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Read more..."I believe the message of Islam is the dignity with which we must treat women in society...and I think it is correct that education dignifies women," His Highness Karim Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the world's Shia Ismaili Muslims, explained to a BBC reporter at the turn of the century. Like his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah, who was once President of the League of Nations, the Aga Khan has been an ardent supporter of educating women in the developing world for decades. Recently celebrating his 73rd birthday, the 49th hereditary Imam and direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad is still tireless in his effort, pragmatic in his approach, and strategic in his vision. As a religious leader, his moral obligation, rooted in the principles of Islam, holds him to both interpret the faith and improve the quality of life within the communities and societies in which his followers live. In his dual role, the Aga Khan is also founder and Chairman of one of the largest private development networks in the world, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), active in over 25 countries and employing over 70,000 people.
In an interview with Dr. Tom Kessinger, head of the Aga Khan Foundation and Deputy Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, he asserts that "mothers are the primary nurturers of the family, and our experience and data shows that the more education women have the more successfully they play that role." Furthermore, he notes, "the daughter of a literate mother is more likely to finish school than the daughter of an illiterate mother." Education, therefore, has been a strong pillar of the Aga Khan's development efforts around the world. By targeting critical professions that tend to be highly populated amongst women such as nursing, midwifery, and pre-collegiate education, AKDN's strategic investment in the education of women also results in the delivery of essential public goods.
In Pakistan, the Aga Khan University's School of Nursing (AKU-SON), one of the many schools of AKU, has redefined the occupation's entry-level qualification. Building on the British-style diploma, AKU-SON has professionalized the field of nursing by offering undergraduate and graduate training. Moreover, establishing a leading institute of academic excellence nearly 30 years ago has raised the status of the profession in both remuneration and respect, and as a result, steadily increased the status of women. Calculated, long-term investments that tackle multiple issues at once through, for example, the path of education, distinguish AKDN from many other development agencies.
Another example of matching the key needs of women to the most urgent needs of a population focuses on AKDN's strategic involvement in the Badakshan province of northeast Afghanistan. Attempting to address one of the worst rates of maternal mortality in the world, AKDN has developed an initiative for young women--recruited by their villages--to attend midwifery training for 18 months. These and countless other ambitions realized by His Highness are progressively uplifting the status of women and providing them with access to social, economic and political opportunities otherwise unavailable in developing societies.
"The AKDN has integrated initiatives in each of these professions [nursing, midwifery, and pre-collegiate education], and with clear direction by His Highness, the focus is to not only build competence in these fields through teaching, but to also build confidence within the trainees. While competence is important, it is confidence that allows one to undertake a larger leadership role in these settings," continued Dr. Kessinger.
In a fundamental shift of consciousness within the international development framework, women and girls are finally viewed as propellers of progress, rather than as impediments to growth. And while firmly placed on today's global agenda of development, and fully integrated into world fora such as the Clinton Global Initiative and the World Economic Forum, the value of investing in the education of women and girls is far from a novel consideration: in 1945, the Aga Khan's grandfather stated that "Personally, if I had two children, and one was a boy and the other was a girl, and if I could afford to only educate one, I would have no hesitation in giving the higher education to the girl." As women place a much stronger emphasis on educating their children--boys and girls--than men do, and invest their income accordingly, it is no longer a secret that to educate a woman is to educate a nation.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held that a divorced Muslim woman who has not remarried is entitled to maintenance from her ex-husband even after the iddat (three months) period.
An SC bench rejected husband Imran Khan's contention who cited the Muslim women (protection of rights on divorce) Act, 1986 and claimed that his divorced wife Shabana Bano was not entitled to any maintenance allowance after the 'iddat' period as held in the Shah Bano case. The SC held that under Section 7 of the Family Courts Act, 1984 even a Muslim woman can claim maintenance from her husband as long as she is not remarried. AGENCIES
More and more women are retaining their maiden surnames post marriage. Smita Roy explores this trend and asks whether roles can be reversedRemember the first time Shilpa Shetty introduced herself to Shiney Ahuja as 'Mrs... Ranjeet Kapoor' in Life in a Metro, and Shiney very slyly asked her that there must also be a name between 'Mrs' and 'Ranjeet Kapoor!' Most women would say today — what's wrong in what he asked? Just because a person is married, does it mean that her persona be lost? Women often tend to get into relationships and lose themselves. Does that mean that a relationship is an abyss that sucks your identity? The dictionary defines a relationship as 'a state of connectedness between people'. But does this 'connectedness' mean that you forget your individual self ? Maybe sometimes, the fear of this change, creates commitment phobia. Actress Perizaad Zorabian who had once claimed that she was commitment phobic, now says that she was "drugged on love" when she tied the knot. But, she says it's important to maintain a person's individual identity. "I'm Perizaad Zorabian Irani and Zorabian will always be a part of my identity. I'm not going to part with it no matter how much I love my husband! I think it's okay to retain both. As time passes, with my babies and responsibilities, there are times I do feel that I'm forgetting Perizaad. But then I keep reminding myself and make sure that I don't lose my identity somewhere along the way. This unfortunately happens with a lot of women. When you give up the 'I' in a relationship, all you become is a frustrated old nag. And that