Is the U.S. and U.N. doing all they can do to assist and protect the Research Paper

Is the U.S. and U.N. doing all they can do to assist and protect the victims of FGM - Research Paper Example The United States, on the other hand, has also chipped in with funding and lobbying efforts to eradicate FGM. But these efforts have not been sufficient to significantly reduce the occurrence of FGM. The rest of this essay will foray into the successes and failures of the US and the UN in protecting victims of FGM and also in preventing it. The United Nations has brought up the issue of FGM under its broader program for women's health. In the United Nations assemblies in Vienna (1993), Cairo (1994) and Beijing (1995) women's issues were deliberated upon. Most nations of the world then committed themselves to act and promote healthy reproductive practices for women and also to upkeep the rights endowed them by the UNDHR. Also during these meetings, major UN agencies and programmes have pledged their support to Governments in meeting these commitments. (Germain, 1998, p.22) But when one looks at the United States' record on alleviating FGM globally, it has acted counter to United Natio n programmes. This detrimental tendency was especially acute during the Bush Presidency, where some of the the Republican party's Christian fundamentalist roots had an effect on the American government's policies. As early as the first month since his inauguration in 2001, Bush exerted pressure on humanitarian organizations across the world into downplaying abortion rights. Since his Administration's priorities were to promote Christian fundamentalist values, it took a reactionary approach to women's rights in general and their reproductive rights in particular. (Prescott, et, al., 1999, p.45) Since FGM falls under these categories, issues pertaining to it were either neglected or left unacknowledged. Since FGM is usually performed on babies and girls, the Bush Administration's hostile attitude to children's rights indirectly undermined progress on FGM awareness and prevention programs. For example, â€Å"He then stripped the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) of 12.5 percent of its budget , withheld $3 million from the World Health Organization's Human Reproduction Program and is now earmarking $33 million--almost exactly the amount he took away from the UNFPA--to augment domestic abstinence- until-marriage "sex-ed." He dispatched his emissaries to throw colossal tantrums at the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children, the World Summit on Sustainable Development and, most recently, the Fifth Asian and Pacific Population Conference, bringing all three negotiations to a near-halt over objections to no-brainer public health concepts like "consistent condom use" for HIV prevention and "safe abortion" where it is legal. Together, joined by the Vatican, these culture warriors fought to purge the world of comprehensive sex education for adolescents, restrict STD- prevention and contraceptive information to heterosexual married couples, and redefine "reproductive health services" to exclude legal abortion.† (Block, 2003, p.18) Hence, what we learn the American government, especially during the Bush reign, has acted in a manner that is counter-productive to the programs initiated by the United Nations. Since FGM is said to increase the chances of HIV infection, the American government's opposition to condom use (a position derived from its Christian fundamentalist allegiance) has not helped in controlling FGM occurrence. The American government's obsession with abortion issues and its insistence on abstinence

Leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Leadership - Research Paper Example As such, Whitman’s ultimate leadership strength was her knowledge of when to allow a sense of effect to develop and when to continue on (Suriyamurthi et al., 2013). Similarly, with respect to the second determinant listed above, Whitman’s exhibits the importance of tailoring and â€Å"lasering† her management message to meet the given needs within the specific workgroup she seeks to integrate with. This is a skill that many might otherwise overlook; however, it is one of the utmost importance due to the fact that without the ability to target the given shareholder with identifiable and gripping information, no matter how important the subject or how great the need to increase sales might be, the message will doubtless appear flat and otherwise stale (Dries & Pepermans, 2012). Comparatively, Whitman utilizes keen levels of communication to engage stakeholders with the excitement and uniqueness of HP’s product designs; serving to drum up support and interest for the products long before they were even able to integrate with the consumer market. As a means of presenting herself as the sole individual on an otherwise empty stage and methodically yet engagingly discussing these products with both a physical and multimedia audience, Whitman is able to convey a sense of leadership awe and excitement that would likely not have been engaged by a lesser CEO (SCHAUBROECK et al., 2012). With regards to the second determinant, Whitman seemingly has a type of built-in understanding for the type of language that would grip the consumer and provide them with a sense of awe with regards to the given product; further representing a dynamic level of leadership that helped to hone the marketing prowess with which she seeks to engage the consumer and define the organization by effectively representing its culture. As a function of this, her communication style is not one that wandered from topic to topic during the few brief minutes which she engages wit h the public. Rather, there is a direct point, key functionalities, and technical specifications that are related to the would-be user within terms that would not frighten those that otherwise would not have a great deal of technical expertise or understanding (Senn et al., 2013). This primary knowledge of the market with which she was ultimately engaging was the primal reason why HP has become such a fixture of US technology and engineering that it is today. Moreover, Whitman herself is a unique example of a management professional that was actually responsible for the development of the final product rather than merely a CEO that oversees projects completed under her watch. As a function of this technical standpoint from which Whitman necessarily approaches the business world, her communication style differentiates extensively from that of other leaders and managers (Muethel et al., 2012). Yet with regards to the means whereby Whitman was effectively able to utilize both verbal an d non-verbal communication