Gender

Democracy, Civic Space and Fundamental Freedoms Are under Attack, but Civil Society Is Here to Stay

By Sarah Strack
During the Forus network’s General Assembly which took place in Gaborone, Botswana, civil society organisations from across 65 countries highlighted the challenges facing them globally in an increasingly polarised and crisis-hit world.

Empowering Women Could Boost Fertility, & Economic Growth in Japan and Korea

By Kohei Asao, TengTeng Xu and Xin Cindy Xu
Women in Japan and Korea face especially tough challenges juggling career and family. Many young women witness their peers encountering promotion delays after marriage and childbirth, dealing with problems splitting housework responsibilities, and having difficulty finding adequate childcare.

Billions will Vote this Year – LGBTIQ+ People Must not be Excluded

By Ulrika Modéer and Christophe Schiltz
This year has been called the ‘super election’ year, with 3.7 billion people potentially going to the polls. This historic political moment is also an opportunity to reflect on what these billions of voter experiences will look like. Who will vote, who can run for office and who might be excluded from the political process?

Women Organize to Fight Coastal Erosion in Southeastern Brazil

By Mario Osava
Coastal erosion has been aggravated by climate change and has already destroyed more than 500 houses in the town of Atafona in southeastern Brazil. Movements led largely by women are working to combat the advance of the sea and generate economic alternatives.

Afghan Women Struggle with Soaring Mental Health Issues

Afghanistan is grappling with a growing crisis of mental illness, particularly among its women, as highlighted in a United Nations report. Officials from the mental health department at Herat regional hospital have observed a concerning uptick in the number of women afflicted by psychological disorders in the province.

The World Must Not Abandon the Mothers of Gaza

By Natalia Kanem
As millions of children and families celebrate their mothers, my thoughts turn to the pregnant women and new mothers our teams at UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, support in more than 130 countries around the world. And I hold in my heart all those who, tragically, will never live to see their newborns.

Civil Society Scores LGBTQI+ Rights Victory in Dominica

By Inés M. Pousadela
On 22 April, Dominica’s High Court struck down two sections of the country’s Sexual Offences Act that criminalised consensual same-sex relations, finding them unconstitutional. This made Dominica the sixth country in the Commonwealth Caribbean – and the fourth in the Eastern Caribbean – to decriminalise same-sex relations through the courts, and the first in 2024.

Transgender Health Rights Boosted by Hospitals’ ‘Separate Room’ Policy

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Transgender people and civil society organizations have welcomed the decision of the chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to allocate separate rooms in hospitals for the transgender community so they can avail themselves of uninterrupted healthcare. “We demand that all provinces follow suit and announce facilities for more than 500,000 transgender people in the country,” Farzana Shah, president of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Transgender Association, told IPS.

Lao PDR Lawmakers Meet to Further ICPD25 Programme of Action

By IPS Correspondent
A recent workshop of lawmakers heard that targeted interventions would be necessary to meet the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), its Programme of Action (PoA), and Lao PDR's national commitments to ICPD25 at the Nairobi Summit 2019.

Niger’s Military Coup Triggers Child Marriages, Sex Work in Neighboring Countries

By Issa Sikiti da Silva
A group of young girls aged between 15 and 17 sit tight, following attentively a lesson being taught by a Mualim (Islamic teacher) in a makeshift madrassah (Qur’anic school) located in one of the impoverished townships of Benin’s economic capital, Cotonou. They arrived in Benin recently, fleeing poverty, hunger, climate change, and rising insecurity in their home country, Niger, in the aftermath of the military coup that toppled democratically-elected president Mohamed Bazoum.

Afghan Women’s Voices Stifled as Taliban Tightens Media Controls

Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, the space for women in the public sphere has significantly narrowed, with successive orders further restricting their presence in various sectors, including the media.

Portable Ginnery Could Revive Kenya’s Ailing Cotton Industry

By Wilson Odhiambo
Kirinyaga University may have just breathed new life into Kenya’s ailing cotton industry as varsity dons develop a portable cotton ginnery. For an industry that has been struggling to survive, this news came as a relief to cotton farmers, whose lives the invention is expected to change, and to a government pushing for job creation and self-reliance through manufacturing. 

Solar Power and Biogas Empower Women Farmers in Brazil

By Mario Osava
A bakery, fruit pulp processing and water pumped from springs are empowering women farmers in Goiás, a central-eastern state of Brazil. New renewable energy sources are driving the process.

Migration in the Americas: A Dream That Can Turn Deadly

By Inés M. Pousadela
The Darién Gap is a stretch of jungle spanning the border between Colombia and Panama, the only missing section of the Pan-American Highway that stretches from Alaska to southern Argentina. For good reason, it used to be considered impenetrable. But in 2023, a record 520,000 people crossed it heading northwards, including many children. Many have lost their lives trying to cross it.

IPCI 2024: Oslo Commitment Protects Sexual and Reproductive Rights Across All Contexts

By Naureen Hossain
Parliamentarians from 112 countries have adopted the IPCI statement of commitment to protect and promote sexual and reproductive health rights, committing to the principle that "life or death is a political statement." As IPCI Oslo drew to a close on Friday, April 12, 2024, parliamentarians adopted a new Statement of Commitment that was “the collective effort of every single delegate,” said Alando Terrelonge, MP from Jamaica and chair of the drafting committee.

IPCI 2024: Technology as a Tool to Advance and Threaten Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights

By Naureen Hossain
Technology emerged as a core theme of IPCI Oslo for its relevance in advancing the objectives of the Cairo Programme of Action. When channeled for good, it is an effective tool that can fill accessibility gaps in the health sector and spread awareness of sexual and reproductive health rights. Yet, the way in which digital technology has been weaponized against SRHR is of great concern for parliamentarians, especially for women.

Women Affected by ‘Gender-Biased’ Climate Change Deserve Justice

By Busani Bafana
While research into the unequal impacts of climate change on women is growing, more is needed to enable them to realize their rights to climate justice. Researchers argue that women and girls have unequal access to food, water, health, education, and even income, thanks to climate change. This makes them more vulnerable.

IPCI 2024: Oslo Conference Focuses on Parliamentary Power over Reproductive Rights

By Naureen Hossain
Gearing up for the 30th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), the world’s parliamentarians and ministers are meeting in Oslo to determine the course of action needed to promote sexual and reproductive human rights (SRHR).

Breaking the Silence: Gender-Based Challenges in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project ll

By Marianne Buenaventura Goldman and Reitumetse Nkoti Mabula
In the journey towards gender equality and justice, recent decades have seen strides made, yet the road ahead remains treacherous. In the race to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, attention is turning to the role that over five hundred public development banks worldwide could play.

WHO Calls for More Data on Violence Against Older Women and Women With Disabilities

By Naureen Hossain
Older women and women with disabilities experience abuse that is unique to their demographics, yet they are underrepresented in national and global databases, according to findings shared by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Gambia Must Not Repeal FGM Ban

By Alimatu Dimonekene
Earlier this month, a UNICEF report on the prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) showed that while some success is taking place, the pace of progress remains slow - lagging behind population growth, especially in places where FGM is most common.
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