While members of the Pakistani parliament were on a diplomatic trip in the United States to talk about the impact of the ar on terror on northern rural tribes in the country, they were asked by airport security in Washington to be body-scanned. The right not to undergo a body scan is a privilege given to parliamentarians the world over. APC member Bytes for All in Pakistan applauds the Pakistani parliamentarians’ firm stance and refusal to be scanned.

A small team of the APC women’s programme is in New York from 1-12, blogging and twitting from the UN headquarters. While governments are busy reviewing the Beijing Platform of Action, civil society organisations are struggling to participate in the process, and are being kept at bay. Yet they are still managing to keep busy by organising side events, networking, and advocating for the inclusion of a women’s rights perspective in all the discussions. APC is closely following the discussions about communications rights and the role ICTs play within this. Read GenderIT’s coverage.

In Nigeria, a small radio association is using theatre to teach rural populations practical skills like how to how to obtain small loans, and also discusses issues related to gender inequality. Thanks to a small grant by the Gender and Agriculture in the Information Society (GenARDIS) initiative, the project called Majalisar Mata Manoma has come a long way from being a simple radio programme. It is about meeting spaces for women farmers, connecting radio and mobile phones too.