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Wednesday, November 11, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Gender
Q&A: Cultural Sensitivity Key to Reaching Rural Women
Empowering rural women in the Iraqi marshlands, who mostly remain off the radar of international support, must involve local languages and dialects as well as local women trainers, says Mishkat Al Moumin, founder of the Iraqi group Women and the Environment Network (WATEO).
Q&A: Group Founded by Rape Survivors Lifts Up Haitian Women
In Haitian refugee camps, women are still crammed under plastic or cloth tarps that provide no security and quickly become overheated by the sun. Sexual abuse, harassment, assault and rape run rampant, even as political responses to these dangers have stalled. But KOFAVIV, a women's organisation founded by and for rape survivors, offers a glimmer of hope.
Q&A: Prevention Is the Best Cure for Gender Violence
As many as seven in 10 women in the world report experiencing physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime, leaving a devastating aftermath for individuals, communities and nations.Women Have New Weapon against Domestic Violence in Argentina
Women victims of domestic violence in a city in Argentina will be given an electronic device with a panic button that will bring them immediate assistance from the police.
Porn in the Land of the Pure
Dark and smoky, the cinema hall reeks of hashish. An overly made-up woman on screen in provocatively figure-hugging clothes dances suggestively to the beat of loud music. The audience, all men, cheer and whistle. The music stops, the scenes get racier and sexually titillating. The crowd abandons all caution. The whistles turn to grunts and growls, chairs begin to bang.
U.N. Aims at Major Global Conference on Women in 2015
As the race towards gender equality moves at an exceedingly slow pace, the United Nations is calling for a major international conference on women in 2015 - 20 years after a landmark meeting in Beijing in 1995.
Acid Survivors Fight Back: A Story of Hope Amidst Despair
When the Oscar-nominated film "Saving Face" won an Academy Award in Hollywood for Best Documentary (Short Subject), it was the triumph of several "firsts": the first time ever that a Pakistani filmmaker had won an Oscar; Pakistan's first Oscar winner was a woman; and it was the first time that an American and a Pakistani had co-directed an Oscar-winning film.
Brazilian Women Are the World’s Happiest
Money may not buy happiness – but it has helped make women in Brazil become the happiest, most optimistic women in the world, according to a study.
Q&A: How to Analyse a Budget’s Impact on Female Empowerment
Tools such as "gender markers", which screen budgets and resources dedicated to promoting gender equality, are proving critical to improving the effectiveness of monetary support that seeks to empower women and girls.
PHILIPPINES: Women Weather Climate Change
As the world commemorates International Women’s Day today, women around the globe are speaking out on various issues that affect them. In light of recent natural disasters and calamities in the Philippines, women are increasingly citing climate change as one of their most pressing concerns.
CHILE: Promoting Women’s Empowerment on Two Wheels
What does riding a bike have to do with women’s rights? According to the Chilean feminist group Macleta, which promotes cycling and a gender perspective on public transport, a bicycle is a powerful tool for social change.
Arab Women Bring Spring to the Screen
Women have been at the forefront of each uprising in the Arab world. Last week, the ‘8 Arab Women Filmmakers’ festival offered a platform to Arab women directors to give their perspectives on the future of the region.
Following the Money Trail in Gender Financing
Promising methods of tracking aid funding intended to improve women's and girls' livelihoods also offer the possibility of revealing whether donors and policymakers are walking the walk when it comes to gender financing.U.S. Lags in Legalising Women’s Rights Treaty
The United States has fallen behind. Many other countries have already implemented it, but the United States still has yet to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which promotes women's rights as human rights.Japanese Women Empowered By Tohoku Quake
Devastating as the Tohoku earthquake was it gave the local women of the remote region an opportunity to come into their own and take on leadership roles in an essentially patriarchal country.Poverty Encourages Early Marriages in Tajikistan
When she was 16, Kibriyo Khaitova’s parents told her that if she didn’t marry, she’d soon be a spinster. So, like many girls from Tajikistan, Khaitova married a man her family found for her. Now 20, she has two children, no husband and is fending for herself.
Simple Steps to Improving Aid Effectiveness
As donors struggle to meet their aid commitments, and the number of people around the world in need of direct humanitarian and development assistance skyrockets, many experts and activists are asking the tough question: are donors being effective?Quake Empowers Japanese Women
Devastating as the Tohoku earthquake was it gave the local women of the remote region an opportunity to come into their own and take on leadership roles in an essentially patriarchal country.
Campaign in Chile Fights “Disgraceful” Under-representation of Women in Power
The More Women in Power campaign in Chile, carried out by a group of social organisations, is seeking to increase the number of women in public decision-making positions, to move towards "parity democracy".Poverty Encourages Early Marriages in Tajikistan
When she was 16, Kibriyo Khaitova’s parents told her that if she didn’t marry, she’d soon be a spinster. So, like many girls from Tajikistan, Khaitova married a man her family found for her. Now 20, she has two children, no husband and is fending for herself.Lebanese Women Offered a Toothless New Law
Nour’s husband returned to Lebanon after two years of working abroad a changed person. The man she had loved was distant, cold and uncommunicative. Then, two weeks after his homecoming, he attacked Nour while she slept, raping her with such ferocity that he caused a fissure.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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.
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Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
