CIVICUS discusses Nepal’s upcoming election with youth activist Anusha Khanal of the Gen Z Movement Alliance, a youth-led civil society coalition mobilising for democratic accountability and governance reform in Nepal.

Anusha Khanal

What triggered the Gen Z protests, and how did the state respond?

The immediate trigger was the government revealing its authoritarian tendencies by banning 26 popular social media platforms. This happened during the ‘nepokids’ trend, in which people exposed the wealth of politicians’ families, contrasting with widespread economic desperation. Inflation was high and unemployment among young people stood at around 23 per cent, and there were no pathways for change within existing political structures. But this wasn’t just about jobs. Young people demanded accountability for decades of corruption, poor governance, service delivery failures and a political system completely disconnected from our realities. The leaders of three parties had rotated in power for years without delivering anything meaningful. We mobilised because we had nothing to lose.

The response was brutal. On the first day of protests, police killed several young people. The government refused to show any responsibility, instead seeking to frame the movement as violent and deny it any legitimacy. It criminalised youth anger instead of listening to it. The choice to emphasise property damage over deaths when some buildings were burned and vandalised told us everything about where their priorities lay. The government showed it did not care about young people.

But repression didn’t stop the movement; it accelerated it. Thousands more young people mobilised, and eventually the pressure became impossible to ignore. Oli’s resignation was a forced concession. But it exposed something important: the political system only moves when threatened directly. That’s a lesson we’re carrying into these elections.

How did civil society organisations engage with the movement?

Young people created the movement, not civil society organisations. Once it started, we received a lot of support from wider civil society. It became a people’s movement, with people of all ages taking part, in person and in spirit. Many civil society groups made a conscious choice to support it, document what was happening, share knowledge, help shape narratives, amplify demands and help exert pressure to translate grassroots anger into political demands. We pushed for accountability, investigations into the killings, protection for protesters and systemic reforms around corruption and governance. We insisted that any negotiation include young people at the table, as stakeholders in decision-making.

A major win was a 10-point agreement with the interim government that included commitments to address corruption, improve governance, ensure youth participation in decision-making and move towards more inclusive democracy. We also pushed for the establishment of the Gen Z Council, a body designed to hold government accountable, monitor implementation of reforms and bridge the gap between the state and young people.

But we’ve been realistic about what civil society can and cannot do. We can organise, advocate, document and monitor. We cannot force a government to implement reforms if the bureaucracy resists or political will collapses after elections. That’s why we’re now focused on maintaining pressure and building systems that make it harder for future governments to ignore youth demands.

How have election candidates addressed the movement’s demands?

Anti-corruption and good governance have become dominant themes across party manifestos. All parties are talking about digital governance, e-governance, going cashless and paperless. Some are promising to establish commissions to investigate past corruption or audit public officials’ assets going back decades. Others focus on timecard systems for service delivery, budget transparency and digitisation of transactions. It’s just that corruption is so visible that ignoring it would be political suicide.

The problem is that most parties are vague on implementation. They describe the what but not the how. There are also ideological differences, but most parties are talking about systemic reform and public-private partnerships.

Across the board, parties are responding to the movement’s anti-corruption demand because they have to. The question is whether these commitments are genuine or just campaign rhetoric.

Why are women and excluded groups still so underrepresented among candidates?

Campaign financing is a massive problem. The government sets spending limits, but everyone knows that’s not what happens on the ground. To run a serious campaign with widespread reach, you need sponsorship from wealthy backers or business interests. If you’re a woman earning a minimum wage, you simply cannot compete against candidates funded by millionaires. There is no public financing system, no state support for candidates from marginalised backgrounds. The economic system excludes most women and poor people before we even get to party selection processes.

Safety is another critical issue that doesn’t get enough attention. Digital violence against women running for office is rampant. Women and queer candidates face abuse, harassment and threats online and offline. When we encourage female and queer colleagues to run, the response is often hesitancy, due to the lack of support and because we haven’t created safe enough spaces for them to participate in politics. Although the constitution guarantees women 33 per cent representation, the reality on the ground is completely different.

Then there’s the distribution of candidacy slots within parties, which is opaque and controlled by party leaders. Even after public pressure, many parties failed to meet the female quota in direct candidacies. Some did better in proportional representation slots, but even there, they selected women who are mostly well-connected and wealthy. The movement emphasised inclusion, but we’ve regressed when it comes to candidate selection.

What obstacles stand in the way of reform?

The first challenge is that we’re almost certainly heading towards a coalition government, which means compromise on every issue. When multiple parties have to negotiate and share power, reform agendas get watered down. Parties will prioritise holding their coalition together over pushing through the anti-corruption and governance reforms they promised. We’ve seen this pattern before. What isn’t clear yet is what kind of coalition will result and what compromises will be made.

The second challenge is the bureaucracy. Nepal’s bureaucracy can be notoriously resistant to change, transparency and accountability. A reform can pass parliament and still die in implementation because mid-level bureaucrats refuse to change how they work. Even though the law to establish the Gen Z Council has been passed, it hasn’t been formed yet. We can identify problems, document failures and advocate loudly, but we cannot force a government to act. If the bureaucracy decides to drag its feet, we have limited leverage. Structural incentives favour the status quo, and that’s before we even consider whether individual politicians will prioritise reforms over personal interests or patronage networks.

But we’re not giving up. Civil society’s role now is to maintain constant pressure, document what does and doesn’t get implemented and call attention when governments fail to keep their promises. The Gen Z Council gives us a formal mechanism to do this, and we can also raise our voices independently of it. We need to build broader coalitions, keep the movement’s demands visible in public discourse and make clear that if a government fails to deliver, there will be consequences. Real change is slow and difficult — but it’s possible if civil society stays organised and vigilant and doesn’t compromise on core demands.

