Gender

NEW DELHI

Indian Gov’t on Collision Course With Civil Society

For years India’s pro-liberalisation, Congress party-led coalition government chafed at civil society groups getting in the way of grand plans to boost growth through the setting up of mega nuclear power parks, opening up the vast mineral-rich tribal lands to foreign investment and selling off public assets.

OP-ED: The Nexus Between Women and Development

By Babatunde Osotimehin

Every three years since 2007, a global advocacy organisation called Women Deliver has convened an international conference to talk about issues relating to the health and well-being of girls and women.

OP-ED: A Global Goal on Gender Equality, Women’s Rights and Women’s Empowerment

By Lakshmi Puri

Hardly a day goes by without a news story on some violation of women’s rights. In recent months, appalling incidents of violence against women and girls, from Delhi to Johannesburg to Cleveland, have sparked public outrage and demands to tackle these horrific abuses.

Tackling Crime Takes on Import As Urban Populations Rise

By Silvia Giannelli

As people around the world continue to migrate into cities, swelling urban populations, they have sparked growth in another area: crime and security issues.

UNFPA Focuses on Contraception for 222 Million in Developing World

By Thalif Deen

When thousands of participants from around the world gather in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur next week, the primary focus will be on health and empowerment of girls and women.

Caribbean Farming Gets Its Roots Wet

By Desmond Brown

As Caribbean communities grapple with the entwined challenges of climate change and food security, modern technologies offer hope that the region's stagnating agricultural sector can be made more profitable.

In India, Rapists Don’t Spare Children

By Sujoy Dhar

When a five-year-old was rescued from the basement of a building in the eastern part of India’s capital, New Delhi, the doctors treating her were horrified to find the little girl had not only been raped by two men several times, but the perpetrators had also inflicted severe perineal injuries by inserting foreign objects into her body.

Small and Large Steps towards Equality for Gays in Cuba

By Ivet González

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in Cuba has won advances on issues like the change of name of pre-operative transgender persons, while they continue to fight for the right to same-sex civil unions.

It Takes a Village to Educate a Girl

By Souleymane Maâzou

A decade ago, less than a third of school-aged girls in Niger were in class. Today, though significant cultural and religious opposition remains, nearly two-thirds of girls are enrolled in school.

No Sweet Consolation for Women Diabetics

By K. S. Harikrishnan

The disease itself may not discriminate on the basis of gender, but when it comes to healthcare for patients with diabetes, women in India find themselves at a disadvantage compared to men.

OP-ED: Put a Spotlight on African Women’s Reproductive Rights

By Agnes Odhiambo and Gauri Van Gulik

Victoria J. married in 2009 at age 14, and became pregnant shortly after. “I started labour in the morning on a Friday …. The nurse kept checking and saying I would deliver safely. On Monday she said I was weak.

Pressure Mounting on U.S. over Congo Violence

By Joe Hitchon

With casualties in the long-running conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) now surpassing every conflict since World War II, U.S. policymakers and advocates are stepping up campaigns to raise awareness and push legislation aimed at encouraging new negotiations, assisting in government reforms, and pressuring the neighbouring countries that have propped up the DRC’s government.

Afghan Women Harassed into Unemployment

By Shelly Kittleson

While global attention is fixed on the scheduled pullout of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan in 2014, women here have a much more immediate concern: how will they survive another day at work?

Arab Magazine Challenges Attitudes About Arab Women

By Pierre Klochendler

With a subtle blend of colour and shadow, 20-year-old Sumoud Farraj prepares for a photo shoot. Next month, along with three other young Arab women, she'll appear in a designer miniskirt on the cover of Lilac, an Arabic-language women's magazine.

Young Men Break with Machista Stereotypes in Ecuador

By Leisa Sánchez

At the age of 20, Damián Valencia speaks knowledgeably about every aspect of gender equality. He is a member of Cascos Rosa, a young people's initiative working for cultural change against machismo and violence against women in Ecuador.

Women make up half the world's population, but don't nearly share half of the world's wealth, well-being and opportunity. Two-thirds of the world poor are women, disproportionally exposing women to precarious living conditions, disease and unmitigated natural disasters. The media, meanwhile, remains a male-dominated sector in much of the world, contributing to women's voices lacking a crucial amplifier to put their concerns on political agendas and unleash the development potential of their ingenuity. Rather than then stereotypical victims of local and global forces, women are also organizer, innovators, conservators and community builders. These are some of their stories.