Thursday November 16, 2017
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 16, 2017
Canada pledges to boost women peacekeepers
Canada is also offering a total of $21 million to help increase the number of women in peacekeeping, including $6 million to help with reforms at the UN and $15 million for a new trust fund.
The fund is intended to help partner together countries with good female representation in the ranks with those that want to have more women in uniform, but are facing challenges.
The officials emphasized that such partnerships would only involve countries that are genuinely interested and willing to having more women in their militaries.
The new emphasis on women in peacekeeping and military operations comes amid growing international recognition of the real operational benefits that come from female soldiers in the field.
Canada will also make dozens of trainers available to the UN and other countries to help professionalize militaries from developing countries that are often involved in peacekeeping.
Some of those trainers will be deployed to UN centres in Africa, such as Kenya, Ghana and Uganda. But officials say up to 50 could also be sent to other countries, and may even deploy on missions with their students.
That would only occur, however, when the safety of Canadian troops can be ensured, officials said. (Source: CTV News)
![Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Saturday August 27, 2016 The burkini is an option, not oppression, say those opposed to ban Recent attempts in France to ban the burkini have prompted protests and court challenges. Some of those who've defended the body-concealing swimsuit say that while they wouldn't wear one themselves and don't necessarily agree with the religious associations it carries, they will defend women's right to wear what they want. On Friday, the top court in France overturned one town's banÊon the burkini, a ruling that is likely to set a precedent across the country. The decision comes after several Muslim women were ordered to remove the body-covering swimwear on French beaches. Some burkini wearers were also issued fines. Sonu Kilam is the co-founder and designer at East Essence, an online store that sells modern and traditional Islamic clothes. East Essence started to sell burkinis about six years ago, she said, after receiving requests from customers Ñ specifically, Mormon customers Ñ who were looking for modest active wear. "[We] came across the burkini and thought, 'Perfect, it will work for all our customers,'" Kilam told CBC News from Newark, Calif. The company's various burkini options represent about 15 per cent of its sales, she said, and it's not only Muslim women ordering them. Kilam recently got an email from a Canadian woman who wrote, "It's hard for women like me who are 40 or older and don't feel comfortable showing skin to find swimwear in Canada.Ó Other burkini customers include women with skin conditions, Kilam said, and the company recently made a custom burkini for a plus-size woman who wanted something to wear for water aerobics. There have been reports that burkini sales have increased since the controversy started, but Kilam said she hasn't noticed any significant changes. (Source: CBC News)Êhttp://www.cbc.ca/news/world/burkini-ban-follow-1.3736922 France, Burkini, Liberty, Equality, be](https://i2.wp.com/mackaycartoons.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2016-08-27.jpg?resize=700%2C574&ssl=1)