CIVICUS interviews a wide range of civil society activists, experts and leaders to gather diverse perspectives on civil society action and current issues for publication on its CIVICUS Lens platform. The views expressed in interviews are the interviewees’ and do not necessarily reflect those of CIVICUS. Publication does not imply endorsement of interviewees or the organisations they represent.

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By External Source
Mar 4 2026 (IPS)

 
Women and girls have never been closer to equality.

And never closer to losing it.

In 1995, 189 governments adopted the Beijing Declaration.

A global promise for the equal rights of all women and girls.

On 8 March 2026, the United Nations International Women’s Day theme is clear:

RIGHTS. JUSTICE. ACTION. FOR ALL WOMEN AND GIRLS.

The call is for equal rights, and equal justice, to enforce, exercise and enjoy those rights.

Because progress is still too slow.

At the current pace, closing legal protection gaps could take 286 years.

Rights written into law are not enough.

Justice means those rights must be enforced.

Yet almost 1 in 3 women has experienced physical or sexual violence.

Women hold only 27.2% of seats in national parliaments.

And just 22.9% of cabinet posts worldwide.

Too many women and girls are still denied protection.

Too many are still shut out of power.

Too many are still failed by the systems meant to protect them.

Aligned with CSW70, this year’s UN focus goes beyond symbolism.

It demands full participation in public life.

It demands the elimination of violence.

It demands equal justice.

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Aung San Suu Kyi, Union Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, attends the opening of Myanmar's first round of oral observations at the International Court of Justice in 2019. She has since been jailed by the generals she defended at the ICJ. UN Photo/ICJ-CIJ/Frank van Beek

By Guy Dinmore
YANGON, Myanmar, and CHIANGMAI, Thailand , Jan 16 2026 (IPS)

Held incommunicado in grim prison conditions for nearly five years, Aung San Suu Kyi quite possibly does not even know that this week the International Court of Justice (ICJ) opened a landmark case charging Myanmar with committing genocide against its Rohingya minority a decade ago.

If news did filter through from the world outside her cell, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and ousted leader of Myanmar’s elected government would surely be reflecting on how it was that the generals she steadfastly defended in The Hague in preliminary hearings in 2019 are now her jailers.

The case before the ICJ, brought by Gambia, levels charges of genocide against Myanmar dating to the offensive in 2016-17 by military forces and Buddhist militia against the mostly Moslem Rohingya minority. Thousands were killed, villages torched and women raped, culminating in over 700,000 refugees forced across the border into Bangladesh.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s reputation was already badly tarnished in the west even before she went to The Hague. In 2017 Oxford University’s St Hugh’s College, her alma mater, had removed her portrait from public view, and in 2018 Amnesty International joined numerous institutions and cities revoking awards they had bestowed, dismayed that she had not even used her moral authority as head of government to condemn the violence. Her 1991 Nobel prize remained intact—there were no rules to revoke it.

Separately, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court last November requested an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing for alleged crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya.

To add salt to those wounds, her leading of Myanmar’s legal team to the ICJ may in fact have sealed her fate with the generals rather than preserve their difficult power-sharing arrangement.

“At that point her credibility was shattered and she lost the West,” commented a veteran analyst in Yangon. “It was at that point that the military decided to move against her and started plotting their coup,” he said, explaining how Senior General Min Aung Hlaing calculated that the international community would not rally behind her.

Aung San Suu Kyi turned 80 in prison last June and this week marks a total of some 20 years she has spent behind bars or under house arrest since her return to Myanmar from Britain in 1988. She has not seen her lawyers for two years and is serving sentences amounting to 27 years following an array of charges, including corruption, that her followers dismiss as fabricated.

Largely forgotten or deemed as irrelevant outside her country, in Myanmar “Mother Suu” remains widely popular, even revered—at least among the Buddhist Bamar majority—and her fate still has a bearing on the course of the country’s future.

Although the junta’s staging of phased elections, now underway in areas it controls, is dismissed by many in Myanmar as a total sham, people dare to hope that General Min Aung Hlaing, possibly the next president, might release Aung San Suu Kyi and the deposed president Win Myint, among other political prisoners. The expectation is that the military’s proxy party might make some form of gesture after the nominally civilian government takes office in April.

Very few signs remain of Aung San Suu Kyi in junta-controlled areas. This poster hung in a Yangon cafe in 2024 but is no longer there. Credit: Guy Dinmore/IPS

But resistance fighters and members of the parallel National Unity Government (NUG) operating in areas beyond junta control remain skeptical.

“The release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remains tightly constrained by the current balance of power. For Min Aung Hlaing, her freedom would fundamentally undermine the regime’s authority, giving him strong incentives to keep her isolated as long as the military remains ‘in control,’” David Gum Awng, NUG deputy foreign minister, told IPS outside Myanmar.

The “credible pathway forward,” he said, is to seize the capital Nay Pyi Taw, where Aung San Suu Kyi is believed to be incarcerated, and dismantle the military regime while reaching a broad political agreement or coalition among resistance forces.

“This would demand tremendous collective effort, large-scale coordination, and a much stronger political and military alliance and pact,” he added, referring to the NUG’s struggle to forge agreements among disparate ethnic armed groups that have been resisting successive military regimes and sometimes fighting between themselves for decades.

A former military captain, who defected to join civilian resistance groups outside Myanmar, told IPS that he liked “Mother Suu” and that his whole family had voted for her National League for Democracy in the 2020 elections when her government was re-elected by a landslide only for the generals to annul the results in their 2021 coup.

“But now it’s very hard for her to be a leader. We don’t see any changes happening. Ming Aung Hlaing will detain her for as long as possible. I worked with him and know his personality and based on that, he won’t release her. He is a vindictive man,” the former soldier said.