is definitely one avoidable thing!" But the question remains. Why is she Perizaad Zorabian-Irani? Why is her husband not Boman Irani-Zorabian?There are several women like Perizaad who opt to retain their individual identity along with being a part of someone else's life. But how many men we know are ready to do the same? Society may have improved with people in relationships recognising each other as individuals rather than being each other's 'property'. But the name tag still exists! Relationship expert Dr Minnu Bhonsle says, "The name-changing tradition has been here for ages. Mostly it is for documentation purposes whether in banks, insurance or passports. Also, for the cohesiveness of the family, in the eyes of the children as well as the society, this is done. But if the woman insists on retaining her maiden name there might be some deep-rooted fears in her, which the couple need to sit together and discuss before entering matrimony. Women may have seen their mothers being submissive. While some accept that it's awoman's duty to be so, some want to rebel. Hence today we have more and more women using both their maiden as well as marital surnames. If thewoman is in the limelight then retaining her maiden name might be a professional need." But then, can't the man do the same? According to Dr Bhonsle, a couple has to decide on everything when they tie the knot — the girl shouldn't be compelled to change her surname. "The name is just where it all starts, then moves on to graver problems and ultimately might lead to an unsuccessful marriage. Again there are some men who are submissive. However one cannot change the psyche of generations in one go." But there are also men like actor Karan Oberoi who agree that this namegame is actually an unfair one. "You fall in love with a person because of the way they are. So why would you expect to bring a change in this person and still be in love? Isn't it wrong and hypocritical to ask your spouse to change — be it simply their last name or their habits or lifestyles, and yet in the end, not change yourself!" he says.  NAME GAME: Arbaaz and Malaika Arora Khan, Ayesha Takia Azmi with hubby Farhan and Boman and Perizaad Zorabian Irani  NOT FOR ME: Maria Goretti and Arshad Warsi, Shamita Bhangargi and Ashish Choudhary and Goldie Behl and Sonali Bendre  |
Loses Uterus To Cervical Cancer, But Becomes Mother Through SurrogacyWhen 38-year-old US resident Joy held her baby Samuel for the first time in Lilavati Hospital on November 24, a mixture of emotions flooded her heart. She felt immensely proud of the small being in her arms born from a part of her own body, at the same time gratitude welled up in her eyes for Rekha, the surrogate mother who gave birth to Samuel.Joy underwent in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), but it was still a miracle of sorts that she got a baby of her own, especially since she suffered from cervical cancer at the age of 21 and had to undergo hysterectomy then. But when she and her husband Kelly were told it was possible for them to have a child of their own, they started looking for IVF facilities across the world and zeroed in on Mumbai."We came last December. We were not sure as the chances are less in IVF. Even so, we contacted Surrogacy India. Last December the embryo could not successfully make the surrogate mother pregnant. Then, we came back in March. My egg and my husband's sperm was taken and the embryo formed was planted in the surrogate. It was then that Rekha successfully concieved,'' said Joy. But doctors say Joy and Kelly are one lucky couple. "Since Joy's ovaries were shifted higher up in her abdominal cavity during the treatment of her cervical cancer, we could not take her eggs through the trans-vaginal technique. We had to retrieve the egg laproscopically from her abdomen,'' said Dr Hrishikesh Pai, infertility specialist attatched to Lilawati Hospital. But another reason doctors consider Joy and Kelly to be lucky is because when Joy underwent IVF, only one egg could be retrieved. "Normally, we target 10-15 eggs and two to three embryos are planted in the uterus of the surrogate mother. But Joy formed only one egg and that too we had to retrieve laproscopically from her abdomen. It was quite complicated. Only one embryo was formed and chances of the surrogate mother becoming pregnant with that embryo were quite slim. But everything turned out to be fine,'' said IVF specialist Dr Nandita Palshetkar, who along with Dr Pai performed the operation. The entire procedure cost them $23,000, but the couple are over the moon. "We are going back to Minnesota on Friday. Never in our wildest dreams did we think everything would go this smoothly,'' said Kelly, holding his blue-eyed son in his arms. "We have got quite attached to the doctors and the surrogate mother of our baby. It feels bad to leave this new family behind,'' added Joy.  JOY'S BUNDLE OF JOY What is Cervical Cancer Cervical cancer is an abnormal growth of cancer cells in the opening of the uterus connected to the upper vagina, known as the neck of the uterus The Problem Joy was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1992 at the age of 21, so her uterus had to be removed, but ovaries were pushed up into her abdominal cavityProcedure The Couple Underwent In December 2008, Joy and Kelly came to Mumbai, chose a surrogate mother, signed the papers and four eggs were taken from her and planted in the uterus of Rekha. But the procedure was not successful This March, the couple returned and repeated the procedure. This time, only one egg was formed, resulting in one embryo. This embryo was successfully planted and fertilised in Rekha's womb The couple returned to India on November 23 for the delivery. The baby was born on November 24 Surrogacy Guidelines Any information about clients and donors must be kept confidential, except with the person's (to whom the information is related) consent All relavant information must be given to the patient before the treatment is started No treatment should be given without the written consent of the couple to all the possible stages of the treatment People seeking registered treatment must be given counselling No more than three embryos must be placed in a woman in any one cycle Highest possible standards in the storage and handling of gamates and embryos in respect to their security, recording and identification, should be followed (Guidelines Of The Indian Council Of Medical Research)  What Is In Vitro Fertilisation In vitro fertilization is when the eggs from a woman and a sperm of a man are taken and infused together. An embryo thus formed, is planted in the uterus of the surrogate mother. The woman may or may not become pregnant with the embryo. Generally, 10-15 eggs of a woman are retrieved and 2-3 embryos are planted in the uterus of the surrogate mother  Baby Samuel |
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