Gender

International Women’s Day, 2025
New Report Finds Sexist Laws Persist Worldwide

By Antonia Kirkland and Tara Carey
A new global report analyzing sex discrimination in laws reveals that while some commendable gains have been achieved in strengthening legal protections for women and girls over the past five years, progress remains slow, uneven, and increasingly under threat from a growing backlash against women’s rights.

The Gates to Paradise Are Closing

By Rosi Orozco
In 2020, a historic announcement emerged from the Global Trafficking in Persons Report, an annual assessment that evaluates human exploitation in 129 countries. For the first time, the world witnessed a 13% decrease in the number of victims. For those of us who fight against this heinous crime, it felt as if a door to paradise had opened—an Eden where no human being is for sale.

U.S. Passes on UN Ukraine Resolution amid the Humanitarian Crisis

By Oritro Karim
From late 2024 to early 2025, the humanitarian situation in Ukraine has taken a turn for the worst, with poverty, violence, displacement, and damage to critical infrastructures having grown in intensity. Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia, tensions have grown among member states of the United Nations (UN) on how to resolve the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Governments Are Having A Hissy Fit Over It

By Joseph Chamie
Yeah, governments are having a hissy fit over it. And their hissy fit is not over the usual concerns of governments such as defense, the economy, trade, inflation, unemployment, crime, or terrorism.

Humanitarian Groups Face Challenges in Reaching the Sudanese Displaced Population

By Oritro Karim
In the final quarter of 2024 ,there has been an escalation in the Sudanese civil war, with armed clashes between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) having grown in brutality. Heightened insecurity has pushed millions of people into displacement, hunger, and poverty. Additionally, the continued hostilities have made it difficult for humanitarian organizations to scale their responses up.

Where do UN Member States Stand on a Feminist Secretary-General?

By Mavic Cabrera Balleza, Ben Donaldson and Anne Marie Goetz
The selection of the next UN Secretary-General (UNSG) will be a pivotal moment in global efforts to resist authoritarianism and work together to address shared problems. Where do UN Member States stand on appointing a feminist woman to this role?

Blamed for ‘Causing’ Droughts: Zimbabwe’s LGBTQI Community Faces Climate Crisis Head-on

By Farai Shawn Matiashe
Takudzwa Saruwaka is hoeing weeds in a cowpea field in eastern Zimbabwe one morning in February, trying to beat torrential rains threatening from the gray clouds above.

Fatima’s Story: The Struggles of Afghan Women Under Taliban Rule

Fatima Mohammadi was a manager in a government office in Afghanistan’s Parwan province before the Taliban came to power. But having been forced out of her job she is back home unemployed.

World’s Largest Religious Gathering Becomes Trans-Inclusive Despite Controversies

By Stella Paul
Despite a blazing sun and growing heat, Pavitra Nandagiri sits on a cot smiling. Clad in a saffron robe and headgear with her forehead painted with turmeric and vermillion, Nandagiri is a Mahamandaleshwar—one of the highest-ranking monks of the Kinnar Akhada (Transgender Arena) at the Maha Kumbh, the world’s largest religious gathering currently underway in northern India.

Afghan Refugees, Among Others, Feel the Impact of USAID Funding Freeze

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
“I was shocked when told by a security guard that the clinic has been closed down. I, along with my relatives, used to visit the clinic for free checkups,” Jamila Begum, 22, an Afghan woman, told IPS.

Sexual Violence and Displacement: Disproportionate Threats to Children in Haiti

By Oritro Karim
As ongoing gang violence and unrest bring down the living conditions in Haiti, humanitarian groups sound the alarm on human rights violations and the increasing challenges they dace in providing relief efforts.

Legal Amendments in Iraq Threaten Rights of Women and Girls

By Dima Dabbous
Efforts to end child marriage in Iraq are facing a serious threat, with the Iraqi Council of Representatives’ approval of amendments to Iraq’s Personal Status Law raising grave concerns that it risks permitting child marriage for girls.

Gender Inequality in Science Limits Progress Towards Solving Complex Global Challenges

By Joyce Chimbi
Today is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and a time to take stock of progress, successes, and setbacks towards open and gender-inclusive science. Gender equality remains elusive in science, as only one in three scientists is a woman. Not only do these inequalities hold women back, but they also limit scientific progress.

Namibia’s Drought Crisis: Building Resilience for Women and Girls

By Hopolang Phororo
Communities in the Kavango West region of northern Namibia have firsthand experience of the severe impacts of climate change. The dry, cracked soil and emaciated livestock provide a constant reminder of the lack of access to water in this part of the country.

What is Not Good for Democracy in Peru is Not Good for Women

By Mariela Jara
"We are facing a deeply conservative government that is opening the doors to all kinds of setbacks. We have a failed state with a democracy that is no longer a democracy," said Gina Vargas, a Peruvian feminist internationally recognized for her contributions to women's rights.

Online Education: A Lifeline for Afghan Girls Amid Taliban Restrictions

Since the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in 2021, girls and women have been systematically banned from education, making Afghanistan the only country in the world that denies schooling to girls over the age of 12. The situation continues to deteriorate, with even primary school enrollment for girls in decline, according to UNESCO.

Tanzanians with HIV Left in Crisis as USAID Funding Ends

By Kizito Makoye
At 9 a.m. on Monday, Mariam Msemwa clutched her clinic card tightly as she stood in line at Bagamoyo District Hospital’s HIV Clinic in Tanzania’s coastal region. The 19-year-old had been here many times before, picking up monthly doses of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs that kept her alive. But today was different.When she reached the counter, the nurse flatly told her. “There’s no more free medication, ” she said. “You’ll have to buy it yourself.”

Ending FGM Requires Strengthening Partnerships and Advocacy Efforts

By Naureen Hossain
February 6 is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). A practice deemed a gross violation of human rights, tragically the practice persists across multiple countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Over 230 million women and girls alive today have been subjected to this gruesome practice, and experts warn that at least 27 million more could endure this by 2030.

Haitian Government Faces Criticism for its Response to Gang Attack in Kenscoff

By Oritro Karim
The humanitarian situation in Haiti continues to deteriorate as armed gangs expand their control in Port-Au-Prince and escalate acts of violence throughout the nation. Due to heightened insecurity, civilian displacement has reached new peaks, with hunger, disease, and the economic crisis having grown worse. With access to basic services diminished, approximately 5.5 million Haitians are dependent on humanitarian aid for survival. However, relief efforts have been severely hampered due to safety risks, restricted mobility and the vast scale of needs.

‘Reconciliation Will Require Robust Transitional Justice and Accountability Mechanisms’

By CIVICUS

 
CIVICUS discusses the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia’s Amhara region with Hone Mandefro, advocacy director at the Amhara Association of America, and Henok Ashagray, PhD candidate and project officer at the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria.

Afghanistan’s Humanitarian Crisis Expected to Worsen in 2025

By Oritro Karim
The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has deteriorated significantly since the 2021 Taliban Offensive, an insurgency that resulted in the Taliban’s reclamation of power and the fall of the nation’s republic. In 2024, the Taliban issued further restrictions on human rights in Afghanistan, particularly for women and girls. These restrictions caused the country to enter a state of economic emergency. This, compounded with heightened insecurity and limited access to basic services, has left over 23 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
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