For the younger generation who paid a heavy price in mass street protests crushed by the military in early 2021 and then fled to join resistance forces springing up across the country, it seems time to move on from the era of Aung San Suu Kyi.

“It is time for a new leader. She is old. Gen Z will not listen to her,” was the comment of one hotel worker who also praised her legacy.

The NUG and the new generation are starting to acknowledge the historic abuses and wrongs committed by successive Myanmar leaders against the mostly stateless Rohingya community.

Some are following news of the ICJ hearings this week and openly say Aung San Suu Kyi’s role in 2019 in defending the military against charges of genocide was morally wrong and that she had ended up weakening her own position.

“She’s not there to defend them now,” commented one young man who was forced to flee Myanmar as the military hunted down his father, a prominent activist.

People who have known her for years seem to disagree over what really motivated Aung San Suu Kyi in taking that fateful step in The Hague.

Was it pride in defending her country as the daughter of Aung San, independence hero and founder of the modern military? Or did she wrongly calculate it was her only way forward while trying to introduce political and economic reforms that would curb the power of the generals?  Or was she simply like one of them—a Buddhist nationalist of the Bamar majority who remained skeptical about real federalism and saw the Rohingya as migrants who did not “belong” in Myanmar and were a threat to its dominant religion?

In a country where one powerful force remains committed to a past that is rejected by a large majority of its people, such questions over the shape of Myanmar’s future remain highly relevant, as does the fate of one woman.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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Credit: Brenton Geach/Gallo Images

By Inés M. Pousadela
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Dec 27 2025 (IPS)

Hours before world leaders gathered in Johannesburg for the 2025 G20 summit in November, hundreds of South African women wearing black lay down in a city park for 15 minutes — one for each woman who loses her life every day to gender-based violence in the country. The striking visual protest was organised by a civil society organisation, Women for Change, which also gathered over a million signatures demanding the government declare gender-based violence (GBV) a national disaster. Hours later, the government acquiesced.

It was a vital victory in a year marked by brutal violence and political backlash. As the dust settles on the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign – an annual event that starts on 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and ends on 10 December, Human Rights Day – the achievement in South Africa stands in contrast to a global landscape of regression.

The numbers that motivated this year’s mobilisations tell a grim story. In 2024, around 4,000 women were victims of femicides in Latin America alone, amounting to nearly 11 gender-related killings a day. Africa has the world’s highest rate at three femicides per 100,000 women, with South Africa’s numbers off the charts.

Throughout 2025, women took to the streets in response to sustained patterns of violence and femicide cases that shocked society. In Argentina, protests erupted in September following the live-streamed torture and killing of three young women by a drug-trafficking gang. In Brazil, tens of thousands mobilised in December after a woman was run over by her ex-boyfriend and dragged across concrete for a kilometre, resulting in the loss of her legs. In Italy, nationwide protests followed the murders of two 22-year-old students in April and the killing of a 14-year-old girl by an older boy whose advances she rejected in May.

These highly visible cases were the tip of the iceberg. Yet they galvanised mobilisations because of decades of civil society groundwork: naming femicide as a distinct phenomenon, fighting for legal recognition and creating the databases many governments still refuse to maintain. This deliberate work of counting the dead has transformed individual tragedies into evidence of systematic violence, making it impossible for states to dismiss each killing as an isolated incident.

This sustained pressure forced some governments to act. In 2025, Spain became a European Union (EU) pioneer in criminalising vicarious violence — violence perpetrated against women through intermediaries, typically children or family members. Its new law, passed in September, followed Mexico’s 2023 recognition of this form of abuse. On 25 November, coinciding with International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Italy’s parliament passed a law making femicide a distinct criminal offence punishable by life imprisonment. The achievement is all the more significant given that, until 1981, the Italian penal code still offered leniency for so-called ‘honour killings’.

But progress is fragile. Right-wing governments that frame anti-GBV measures as ideological are moving to dismantle decades of feminist victories. In Argentina, the right-wing government of President Javier Milei has eliminated the Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity and announced plans to dismantle comprehensive sexuality education and repeal gender parity in electoral lists, among other regressive changes.

In Turkey, which abandoned the Istanbul Convention – the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence – in 2021, thousands of women defied sweeping protest bans to demand justice over the suspicious death of a 21-year-old university student in October. According to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, at least 235 women were killed by men between January and October, with an additional 247 women found dead in suspicious circumstances. Yet the right-wing nationalist government declared 2025 to be the ‘Year of the Family’, criticised by activists for reinforcing traditional roles instead of addressing women’s safety.

And in Latvia, parliament voted to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, barely a year after ratifying it. Right-wing parties argued it promoted ‘gender theories’ under the guise of combating violence, and proceeded despite a petition against it that gathered over 60,000 signatures. The president sent the bill back to parliament for review, but if it passes, Latvia will be the first EU member state to quit the convention.

The 16 Days campaign highlights a fundamental truth: violence against women is not just a social problem but a violation of human rights. Its endpoint on Human Rights Day, established to commemorate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, asserts that women’s rights are human rights and emphasises the demand that states fulfil their obligations under international law to prevent, investigate and punish GBV.

South Africa’s declaration proves that sustained collective action can force change. Women’s rights activists successfully leveraged the international spotlight of the G20 summit, staging a nationwide shutdown that saw thousands withdraw from paid and unpaid labour, refrain from spending money and lie in silent protest at noon. They forced the crisis onto the global agenda at a moment of unprecedented international attention.

Meeting even the most basic demands — the ability to walk home without fear, leave abusive partners, participate in politics without risking sexual violence, exist online without harassment — requires structural transformation. Women will only find safety when societies cease to view them as objects to possess and control, when those seeking to escape abuse have a path to economic independence, when judicial systems treat violence against women with the seriousness it deserves and when technology companies are held accountable for platforms that enable harassment.

