Women & Economy

Index Offers Improved Method to Gauge Women’s Progress

By Charundi Panagoda
If an organisation wants to monitor how its projects in the developing world are affecting women in specific areas of female empowerment, it probably can't, as it lacks the proper tools. But a new system, the "Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index", is working to change that.
Baryabamu picks green leafy vegetables from her garden in drought-prone Uganda, irrigated with water from her rainwater tank. Credit: Wambi Michael/IPS

Rural Women Are Leading the Way – Will the World Follow? – Part 2

By IPS Correspondents
The United Nations’ 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) begins today in New York, with the empowerment of rural women high on a list of priorities for this year.

Rural Women Are Leading the Way – Will the World Follow? – Part 1

By IPS Correspondents
Agriculture currently provides a livelihood for roughly 1.3 billion smallholder farmers and landless workers, of which nearly half – close to 560 million – are women.
Aura Canache, in front of one of her sheep enclosures on her small farm. Credit: Estrella Gutiérrez/IPS

Rural Women in Latin America Face Myriad Hurdles

By Estrella Gutiérrez
"Sometimes I think of giving it all up,” Aura Canache, a small farmer in Venezuela, told IPS. “My neighbours get loans and aid, but I never have. The farm assistance plans are for men, although there are many women living off the countryside too.”

Women, Victims of War, Have No Seat at Negotiating Table

By Thalif Deen
When the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) held its inaugural meeting in London back in 1946, the U.S. delegate, Eleanor Roosevelt, read an open letter to "the women of the world" calling on governments to encourage women everywhere to participate in national and international affairs.
Stephanie Seguino. Credit: Courtesy of Stephanie Seguino

Q&A: How to Reverse the “Feminisation of Poverty”

By Mathilde Bagneres
The phrase "financing for gender equality" may sound dry, but it lies at the heart of some of the most intractable problems faced by women around the world today – and whether the political will exists to allocate real resources to solving them or simply pay lip service.

Jordanian NGOs Lead the Fight for Migrant Workers’ Rights

By Myriam Merlant
As the number of domestic workers flooding into Jordan from Indonesia, Philippines and Sri Lanka reaches 140,000 annually, non-governmental organisations on the ground are working hard to protect migrant labourers’ rights and expose the terrible working conditions in the rich households that employ them.

Global Gender Imbalance Poses Critical Problems for Women

By Charundi Panagoda
In 2005, there were 163 million more men in Asia, more than the entire female population of the United States. Asia is now facing serious consequences from sex selection, a situation the West might have inadvertently helped create.

ZAMBIA: Chinese Underage Sex Scandal Sparks Emotive Debate

By Lewis Mwanangombe
Zhang Daliu, 46, a carpenter from China never imagined himself in the dreadful confines of a stinking and overcrowded Zambian jail where conditions are so terrible that they lead to gastronomic disorders and skin diseases within days of confinement.

UGANDA: Rural Women’s Banks Ease Tough Times

By Wambi Michael
For most Ugandan women, obtaining a commercial loan to start a business has been very difficult. Many do not have the required collateral of land title deeds and many cannot afford the interest rates charged by commercial banks.

JAMAICA: “Mama P” Faces Prejudice, Economic Challenges

By Zadie Neufville
Running on promises of job creation, economic growth and wider stakeholder consultations, Jamaica's most popular politician and the country's first female prime minister Portia Simpson Miller swept to power in a victory almost no one had predicted.

MEXICO: Even Educated Young Women Face Poor, Jobless Future

By Guadalupe Cruz Jaimes
The year 2012 started off with little promise for workers in Mexico, with analysts projecting job losses and wages below subsistence levels.

JAPAN: New Year Brings Economic Aftershocks

By Suvendrini Kakuchi
Hideo Sato, 47, and his family escaped to this snowy city 200 km from the radiation emitting Fuksuhima power plant that was struck by a massive earthquake-driven tsunami on Mar. 11.

Moving Towards a Food-Secure Ghana

By Isaiah Esipisu
In Dundo village in Nyankpala district, Northern Ghana, 10 women are busy weeding a rice field on a piece of land donated to them by the village chief.
Malawi

MALAWI: Women’s Education the Path to the Presidency

By Travis Lupick
On an elegant veranda adorned with a red carpet, Malawi's Vice President Joyce Banda recalls how her childhood friend Chrissie Mtokoma was always top of their class and how she struggled to beat her. But now decades later Banda is a likely contender for the country's presidency in 2014, while Mtokoma lives in poverty.

SOUTH SUDAN: Women Aim to Protect Their Rights in a Young State

By Amanda Wilson
As South Sudan maps out its economic future at the South Sudan International Engagement Conference (IEC) this week in Washington, women from the new country called on donors to invest in projects that ensure women benefit equally from development plans.
In Ajegunle, a low-lying slum in Lagos, flooding is also disrupting the economic activities of women Credit: Sam Olukoya/IPS

NIGERIA: Fearing the Floods – Sleeping with One Eye Open

By Sam Olukoya
The women of Makoko, a low-lying slum close to the Lagos Lagoon along Nigeria’s Atlantic coast, always sleep with one eye open. Many live in fear that when they go to sleep at night they will wake to flooded homes and business.

HONDURAS: Indigenous Cooperatives Cultivate Success

By Thelma Mejía
Thanks to the quality and freshness of their produce, indigenous Lenca farmers in western Honduras are regular suppliers of seven supermarket chains. This year they won the National Environmental Prize, in the community initiatives category.
Workers on Bugala Island work to clear the rainforest to make way for an expanding palm tree plantation. Credit: Will Boase/IPS

UGANDA: Deforestation Robbing Communities of their Income

By Andrew Green
From a distance, Bugala Island in Lake Victoria is a patchwork of green and brown. The pattern is a result of dense forest retreating in the wake of recently planted palm tree plantations.

For Big Financial Institutions, Profit Trumps Women’s Rights

By Kanya D'Almeida
This year, for the first time, the World Bank dedicated its 2012 annual flagship World Development Report to women as indispensable players in the global economy and launched a media campaign to "think equal".

To Women’s Rights, Financial Institutions Pay Lip Service Only

By Kanya D'Almeida and - -
On day seven of "the 16 days of activism to end violence against women" campaign, women's rights organisations around the world are asking what the biggest international financial institutions (IFIs) are really doing to protect women's rights, which are under daily assault.
« Previous Page — Next Page »
*#*