http://www.choike.org a portal on Southern civil societies http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1665.html Ten years after the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing there is considerable interest among gender advocates and development institutions in reviewing how far the project of gender equality has progressed. According to a major review by the UN, the answers are not straightforward and at best ambiguous. Whereas there have been notable gains for women during this period, gender inequalities persist and today there is a less favourable economic and political environment for promoting equality than that which existed ten years ago. http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/2266.html The UN Human Rights Council, established in March 2006, will investigate the human rights record of all member states every four years through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This inter-state mechanism only allows country representatives to question each other. Several NGOs feel that this prevents them from participating actively in the review process. UN officials disagree with this criticism, arguing that NGOs can contribute to the process by providing recommendations as part of country's delegations. http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/6416.html Women’s bodies are disputed territory, marked by a system present in all societies and responsible for the fact that today, in the first decade of the 21st century, women still are not autonomous enough to make free, responsible and informed decisions over the territory of their own bodies. This situation hinders their recognition as rights bearers and affects their lives and health. http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1763.html "Whether you are a transsexual, male or female, you may be able to be a sex worker for a while and not feel it is so horrible. I don’t try to argue that becoming a sex worker is always about making a free choice, but I don’t believe that most people who work in offices or service jobs, for example, always necessarily felt they had unlimited options or a vast number of possibilities available to them, either. So among all the messy situations people can find themselves in, some prefer to sell sex". http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1247.html The paper: "Working with the media on gender and education: A guide for training and planning" is designed to help education and gender campaigners, and organisations and coalitions, work more effectively with the media to promote gender-equitable education. It explores issues relating to gender equality in education and contains practical advice on working with the media. http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/5952.html The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (PD) aims to reform the delivery and management of aid. Despite changes in how aid is delivered to partner governments, civil society organisations contend that the Paris Declaration remains an unjust and unequal framework for understanding and implementing the aid effectiveness agenda. Among other concerns, the Paris Declaration is gender blind, and as a result, fundamentally flawed.