The year revealed more regression than progress. Yet amid growing repression and dwindling resources, women’s movements persisted in documenting violence, supporting survivors, educating the public and advocating for systemic change. Their persistence reflects a clear understanding that real change demands sustained action. States have human rights obligations to protect women’s lives, and women’s movements will continue to insist these obligations are met with the seriousness and resources they require, one protest at a time.

Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Head of Research and Analysis, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report. She is also a Professor of Comparative Politics at Universidad ORT Uruguay.

For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org

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A global crackdown on civic freedoms is intensifying – and women are on the frontlines of the attack. CIVICUS’s 2025 People Power Under Attack report analyses the extent to which freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly are being respected or violated. The report reveals that people in 83 countries now live in conditions where their freedoms are routinely denied, compared to 67 in 2020. In 2020, 13 per cent of the world’s population lived in countries where civic freedoms were broadly respected; now it’s more like 7 per cent. Among the most documented violations in 2025 were detention of human rights defenders, journalists and protesters, and women human rights defenders (WHRDs) were among the most affected.

Reylynne Dela Paz

WHRDs are women and girls, in all their diversity, working on any human rights issue, and those who promote women’s and girls’ rights and gender justice. They include people in civil society who might not self-identify as human rights defenders and those who work in fields such as environmental activism, humanitarian response, journalism and peacebuilding.

WHRDs are at a higher risk of being discriminated against and abused not only for what they do, but also because of who they are. By virtue of their gender identity, they challenge societal norms and patriarchal structures. The 2025 People Power Under Attack report, for example, documents numerous examples of online intimidation and threats against women journalists, both because of their journalistic work and because they’re women.

Attacks against women and girls in general and WHRDs in particular are increasingly being fuelled by rising authoritarian rule, fundamentalism and populism. Governments, politicians and non-state groups are taking more confident and strident anti-rights actions, fuelling an environment where repression and violence against WHRDs is not only possible but celebrated.

Anti-rights networks, led by populist politicians and fundamentalist religious groups, are engaging in coordinated, sustained and increasingly influential work to stigmatise campaigns for women’s rights and gender justice and those involved in them. They spread the idea that gender justice and those who strive for it threaten children’s welfare, families, religious beliefs, national security and traditional and cultural norms. They’re manipulating public narratives and weaponising disinformation to gain public support.

This has given rise to decreased support for HIV prevention projects, queer movements, sexual, reproductive health and rights initiatives, women’s and girls’ participation in decision-making spaces and any human rights effort led by women, including those on climate and environmental justice, disability, Indigenous rights and peace and security.

CIVICUS’s Stand As My Witness Campaign, which calls for the release of unjustly detained human rights defenders, shows how brutal the current context is for WHRDs. It documents stories of violent arrests, inhumane treatment and other cruel actions against women who have dedicated their lives to pursuing justice and resisting repressive governments. WHRDs Pakhshan Azizi, Sharifeh Mohammadi and Verisheh Moradi are facing death sentences in Iran. Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian human rights activist and journalist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, has also been imprisoned repeatedly for her work.

Other WHRDs who have been arbitrarily arrested include Chow Hang-Tung from Hong Kong, who advocated for the protection and promotion of labour rights and the rights of persecuted human rights defenders in mainland China, Marfa Rabkova, coordinator of Viasna Center for Human Rights’ network of volunteers in Belarus, Kenia Hernandez, coordinator of Zapata Vive, a peasant movement that defends land rights in Mexico, and Hoda Abdel Moneim, a human rights lawyer from Egypt.

I know a mother who helped farmers learn about their rights but was falsely accused of illegally possessing firearms. She was dragged from her house carrying her newborn child. I recall an old woman who has spent her days helping empower Indigenous people but who was harshly arrested and denied medical treatment while in jail, a trans woman who joined a protest and was arrested for no other reason than being a trans protester, and a girl activist who was harassed online for sharing her thoughts against child marriage.

Beyond commemoration

These few painful stories represent only a fraction of reality. The problem is systemic. The world is dominated by cowardly rulers who draw confidence and power from dominant systems of patriarchy and support from anti-rights networks. The restriction of freedoms online and offline make it more difficult and dangerous to hold those in power accountable.

The intensifying repression of civic space, as documented in People Power Under Attack, demands coordinated and sustained action to defend and support the work of activists, human rights defenders and journalists. Increasing threats against WHRDs demand a proactive response to dismantle the gender discriminatory norms and patriarchal rules that underpin and enable human rights violations.

There’s a great need for intersectional protection mechanisms and gender transformative responses from national, regional and international human rights institutions. It’s time for policies that protect human rights defenders but also recognise the distinct needs and lived experiences of WHRDs in all their diversity.

Multilateral institutions should hold member states to account for the international commitments they have made. Regional and global intergovernmental institutions should invest in closely monitoring the situation of WHRDs and in protecting them, and hold perpetrators accountable for abuses. There should be increased investment and coordinated efforts to promote gender justice as part of human rights and respond to the disinformation and false narratives being spread online by governments and the private sector.

The Sustainable Development Goals, backed by all states when they were agreed in 2015, recognise gender equality as a fundamental part of achieving sustainable development, yet little effort has gone into ensuring the people who strive for this are safe and able to work. Women and girls play a vital role in the pursuit of peace and justice, but they increasingly suffer. They don’t need to be merely recognised and remembered: they need to be protected and supported in the face of growing attacks.

Reylynne Dela Paz is Advocacy Lead at CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation.

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Participants at the Non-Governmental Organizations Forum meeting held in Huairou, China, as part of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China, on 4-15 september 1995. Credit: UN Photo/Milton Grant

By Naureen Hossain
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 30 2025 (IPS)

Thirty years since the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the resolve that defined and united the world toward a global agenda for gender equality make it just as relevant in 2025.

