This Shadow Report is a joint initiative by 30 Norwegian NGOs. Each organisation has contributed their expertise and knowledge in their particular field. The issues raised in particular sections reflect the concerns and the expertise of these organisations. This does not mean that all the supporting organisations necessarily endorse all the specific policy recommendations, where these are outside their remit.

At the bottom of South Asia’s caste, class and gender hierarchies, are Dalit women.

Tunisia’s lifting of key reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is an important step toward gender equality, Human Rights Watch said today. The Tunisian government should next ensure that all domestic laws conform to international standards and eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, Human Rights Watch said.

Widowhood is both a crisis and a problem. In the suddenness and in the sea change that it wroughts in the life of a woman, it is a crisis. As the woman tries to cope with the implications it becomes a problem. The implications are almost always economic.

Born in the colourful state of Rajasthan as a Dalit, the lowest of the castes in the Hindu caste hierarchy, Anita had few employment options other than what her parents had done and what her community expected her to do – manual scavenging.

A wedding in Kyrgyzstan is a huge celebration. For most girls it is an event they await from their birth. Parents spend a great amount of money preparing the dowry and the feast. However, there is one moment that can ruin not only the outcome of the event and the fate of the bride, but also tarnish the family honor - the display of the first night bed sheet.

Overall, the audit reveals that by far this is a better document in terms of women rights than the earlier Kenya constitution. The gains made include:

On the occasion of its 49th session, to be held in New York from 11 July to 29 July 2011, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will hold a general discussion on the protection of women in conflict and post-conflict situations in the context of the following provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW):

Pink saris are worn by the Gulabi Gang, a group of women vigilantes in Northern India. They have united and formed resistance to being mistreated as women and of a lower social class, led by Sampat Pal Devi. Kim Longniotto's documentary film highlights the plight of these women.

When my husband died I was 29 years old with two young children. I was educated and from a professional middle-class family in Katmandu, the capital of Nepal. My husband was of similar background.

In the new Global Report on Equality at Work 2011, the International Labour Office (ILO) notes that in spite of continuous positive advances in anti-discrimination legislation, the global economic and social crisis has led to a higher risk of discrimination against certain groups such as migrant labour.