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Friday, October 30, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Women & Economy
Q&A: How to Analyse a Budget’s Impact on Female Empowerment
Tools such as "gender markers", which screen budgets and resources dedicated to promoting gender equality, are proving critical to improving the effectiveness of monetary support that seeks to empower women and girls.
Following the Money Trail in Gender Financing
Promising methods of tracking aid funding intended to improve women's and girls' livelihoods also offer the possibility of revealing whether donors and policymakers are walking the walk when it comes to gender financing.Quake Empowers Japanese Women
Devastating as the Tohoku earthquake was it gave the local women of the remote region an opportunity to come into their own and take on leadership roles in an essentially patriarchal country.
Poverty Encourages Early Marriages in Tajikistan
When she was 16, Kibriyo Khaitova’s parents told her that if she didn’t marry, she’d soon be a spinster. So, like many girls from Tajikistan, Khaitova married a man her family found for her. Now 20, she has two children, no husband and is fending for herself.Little Money to Promote Gender Equality in Eastern Europe
Despite pushes from international bodies such as the United Nations (UN) or the European Union (EU) to promote gender equality in Central and Eastern Europe, access to funding for such initiatives remains largely conditional upon national governments’ willingness to embrace this agenda.
KENYA: Microloans, Greenhouses Help Women Cope with Climate Change
At Gakoromone Market in Meru, in Kenya’s Eastern Province, Ruth Muriuki arrives in a pickup full of tomatoes and cabbages despite the scarcity of rainfall in the area, thanks to the greenhouse technology she uses on her farm – and microcredit.
U.N. Meet Holds Governments to Account on Women’s Equality
In 2008, delegates meeting for the annual U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) agreed that much greater investments in women and gender equality were a critical – and overlooked – aspect of sustainable development.
KENYA: Microloans, Greenhouses Help Women Cope with Climate Change
At Gakoromone Market in Meru, in Kenya’s Eastern Province, Ruth Muriuki arrives in a pickup full of tomatoes and cabbages despite the scarcity of rainfall in the area, thanks to the greenhouse technology she uses on her farm – and microcredit.Index Offers Improved Method to Gauge Women’s Progress
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.
Rural Women Are Leading the Way – Will the World Follow? – Part 2
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
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.
Rural Women in Latin America Face Myriad Hurdles
"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
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.
Q&A: How to Reverse the “Feminisation of Poverty”
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Around the world, women make great contributions to different economies. From the field of business, to carrying the bulk of unpaid care, women are essential to economic growth. However, due to gender inequality, women face economic discrimination. Taking many forms, including disproportionate wages, greater exposure to vulnerable employment, and reduced economic opportunity, this inequality continues to curtail economic development. Yet women continue to work past these obstacles and reduce this disparity, furthering economic empowerment. These stories help to identify women’s economic struggles, and those that are working towards empowerment.
The Week with IPS
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Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
