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Friday, November 13, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Gender
SOUTH AFRICA: Will Soccer World Cup Attract Human Traffickers?
A fierce debate has erupted over claims that the 2010 Soccer World Cup will fuel the trafficking of women from African and other countries to South Africa for sexual exploitation during the cup, which starts on Jun 11.
Q&A: “Aboriginal Women Need to Lead from the Front”
At the beginning of 2011, Australian Aboriginal woman Megan Davis will join a select group of indigenous experts from around the world.
MEXICO: Women Electrical Workers at Centre of Struggle for Jobs
"Our male coworkers have had to acknowledge it: we have worked side by side in this struggle," says Emilia Peña, describing the role of women in driving forward the battle waged by thousands of workers to reopen a state power company in Mexico.
Universal Education an Empty Promise for Liberia’s Girls
In a small office tucked behind the stairwell in Liberia’s Ministry of Education, the once-proud staff of the Girls’ Education Unit appear defeated.First Woman PM Takes the Helm in Trinidad
When she is sworn in as prime minister later this week, Kamla Persad-Bissessar says she will bring the same kind of care and attention to governing Trinidad and Tobago that she has devoted to her own family.SRI LANKA: War-Affected Women Bewail Their Plight
Rajini Padamaraj, 32, is burdened with the responsibility of looking after the needs of her entire household, composed of her mother and two younger siblings.
Making Latin America’s Cities Women-Friendly
"Violence against women is not only domestic, it also happens in the streets. Not having the right to feel safe in a city square or at a bus stop without someone bothering us, that's also violence."AUSTRALIA: Debate Heats Up on Equal Representation for Women
Australia may be the land of the ‘fair go’, yet not all seems fair where equal representation of men and women is concerned.Thai, Argentine Textile Workers Unite Against Slave Labour
Textile cooperatives founded by former slave labourers from Argentina and Thailand will jointly launch a new brand of clothing in June to raise awareness about exploitation and promote decent jobs in the garment industry.FRANCE: Burqa Ban May Prove Counter-Productive
France is likely to have a law banning the burqa by autumn of this year, but human rights groups say that such legislation would be discriminatory, counter-productive and also difficult to enforce.JAPAN: Women Changing the Face of Politics, Slowly but Almost Surely
Junko Hamada, 59, is now in her 12th year as an elected member of the city council of Isehara, a sprawling bed town west of Tokyo with an estimated population of 150,000.INDIA: Rising Use of Emergency Contraceptives Raises Alarm
When Sunita Sanyal (last name changed) complained of intense headache and vomiting, her mother presumed it was just pre-examination jitters. After all, Sunita’s business management finals were just a week away.AFRICA: Better Data Key to Supporting Women Farmers
An accomplished farmer who won the coveted Woman Farmer of the Year Award in 2008, Thabile Dlamini-Gooday wants to uplift the standard of other women in agriculture. She believes that if women farmers were to work together they could fight hunger and significantly reduce poverty among themselves.PAKISTAN: TB-Afflicted Women Struggle to Overcome Social Stigma
Abdul Wahid’s wife had been unwell for two years, showing symptoms of a chronic infectious disease such as prolonged coughing, before she finally decided to see a doctor.DEVELOPMENT-BAHRAIN: Escalating Dowries Take Toll on Men
Surging dowries and the skyrocketing costs of living amid constricting economic opportunities made worse by the global financial crisis have placed a heavy burden on Bahraini men contemplating marriage.CHILE: Gender Equity Progress Blocked by Hard-Core “Machismo”
More than 60 percent of Chileans surveyed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are opposed to full equality between women and men, according to a new national report released by the agency on Friday.IRAN: Rights Group Condemns Secret Executions
Iran's nuclear ambitions and the bloody disturbances following its elections last year have so dominated media reporting on the country that many equally critical issues have been virtually forgotten.PERU: Glass of Milk Half Empty
The "Glass of Milk" Programme, created in 1985 in Peru to provide a nutritional supplement for the most vulnerable population, specifically children up to six years old and pregnant and nursing women, is undermined by poor oversight, according to an audit by the Comptroller General's Office.
WORLD: North Should Pay South Reparations for Climate Change
The North should pay reparations to the South for the effects of climate change.INDIA: One Woman’s Entrepreneurial Venture Now Employs Thousands
Shameema Wani, 40, never imagined a simple venture, begun from scratch, would grow into the 2,000-strong business enterprise, employing mainly women, that it is today in this capital city of India’s disputed Jammu and Kashmir state.World Bank Boosts Commitment to Lower Maternal Mortality
The World Bank intends to ramp up spending on family-planning and related initiatives to reduce maternal mortality, improve reproductive health, and reduce fertility rates in nearly 60 developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new five-year plan released by the Bank here this week.« 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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