United Nations Radio

Women: a weekly 14-minute news magazine that looks at issues affecting ~women around the world.

South Africa's Navanethem Pillay (photo) has assumed the post of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She is a former judge of the International Criminal Court, and was president of the UN-backed tribunal established for Rwanda where she was instrumental in the judgement that defined rape as an act of genocide. Judge Pillay this week addressed the Human Rights Council, observing that she comes to the job in the same year that the UN is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She called for more efforts to combat gender discrimination, which she said makes the declaration's promise "an empty pledge for millions of women and girls."

Rural Self Help Groups Fight Prejudice in India

In tribal villages across southern India, babies, especially female babies, are often seen as nothing but a burden. And their mothers are among the poorest of the poor in India; illiterate, struggling to keep food in the house. This World Bank feature reports how local self help groups are working to stop these mothers from abandoning, selling or killing their girls, by providing them with money for milk and food, and even therapy for their disabled children.

HIV-positive Cambodian Women Fashion a New Life

A group of women in Cambodia is looking to make a positive impact on the international fashion scene. Together with former fashion model-turned-designer, Bibi Rusell, they're the force behind a new line of textile accessories designed to empower women living with HIV. The products will be sold under the label 'Bibi for WE' (which stands for Women Empowered) and will be produced by the Modern Dress Sewing Factory which employees HIV-positive women in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) says the factory--a subsidiary of a national network of people living with HIV and AIDS--is an inspiration for the Asia/Pacific region.

Producer: Dianne Penn