The Beijing Conference represents a turning point for the global movement in gender equality. It is marked by the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which is still held up as a landmark document in presenting a comprehensive blueprint to achieve gender equality.

The Beijing Conference was just “one stop in a long and continuing journey of feminist advocacy,” said Sia Nowrojee, a Kenyan women’s rights advocate with more than thirty years’ experience.

“Even though it’s thirty years later, it’s absolutely relevant. It was the culmination of twenty years of advocacy and gender equality.” Nowrojee is the UN Foundation’s Associate Vice President of their Girls and Women Strategy division.

The Beijing Conference was the first time that the international community integrated gender equality into the global development and rights agenda. It was recognition that securing the rights and dignities for all women and girls would be integral to achieving widespread development. This was key for the countries that had emerged in the post-colonial era.

Sia Nowrojee, UN Foundation’s Associate Vice President of Girls and Women Strategy. Credit: UN Foundation

The leadership of advocates from the Global South was instrumental to the Beijing PoA. Representatives from Africa, Asia, and Latin America pushed for the measures that make the framework as inclusive as it is. Nowrojee gave the example of girls’ rights being recognized thanks to the efforts of African feminists in the lead-up to Beijing.

Hibaaq Osman, a Somali human rights activist and founder of El-Karama, considers that the Global South activists had been uniquely prepared to participate as they had lived through their countries’ great political upheavals against colonialism and racism.

Osman attended Beijing 1995 as part of the Center of Strategic Initiatives of Women, a civil society network.

Hibaaq Osman, a Somali human rights activist and founder of El-Karama. Credit: UN Foundation

“For me, as a young woman, I was shocked by the things that I heard. I was raised to believe that everything was a privacy. But to hear a woman speaking for herself and sharing things that I never thought you could share with others, including violence against women… It absolutely opened my eyes and made me see, ‘Oh my god, I can actually share things with other women,’” Osman told IPS.

For Osman, the Beijing conference represented the possibilities of what could be achieved through a shared agenda and a shared sense of hope. The unique energy from that conference drove her advocacy work through groups like the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) and then El-Karama, which is working to end violence against women in the Arab region and South Sudan.

General view of the opening session of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. Credit: UN Photo/Milton Grant

Beijing 1995 also provided the expectation of accountability from governments and policy makers if they did not implement the PoA. “That had never happened before. There was a mechanism for the first time…,” said Osman. “You can hold governments and policymakers accountable. But you also have the connection with grassroots. That it was no longer the individual woman that could claim that she was the leader, but having accountability to your own people, I think that whole thing was fantastic.”

“I think the legacy of Beijing 1995 honestly, it gave us a legacy of getting out of our corners and just wide open to the rest of the women. And I think that vision, that framework is still working.”

Delegates working late into the night to draft the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Credit: UNDP/Milton Grant

The success of the Women’s Conferences also demonstrated the UN’s role as a space to build up the gender equality movement, Nowrojee remarked. The UN has also served as a platform for emerging countries to raise their issues to the international community and to shape global agendas on their terms.

Prior to Beijing, the UN World Conference on Women had previously been held in Nairobi (1985), Copenhagen (1980) and Mexico City (1975). These were also key forums for people from all parts of the world to build relationships and for there to be a “cross-pollination of ideas and experiences”, laying down the groundwork for what was later achieved in Beijing.

Nowrojee was 18 years old when she attended the Nairobi 1985 Conference as part of a school/youth delegation. The experience was formative in listening to women’s activists from the region impart their wisdom and insights.

“To see the world’s women come to my home and talk about the fact that we mattered was life-changing for me,” Nowrojee said. “I made friends who I still work with and love and see today. And I think there is that sort of personal part, which is both personally sustaining, but it’s a critical part of feminist movement building.”

Each conference built up momentum that saw no sign of slowing down. Osman and Nowrojee explained that as gains were being made at local, national and global levels, this encouraged those in the movement to act with urgency and go further. This provided them the spaces to learn how to refine the messages for local contexts.

Delegates at the Fourth UN World Conference on Women in Beijing 1995. Credit: UNDPI /UN Women

The gains towards gender equality should be noted: the codification of women’s rights around the world, their increased participation in politics and in peace negotiations. Evidence has shown that investing in women’s participation in society through health, education and employment leads to economic growth and prosperity. More women in the workforce mean greater economic gains and stability. Increased social protections for women lead to more stability in communities.

And yet, there was backlash to the momentum. Recent years have seen the rise of anti-rights and anti-gender movements gain greater traction, combined with increasing attempts to strip women of their rights. UN Women has warned that one in four countries are reporting a backlash to women’s rights.

Nowrojee remarked that the autocratic leaders that champion these movements target women’s rights because it threatens their own agenda. “If you are silencing half the human family, and you are hampering their ability to make decisions about their bodies, to participate in political process… these are very, very effective ways of undermining democracy, development, peace and the achievement of all the goals and values that we hold dear.”

“They understand that if you bring women down, you are bringing society down, because women are the core of society,” Osman added.

The modern movements are also well-funded and well-organized. But there is an irony to it in that they use the same tactics that feminist movements have been using for decades by organizing at the grassroots level before moving their influence up to the national level and beyond. But this should not be where activists fall to despair. Instead they should understand, Osman and Nowrojee remarked, that women in this space already know what actions need to be taken to regain lost momentum.

“I’m sure that Sia and I and many, many others who were part of that are also thinking about today and what’s happening, and we know the space for civil society is shrinking,” Osman said. “The space for democracy, human rights, justice, reproductive rights, for all of that, there is absolutely a rollback, But it’s not going to delay us. We are just going to be more sophisticated and ask ourselves “Where are the blocks, how do we build… diverse constituencies?”… So it is hard, but we are not slowing down whatsoever.”

