As global women movement celebrates International Women's Day on March 8th, while everyone is silent listening to the anthem of freedom and peace, and what has been achieved in progress toward full substantive equality in rights, Iraqi women celebrate this day while they are either internally displaced, refugees, abducted, or as slaves and victims of sexual and physical and community violence, with extreme deterioration of their rights under a scene of growing projects and plans  devoted to persecution and the violation of their dignity and degrade of their humanity, with alarming practices of exclusion and marginalization of women in decision-making places, which can be Inferred from the content of the Political Parties Law (No. 36) for 2015, which lacked the inclusion of Women Quota representation at the founding of the party and leadership structures.

March 8th comes this year, with mounting concern, towards serious challenges that faces the country, given the weakness of the State and its institutions, and the escalation of the armed conflict among multiple groups, with the resurgence of violent extremism and terrorism through Daesh (ISIS) control of vast areas of Iraq, corruption and religious and political sectarianism at the State institutions and society levels, and absence of trust between the parties in the political process with the lack of national vision and concept of community reconciliation and social cohesion, as the protest movement widens among our people.

The study Making Women Count. The Unequal Economics of Women’s Work, looks at how women in Canada and around the world are affected by rising inequality, including the burden of unpaid work, the undervaluing of work in predominantly female fields, and the unspoken social norms that see men offered higher wages and rates of promotion than women. Women make up some of the poorest and lowest paid workers in the global economy. And, as the report shows, women are doing more and more work to grow countries’ economies without seeing equal benefits.

The study offers a number of solutions to help make women count, including a shift towards policies that support better wages and access to employment for women, better financial support of public services - like health and child care – to reduce the care burden on women, and a greater focus by governments to prioritize women’s rights.

With huge money comes huge accountability. For Leonor Briones, lead convenor of Social Watch Philippines (SWP), the billions of funds that would be poured into the soon-to-be-established Bangsamoro government should undergo thorough audit to ensure proper spending and hold specific people responsible for how the money is spent.

By the reckoning of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief negotiation Mohagher Iqbal, the Bangsamoro government will get an initial funding of about P70 billion in its first year of operation, from various sources, including the block grant from the government.

There are strong indications that inequality may substantially contribute to and exacerbate the emergence and the course of financial crises, even if other factors, in particular financial deregulation, obviously also play a crucial role, according to a United Nations human rights expert.

This finding has been highlighted by Mr Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights, in a thematic report for the UN Human Rights Council, currently holding its thirty-first session.

Invitation to an event on March 8, 2016 in New York: The 2030 Agenda adopted at the highest level in September 2015 has the potential to change the prevailing development paradigm by re-emphasizing the multidimensional character of sustainable development and its universal applicability.

The implementation of the 2030 Agenda depends on the adoption of appropriate strategies and policies, available resources and other means of implementation. Accountability mechanisms are important tools for strengthening political commitment and effectiveness. Thus the success of the new Agenda relies a lot on adopting adequate mechanisms and indicators for the monitoring of progress or regressive developments in achieving the goals.