Violence against women a “global epidemic”

Violence against women should be recognized as a “global epidemic” according to the Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, the United Nations’ gender agency. Lakshmi Puri was talking ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, marked annually on 25 November.  The international day kicks off a 16 day campaign that runs until Human Rights Day on 10 December. UN Women says violence affects at least one in three women and girls worldwide. Pooja Premchandran asked Ms Puri how the violence could be stopped.

“Tent” school opened in Lebanon for Syria refugees

Local public schools in Lebanon can accommodate only half of the 400,000 school-age Syrian refugee children in the country according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). More than four million people have fled Syria as a result of the four-year long civil war that has engulfed the country. Many parents have arrived in Lebanon and are hoping that their children can receive a proper education. Daniel Dickinson reports.

First female Speaker of Parliament elected in Arab world

The Arab world has elected its first female Speaker of Parliament. Dr Amal Al Qubaisi has been elected as Speaker of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Parliament, making her the first ever woman Speaker of an Arab national parliament. She has been a parliamentarian in the UAE since 2006, where she has been particularly active on youth and gender issues. Veronica Reeves spoke with Zeina Hilal from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).  I started by asking her what percentage of parliamentarians worldwide are women.

Presenter: Veronica Reeves

Production Assistant: Ana Carmo

Duration: 10'00″