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Wednesday, November 11, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Gender
Haiti’s Earthquake Victims: ‘Abandoned Like Stray Dogs’
Eighty thousand tiny houses dot the countryside near this coastal city, located just west of the epicentre of the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake that killed some 200,000 and displaced over one million.CONGO: Many Indigenous Women Still Give Birth in the Forest
Marguerite Kassa feared she would find herself alone in the small crowd of a dozen other pregnant women at the integrated health centre in Mossendjo, in the southwestern Republic of Congo. "I am six months pregnant already, but I hesitated to come here before now, because there is so much contempt for us," the thirty-year-old indigenous woman tells IPS. "Yet I was warmly welcomed."
Mexican Fisherwomen Organise Against Climate Change
Every night, Adlemi Marrufo goes out to catch bait crabs used to fish for octopus in this small seaside town and others along Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, as part of a women's cooperative that is working to adapt to and fight climate change.
SOUTH SUDAN: Inter-Ethnic Clashes Become More Frequent and Deadly
Thousands of women and children are being abducted and over 1,000 people have died this year as communities in oil-rich South Sudan war over a precious commodity – cattle.THAILAND: Yingluck Will Need Luck and Pluck
As she stepped into her role as an ingénue on the macho stage of Thai politics, the backers of Yingluck Shinawatra, the country’s first woman prime minister, had hoped she would enjoy a honeymoon period.Rights Commission Rebukes U.S. on Domestic Violence
In a groundbreaking decision that affirms domestic violence as an international human rights issue, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has ruled that the U.S. should do more to protect victims of domestic violence.U.S.: Controversy Emerges Over Gender Identity Laws
Legislation incorporating gender identity protection has ignited debate among activists for gay and lesbian rights, with some arguing that the legislation actually endangers women and threatens their physical safety, while others contend that gender identity protection is key to obtaining equality for the LGBT community.
BRAZIL: Biofuel Production – Local Development or Social Breakdown?
Biofuels are an alternative energy source that can drive local development by generating jobs, know-how and technology. But they can also cause social damage, as locals fear in the case of industrial-scale exploitation of babassu palm trees, which grow abundantly in the wild in central and northern Brazil.
Q&A: “Donor Base for UN Women Continues to Widen”
The donor base for UN Women has expanded to 95 countries since the new United Nations entity was launched at the start of this year, according to Lakshmi Puri, the assistant secretary-general and deputy executive director of UN Women.
LEBANON: Women Prisoners Play the Liberation Role
To a soundtrack of almost constant pounding of fists against iron doors, drama therapist Zeina Daccache is trying to capture the attention of a group of women prisoners. Many of the 45 women are suffering from drug withdrawal and alternately appear agitated, upset, energised and detached. Others chat loudly, take long puffs off cigarettes, or pace the room.
NEPAL: Adapting to Climate Change Can be Simple
Saraswoti Bhetwal’s terraced fields stand out in the sub-Himalayan Lamdihi village as a mosaic of shapes and colours formed by beans, bitter gourd, chilly, tomato, lady’s fingers and other crops.
CUBA: Wedding Follows, Four Years After Sex Change Surgery
Nearly four years after realising her dream of changing her body into a woman's to match her transgender identity, Wendy Iriepa rode through the Cuban capital in a vintage convertible, wearing a stunning full-length white bridal gown and unfurling a rainbow flag, the symbol of the sexual diversity movement, for all to see.JAPAN: Divorced Men Lose Children Along With Visas
Shahdul Huq, a Bangladeshi national living in Japan for more than 20 years, last saw his daughter almost three years ago when he lost his ‘spouse visa’ following divorce from his Japanese wife.
UGANDA: Post War Reconstruction Ignores Victims of Sexual Violence
Ester Abeja has experienced both physical and emotional atrocities. She was captured by Uganda's feared rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and was forced to join them. But not before the soldiers made her kill her one-year- old baby girl, by smashing her skull in, and then gang raped her.
ZAMBIA: Outlook Dim for Women Candidates
Although there is a female presidential candidate contesting Zambia's Sept. 20 general elections, her prospects are not strong. And in fact, fewer women overall are likely to be elected into public office this year, analysts say.
SWAZILAND: Women and Children Bear Brunt of Lawyers’ Strike
The standoff between the Law Society of Swaziland and the Judicial Services Commission is negatively affecting women, and their children, who are seeking justice from abuse.
Dutch Court Opens Door to Legal Accountability for Peacekeepers
A landmark ruling by a Dutch court last month holding the Netherlands government liable for the failings of its soldiers on a U.N. peacekeeping mission may be used as a precedent for criminal liability involving sexual violence, according to human rights groups.
Q&A: ‘Men Have Failed Zambia, Now Is the Time for a Woman’
In Zambia's highly patriarchal society Edith Nawakwi, 52, has broken a few records on the political scene over the last two decades. And she broke another one on Sunday by being the only female candidate to file for nomination to run for president in Zambia's upcoming elections.
KENYA: Post Election Violence Victims Still Suffer
The Mawingu camp for internally displaced persons affected by Kenya’s 2007- 2008 post-election violence is a desolate place. Located in the Rift Valley, the camp is a collection of tattered, sagging and forlorn tents.
NEPAL: Peace Fails to Stop Female Workers’ Exodus
Six years ago Shantimaya Dong Tamang went to Kuwait to work as an illegal domestic worker, falling for brokers’ tales of how she could earn good money and stand on her own feet.MOROCCO: Arab Spring Brings Little for Women
Since the beginning of protests in Morocco on Feb. 20 women have been at the vanguard. Many of the spokespersons of the protest movement have been women - observers and activists see this as a new phase of feminine emancipation in this North African country.« 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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