Today, it may seem the pursuit of gender equality is an ongoing struggle that faces the threat of autocratic movements that sow distrust and division. For the people who championed the women’s rights movement and can recall a time before the Beijing PoA, they are all too aware of what is at stake. The leaders in modern movements today need to look back to the past to take lessons, and to take courage.

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Delegates at AFPPD’s Sub-Regional Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Women Empowerment and Investment in Young People, which focused on the ICPD Program of Action and 2030 Agenda. Credit: People’s Majlis of the Republic of Maldives

By Cecilia Russell
MALÉ & JOHANNESBURG, Jun 26 2025 (IPS)

A meeting of parliamentarians in Malé, the Maldives, pledged to provide an enabling environment for emerging women leaders by supporting them and promoting a political culture rooted in mutual respect, inclusivity, and equal opportunity.

This was one of the main features of the Malé Declaration, agreed to by more than 40 participants from parliaments, governments, international organizations, NGOs, youth organizations, and academia across 15 countries during the AFPPD’s Sub-Regional Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Women Empowerment and Investment in Young People, which focused on the ICPD Program of Action and 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, aiming to address youth and women empowerment.

The meeting was co-hosted by the People’s Majlis of the Maldives and the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD), with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) through the Japan Trust Fund (JTF).

The lawmakers agreed to commission evidence-based research on barriers to women’s political participation. The research will “examine the social, cultural, economic, and institutional impediments to women’s pursuit of political office and leadership roles in the member states in Asia, including the Maldives,” the declaration said, with the outcomes serving as a foundation for targeted policy interventions and legislative reforms to enhance women’s political engagement.

Dr. Anara Naeem, MP, Huraa Constituency/Maldives

In an interview ahead of the meeting, Dr. Anara Naeem (MP, Huraa Constituency/Maldives) told IPS that advocating for women’s rights started when they were young and parliamentarians had an active role in ensuring that women are encouraged to become involved in the economy.

Reacting to a question on the UNFPA research, which shows that 40 percent of young women are not engaged in employment, education, or training (NEET), she noted many core challenges, including high youth unemployment despite free education up to a first university degree. The country, like others, had to deal with gender stereotypes that prioritized women’s domestic role over careers—and with social participation barriers, “stereotypes limit women’s public engagement.”

Policymakers, Naeem said, were focusing on addressing these using multiple strategies, including promoting postgraduate scholarships and vocational training (tourism, tech, and healthcare aligned with job markets), encouraging women into STEM and non-traditional fields via mentorship, and integrating leadership and career advancement programs to address the glass ceiling.

Parliamentarians were also looking at innovative ways to boost the public sector hiring of women and incentivize private sector partnerships through tax benefits, flexible work, and career progression pathways.

“We also host community dialogues (haa saaba) and engage religious leaders to shift mindsets,” Naeem said.

AFPPD’s Sub-Regional Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Women Empowerment and Investment in Young People, held in Malé, Maldives. Credit: People’s Majlis of the Republic of Maldives

Speakers at the AFPPD’s Sub-Regional Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Women Empowerment and Investment in Young People, held in Malé, Maldives. Credit: People’s Majlis of the Republic of Maldives

The Maldivian government was working to enforce gender equality laws (anti-discrimination, parental leave, and addressing the glass ceiling) and allocate a budget for childcare, job programs, and women’s grants, including the enforcement of paid maternity leave for up to six months and no-pay leave for a year in all government offices. It was also encouraging the private sector to do likewise.

However, the success of these plans requires “coordinated action across government, the private sector, NGOs, and communities to create relevant jobs, dismantle cultural barriers (including the glass ceiling), provide critical support (childcare, robust maternity leave), and enable flexible pathways for young women’s economic and social participation.”

Parliamentarians also committed to working with the relevant Maldivian authorities to undertake a thorough “review and enhancement of national school curriculum to align it with job matrix. This initiative shall integrate principles of gender equality, women’s rights, civic responsibility, leadership, and sustainable youth development, fostering transformative educational content to instill progressive values from an early age.”

Naeem said lawmakers were also playing a special role in addressing issues affecting the youth like drug use and mental health, where they were “combining legislative action, oversight, resource allocation, and public advocacy.”

This included updating drug laws to target traffickers, decriminalizing addiction, and prioritizing treatment. While parliamentarians were lobbying for increased funding for rehab centers and the training of psychologists and medication subsidies, they were using national media to create awareness and holding local dialogues.

“Our key focus in law reform includes better rehab frameworks, funding oversight, public awareness partnerships, building support systems, minimizing service delivery gaps, and reducing relapse—shifting towards prevention and recovery in the Maldivian context,” Naeem said.

Participants at the meeting recommitted themselves to working with all stakeholders to advance the ICPD PoA and achieve the 2030 Agenda and reaffirmed the 2024 Oslo Statement of Commitment.

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Police line up at an anti-government outside the parliament building in Tbilisi. Credit: Gvantsa Kalandadze

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Jun 20 2025 (IPS)

Having attended hundreds of anti-government protests in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, Gvantsa Kalandadze is no stranger to police intimidation and violence.

Police brutality has become common at the daily protests that have taken place in the city since the end of last year, when the autocratic government of the Georgian Dream party said it was stopping the country’s process of integration into the EU.

Kalandadze has seen others fall victim to police brutality and experienced it on more than one occasion herself—soon after leaving a protest in December last year, she was pushed to the ground and kicked viciously by a group of officers for questioning the arrest of a man in the street, and during another gathering a few weeks later, she was knocked out when officers pushed her and other protestors into a ditch.

But when the protests began, police violence against protesters seemed indiscriminate; research by rights group Amnesty International suggests that women protesters are now being targeted specifically and are facing escalating violence and gender-based reprisals.

