Monthly Archives: November 2017

Women today face several biases in society despite all the progress that has been made. This is more prevalent and drastic still in the developing world. Conservative and reserved societies have made it challenging for women to stand up for themselves and their basic rights, whether it is their health, education or dignity. Honor killings have started to take up the media by storm in Pakistan, since a few cases brought rage to the public. This issue was further highlighted by the Emmy award winning documentary “A Girl in the River: A Price for Forgiveness” by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

Women face bias in Pakistan due nature of the society, as they are not treated as equals to men, particularly in the more conservative rural and tribal areas. Even if a girl or a woman is raped or sexually assaulted the blame is placed on her, which further complicates the matter, as it indicates that they are seen as a second-class citizen.

According to statistics provided by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, around 15222 cases of honour crimes pertaining both men and women were reported between 2004-2016. These statistics only provide a little insight, as there are several cases that go unnoticed and unreported. What adds to the problem further is how there is a problem is for turning a blind eye towards the issue. A lot of the people who might observe certain family problems just avoid interfering since they would claim it is not their place to say anything. However, when such acts are committed that is when the guilt of others comes to play a role. Therefore, there is a fundamental problem with the way people see and approach this issue.

Source:http://hrcp-web.org/hrcpweb/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/State-of-Human-Rights-in-2016.pdf

Zimbabwe has long had the prevalent presence of Robert Mugabe, who even at the age of 93 maintains his position. He has even in recent times refused to resign and that has stirred further opposition to this. The future of Mugabe seems to be in the hand of Mugabe himself, particularly how he plans to navigate this crisis in the best way possible.

Despite the growing distrust and popular opposition to him, Mugabe has stated that “he will still chair an upcoming party congress” (The Economist). The very fact Mugabe is still in power has made many feel anxious. This sense of anxiety of the next leader is coupled with the problems that need to be carefully and immediately addressed, in particular with regard to the economy.

However, what it is imperative is how Mugabe has managed to be in power for 37 years. The careful weeding out and carefully constructed support has allowed him to be almost untouchable. It was noted in recent unrest and coup that “the Zimbabwe Defence Forces says it is arresting ‘criminlas’ around Mr Mugabe, but not questioning his authority” (The Economist).

Having said that, maybe the time for Mugabe to step down has finally come. It has be noted that “should Mr Mugabe fail to step down, impeachment proceedings could begin as early as Tuesday November 21st, when parliament sits” (The Economist). However, the matter of the proceedings will not be simple and even if Mugabe is impeached, the aftermath will be critical to deal with. The political landscape will become open to challenges and the other leadership methods will be carefully analyzed.

Challenges to the ousted former vice-president, Emmerson Mnangagwa and his wife Grace will become apparent. The structure of how the military and the political parties will deal with a new road map for Zimbabwe.

It will be interesting to follow this story further and see how the shape of the country will potentially change and how the neighboring countries will react to them.

(Source:  https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21731506-formally-ousting-despot-hard-when-army-pretends-its-coup-was-not)

After conducting the data collection for the Global Affairs social media census, it could be noted that there were some interesting points that were brought to light. The part that was under my analysis was to do with the use of Facebook for different embassies of Canada across the world. There was a clear implication that there were some posts and embassies that were more active and popular than others. In terms of popularity, it means the amount of likes, comments and shares they had. It was interesting to note that specific types of events gained more likes than others and therefore, had a greater reach. Additionally, what was also imperative was how there were two languages for Canada’s embassies, however the English one was far more popular for some countries than others, indicating that was the more likely language of choice over French.