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Thursday, November 12, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Gender
EL SALVADOR: Women at the Forefront of Grassroots Organising
Women are playing a leading role in a powerful social movement addressing natural resource protection, adaptation to climate change, and corporate accountability in this coastal village in El Salvador.
Q&A: Putting the Force of Law Behind Women’s Rights
The two-week Commission on the Status of Women at United Nations headquarters draws together a wide array of civil society leaders as well as policy-makers and U.N. development experts to compare notes on the many facets of women's empowerment.
ENERGY-MALAWI: Rise in Paraffin Prices Leaves Traders in the Dark
Increasing energy prices have caused anxiety for many small-scale Malawian traders, especially those in rural areas and peri-urban areas who rely on paraffin for lighting their business premises.Bill Would Aid Afghan Women Caught in U.S.-led War
As conflict continues to rage in Afghanistan, the U.S. Congress is gearing up to debate a bill that could support the country's long-oppressed women in their struggle to achieve gender equality, even in the years after the U.S. military occupation ends.
PAKISTAN: Mullahs Fight Math in Madrassas
The government has launched a programme to modernize religious schools so that students get a basic education in such subjects as math, English and even computers.
KENYA: Flower Industry Still Not Back in Full Bloom
Kenya’s flower exporters are cautiously optimistic that the prospects for their industry will improve during 2011 after disaster struck in the form of volcanic ash and adverse winter weather conditions in 2010. But prices will be lower as the global economic recession still weighs heavily on their primary market, the European Union.U.N.’s New Agency for Women Readies for Takeoff
When the 192-member General Assembly, the highest policy- making body at the United Nations, decided to create a special agency last July to promote the advancement of women, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed it as a "historic" decision.Men Slowly Evolving from Breadwinners to Bakers
The domestic role played by half of the world's population has long been overlooked by policy-makers, with research and reports on gender roles focusing almost entirely on women.IRAQ: Eight Years of Abuses and Impunity
A leading human rights group released a report Monday documenting the proliferation of human rights abuses in Iraq since the United States' invasion in 2003.CHINA: Men Becoming More Suicide-Prone
While new research indicates that China’s overall suicide rate has been in decline for the last two decades, some segments of the population – including urban males and the elderly – are increasingly likely to take their own lives, the result of breakneck social change in the world’s most populous country.ITALY: Berlusconi Gets ‘Automatic Justice’, for a Start
The trial of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on charges of underage prostitution has just taken a turn that some commentators are calling an appropriate twist of fate: the trial, due to begin on April 6, will be adjudicated by a panel of female judges.U.S.: Women’s Health in Crosshairs of Republican Congress
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are seeking to eliminate the federal family planning programme and cut funding from Planned Parenthood, one of the country's leading providers of reproductive health care to low-income women.
CLIMATE CHANGE: In Europe, Pollution Is a Masculine Noun
Many aspects of gender inequality are well known and well documented. But there seems to be little awareness that male behaviour leads to greater emissions of climate-changing gases.
Not Just Berlusconi’s Party Girls
While a handful of young sex workers have been under the spotlight in the weeks following a high-profile sex scandal involving Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, tens of thousands remain invisible victims of human trafficking.
PERU: Rural Girls Face Barriers to Education
"My classmates from Utupampa had to walk an hour to get to school," said Yasmín Sena, a young woman from a village in Peru's highlands. "That community is way up in the mountains; no cars can go there."
NAMIBIA: Basic Income Grant: ‘Let Others Taste What We Have Tasted’
A universal Basic Income Grant (BIG) would create laziness and dependence among Namibia’s poor, say politicians. A daring pilot project set out to prove that this untrue. IPS spoke to one of the beneficiaries of the BIG.
Rape in the Ranks, the U.S. Army’s Dirty Secret
In his commencement address to cadets at West Point Military Academy last year, U.S. President Barack Obama proclaimed, "In the 21st century our women in uniform play an indispensable role in our national defence. Time and again they have proven themselves to be role models, not only for our daughters but also for our sons."
ITALY: It’s a Lot Worse Than Sex Parties
The demonstration by an estimated million women across Italy Sunday points to a continuing denial of fair opportunities for women at work.
Q&A: Political Support Needs Financial Backing
"The agenda for women's rights and empowerment in each country must be supported by the political leadership," says Norah Matovu-Winyi, Executive Director, African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET).
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Fisheries Need Transparent Regulation
Senegalese fishers participating in the 2011 World Social Forum (WSF) warned governments to "wake up to the ethical and transparent regulation of access to fisheries" to halt the overexploitation of this increasingly scarce resource.
Arab Women Lead the Charge
Asmaa Mahfouz, a 26-year-old Egyptian woman who two weeks ago had only one name, now boasts at least three. These include "A woman worth 100 men", "The girl who crushed Mubarak" and "The leader of the Egyptian revolution".« 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
