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<div class="gmail_quote">From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC)</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ruglucia@paho.org">ruglucia@paho.org</a>></span><br>crossposted from: <a href="mailto:EQUIDAD@listserv.paho.org">EQUIDAD@listserv.paho.org</a><br>
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<h1 style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><b><font color="maroon" size="3" face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: maroon; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Equal rights, equal opportunities: progress for all<br>International Women's Day - 8 March 2010</span></font></b><font color="maroon" face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: maroon"></span></font></h1>

<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><b><font color="navy" size="2" face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">WHO World Health organization WHO<br><br></span></font></b></p>
<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font color="navy" size="2" face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Website: <a href="http://www.who.int/gender/events/2010/iwd/en/index.html" target="_blank"><font color="navy"><span style="COLOR: navy">http://www.who.int/gender/events/2010/iwd/en/index.html</span></font></a> <br>
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<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font color="navy" size="1" face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 9pt">The theme for International Women's Day this year: "<i><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all</span></i>" re-emphasizes that equal rights and opportunities lead to improved health outcomes for women and girls.</span></font></p>

<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font color="navy" size="2" face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Gender-based discrimination is irrevocably connected to negative health outcomes for women and girls. Its associated poor health outcomes are often compounded by other forms of inequality related to socioeconomic status, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious affiliation or geographical location</span></font></p>

<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font color="navy" size="2" face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">While these challenges are imposing, and often encoded in "normalized" ways of living, International Women's Day renews our commitment to denounce violations in human rights and to challenge unequal systems, structures and practices that perpetuate health inequalities across the world. </span></font></p>

<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><i><font color="navy" size="2" face="Arial"><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Gender equality is good for health.<br><br></span></font></i><font color="navy" size="2" face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span></font></p>

<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><span><b><font color="navy" size="2" face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Table of contents</span></font></b></span><font color="navy" size="2" face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><br>
<a href="http://www.who.int/entity/gender/events/2010/iwd/backgrounder/en/index.html" target="_blank"><font color="navy"><span style="COLOR: navy">Introduction</span></font></a> <br><br><a href="http://www.who.int/entity/gender/events/2010/iwd/backgrounder1/en/index.html" target="_blank"><font color="navy"><span style="COLOR: navy">Section 1: The health of women and girls needs legal and political actions</span></font></a> <br>
<br><a href="http://www.who.int/entity/gender/events/2010/iwd/backgrounder2/en/index.html" target="_blank"><font color="navy"><span style="COLOR: navy">Section 2: Gender-based discrimination limits the attainment of international health and development goals</span></font></a> <br>
<br><a href="http://www.who.int/entity/gender/events/2010/iwd/backgrounder3/en/index.html" target="_blank"><font color="navy"><span style="COLOR: navy">Section 3: Health inequalities are the result of systemic failures to realize the right to health for all</span></font></a><br>
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