International Women's Cancer Conference-2023 begins

Friday 1st December 2023 at 18:19

More than 200 doctors and 100 nurses attended

Chandigarh: 01 December 2023: (Kartika Singh//Punjab Screen)::

International Women's Cancer Conference-2023 started with great enthusiasm and passion . The first day was very missing, the start of the conference organized by the Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the organizing secretary, Dr. Gaurav came from Prakash's swag speech.

More than 200 doctors and 100 nurses from Chandigarh and neighboring states came to attend the conference।  There was also a lot of curiosity। Medical science is fully alert to the rapidly becoming common cancer and is also taking further steps in this direction। 

PGIMER Director Professor Vivek Lal addressed this historic conference and also praised the collaboration with ASCO।  Along with this, he was assured to use this cooperation for the best care of cancer patients।

Radiation oncologist of ASCO Prof. Onini Balogun monitored women's cancer worldwide and emphasized the importance of a multi-disciplinary cancer clinic। His thoughts on cancer were very informative। Much said was heard in the IGI Chandigarh conference on this poison becoming serious throughout the world.

Significantly, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, smoke released during smoking that goes within others by breath: thyroid cancer, Factors that increase the risk of thyroid cancer include: Ovarian cancer and cervical cancer are prominent in those whose risk is counted as severe। 

President of the Association of Gynecological Oncologists of India (AGOI), Dr. Rupinder Sekhon emphasized the importance and limitations of screening women for various cancers in India। Steps and new discoveries being taken in this regard were also discussed। 

Professor Vanita Suri, head and organizing chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, highlighted the importance of multi-disciplinary cancer care। His speech was very strong। He put forward a lot in this regard। 

In this conference, the renowned international faculty of ASCO, Dr. Mary McCormack and Drs. Charles Dunton also participated। Evidence-based best practices in breast cancer were discussed in various discussions। Young researchers presented their research through e-posters। 

The initial round of quizzes saw the enthusiastic participation of 14 teams representing nine medical colleges। Overall, that first day of the conference was very informative and memorable.

Call for bold funds to end violence against women

Thursday: 23rd November 2023 at 1:34 AM

An Urgent Call by UN Women

New report showing prevention is severely underfunded  

In 2022, countries around the world spent USD 204 billion in overseas development assistance—of that sizable sum, only one-fifth of one per cent was spent on preventing gender-based violence (GBV).  

New York: 23rd November 2023: (UN Women Media//The Women Screen Desk):: 

Ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November, a report “What Counts? The state of funding for the prevention of gender-based violence against women and girls” by UN Women partners the Equality Institute and the Accelerator for GBV Prevention, working together under the Collective Commitment of the Generation Equality Action Coalition on GBV reveals a concerning reality: gender-based violence, an issue of alarming proportions, garners only 0.2% of global aid and development funding.   

The report comes as the world kicks off the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, from 25 November to 10 December, under the global theme set by the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE campaign, “UNITE! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls”.  

As the world marks the halfway point to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the urgency to end violence against women and girls has never been greater.  UN Women’s Gender Snapshot 2023 report reveals that 245 million women and girls continue to face physical and/or sexual violence from their intimate partners each year. A staggering 86 per cent of women and girls live in countries without robust legal protections against violence, or in countries where data are not available. 

Additionally, the impacts of economic crises, conflicts, and climate change have heightened the vulnerability of women and girls to violence.   

“It is time to get serious and fund what we know works to stop violence against women and girls.   Invest in reforming and implementing laws and multisectoral policies.  Provide services to survivors.  Scale up evidence-based prevention interventions. With the will and contributions of all stakeholders and sectors, we can unlock financing, track budget allocations, and increase gender-responsive budgeting. We have the solutions and resources to end violence against women and girls in our lifetimes.  It is our choice,” said UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous at the official commemoration event for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in New York. 

A strong and autonomous feminist movement is also a crucial part of the solution. Women’s rights organizations play a pivotal role in preventing violence, advocating for policy change, and holding governments accountable. However, as per the Action Coalition on GBV’s Accountability Report, they remain severely underfunded, and significant efforts are needed to increase financial support for women’s rights organizations working in this space.  

Also, launched today, a new research brief with estimates on gender-related killings of women and girls, produced jointly by UNODC and UN Women, shows that globally, nearly 89,000 women and girls were killed intentionally in 2022, the highest yearly number recorded in the past two decades, indicating that the number of female homicides is not decreasing. Most killings of women and girls are gender motivated. In 2022, 55 per cent of the intentional killings of women (around 48,800) were committed by intimate partners or other family members. This means that, on average, more than 133 women or girls were killed every day by someone in their own family. 

16 Days of Activism  Around The World  

Through the 16 Days of Activism campaign, UN Women will be calling for increased long-term, sustainable investments from states, private sector, foundations, and other donors to women’s rights organizations working to end violence against women and girls in all their diversity. 

