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Sunday, November 15, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Gender
CLIMATE CHANGE: Rising Seas Demand Better Family Planning
A rising population and climate change need to be considered together in an integrated policy, experts demanded at a forum on sexual and reproductive health and development held in Berlin Sep. 2-4.RIGHTS: U.N. May Shelve Creation of New Women’s Body
A coalition of over 300 international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is "outraged" that an impending decision to create a new women's entity at the United Nations is being postponed once again.DEVELOPMENT: Dying at Childbirth Every Minute
Fifteen years after 179 nations agreed to implement a plan of action on sexual health, a woman still dies every minute because of inadequate pregnancy and birth services, according to the World Health Organisation.HEALTH-NIGERIA: Maternal Mortality, a Rural Community’s Example
Women, their children strapped to their backs, defy the mid-morning sun and converge on the Primary Healthcare Centre, located on the outskirts of Farasinme village, the Badagry West Council Development Area of Lagos State.IRAN: Backlash Mounts Against Women Ministers
The Iranian Parliament will begin voting on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's nominations for 21 cabinet positions on Wednesday. What makes this process unique is the inclusion of three women for ministerial posts, a fact that Ahmadinejad also pointed to during the three-day parliamentary debates on his nominations, which started on Aug. 30.
SOUTH AFRICA: Law Failing Lesbians on “Corrective Rape”
"Women are getting killed in the Western Cape," says Ndumie Funda, who runs LulekiSizwe in her "cabin" in the township of Gugulethu near Cape Town.Q&A: Economic Empowerment Gives Women Choices
In Egypt, women have not achieved the same career levels as their male counterparts. Women are chiefly employed as civil servants, in small family businesses or as manual labour in the agricultural sector.
CUBA: Will Legalising Multiple Jobs Bring Real Change for Women?
With a good job as a professional in Cuba’s public sector, Mariela Sánchez takes advantage of the flexible hours to take on another, part-time job and collaborate with a specialised publication.SWAZILAND: Bringing Men on Board to Reduce Maternal and Child Mortality
Swazi men have very little involvement in caring for newborns and mothers, yet they are critical partners in ensuring their well being.CHILE: Activists Demand Humane Treatment for Women Who Abort
Some 30 members of the Chilean Health Ministry's Consultative Council on Gender and Women's Health have asked the government to enforce a directive ordering humane and compassionate treatment for women who have had an abortion.ZIMBABWE: Women’s Rights Activists Lobby to ‘Engender’ Constitution
Zimbabwe’s latest constitutional reform process has generated strong interest among activists in strengthening protection for women's rights. The early signs are that the drafting of a new constitution will not prioritise correcting legal, social and economic discrimination against women.ZIMBABWE: Use of Foreign Money Becoming Political Football Again
Dorothy Tembo wears a look that tells a story of years of hard work. She dotes on her grandchildren and enjoys talking about the past. A keen observer of the history happening around her, she easily narrates Zimbabwe's trials and tribulations from the pre-independence years to the present, of which she says she has never seen so much death and suffering.
Q&A: A Second Chance – As Advocate for Women Migrants in Argentina
In her 48 years, Natividad Obeso has already lived several different lives. There was the time when she lived in her native Peru as a successful businesswoman and mother of four. Then there was the time when she spent her days wandering the streets of the Argentine capital, penniless and alone, a fugitive of political persecution that she never understood.NEPAL: Women Use Porous Border Route With India to Gulf
On Jul. 11, 15 women between the ages of 22 and 28 landed by a Gulf Airlines flight at Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport.
WOMEN-MALAYSIA: Top of the Class, Nowhere in Politics
Yet another by-election is over in Malaysia.
NAMIBIA: Garden Project Grants Modest Independence
Life in Omaruru? Put it this way: even the river that gives the town its name doesn’t always make it down. In this semi-desert part of Namibia, existence is a daily battle against poverty. A women’s gardening project is trying to change this.
SIERRA LEONE: Custom Slow To Yield To New Law on Inheritance
They told her after the 40-day ceremony to mark the death of her husband. M'ballu Kamara's in-laws said she would be taken care of by her husband's younger brother. It took her a moment to realise the "care" she was to receive would require that she become his third wife.
BOLIVIA: Too Many Obligations, Too Few Rights for Aymara Women
Teenage Aymara girls only mature as women in the eyes of their community when they are able to demonstrate great industriousness and knowledge of traditional tasks. But by virtue of that same condition they are denied rights, justice and access to community leadership positions.
BAHRAIN: Seeking Gender Equality in Quran
For the first time, feminists in Bahrain are seeking new Islamic perspectives on gender and women's empowerment, and asking for modern interpretations of the Quran.
INDONESIA: 'Safe' Abortion Could Put a Brake on Women's Mortality Rates
Women's rights groups who are campaigning for widening the scope of abortion in Indonesia are calling for an amendment to a colonial era law that puts poor women at risk.
RIGHTS: Sweet 16 Marriages Cause Controversy in Malawi
Malawi's president, Bingu wa Mutharika, has come under severe pressure from civil society groups who are demanding he scrap a newly-passed bill allowing 16-year-olds to marry with the consent of their parents.« 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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