U.N. Review of Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

A series of events focused on abolishing nuclear weapons unfolds in conjunction with the U.N. conference to strengthen the 40-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

An International Planning Committee comprised of NGO's from around the world organized a two day international conference on Nuclear Abolition, Peace and Disarmament - scheduled to fall on the eve of the NPT review at the United Nations. The conference was held at the Riverside Church in New York City, where peace leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. have spoken in the past. A wide array of participants, including the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban-Ki Moon, spoke at last weekends conference. Additionally, thousands of Hibakusha - Japanese atomic survivors - were in attendance for both the conference and for the rally and march on May 2nd.

The rally took place in Times Square, followed by a march through the street of New York City from Times Square to the U.N. Tens of thousands of participants flooded the streets of New York to send a message to the world: By 2020, all nuclear weapons must be abolished off the face of the Earth.

Representatives of the world's nations gathered today at the U.N. to commence the 5-year NPT review.

Poison Attacks on Afghan School Girls

At least 88 girls in Kunduz, Afghanistan were sent to hospitals after a series of poison gas attacks. This recent rash of terror in girls schools highlights the continued challenges that Afghan girls will face in the future, even if the Taliban are defeated. A police officer said that the attacks were likely not a Taliban initiative, but rather "the act of miscreants who just don't like the idea of girls being educated." The deep-rooted opposition to the education of women and girls remains an important issue that needs to be addressed in the culture at large.

A New Way to Breakthrough

Breakthrough is an innovative, international human rights organization using the power of popular culture, media, and community mobilization to transform public attitudes and advance equality, justice, and dignity. Through initiatives in India and the United States, Breakthrough addresses critical global issues including violance against women, sexuality and HIV/AIDS, racial justice, and immigration rights.

Watch one of their videos about an HIV+ woman who works to make a positive change.

Principle Pictures News

There has been a lot going here in Plymouth in the last couple of months!

We received a grant from the Cinereach Foundation for our film What Tomorrow Brings, which is still in the early phase of production.

Due to the success of working with our interns throughout this year, we're starting a more structured Intern Program - offering local students the opportunity for a hands-on experience in the world of documentary.

The Promise to Freedom is taking form - we are currently cutting a rough cut of the film. As we watch the stories take shape, we are more excited than ever about the project.

Stay tuned for more PP news! It's going to be a busy summer.

Teenagers Train to be Midwives in Afghanistan

Girls as young as 16 train to become midwives in rural Afghanistan. While most teenagers are watching movies, going on dates, and playing sports, these young women are saving lives. Midwives-in-training from the Institute for Health Sciences (IHS) at Herat Regional Hospital and the Community Midwifery Education (CME) program in Ghor Province are sending out students to deliver babies - practical training for a group of young health workers that could potential help lower the staggeringly high mortality rate of mothers in rural Afghanistan. Both programs are sponsored by World Vision - an organization where you can give gifts to help support the lives of those most in need.

Two Women In Al-Mazraq | WFP | United Nations World Food Programme - Fighting Hunger Worldwide

250,000 people flee their homes during the recent conflict in northern Yemen. Many of them remain in World Food Programme shelters, afraid to return home.

Two Women In Al-Mazraq - Video

What We've Brought Women in Afghanistan

Women like Malalai Joya insist that, although life was hard before US invasion, life has gotten even harder since we've been there. Here's a taste of life for women under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan today: How would you feel if...

-you had your fingers cut off because you had painted your nails

-you were whipped in public for showing your ankles

-you weren't allowed to laugh loudly, or wear high heels that made any noise

These are just a taste of some of life's hardships. Read the list of restriction placed on both men and women under the Taliban regime.

Self-Immolation: A Cry for Help

Stephanie Sinclair, an American photojournalist known for gaining unique access to the most sensitive gender and human rights issues around the world, creates a stunning and horrific sense of the tortured and hopelessness pervading the lives of women in Afghanistan. See the result of a situation in which burning oneself seems like the better option than most.

Empowerment Through Film

A young Ugandan refugee in a Kenyan camp recently visited Geneva for UNHCR events linked to International Women's Day. Kate Ofwono gave an interview about how completing a film in the Participatory Video Program run by FilmAid International helped empower her and gave her strength to help others. FilmAid uses the power of the visual medium to educate and empower communities in crisis.

Update on Massachusetts film tax credits

The Massachusetts Joint Committee on Revenue voted down House Bill 3854 on March 11. The Bill proposed to cut state tax credits for the film industry. However, Governor Deval Patrick still supports capping the tax credits in his budget proposal. Read the Boston Globe’s coverage and continue to check the Massachusetts Film Office website for more updates.

The Forgotten War

Dahr Jamail, an independent U.S. reporter in Iraq, wrote recently on his site about the Iraq war as the 'Forgotten' War. As Afghanistan takes center stage in the U.S. media outlets, the occupation of Iraq takes a backseat. Yet, 130 thousand American troops and 114 thousand private contractors still remain in the country and approximately 400 Iraqi civilians continue to die each month. In addition to a lack of electricity and drought in-country threatening 2 million people with the possibility of no power or water, an astounding 4.5 million Iraqis have been displaced as refugees in other countries.

