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Saturday, November 14, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Gender
POLITICS-TOGO: First Female Presidential Candidate
Brigitte Kafui Adjamagbo-Johnson, head of the opposition Democratic Convention of African Peoples party, is Togo's first female presidential candidate. But she has withdrawn from the electoral process.EAST AFRICA: Women Want Visibility in Regional Union
As the East Africa Community (EAC) gradually moves towards a political confederation, women’s rights groups from the five member states are pushing for an East African Protocol on Gender and Development to bridge the gender gaps within the integration process.DEVELOPMENT-ASIA: ‘Poverty Still Has a Woman’s Face’
Women and poverty still share an uncomfortable spot on the development matrix of countries across Asia-Pacific that are struggling to end deprivation, according to the newly launched third joint report of the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).EUROPE: Fight Female Mutilation Harder Activists Urge EU
With hundreds of thousands of girls and women believed to be at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Europe, rights groups have mounted a campaign to get EU leaders to stop what they see as a barbaric and dangerous procedure.
CENTRAL AMERICA: Women Eke Out a Living in Informal Economy
"I've been working in the streets since I was a girl. My parents didn't send me to school, so it's really hard for me to find a job," says Carol Orozco, 31, who forms part of the veritable army of vendors hawking their wares on the streets of Central America.RIGHTS: Nicaragua Refuses to Discuss Therapeutic Abortion
Nicaragua slammed the door on any possible debate on the restitution of therapeutic abortion - performed to save the life of the pregnant woman - despite demands that it do so voiced during a United Nations review of human rights in the country.
PAKISTAN: Anger Seethes Over Siddiqi Verdict, Questions Remain
Upon hearing that her daughter Aafia Siddiqi had been found guilty of shooting U.S. officers in Afghanistan in 2008, her mother Ismat distributed sweets in her home neighbourhood in this southern Pakistani city.
Q&A: Creating Momentum for Women’s Participation
Women's movements have played a critical role in creating political space for female participation in politics around the world. In fact, there are more women in government today than ever before.INDIA: Lay-offs from Recession-hit Gulf Lead to New Lives at Home
Domestic worker Beena Joy, 35, came back empty-handed after losing her job in recession-hit United Arab Emirates, but soon found that getting laid-off has given her a happier life back home here in this southern Indian city.COSTA RICA: Chinchilla to Join Club of Women Presidents
Laura Chinchilla of the governing National Liberation Party (PLN) will be the first female president of Costa Rica and the ninth in the history of Latin America.PAKISTAN: Community Midwives Gain Recognition But Concerns Remain
As Kanwal Gul, 25, lay on the delivery table a year ago, preparing to give birth to her first child, she made sure the traditional birth attendant (TBA) assisting her knew exactly what to do. Put on the gloves, she instructed her.
PERU: Women Combine Invention, Tradition to Improve Rural Diets
Although Huancavelica is the poorest region of Peru, it has more than just poverty, malnutrition and unmet needs. There are also women using their creativity, efforts and traditional indigenous knowledge to improve the diets of their families and communities.
CUBA: Women Knitting for Change
A neighbour started calling Andrea del Sol "Perseverance," and the name stuck. Since 1998, she and a small group of women from Alamar, on the outskirts of the Cuban capital, have been throwing their combined energies behind a common purpose: "changing things."U.S.: Bill Pledges a Billion Dollars to Fight Gender Violence
The U.S. House and Senate introduced new legislation Thursday that addresses the plight of women around the world who are victims of violence.RIGHTS: EU Faults U.N. for Slowdown in Gender Empowerment
Against the backdrop of continued widespread gender discrimination worldwide, the European Union (EU) has urged Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to "urgently" speed up the creation of the proposed new U.N. agency for women.
UGANDA: Early Diagnosis of HIV Still Elusive
HIV-positive Justine Kirumira* is a mother torn between doing what is right for her daughters and her own fear of HIV/AIDS. She suspects that her eight and 12-year-old daughters may also have the virus. But she may never know the truth of their status because she refuses have them tested.MEXICO: Women – Casualties in Army’s Counternarcotics War
Human rights organisations in Mexico and the United States sounded the alarm about abuses against women by the Mexican armed forces in the context of the government's all-out offensive against drug trafficking in the border state of Chihuahua.
HAITI: Displaced Women Face Double Jeopardy
Women's rights and development activists working in Haiti say that greater attention must be paid to the immediate needs of women and girls, as well as their role in the long-term reconstruction of the devastated country.
RIGHTS: New U.N. Envoy to Crack Down on Sexual Violence
When the Security Council adopted resolution 1325 back in October 2000, it was a historic event: for the first time the U.N.'s most powerful political body dealt with a gender-related issue, explicitly linking women to peace and security.
KENYA: Victory for Anti-Abortion Lobby
The threat by influential Christian leaders to mobilise a vote against Kenya's draft constitution if it does not explicitly prevent any expansion of abortion rights appears to have succeeded.POLITICS-SUDAN: Security Essential to Ensure Peaceful Elections
Peace in Sudan remains an uncertainty ahead of the country’s first general elections in 24 years, according to the African Union Commission chief.« 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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