Kalandadze says she is not surprised by the news.

“It’s true. The police are aggressive and they harass women both verbally, using demeaning terms such as ‘slut,’ ‘daughter of a whore,’ and others, and threaten us with rape and assault,” she says.

Amnesty’s research details the police’s methods to target women, which involves increasing use of gender-based violence including sexist insults, threats of sexual violence and unlawful and degrading strip searches against women involved in protests.

“We have spoken to people personally about what they experienced at the hands of the police, such as being forced to undergo strip-searches and threats of rape during detention,” Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, told IPS.

The group’s research also highlights individual cases of this abuse, including cases of women being violently restrained by officers, forced to strip naked, denied access to medical treatment, threatened with rape, and subjected to sexual insults.

Amnesty says these abuses not only violate Georgian law, which prohibits full undressing during searches, but also international human rights law and standards aimed at safeguarding human dignity and protecting people from gender-based violence.

“Forcing someone to completely strip naked [in detention] is against both international and Georgian law, yet despite this, the police are forcing protesters to do this. It is clearly a deliberate police policy, despite it being against the law,” said Krivosheev.

While Amnesty says it has spoken to numerous women about such abuse, Krivosheev said, “the number [of women who are victims of this targeting] is far more than we have been able to document simply because many victims are scared to speak out about what happened to them.”

Female protesters who spoke to IPS confirmed that police harassment of women at protests was widespread, but also that it was often used to provoke a specific response, and not always just from women.

“The thing is that women are never violent at protests; they would never attack police, and the police are insulting us—usually with sexual slurs like saying we’re all sluts, bitches, whores, and insults about oral and anal sex—to try and provoke us into doing something that would get us arrested or force the men around us to try and protect us and do something that will get those men arrested,” Vera*, who has attended scores of protests in Tbilisi, told IPS.

“I know multiple women who were physically pushed, dragged, or detained. Some were insulted with misogynistic language. A few were groped during arrests—and that isn’t isolated… many of us know someone personally who’s experienced this abuse,” Tamar*, a civil rights campaigner from Tbilisi who has attended scores of protests, told IPS.

She added that police were even cooperating with, or at least tolerating, criminals abusing women protesters.

“The police have used violence—tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, and physical force—but that’s only part of the story. What’s even more disturbing is the presence of organized criminal gangs. These groups operate with impunity, clearly coordinated, yet the police don’t intervene. They specifically target women activists—chasing them, splashing green substances on their faces, shouting threats, and trying to scare them off the streets.

“I was personally hit in the head with a stone by one of these thugs. When I asked a police officer for help, he sarcastically told me to ask my ‘fellow democratic fighters’ who did it, as if it had come from among the people protesting. There’s zero accountability when the violence comes from those orchestrated to look like random citizens. It’s a deliberate tactic to terrorize protesters, especially women, while maintaining official deniability,” she said.

Many female protesters believe the reasons behind the targeting of women are rooted in not just the role women are playing in the current protests but also the “misogynist tendencies” of many officers.

“There is also a culture of toxic masculinity that goes hand in hand with the conservative part of society—the police are angry that women are taking the initiative [in protests]—female participation in the current protests is a lot larger than ever before—and that causes their aggression. The police see (or, at least, saw at the beginning) women at protests as ‘inferior’ compared to men and think they will be easier to break morally and easier to overpower physically.

“Another factor is the sexual deviations of individuals in the police force—when they feel power over the women after detaining them, their perversion takes over,” Vera explained.

Others put it down to how police perceive women as a serious threat to their authority.

“I think that the real reason the police are targeting women is that women are truly fearless in these protests. They are very resilient and persistent and always on the frontlines. They have actually physically saved a lot of men from the hands of violent police. I truly believe that the police feel threatened by them,” Paata Sabelashvili, a rights campaigner in Tbilisi who has taken part in protests, told IPS.

He added, though, that “in light of the misogyny and sexism among police officers, this is, sadly, not unexpected, and I fear it will only get worse in the future.”

While Amnesty has called on Georgian authorities to immediately end all forms of gender-based reprisals and all unlawful use of force by law enforcement, investigate every allegation of abuse during the protests, and ensure accountability at all levels, neither the group itself nor protesters who spoke to IPS, believe that is likely to happen soon.

“There is little hope under the current government for accountability and effective investigation [of police abuse during protests],” said Krivosheev.

Local media have reported that investigations into complaints made by women about the violence and threats they have faced from police at protests have largely gone nowhere, as have investigations by the Special Investigation Service, which is tasked with independently investigating crimes committed by police, despite hundreds of reports of police violence in 2024 alone.

The government has not commented on claims of women protesters being targeted by police, but in the past it has justified police action at protests as being a response to violence from protesters and has claimed, without evidence, that the protests are being funded from abroad.

But while women protesters are suffering from abuse and harassment by police, the tactics appear to be galvanizing female participation in protests.

“These gender-based reprisals may have been aimed at scaring women into giving up, but that has not been the case. Women have continued protesting, and if anything, even more intensively. Many women continue to speak up about how the police are treating them,” said Krivosheev.

Kalandadze says that despite her experiences, she will not stop attending protests.

“The day the government announced it would suspend Georgia’s EU integration, I decided to join the street protests, and the violent suppression began the same night. Since then, I have attended every protest where protesters have been in danger—every gathering where the police special forces were called in. Even today, I take part in every protest where police forces are mobilized,” she says.

Vera pointed out that although the size of street protests in Tbilisi has grown smaller, they continue on a daily basis.

“The fact that there is some kind of protest in the capital every day is discomfiting for the government and also serves to ensure that the regime is not legitimized in the eyes of the country’s former western partners. There are lots of female activists and the leaders of the protest marches are always women. We have shown so much resilience. We believe in each other. This country is ours,” she said.

