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Wednesday, November 11, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Gender
FILM: So Much More Than Just ‘Trafficked Women’
Mimi Chakarova had one simple objective in filming 'The Price of Sex,' her award-winning documentary about sex trafficking in Eastern Europe: "I'm trying to reach millions of people," she told IPS. "It's kind of a big goal to have."MIDEAST: Dancing in a Palestinian Bubble
It’s Thursday night, the beginning of the weekend in the Muslim world, and time to party and let one’s hair down in Ramallah, the occupied West Bank’s isolated bubble and de facto capital.Strauss-Kahn’s Accuser Doubly Vicitimised, Advocates Say
Despite questions about her credibility, the Sofitel maid who is accusing former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault is still a victim and should be treated as one, according to her attorney.
BRAZIL: Rainbow of Colours and Gender Equality at Innovative School
In the last three years there have been no teen pregnancies among the youngsters at Casa do Zezinho, an extracurricular educational and cultural facility in Brazil attended by 1,500 children and young people from favelas or shantytowns on the south side of São Paulo.
INDIA: ‘Seed-Mothers’ Confront Climate Insecurity
In eastern Orissa state’s tribal hinterlands about 200 ‘seed-mothers’ are on mission mode - identifying, collecting and conserving traditional seed varieties and motivating farming families to use them.NORTH KOREA: On Sale, Girls Look for Chinese Husbands
North Koreans have increasingly been crossing into the northern border cities of China, with women outnumbering men. "Women represent about 70 percent of some 200,000 North Koreans who fled from North Korea into China in the past few years," Kim Tae Jin, a North Korean defector who leads a nongovernment organisation to protect the human rights of fellow North Koreans tells IPS.
ZAMBIA: “Every Year Flooding Makes This Place a Little Hell”
During the rainy season, and many weeks afterwards, home is never the best place to be for Miriam Banda. Until the end of 2008, she enjoyed living at her house in Kanyama, a high-density settlement bordering the central business district in Lusaka, Zambia's capital.
U.N. Women’s Agency Being “Strangled at Birth”
When the United Nations inaugurated a landmark special agency for women last January, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon set an initial target of 500 million dollars as the proposed annual budget for the new gender-empowered body.
PERU: Indigenous Women Weave New Community Ties
Fuchsia, green and turquoise yarn shuttles swiftly across the wooden loom Dora Huancahuari has learned to use. Together with other craftswomen, she has started a small weaving business which is helping to rebuild their lives in this remote, poverty-stricken Andean community torn by Peru's history of armed conflict.
ARGENTINA: Shedding Light on Dictatorship’s Sex Crimes
It's been nearly three decades since Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship came to an end, but the sex crimes committed against political prisoners are just now starting to draw more attention, after being pushed into the background in human rights trials.
UGANDA-HEALTH: When Women Go Without Needed Contraceptives
When the monthly contraceptive injection that Bernadette Asiimwe, a mother of four, got from government health centres in western Uganda was out of stock for weeks, she fell pregnant with her fifth child.
Q&A: Re-Electing Fernandez ‘Would Consolidate the Country Our Children Wanted’
A second term for Argentine President Cristina Fernández would make it possible to continue ushering in the changes "we want and that our children wanted" when they were forcibly disappeared or murdered during the 1976-1983 dictatorship, said longtime human rights champion Estela de Carlotto.
Gender Indicators for Global Climate Funds Still an Afterthought
Of the millions of dollars spent on climate change projects in developing countries, little has been allocated in a way that will benefit women. Yet, in Africa, it is women who will be most affected by climate change.
PAKISTAN: Schools Rise From the Rubble
Violence in the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan has kept students away from school, in some areas for at least two years. Now, officials are trying to make up for lost time by holding classes even under tents or trees.Navigating Challenges, Brazil Steps Up AIDS Response
Long heralded as a model for the global response to HIV/AIDS, Brazil is intensifying its actions, at home and abroad, in the face of potential setbacks including an arising need for new treatment regimens, the resultant increase in drug prices and the debate over intellectual property rights.
GUATEMALA: Women-Only Buses Against Sexual Harassment
"We are all safer here; it's great because this way there are no men groping you," Jaqueline Escobar, a sales executive, told IPS on a bus that is exclusively for women, a service against sexual harassment that is being tried out in the Guatemalan capital.ARGENTINA: Deep-Rooted Prejudice Against Immigrants
Although Argentina's immigration law is regarded as one of the most progressive in Latin America, xenophobia and discrimination persist, showing that progress is still more theoretical than practical.BOLIVIA: Women Fight Superstition, Machismo in Mining Cooperatives
Hundreds of women belonging to mining cooperatives in Bolivia are striving for the right to mine seams of tin and silver in the country's western highlands, where an age old superstition maintains that the presence of women "scares away" the minerals.
MALAWI: Tax on the Poor Is to Compensate for Tariff Revenue Loss
The decision by the Malawian government to introduce value-added tax (VAT) of up to 16.5 percent on products such as bread, meat, milk and dairy products is being blamed for losses incurred by small-scale businesses. The move comes in response to a loss of revenue due to regional trade commitments.Women’s Soccer Coming to the Fore
This time last year the entire world gathered in front of TV screens to watch the World Cup. According to International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) estimates, 3,178,856 people made their way to South Africa, and around the globe 700 million viewers watched the Spanish victory in the final match.SOUTH SUDAN: Fuel Shortages Grip Country
South Sudan is facing severe fuel shortages less than three weeks before it gains independence from the rest of the country. Many gas stations have shut down and those that remain open have people lining up overnight for fuel.« 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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