On November 22nd, the official commemoration event for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in New York will feature an opening address by the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and remarks by UN Women’s Executive Director, and will bring together voices of Member States, women’s civil society organizations, United Nations agencies, and Leaders and Commitment Makers of the Generation Equality Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence. In line with this year’s theme, the event will highlight best practices of investment to prevent violence against women, gaps and challenges and the way forward.   

UN Women will be also leading a global social media campaign to speak up against gender-based violence using #NoExcuse and #16Days. 

From a film festival in Rwanda, to a dialogue for young women in Sri Lanka, and film screenings in Egypt and Morocco, dozens of events organized during the 16 Days of Activism will aim to rally action to ensure a violence-free future for women and girls, symbolized by the colour orange. 

As in previous years, iconic buildings around the world are expected to be lit in orange during the 16 Days of Activism, including the Grand Place City Hall Hôtel de Ville in Brussels, Belgium, the UN House in Dakar, Senegal, the Tbilisi TV tower in Tbilisi, Georgia, and other landmark buildings across Sweden, Pakistan and other countries. 

"We are ending every discrimination against women"

Posted On: 31 MAR 2023 5:20 PM by PIB Delhi

 The International Women’s Day celebrated throughout the country

New Delhi:  31st March 2023: (PIB//The Women Screen)::

Government has taken several steps to end all forms of discrimination against women and girls in the country through legislative framework, schematic interventions and policies/ programmes/schemes.

The International Women’s Day this year has been celebrated throughout the country with great zeal and fervor. On this occasion, several programmes, events, functions, quizzes were organized by various Central and State Government as well as other organizations. The theme of International Women’s Day 2023 is #EmbraceEquity. The Ministry of Women and Child Development does not maintain the data of expenditure incurred by various authorities on celebration International Women’s Day.

The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Constitution of India. The Constitution of India not only provides for equality but also empowers the State to make positive discrimination in favour of women and children. The Directive Principles of the State Policy and the Fundamental Duties cast obligation on State as well as citizens to remove discrimination renounce derogatory practices and uphold the dignity of women. In line with the principles enshrined in the Constitution, the Government has taken several steps to end all forms of discrimination against women and girls in the country through legislative framework, schematic interventions and policies/ programmes/ schemes. The vibrant Indian Judiciary also plays an important role in protecting the rights and entitlements of women and girls.

Several legislations for example ‘the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955’, ‘the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 (subsumed under Code on Wages, 2019)’ and ‘the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013’, ‘the Indian Penal Code’, ‘the Criminal Law Amendments of 2013 and 2018’, ‘the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961’, ‘the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005’, ‘the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006’, ‘the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019’, three Labour Codes of 2020 etc. already exist to further strengthen this framework.

Moreover, in order to ensure that the marital status of a woman does not subject her to any form of discrimination or hardship, or have a bearing on access to services, the Passport rules have been amended in favour of single mothers. Now either the mother or the father’s name can be provided in the passport application form and there is no requirement to provide the certificate of marriage/divorce during application anymore. Earlier, providing the father’s name in the PAN application forms was mandatory. The said rule has been suitably amended to the effect that in PAN application forms, mentioning the father’s name is no longer mandatory for person whose mother was a single parent and PAN has been applied by furnishing the name of the mother only.

As a measure for improving the girl child sex ratio, the Government of India launched the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme’. The scheme is a convergent effort to prevent gender-biased sex selective elimination, ensure the survival and protection of the girl child, and to ensure her education, with an overall aim of increasing the child sex ratio. To assist the women in distress, the Government has is setting up of “One Stop Centers” (OSCs) across the country with the objective of facilitating access to an integrated range of services including medical aid, police assistance, legal aid/case management, psychosocial counselling, and temporary support services to women affected by violence.

Access to sanitation is a matter of dignity. To curb the problem of open defecation in India which affects the health and safety of women the most, the Government launched the Swachh Bharat Mission. Under this initiative over 11.6 crore individual household toilets have been constructed. Similarly, the schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, Stand-up India, Start-up India, Skill India, Digital India are promoting the financial and digital inclusion and economic empowerment of women. There are several other schemes implemented by various Central Ministries/ Departments for promoting social, educational, economic and political empowerment of women.

As per Census of India 2011, there are over 26.8 million persons with disabilities in India, constituting 2.21% of the population. Among these, around 11.8 million are women. The National Policy for Persons with Disabilities, 2006, endorses the need to focus special attention on the needs of differently-abled women. Recognizing the need of differently-abled mothers of additional support, the Policy envisages giving financial support to such women so that they may hire services to look after their children. The Government of India introduced the Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016, which implores government and local authorities to take measures to ensure that women and children with disabilities enjoy their rights equally with others.

As per Census 2011, the number of widowed women is 4,32,61,478, number of separated women is 23,72,754 & number of divorced women is 9,09,573.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Women & Child Devlopment, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

                   ***** SS//AKS//(Release ID: 1912576)