Act on 8 and WCI

There are 8 international development goals that 192 United Nations members states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):

1 Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

2 Achieve Universal Primary Education

3 Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

4 Reduce Child Mortality

5 Improve Maternal Health

6 Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases

7 Ensure Environmental Sustainability

8 Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Act on 8 is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of the Millennium Development Goals. Find out how to take action on any one of the 8 goals.

Women's Campaign International (WCI) is a US based non-profit organization dedicated specifically to goal 3. WCI works in emerging democracies and post-conflict regions around the world to advance opportunities for women to actively participate in public advocacy and political processes.

Find more videos like this on Women in Afghanistan

Hear how women in Afghanistan would like to be empowered.

Find out more about WCI

Peace Through Business

The Institute of Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW), a non-profit focused on empowering women to "grow" their own businesses, has designed the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS training program. The 2010 program will take place in Rwanda and Afghanistan as a three-part business education program for 30 entrepreneurial women in each country. The women will participate in an 8-week training course culminating in the completion of an in-depth business plan. 30 of the women will then travel to the United States to participate in Leadership Development conference - each women being matched with an American woman business owner to provide a mentorship for the duration of the week and beyond. The hope is that, upon returning their home countries, the women will then Pay it Forward by educating other women in their country.

Brattleboro, Vermont hosts the Women's Film Festival

This month Brattleboro, Vermont hosts the 19th annual Women’s Film Festival from March 12 to 21. Proceeds from the event benefit Brattleboro’s Women’s Crisis Center, which helps women and children that have suffered from domestic or sexual abuse. The festival will present a variety of feature and documentary films. Check out the schedule for more information.

Out of its many films, the festival will feature Quest for Honor, a documentary by Mary Ann Smothers Bruni that premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The film reveals the practice of honor killing in northern Iraq, which continues to take place, and follows a group of women as they work to end this brutal tradition. Bruni will attend the screening, which will be held on March 13 at 7:00 pm.

V-Day: I am an Emotional Creature

Eve Ensler, creator of "The Vagina Monologues", has organized a global movement to stop violence against women and girls, called V-Day. V-Season lasts from February 1st through April 30th, and invites women and girls to host their own events. In conjunction with this project, she has released a book in tandem called I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Lives of Girls Around the World - a fictional collection of monologues based on stories inspired by girls around the globe. Watch Eve speak during a 2004 TED talk about menopause, violence against women and finding happiness.

TED Conference features docs - including The Promise of Freedom

Thanks to support from the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, our new film, The Promise of Freedom, was featured at the latest TED Conference. Mariane Pearl (activist, author and Exectuive Producer of the documentary, Resilient), Trevor Neilson and Michael Massing led a discussion about how filmmaking and journalism can help promote tolerance, hope and progress.

Message to MA Legislators - Don't Cap Film Tax Credits

This morning Beacon Hill legislators are listening to arguments on a bill to cap film tax credits in Massachusetts. These credits are vital to the growth of the film industry in the state, and cutting them will only send studios a message that Massachusetts isn't serious about attracting filmmakers.

Oral Testimony on the Power of Women and Girls

Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, spoke before the Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy and Global Women's Issues of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (there needs to be an acronym for that) on the 23rd of February. Watch her address to the committee as she advocates for the powerful agents of change and development that are the women of Afghanistan.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits the Middle East

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent tour through the Middle East has prompted much discussion, including conversations about women’s rights in the region.

Before embarking on her trip, Secretary Clinton spoke at the International Conference on Afghanistan in London on January 28, where she spoke about women’s roles in bringing change to Afghanistan:

“I also believe very strongly, as is apparent in what I say about this issue, that women have to be involved at every step of the way in this process. To that end, I unveiled our Women’s Action Plan. It includes initiatives focused on women’s security, women’s leadership in the public and private sector; women’s access to judicial institutions, education, and health services; women’s ability to take advantage of economic opportunities, especially in the agricultural sector. This is a comprehensive, forward-looking agenda that stands in stark contrast to al-Qaida’s recently announced agenda for Afghanistan’s women, attempting to send female suicide bombers to the West.”

This excerpt, along with Clinton’s full remarks from the event, can be found here.


Although women’s rights and leadership were discussed at the Afghanistan conference, the New York Times reports that while in Saudi Arabia on February 16, those subjects did not come up when Clinton visited a women’s college in Jidda. “Maybe because it was Hillary Clinton, people wanted to ask her about issues bigger than whether Saudi women can drive,” student Duaa Badr suggests. Check out the full article here.


Finally, while Clinton’s comments about Iran “moving toward a military dictatorship” picked up plenty of media coverage, it is a recently proposed “Family Protection” bill in Iran that has angered the Iranian women’s website Change for Equality (also known as One Million Signatures.) The bill would allow men in Iran to take additional wives without the knowledge or consent of their first wives. Change for Equality is collecting signatures for a petition here. For more coverage of the protest against the bill, check out recent coverage in the New York Times.

Half the Sky Event

Celebrate International Women's Day on March 4th at a special one-night event presented by CARE and inspired by stories from the New York Times bestseller "Half the Sky". Featuring musical performances, celebrity commentary and the world premiere of "Woineshet," a short film by Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone. Also with appearances from India.Arie, Maria Bello, Diane Birch, Michael Franti, Dr. Helene Gayle, Angelique Kidjo, Nicholas Kristof, Marisa Tomei, and others. Join in the effort to help women and girls everywhere turn oppression into opportunity at select theaters on March 4th, 7:30pm. For more information, look to the NCM Fathom site.