WOMEN'S UN REPORT NETWORK - WUNRN INDIA WOMEN'S & GIRLS' CHALLENGES FOR SECURITY, RIGHTS, EMPOWERMENT & EQUALITY United Nations Human Rights Council June 3, 2013 Geneva, Switzerland WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN®

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - INFANT GIRL HUNGRY & MALNOURISHED India - A malnourished 3-month-old girl is fed at a rehabilitation center in Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh. Photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times According to the Save the Children's statistics, around 3.5 million children die in a year because of malnutrition. In India alone, one million children's lives could be saved every year if they were not malnourished.

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - CHILD MARRIAGE INDIA PROHIBITION OF CHILD MARRIAGE ACT 2006

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA'S MISSING GIRLS - FEMALE INFANTICIDE - SKEWED SEX RATIO A young girl looks on during a rally against female foeticide in New Delhi. Photograph: Gurinder Osan/AP

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - MATERNAL & INFANT MORTALITY CRISIS

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - SURROGATE MOTHERHOOD BOOM - LEGAL CONCERNS Women like these at a clinic in Anand, India, can earn much more as surrogate mothers than at normal jobs. - NY Times - Stephanie Sinclair/VII Network

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® WIDOWS OF INDIA - POVERTY - DISCRIMINATION - SOCIAL EXCLUSION The Voiceless Millions of Widows of India

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® PHOTO OF INDIA GUILD OF SERVICE - WUNRN - UNIFEM CONFERENCE ON WIDOWS

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN®

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - GIRLS' SCHOOL IN DELHI SLUM Photo - Courtesy of FADA - Pedro Moreno

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA CHILD LABOUR - GIRL BRICK WORKER A 9-year-old girl in India toils under the hot sun, making bricks from morning to night, seven days a week.

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA MANUAL SCAVENGER DALIT WOMEN

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - CRITICAL HOMELESSNESS - WOMEN & CHILDREN Adnan Abidi / Reuters Homeless women inside a shelter managed by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in New Delhi, Dec. 28. An intense spell of cold weather has forced hundreds of homeless to seek refugee in the shelters.

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - WOMEN & CHILDREN VICTIMS OF TOXIC ENVIRONMENTS AS IN BHOPAL Fareeda Bi sitting with her two sons, Nawab, 8, in her lap, and Hassan, 12, in their home in the Arif Nagar slum near the factory. The boys have no muscle control and are barely able to stand. "There are more children like this in the neighborhood," she said, "who cannot walk, who cannot see."

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - PROSTITUTES OF BOMBAY Bombay - Falkland Road - Prostitution Cages at Night - By Mary Ellen Mark

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA WOMEN'S CHALLENGES FOR COLLECTING & MANAGING WATER

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA WOMEN'S GRASSROOTS GROUPS/TRINJANS FOR SUSTAINABLE TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURE Around 800 women from across Punjab came together to participate in the recent 'trinjan' organised in Amritsar. (Photo: Kheti Virasat Mission\WFS)

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA - OUTRAGE OVER DELHI GANG RAPE SWELLS Indian students and activists shout slogans as they carry torches at India Gate during a protest following the gang-rape of a student in New Delhi, Dec 19, Photo by AFP

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN FINALIZES MISSION TO INDIA NEW DELHI (1 May 2013) – At the end of her official country mission to India, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Rashida Manjoo, delivered the following statement: I have been mandated by the Human Rights Council to seek and receive information on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and to recommend measures to eliminate all forms of violence against women. I would like to begin by expressing my thanks to the Government of India for having invited me to visit the country from 22 April to 1 May. The invitation, which was in response to a request from my mandate, was received prior to the events that led to the death of a young woman in Delhi on 16 December The protest actions and outpouring of sadness and anger; and the extensive coverage by the media, both local and global; has generated a huge focus on the issue of violence against women and girls in India. This mission has generated country-wide interest, and also, demands for the addressing of this systemic problem as an urgent imperative, at both the State and the non-state levels.

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® INDIA WOMEN'S POLITICAL LEADERSHIP ADVANCES

WOMENS UN REPORT NETWORK WUNRN® BECAUSE I AM A GIRLIN INDIA, I MUST STUDY An India father asks his daughter: Study? Why should you study? I have sons aplenty who can study Girl, why should you study? The daughter tells her father: Since you ask, heres why I must study. Because I am a girl, I must study. Long denied this right, I must study For my dreams to take flight, I must study Knowledge brings new light, so I must study For the battles I must fight, I must study Because I am a girl, I must study. To avoid destitution, I must study To win independence, I must study To fight frustration, I must study To find inspiration, I must study Because I am a girl, I must study. To fight mens violence, I must study To end my silence, I must study To challenge patriarchy I must study To demolish all hierarchy, I must study. Because I am a girl, I must study. -- Kamla Bhasin