.I felt like throwing up hearing these stories.
The prob is it is not enough to educate women of their rights.Men need to be educated too and trained to be more gender-sensitized.I like the story of an Achehnese activist who related their approach working with the ulemas to work on their men (if it came from the women, the men would quickly dismiss them as agents of the West).That was a smart move.
There are 90 thousand refugees in Msia.The government does not recognise their existence (according to one activist, the government criminalises refugees...hmm..a bit exaggerated I think).Tapi I also think the street kids are also a great concern.Is anyone looking into this issue?
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