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Thursday, November 12, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Gender
PHILIPPINES: Criminal Ban, Stigma Drive Unsafe Abortions
"I felt scared. When I looked around, all the mothers had finished giving birth, while I was still there. The blood that flowed from me had already dried and caked onto my body," Lisa, a 19-year-old married mother of three, says, recounting her experience in post-abortion care at a public hospital here in the Philippine capital.Further Victims Identified in DRC Mass Rapes Case
The number of women raped by rebel groups during last month's raid of more than a dozen villages centred around Walikale, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has risen to over 240, U.N. officials told reporters here today.
PERU: Quechua Congresswoman Fights Discrimination in Education
Hilaria Supa has broken down many barriers in her life. Now she has overcome another one, in an unprecedented achievement: this Quechua indigenous woman who never went to school is today chair of the congressional education committee in Peru.JAPAN: Househusbands Giving Birth To More Gender Equality
Since their first child was born 16 years ago, Hiroyuki Ozaki has taken care of the household, relinquishing his traditional role as the main breadwinner while his wife held on to her career in the travel industry.Outrage Grows Over Failure to Protect DRC Civilians
As details emerged this week of the U.N.'s knowledge of rebel activity in the villages where nearly 200 women were systematically gang raped by armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) late last month, human rights groups are demanding an investigation into the U.N.'s failure to prevent the raid from occurring.MIDEAST: Bureaucracy Limits Rights of Palestinian Women
As Hamas cracks down on the rights of Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip, their sisters in the occupied West Bank are slowly gaining ground. But a bureaucracy, that is sometimes supported by foreign aid, is crippling these advances.
HAITI: Scraping by on Mud Cookies
At six in the morning in Cite Soleil, the poorest zone of Haiti's capital city, the sun is already up. It's the start of another workday for Lurene Jeanti, making cookies from mud, butter and salt. She's been mixing the ingredients on the side of the road to sell to her neighbours for the past eight years.
UGANDA: Unfriendly Nurses and Culture Hinder Male Involvement in HIV Prevention
Irene Wangolo was advised to undergo an HIV test during her antenatal visit and to return to the clinic with her husband so they could be counselled on preventing HIV transmission to their unborn baby. But her husband refused to accompany her saying it was not his business and Wangolo never returned to the clinic in Bungokho in eastern Uganda. So she missed all the services, including the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT).MALAWI: Women Candidates Hard Hit by Election Postponement
News that Malawi’s November local government elections are to be postponed yet again has hit female candidates hard – and mostly in their pockets. And it could mean that the country will have less female candidates to vote for when they finally go to the polls.Women Pulling Out of the Technological Gap
When she gets up in the morning, Ghadeer Malek, a young Palestinian feminist activist, checks her Facebook page to keep up on new developments and messages linked to her work.
AGRICULTURE-SOUTH AFRICA: ‘There Is No Dignity’
South African farm workers – especially female labourers – continue to be exploited, despite the existence of national labour laws and regulations designed to protect them. But in the absence of information and education about their rights, workers have a hard time claiming them.
MALAWI: Campaign Against Female Vice President a Campaign Against Equality
The future of women’s political representation in Malawi has come into question as the ruling Democratic People’s Party (DPP) launched a smear campaign against its own member, the country’s female Vice President Joyce Banda. Many had hoped Banda would become the country’s first female president in 2014.THAILAND: Sweeping Support Sought for Domestic Workers’ Rights
"My male employer was a womaniser and he liked to touch me and told me not to tell his wife. I felt so uncomfortable," says Chompoo, who was just 15 years old when she served – and suffered abuse – as a domestic worker here in the Thai capital.
LATIN AMERICA: Gender Struggles and Achievements – for Men
Men in Latin America are increasingly engaged in raising their children, a change that has been largely forced on them by women's self-development. However, men are still a long way from taking on a more equal role in housework, and they are still burdened with the obligation to be the main providers.DR-CONGO: Mass Gang Rape Exposes Systematic Sexual Violence
A U.N. human rights investigation mission will be launched in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Wednesday, U.N. officials announced Tuesday, after gruesome reports surfaced in the media of the systematic gang rape of nearly 200 women in a 21km stretch of 15 villages.
SOUTH AFRICA: Climate Change Policy Ignores Women Farmers
When asked if they have already felt the effects of climate change, Mary-Anne Zimri and Katrina Scheepers eagerly nod their heads. The two small-scale farmers say lack of rain this winter has foiled their planting season, ruined their harvest – and drastically slashed their income.Gender Equality Goals Miss the Mark, Women’s Groups Say
A month ahead of the 2010 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) review summit at the United Nations, some women's groups are voicing concern that member states' commitment to women's issues is insufficient and slowing progress towards gender parity worldwide.HEALTH: S. Africa Becomes a Victim of its ARV Treatment Success
Almost a million South Africans are already on lifelong antiretroviral (ARV) treatment and this number is supposed to triple in the next decade if the South African government keeps to its implementation plan.
CULTURE-SINGAPORE: Ghost Festival Far From Dying
Like a seasoned star, Ting Ting pranced around on the stage in an energetic dance routine as she delivered a pitch-perfect rendition of a high-tempo Chinese ballad. Enthralled, the 500- strong crowd surged forward, eager to catch a closer look at the svelte 25-year-old artiste, dressed in a bright pink top – and a skirt that ends too many inches above her knees.AFRICA: Maputo Protocol a Work in Progress
Kenyans are still euphoric over the referendum endorsing a progressive new constitution; but the heat generated by its opponents around their main rallying point - abortion rights - is a reminder of the wide gap between law and implementation in Africa, particularly when it concerns women's rights.
Q&A: Native Women in Bolivia’s Lowlands Build Leadership Skills
In the northeastern Bolivian department (province) of Beni, a region of wetlands, savannah and jungle where three-quarters of the population lives in poverty, indigenous women are building a new kind of leadership to help develop their communities.« 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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