14th October 2013
On International Day of the Girl Child, I was able to meet five young girls who are changing how young women are perceived in society here. These five, vibrant girls make up Ethiopia’s first girl band ‘YEGNA’, which means ‘ours’. I met them backstage as they were preparing for their debut live concert. Yegna is […]
20th September 2013
We can’t escape the daily reports of widespread violence throughout our world. And it has been especially shocking to hear recently about chemical weapons being used on innocent civilians in Syria. As we mark International Peace Day, it’s important that we stand in solidarity with people caught in conflicts. We are faced today with many […]
1st August 2013
All of our countries face problems relating to the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). There have been some shocking cases recently in the UK which have raised awareness of the scale of what we have to deal with – the British Prime Minister has made very clear that addressing CSEC and its underlying causes […]
11th July 2013
According to the latest statistics, the world population has passed the 7 billion mark. This fast accelerating number raises a number of important issues – and the United Nations has selected an interesting theme for this year from the potential list. The organisation wants to address the issue of adolescent pregnancy, which directly feeds the […]
8th March 2013
Today, we are celebrating annual International Women’s Day. This is an important occasion to raise awareness about women’s rights and to commemorate women who have fought for equality. (Something which I think of whenever I see the grave of Sylvia Pankhurst, campaigner for women’s suffrage in the UK, at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa.) […]
8th March 2013
Today is International Women’s Day, an annual event launched over a century ago, in 1910, to celebrate the social and economic achievements of women.
The situation for women since then has changed profoundly…
6th February 2013
Today we mark International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Cutting/Mutilation (FGM). FGM has existed in the culture and tradition of many societies for many years, causing untold psychological and physical damage to young girls. On this day it is important that we shine a light on an issue which affects so many, and […]