Victimised twice: Wartime rape in South Sudan is a women’s rights violation
Posted: 14 May, 2018 Filed under: Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn | Tags: armed conflict, CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, gender-based discrimination, Geneva Conventions, harmful traditional practices, Maputo Protocol, rape, religious dogmas, sex stereotypes, sexual slavery, sexual violence, social prejudice, South Sudan, war, war crimes, women empowerment, women's rights 2 Comments
Author: Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn
Human rights lawyer, Ethiopia
In December 2013, South Sudan was plunged into a massive scale of violence because of the outbreak of conflict between the Sudan Liberation Army and the Sudan People Liberation Movement. The fight took an ethnic turn as soldiers from the country’s largest groups, the Dinka, and Nuer, divided their loyalties to either President Kiir or his deposed vice, Mr Machar respectively. While some civilians were caught in the cross fire, others were deliberately targeted along ethnic lines. Women are the immediate victims of this conflict because of rampant sexual abuse perpetrated against them.
No woman should die while giving life: Maternal mortality – the unfinished business of the MDG era
Posted: 21 July, 2015 Filed under: Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn | Tags: abortion, access to education, Beijing Platform of Action, birth, CEDAW, childbearing, death, discrimination, family, family planning, fertility, health, marriage, maternal death, maternal health, maternal mortality, pregnancy, right to life, sexual and reproductive health rights, women's rights 2 CommentsAuthor: Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn
Human rights lawyer, Ethiopia
Maternal mortality is one of the shocking failures of development and a dreadful social injustice. According to recent UN official figures, 536,000 women die every year during pregnancy and birth. This is one death every minute. Out of the 536,000 maternal deaths, 99% are experienced by women in developing countries. The highest maternal mortality rates are in Africa; with a lifetime risk of 1 in 16. Maternal death is often the result of policy decisions that directly or indirectly discriminate against women. Maternal death is also often an indication of inequalities between men and women in their enjoyment of the right to the highest attainable standard of health. Below I illustrate how other rights are either implicated by or essential in combating maternal mortality.
Call for a corruption-free Africa: A rights based approach
Posted: 13 April, 2015 Filed under: Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn | Tags: abuse, accountability, Africa, corruption, discrimination, failed government, human rights, impunity, public service systen, right to clean water, right to education, right to health care 1 CommentAuthor: Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn
Human rights lawyer, Ethiopia
Corruption is a threat to human rights in that it erodes accountability and results in impunity. Given the interdependence of human rights, the impact of corruption on the whole spectrum of human rights; economic social and cultural rights as well as that of the civil and political rights is significant. It fundamentally distorts the machineries necessary for the realization of human rights namely good governance and rule of law.
Corruption undermines a government’s ability to deliver goods and services. It results in discriminations in the use and enjoyment of human rights. It further undermines the ability of individuals to access justice and corrode their role as active participants in decisions that affect them within the public service. Corruption has a disproportionate impact on vulnerable groups such as women, children and the poor as it decreases funds available for the provision of basic services like education, health and social services that these groups are mostly dependent on.
