Gender

“The Truth is That All Problems Have Solutions” – Even Climate Change in Ethiopia

By Isaiah Esipisu
Eight years ago Kenbesh Mengesha earned an uncertain income collecting firewood from local government forests and selling them to her fellow slum-dwellers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She would earn on average about 50 cents a day, if she was lucky.

Pregnant Nicaraguan Girls Forced to Become Mothers

By José Adán Silva
Carla lost everything when she got pregnant at the age of 13: her first year of secondary school, her family, her boyfriend, and her happiness. She spent a year panhandling on the streets of the Nicaraguan capital before she was taken in by a shelter for young mothers.

Criticism of Uganda’s Government Leads to Harassment of NGOs

By Andrew Green
In the face of rising public criticism over a range of controversial political manoeuvres, the Ugandan government has become increasingly hostile to the work of non-governmental organisations, particularly those advocating for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch.

Rapes of Young Girls in DRC Still Unpunished

By Emmanuel Chaco
A rash of recent rape cases has sparked local criticism of the weakness of the justice system in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where inadequate resources and simple incompetence mean survivors of sexual violence hold little hope of obtaining justice.

In Peace, Palestinian Women Under Attack

By Jillian Kestler-D'Amours
After the brutal murder of a Palestinian woman in late July in a busy Bethlehem marketplace, local human rights groups are pushing for stronger reforms to stem violence against women in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Bangladesh ‘Fixes’ Grameen Microcredit

By Naimul Haq
Laboni Vhoumik’s lingerie manufacturing unit in the Gopai village of Noakhali district, about 180 km outside the capital, is a forceful argument in favour of the Grameen Bank microcredit model that fosters female entrepreneurship and also relies on it.

Women Now Have a Voice in Chile’s Press

By Marianela Jarroud
"We always dreamed of a ‘heroine’ who would not only denounce violence against women, but would also represent us in other spheres,” Kena Lorenzini, the director of Chile’s first feminist publication, told IPS.

Q&A: Microcredit Bank “Incorporates Women in the Benefits of Development”

By Estrella Gutiérrez
“Our raison d’etre is incorporating women in development, and especially in the benefits of development,” says Nora Castañeda, an economist who has headed the Banmujer bank in Venezuela since it was founded in 2001.

Rescuing an Art to Save a People

By Marisabel Bellido
Sitting on the floor, deep in concentration, Marta Llampa interlaces red and black threads that converge in sinuous shapes, gradually forming khurus or mythical creatures through a unique, age-old technique rescued from extinction by the Jalq'a people.
The Kakonko Health Centre in rural Tanzania is now equipped to perform surgeries, including caesarean sections. Credit: Erick Kabendera/IPS

Operating in Rural Tanzania “To Save a Life”

By Erick Kabendera
At the Kakonko Health Centre, about 250 kilometres from the nearest hospital in Kigoma Region, Western Tanzania, assistant medical officer Abdu Mapinduzi prepares to operate on Joanitha, a young pregnant mother.

Many Chilean Women Keep Mum About Unequal Wages

By Marianela Jarroud
"I know that my male colleagues earn more than I do and work the same amount or even less. And my employers keep me in a non-managerial post, even though I do tasks at that level,” said Pamela, a Chilean professional who holds a doctorate in economics.

Breakthrough for Women in Senegal’s Lower House

By Souleymane Faye
A record number of women were sworn in as legislators as Senegal's new parliament was inaugurated on Monday. Sixty-four women now have seats in this West African country's 150-member National Assembly, thanks to a law on gender parity.

Where Are Canada’s Missing Native Women?

By Fawzia Sheikh
First Nations’ leaders are calling on the Canadian government to establish an independent commission of inquiry to investigate at least 582 missing and murdered indigenous women and girls - a wish which was not immediately granted by provincial premiers meeting last week.

Laos’s Rural Women Await Midwives

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
A year after the Laotian government launched a safe pregnancy programme news of this initiative,  involving the dispatch of teams of midwives across the country, is yet to reach women in the remote  communities.

Caribbean Sees Progress on HIV/AIDS, Fears Funding Cuts

By Peter Richards
Ian McKnight, executive director of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVCC), used one word - “tokenistic” - to sum up his perspective on the 19th International AIDS Conference that ended here over the weekend.

Breaking the Ghostly Silence on Rape

By Amantha Perera
It was the ghostly silence that struck him hardest as he walked through the Colombo suburb of Kirulapone the day after the lifeless body of a six-year-old girl had been discovered floating in a filthy canal, Kumar de Silva, a well-known local media personality, told IPS.

Schoolgirls Beat Taliban

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Far from fears that female education is on the decline after the Taliban campaign against girls’ schools, female students outclassed their male counterparts in the secondary school examination for 2012.

Punish Those Carrying Out FGM, Say Côte d’Ivoire Campaigners

By Fulgence Zamblé
Nine women in the northern Côte d'Ivoire town of Katiola have been convicted for carrying out female genital mutilation – the first time that a 1998 law banning FGM has been applied.
Flags fly at half-mast in Kumasi. President John Dramani Mahama has declared one week of mourning to commemorate the death of President John Atta Mills. Credit: Portia Crowe/IPS

President’s Death Could Drive National Unity in Ghana

By Portia Crowe
The death of President John Atta Mills will have a sobering effect on national politics in the months leading up to Ghana’s December 2012 election, according to the Executive Secretary of the West Africa Network for Peace, Emmanuel Bombandey.

Bolivia’s Indigenous Women Seek the Political Kingdom

By Jenny Cartagena Torrico
A growing number of Bolivia's indigenous women are participating in politics, ready to break the barriers of gender and ethnicity.

Deck Stacked Against Women’s Land Rights in Asia

By Ethan Freedman
Women across Asia are being shut out from prosperous forestland because of a paradigm geared towards male ownership, according to a new report by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), an environmental non-governmental organisation.
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