Gender

Afghan Girl Disguised as Boy to Support Family Under Taliban Rule

Nooria is a young girl who, because of poverty and the absence of a man in her family, had to dress in boys’ clothes so she could work and feed her family. It was not a choice, it was survival. But she was eventually caught by the Taliban.

Civilian Casualties Grow Amid Russian and Ukrainian Drone Strikes

By Oritro Karim
Four years after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War, 2026 has marked a significant escalation in hostilities, with intensified bombardments from both sides causing immense destruction across the region, complicating humanitarian operations, and deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis. As exchanges of attacks have intensified in recent days, the United Nations (UN) warns that women and girls will be disproportionately impacted as violence disrupts access to basic, lifesaving services.

Breaking Cultural Barriers to Equip Marginalised Kenyan Girls With Entrepreneurial Skills

By Isaiah Esipisu
For generations, communities in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) have viewed girls through the lens of marriage, with some being married at 11 in exchange for livestock or soon after secondary school, denying them opportunity for further education and skills training.

Lawmakers From Three Continents Demand Action, Not Pledges, on Population and Health

By Hisham Allam
The word heard most often at a two-day parliamentary forum in Cairo last week was not "commitment"; it was “follow-up.” And the difference mattered.

Has the United States Congress Discovered Sexual Harassment?

By Joseph Chamie
After more than two centuries of independence, it appears that the United States Congress, or at least certain parts of it, has finally discovered the existence of sexual harassment within the institution.

Empowering Youth Is the Fastest Path to Transforming Least Developed Countries

By Rabab Fatima
The future of the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) will be shaped by a critical choice they make today- strategic investment in their youth. Rich in human potential, the young people in LDCs embody ingenuity, resilience and ambition. With the right opportunities, they can transform challenges into opportunities and put their countries strongly on track to sustainable development.

Speaking Up for Girls’ Education Carries Heavy Risks in Afghanistan

Qadoos Khatibi, an Afghan university lecturer, and Fayaz Ghori, a civil society activist, also from Afghanistan, were detained by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Their crime? Advocating for girls’ right to education.

Pacific Ocean Under Pressure — Now a Region Finally Armed With Evidence

By Sera Sefeti
For generations, Pacific people have understood the ocean not as a resource but as identity, sustenance, and survival. Today, that relationship is being tested in ways science is only just beginning to fully capture.

Solidarity for Whom?

By Lina AbiRafeh, Azza Karam and Henia Dakkak
The veil has been lifted—but not the one you think. Not the veil the West has spent decades weaponizing. The veil now exposed is the one that concealed Western feminism’s selective solidarity—its silence on the women it was never truly fighting for. The “othering” of women from the South West Asian and North African region. In other words: us.

Indonesia’s Genocide Case Shines the Spotlight on Myanmar Atrocities

By Andrew Firmin
Yasmin Ullah, from Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya minority, is determined to see justice. On 13 April, she filed a complaint alleging genocide against Myanmar’s president, Min Aung Hlaing, to Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office. Min Aung Hlaing led the 2021 coup that ousted a democratically elected government and this month was named president following a sham election held amid intense repression, rubber stamping the army’s continuing grip on power. However secure he appears in his position, Yasmin Ullah’s legal action offers hope his impunity may not be guaranteed.

From Struggle to Strength: Turning Daily Hustle Into a Force for Survival

By Friday Phiri
In the bustling Chifubu constituency of Ndola, the provincial capital of Zambia’s mineral-rich Copperbelt Province, 31-year-old Victoria Bwalya is usually among the early risers, cleaning and setting up for the day in her restaurant business.

Inside the Funding Model Behind Kenya’s Tana Delta Restoration Project

By Chemtai Kirui
Lydia Hagodana stands next to a bee yard (apiary) in Golbanti, Tana Delta, where she lives. The air carries a low, steady hum as bees move in and out in a constant stream. She lifts the back of one hive slightly, gauging its weight.

The Good Bold Days – Rethinking the Fight for Gender Equality and Human Rights

By Johanna Riha and Asha George
The world of 2026 is marked by overlapping crises that continue to expose the fragility of our systems and the persistence of inequality. Geopolitical conflicts enrich a few while devastating many, intensifying the already catastrophic impacts of climate change. These political choices are not neutral—they shrink civic spaces, reinforce political extremism, and unleash coordinated assaults on gender equality and human rights. These attacks are not incidental; they are deliberate strategies to undermine multilateralism and global solidarity, eroding the foundations of peace and planetary well-being.

Feminist Governance and Democratic Change in Armenia

By Sania Farooqui
The period after Armenia's 2018 "Velvet Revolution" maintains a fragile status which presents both substantial democratic and feminist achievements and rising internal and external international pressures.

The Impact of the Middle East Crisis on Women and Girls

By UN Population Fund
Six weeks into the 2026 Middle East military escalation, UNFPA Arab States Regional Office warns that its impact on 161 million women and girls living in conflict-affected areas across the region remain largely invisible in conflict analysis, humanitarian response, and funding priorities.

Criminalized Sanctuaries: How India’s 2026 Trans Act Undermines Safety 

By ElsaMarie D’Silva and Harish Iyer
On 30 March, the eve of Transgender Day of Visibility, the Transgender Persons Amendment Act, 2026 became law in India, narrowing who can be recognized as transgender and requiring individuals to have their identity verified by authorities. This bill risks placing already vulnerable people under deeper scrutiny while destabilizing the informal systems of care they rely on.

No Bones Broken, No Crime Committed: Inside the Taliban’s New Rules on Violence Against Women

The Taliban have announced new laws that effectively legalise domestic violence against women and children. Afghanistan's supreme leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, signed a decree introducing a new criminal code in January. It contains three parts, ten chapters, and 119 articles that legalise violence, codify social inequality, and introduce punitive measures widely condemned as a return to slavery.

Guardians of the Sea: How GEF Small Grants Program Enables Young Volunteers Take the Lead in Sea Turtle Conservation

By Rafiqul Islam
Every winter thousands of sea turtles come ashore at Cox’s Bazar, in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, to lay eggs.

Online University Throws a Lifeline to Afghan Women Shut Out of Education

Ever since childhood, Khatera’s (not her real name) dream was to study medicine at university and become a doctor.

Unexpected Ally Stepping Up Against Sexual Assault in Kenyan Slums: Landlord

By Meg Warren
Trigger warning: This article discusses child rape. Their quiet latent power comes from being ever-present eyes and ears on the ground. As they move around their compounds, collecting rent and checking on anywhere from 10 to 20 houses occupied by as many as 200 people, they see and hear things.

WHO: Migrants and Refugees Face Rising Health Risks as Global Systems Fall Short

By Oritro Karim
Global human migration is at record-high levels, as the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that roughly 1 in 8 people—about one billion individuals—are on the move. Many of these migrants and refugees face harsh living conditions and heightened challenges, such as poverty, insecurity, and limited access to basic services. With the number of international migrants having doubled since 1990, new findings from WHO call for expanding health systems to meet the growing scale of needs.
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