Gender

Fatima Jardine-Millard belongs to a growing number of South African women who are willing to take risks to start their own businesses. Credit: Chris Stein/IPS

SOUTH AFRICA: Female Entrepreneurs Forge Their Own Path

By IPS Correspondents
At dawn, Fatima Jardine-Millard straps a massive, German-engineered tank to her back and a tray of pastries to her waist, and prepares to cater to groggy motorists immobilised at a traffic light in Johannesburg's chaotic daily commute.

PERU: Centre-Left Candidate Surges Ahead in Lima Mayoral Contest

By Ángel Páez
Centre-left candidate Susana Villarán has unexpectedly surged ahead of her centre-right rival Lourdes Flores in the polls to become the front-runner in the race for Sunday's elections for mayor in the Peruvian capital.

Retraining Rwanda’s Traditional Birth Attendants

By Aimable Twahirwa
Two years spent training traditional birth attendants in remote rural areas has allowed Rwanda to reduce the country's maternal mortality rate, says the country's health department.
Dr. Segametsi Maruapula: African people are eating more hamburgers, hot dogs, savoury snacks and convenience foods. Credit: Miriam Mannak/IPS

ECONOMY: Growing Obesity in Africa Bad for Worker Productivity

By Miriam Mannak
Obesity is no longer a problem confined to wealthy nations. In their developing counterparts in Africa, an increasing number of people can be categorised as obese. According to researchers this trend could be detrimental to countries’ already fragile economies.
Women in Argentina demonstrate for the legalisation of abortion. Credit: Courtesy of Las Juanas

ARGENTINA: Activists File Writ of Habeas Corpus – for Legal Abortion

By Marcela Valente
Heartened by the passage of a same-sex marriage law in Argentina, women's organisations in this South American country stepped up their demands for the legalisation of abortion, on the Day for the Decriminalisation of Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Mahila Sanatkar helps revive Hyderabad Muslim community's traditional skill of zardosi embroidery. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

INDIA: Poor Women Stitch Together New Futures

By Manipadma Jena
She is now part of a group of artisan entrepreneurs, deals with people confidently, and earns enough for herself and her three children. But 20 years ago, Amir Unisha Begum was an unschooled, shy homemaker who rarely ventured out of her Indian slum neighbourhood.

Haitian Women at Increased Risk of Trafficking

By Emilio Godoy
The January earthquake that devastated Haiti put women and girls in the poorest country in the hemisphere at an increased risk of falling prey to people trafficking, activists and experts warn.

MALAWI: Village Chief Leads Fight For Maternal Health

By Charles Mpaka
In Ntcheu, a rural district in central Malawi, villagers have taken the fight against the country's high maternal mortality rate into their own hands. They have almost eradicated maternal deaths in the area by urging pregnant women to give birth in hospitals, under medical supervision.

MEXICO: Bicentennial Nothing to Celebrate, Say Indigenous Peoples

By Daniela Pastrana
"I don't understand why we should celebrate [Independence]. There will be no freedom in Mexico until repression against indigenous peoples is eliminated," says Sadhana, whose name means "moon" in the indigenous Mazahua language.
Women soldiers on parade in Freetown. Credit: Mohamed Fofanah/IPS

A Place for Women in Sierra Leone’s Military

By Mohamed Fofanah
A woman took position alongside male soldiers at the graveside of a fallen colleague. She positioned her AK47 on her shoulder, and on command fired into the grey sky with the others.
Betty Ann Blaine at home. Credit: Kathy Barrett/IPS

Rights Activist Challenges Jamaica’s Status Quo

By Kathy Barrett
For the last 50 years, Jamaica's modern history has been shaped by two powerful parties - the Jamaica Labour Party and the People's National Party. Although dozens of others have periodically emerged, the political graveyard has inevitably been their final resting place.

THAILAND: Insurgency Turns Malay-Muslim Women into Leaders

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
When her husband was arrested for links to an insurgency raging in this southern region, Pattama Heemmima joined the ranks of Malay-Muslim women forced into the unfamiliar routine of visiting police stations, military camps and courts to secure the freedom of their imprisoned kin.
Credit: Latin American Conference on Smuggling and Trafficking of Human Beings

LATIN AMERICA: Five Million Women Have Fallen Prey to Trafficking Networks

By Emilio Godoy
The fight against human trafficking in Latin America is ineffective and has led to the emergence of intra-regional markets for the trade, according to experts and activists meeting this Hjek in this Mexican city.
Michelle Bachelet, head of U.N. Women, speaks to the press. Credit: Sriyantha Walpola/IPS

$40 Billion for Women and Children, Millions of Lives at Stake

By Thalif Deen
As a three-day anti-poverty talkfest drew to a close Wednesday, the United Nations shifted its focus from the poor and the hungry to two of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in society: women and children.
Diverse identities Credit: Public domain

CUBA: Men’s Group Champions “Diverse Masculinities”

By Dalia Acosta
Men representing an array of sexual identifications have organised in Cuba to defend sexual rights and promote respect for "other masculinities," with the belief that greater visibility is needed to achieve true social change and acceptance.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Averting the Grimmest Scenarios

By IPS Correspondents
The catastrophic floods in Pakistan have added urgency to a high-level United Nations summit this week, with delegates from mostly South Asian nations convening Tuesday to call for increased technology transfer from richer countries and to compare strategies to avert the worst effects of climate change.
Supreme Court of Argentina Credit: Courtesy of Supreme Court

ARGENTINA: Pioneer in Mainstreaming Gender Perspective in Justice System

By Marcela Valente
Judges and other judicial officers in Argentina have begun to receive training on gender equality and women's rights, as part of a broad programme that could serve as a model for similar initiatives in the rest of Latin America.
Nearly forty percent of Liberian children under five are malnourished. Credit: Bonnie Allen/IPS

LIBERIA: Chronic Malnutrition Blamed on Mothers

By Bonnie Allen
Mercy Freeman sits on a small hospital cot in one of Liberia’s emergency hospitals, looking down at her frail son, whose dark eye sockets have sunk into his bony face.
Seven to ten cases of gender-based violence are reported in Dzaleka camp every month; few perpetrators are brought to justice. Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPS

Gender-Based Violence Wracks Malawi Refugee Camp

By Kristin Palitza
At the age of 13, Chantal Kifungo* is mother to a ten-month-old baby girl. It wasn’t her choice. Almost two years ago, she was raped by her stepfather – and fell pregnant with his child.
The fact that many women doctors opt not to practise medicine raises questions about the 'open-merit' system in medical schools. Credit: Fahim Siddiqi/IPS

PAKISTAN: When the Doors Are Open, But Women Choose to Stay Away

By Zofeen Ebrahim
For five years, Sana Yasir toiled through medical school and then was awarded at the end with a diploma and a bright future. After completing the required year-long clinical practice, however, Yasir got married and quit the workplace.
Maritza Rodríguez (right), with a colleague and her daughters. Credit: Patricia Grogg/IPS

CUBA: Black Women Face Double Discrimination, Half Century After Revolution

By Patricia Grogg
Cuban women have to work twice as hard as men to get ahead in their careers. But things are even tougher for black women in Cuba, although discrimination by reason of gender or skin colour is prohibited by law and by the constitution itself.
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