India’s Great Invisible Workforce

According to census data released this month, a whopping 160 million women in India, 88 percent of who are of working age (15 to 59 years), are confined to their homes performing ‘household duties’ rather than gainfully employed in the formal job sector.

Pakistani Rights Advocates Fight Losing Battle to End Child Marriages

At first glance, there is nothing very unusual about Muhammad Asif Umrani. A resident of Rojhan city located in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, he is expectantly awaiting the birth of his first child, barely a year after his wedding day.

Time to “Drop the Knife” for FMG in The Gambia

Women’s rights activists in the Gambia are insisting that more than 30 years of campaigning to raise awareness should be sufficient to move the government to outlaw female genital mutilation (FMG).

Pakistan: Where Mothers Are Also Children

If 22-year-old Rashda Naureen could go back six years in time, she would never have agreed to get married at the tender age of 16.

Young Latin Americans Face Spiral of Unemployment, Poverty

In Latin America, young people are the main link in the chain of poverty leading from one generation to the next. Civil society groups, academics and young people themselves say it is imperative to strengthen the connection between education today and decent employment tomorrow.

OPINION: Unleashing African Young People’s Potential

An African proverb says “a child that we refuse to build today will end up selling the house that we may build tomorrow.”

Putting Population Management in Pacific Women’s Hands

Populations of many Melanesian countries in the southwest Pacific Islands region are expected to double in a generation, threatening regional and national efforts to improve low economic and human development indicators.

Zimbabwean Girls Venture into Technological Innovation

For 22-year-old Moselyn Muchena, a final year computer science student at the University of Zimbabwe, it seemed obvious to create a mobile application offering easy access to services in the local catering industry, largely because of the huge number of female entrepreneurs in that sector.

U.S. Moves to Address Chronic “Teacher Equity” Problem

The U.S. government has moved to tackle longstanding patterns of inequitable teacher quality, specifically in terms of how low quality teachers tend to be assigned to poor and marginalised communities across the country.

Macau Gambling Away Its Future

Macau’s gaming boom just keeps on giving. Gambling revenues soared to a new high of 45 billion dollars last year, a whopping 18.6 percent rise over 2012 and the city’s sixth straight year of record earnings.

Amid Scepticism, U.N. Trumpets Successes in Cutting Poverty

With 17 months before the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reach their targets by the December 2015 deadline, the United Nations is trumpeting its limited successes - but with guarded optimism.

Ethiopia’s Somali Region Nomadic Pastoralists Benefit from Mobile Services

The pastoralists of Somali region make their living raising cattle, camels and goats. In the arid and drought-prone region, they are forced to move from place to place in search of pasture and watering holes for their animals.

Trekking with Ethiopia’s Nomads, from Watering Holes to Pasture Lands, For a Better Life

When he was a young boy, 20-year-old Abdi, who comes from a small pastoralist community in Ethiopia’s Somali Region, “knew about school, reading and writing but did not expect this is something we would ever get close to.”

Women’s Political Representation Lagging in India

National outrage over women’s security in India – or the lack of it – is nothing new. From the gang rape of a young girl on a Delhi bus two years ago, to the recent rapes and lynching of two teenage cousins in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, gender-based violence has claimed headlines.

Women Herders Bring Change

When Sangan Bhai, a humble man in the Kutch region of India’s western state of Gujarat, was offered a position as an executive member of the local camel breeder’s association, he made a decision that surprised his community: instead of accepting the prestigious post he offered his wife’s name instead.

Op-Ed: Overcoming the Twin Hurdles of Inequality and Climate Change

Two major injustices – inequality and climate change – are threatening to undermine the efforts of millions of people to escape poverty and hunger.

Op-Ed: First Decolonisation, Now ‘Depatriarchilisation’

At the end of this week leaders of the Group of 77 and China will meet in Bolivia to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the group.

Ethiopia Shoots for the Stars and Galaxies as it Aims to Become Space Science Hub

High up in the eucalyptus-strewn Entoto Mountains, which overlook the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, work is nearly complete on the country’s first observatory. Studying the stars and the galaxies will be vital for this Horn of Africa nation’s development and will hopefully also go a long way to developing brotherly love, say scientists who are part of the project.

U.S. Education System Not Helping Immigrant Parents

Immigrant parents in the United States face serious challenges accessing early elementary programmes for their children, advocates here are warning.

Ugandan Lawyer Revolutionises Access to Justice with Just an iPhone and Facebook

When Gerald Abila received an iPhone as a gift almost two years ago, the Ugandan law student didn’t just use it to text his friends. He used it to create what would eventually become the first entity of its kind in East Africa — a tech savvy, multi-award winning, organisation that uses Facebook, Twitter, SMSes, and radio and television partnerships to provide free legal advice and consultations.

OP-ED: Why Ending Child Marriage in Africa Can No Longer Wait

Just 17 years old, Clarisse is already a mother of two, who lives with her husband and his four other wives in rural southern Chad. Three years earlier, she had watched her mom and sisters preparing food for a party one day. At first she celebrated along with everyone else, not realising it was her own wedding ceremony. When she discovered this, she was frantic.