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Thursday, November 12, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Gender
POLITICS-BAHRAIN: More Than A Matter of Putting Women in Office
Women candidates seem to be getting scarcer in Bahraini elections, but women leaders here say female poll participation is no longer about getting into office.
’12 Angry Lebanese’ Touch So Many More
Straddling the hills overlooking the Mediterranean Sea is Roumieh, Lebanon's largest and most notorious high-security men's prison. Crowded into its dank and depressing concrete cells are those convicted as religious extremists, murderers, mobsters and spies.
MEXICO: Four Years On, No Justice for Atenco Women
At 30, Mexican activist América del Valle knows loneliness all too well: she spent four years in hiding, out of contact with friends and family, her only goal being to "endure" the government's persecution of her family.
SIERRA LEONE: Unfulfilled Promise of Free Maternal Health Care for Mothers
Marie Musa, 37, is devastated. After the mother of four gave premature birth, her baby boy died a few hours later – because the hospital did not have enough incubators to rescue the infant.
PERU: Women Sterilised Against Their Will Seek Justice, Again
Poor, rural, Quechua-speaking women in the Peruvian province of Anta who were victims of a forced sterilisation programme between 1996 and 2000 have filed a new lawsuit in their continuing struggle for justice.
BRAZIL: Abortion, a Bargaining Chip in Campaign for Runoff
The issue of abortion has turned into a weapon that threatens to take away votes from the candidates in the campaign for the second round of presidential elections in Brazil, with conservative religious groups using it as a bargaining chip in exchange for their support.HEALTH-HONDURAS: Solidarity in Breast Cancer Survival
All too aware of the Honduran public health system's shortcomings and the great vulnerability of the country's poorest people, women who have beaten breast cancer are stepping up to share their experiences and knowledge in an effort to save more lives.KYRGYZSTAN: First Woman President Makes a Mark
When Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva was selected to be President of Kyrgyzstan, she became the first woman head of state in the predominantly Muslim Central Asian region.Malnourished Children Swell Ranks of World’s Hungry
With the number of hungry people growing to more than a billion last year, the world is "nowhere near" reaching the objectives outlined in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to the latest Global Hunger Index (GHI) released Monday.BOTSWANA: Not All Women in Local Government Making a Difference
Florence Shagwa, a female councillor at the Gaborone City Council, considers her three-year business qualification worthless.Liberian Women Find Their Voice
"Voice for the voiceless" is the slogan adorning the walls of Liberia’s first and Africa’s second radio station for women.SOUTHERN AFRICA: Ignoring Patriarchy, Female Politicians Rise
In Malawi, if both a girl and boy are born into a poor family, it will naturally be the boy in whom all the financial resources are invested.U.N. Admits Congo Crisis Beyond Its Limited Capacity
Amid accusations that most U.N. peacekeepers turned a blind eye to the recent "mass rape" of more than 300 civilians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon admitted that the mounting problems in the sprawling, crisis-stricken country are virtually beyond the capacity of the world body.RIGHTS-CHINA: For Too Many, Domestic Violence Part of Family Life
Despite successful campaigns to promote gender equality, China continues to struggle with high rates of domestic violence, which experts say impacts not only families but society as a whole.
MEXICO: Native Women Raped by Soldiers Find Justice at Regional Court
"I dream of returning to my community and for everything to be normal again, although that won't be easy," Valentina Rosendo, one of two indigenous women who found justice at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, told IPS.MIDEAST: Israel Deports Peace Laureate
Irish Nobel Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire was deported from Israel Tuesday after spending more than a week in detention at Tel Aviv Airport as she attempted to fight the deportation order.
BRAZIL: Two-Party Domination Showing Signs of Exhaustion
Brazil's presidential elections, which will be decided in an Oct. 31 runoff, have once against reflected the confrontation of the two parties that have dominated national politics since 1994. However, the unexpectedly strong performance of Green Party candidate Marina Silva points to a weakening of that dichotomy.
Q&A: “Gender Not a Limiting Factor in Politics”
In the rural KwaZulu Natal town of Jozini, Thembeni Madlopha-Mthethwa has been the town’s mayor for a decade. And in contrast to the rest of the country, which has experienced numerous civil strikes and service delivery complaints, Jozini has rarely had any such problems.
BRAZIL: Voters Likely to Elect First Woman President
The woman likely to be elected president of Brazil, Latin America's giant, either on Sunday or in an Oct. 31 runoff, is idealistic but pragmatic and has a reputation as a tough, seasoned administrator.
HAITI: Finding Butterflies Among the Rubble
Michele Garlin had massive headaches after Haiti’s 7.0 earthquake killed some 230,000 people and left 1.3 million others, like herself, homeless.
PERU: Women Farmers Dream in Organic Flavours of Coffee
It's Saturday and the women hurry in to the cooperative's warehouse in this rural town in southeastern Peru with their huge bags of coffee beans on their backs. Some come on their own, others are accompanied by their husbands or children. But they have all hiked long distances from their farms in the mountains where they grow some of the world's top organic specialty coffee.« 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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