Tamar was even more defiant.

“When women lead, especially in a patriarchal society, it destabilizes the whole narrative. It’s not just about political dissent; it’s about cultural control. Yes, I fear things may get worse before they get better. But we aren’t taking a step back,” she said.

*Names have been changed for their safety.

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Study Tour on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Credit: AFPPD

By Cecilia Russell
SARAJEVO & JOHANNESBURG, May 30 2025 (IPS)

Jelena Pekić, MP of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (House of People) and Deputy Speaker of the Canton Sarajevo Assembly, Lana Prlić, MP of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (House of Representatives) and Marina Riđić, Assistant Representative, UNFPA Bosnia and Herzegovina, spoke to IPS ahead of the Study Tour on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The study visit program arranged for members of the AFPPD group as well as for parliamentarians from Eastern Europe, held on May 29 and 30 in Sarajevo, gives lawmakers from the region and abroad the opportunity to participate in an event where they can exchange experiences and learn from each other.

“The main objectives of this important gathering are deeply connected to our shared vision of fostering genuine equality and empowering women at every level of society,” explains Riđić. “It is an opportunity to build stronger collaborations between parliamentarians, civil society organizations, and experts, creating synergies and mutual understanding essential for sustainable progress. By connecting gender equality to broader issues of population dynamics and sustainable development, we emphasize the holistic approach needed to achieve lasting impact.”

Here are edited responses from MPs Pekić and Prlić and UNFPA’s Riđić.

IPS: What are the main objectives of the Parliamentarians’ conference in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

Jelena Pekić, MP of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (House of People) and Deputy Speaker of the Canton Sarajevo Assembly, and Lana Prlić, MP of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (House of Representatives).

Pekić and Prlić: The main objectives of the Parliamentarians’ conference in Bosnia and Herzegovina are, first, to have the opportunity for the MPs to come here and meet the people during the study tour on gender equality and women’s empowerment. MPs will meet representatives from all levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from state to local levels of government and Parliaments, as well as agencies and committees, UNFPA, and media. All of this couldn’t be possible without the local office of UNFPA, which worked hard in past months to organize this study tour.

Marina Riđić, Assistant Representative, UNFPA Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Riđić: As a woman from Bosnia and Herzegovina currently working with UNFPA, I see the Parliamentarians’ efforts on gender equality and women’s empowerment as a powerful platform to drive meaningful change in our region. The main objectives of this important gathering are deeply connected to our shared vision of fostering genuine equality and empowering women at every level of society. Through facilitating rich exchanges of experiences and peer learning among parliamentarians from Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), we aim not only to showcase Bosnia and Herzegovina’s robust legal and institutional frameworks but also to learn from each other’s successes and challenges. Bosnian and Herzegovinian Members of Parliament have already benefited immensely from the collaborative efforts with the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD), enhancing their knowledge and strengthening their resolve to champion gender-responsive policies. This conference further reinforces their capacity to design and implement initiatives that genuinely reflect and address the realities women face every day.

Moreover, it is an opportunity to build stronger collaborations between parliamentarians, civil society organizations, and experts, creating synergies and mutual understanding essential for sustainable progress. By connecting gender equality to broader issues of population dynamics and sustainable development, we emphasize the holistic approach needed to achieve lasting impact.

Personally, this conference represents a significant step forward in our collective journey towards true equality, highlighting the critical role parliamentarians play in transforming legislative visions into concrete actions that empower women and girls in Bosnia and Herzegovina and across the EECA region.

IPS: What are the challenges and successes regarding women’s representation in parliament and in other spheres of government? 

Pekić and Prlić: There was a study regarding challenges that women are facing as politicians, done by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy a couple of years ago, and the focus was on violence against women in politics. The study revealed the primary reasons women are reluctant to enter politics and why those who have been successful in the field have chosen to leave. Violence against women in politics commonly takes the form of emotional and verbal abuse; the perception is that violence is the cost of doing politics, and often a reason why women don’t do politics, or they leave politics. The Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2013 raised the mandatory quota for women on candidate lists to 40 percent.

It is important to have affordable and accessible social services, including childcare, in order for women to participate fully in the economy. While legislation may have been passed, budgets often fall behind. How are parliamentarians working toward ensuring that both the legislation and budgets work in harmony so that women can fully participate in the workplace?

Riđić: Bosnia and Herzegovina has made notable strides in advancing gender equality, particularly through the adoption of strong legal frameworks such as the Gender Equality Law and the Election Law’s Gender Quota. These measures signal a commitment to increasing women’s representation in parliament and other spheres of government.

However, the gap between policy and practice remains a major challenge. Despite progressive legislation, systemic barriers continue to limit women’s full participation in decision-making roles. Entrenched gender and social norms still define leadership as predominantly male, discouraging women from stepping into public and political life. On top of that, the heavy load of unpaid care work borne by women restricts their ability to invest time and energy into political careers or high-responsibility positions.

There is also a critical need to create more pathways for women to grow into leadership roles.

Structured training programmes, peer support, and mentorship initiatives can make a real difference in equipping women to navigate institutional hurdles and thrive in political and public arenas.

The study tour offers an opportunity to reflect on both the progress and the setbacks. It allows us to share how Bosnia and Herzegovina is addressing these issues—what has worked, where we’ve fallen short, and what more needs to be done to ensure that our governance systems truly reflect the diversity and potential of our society.

Dr. Kiyoko Ikegami, Vice-Chair and Secretary General of APDA, with
Hon. Jelena Pekić, MP Bosnia and Herzegovina. Credit: AFPPD

Riđić: In Bosnia and Herzegovina, where more than half a million women are outside the labor market, the economic consequences are significant. With a population of just over three million, the scale of this untapped potential is alarming. That’s why we are not only looking at legislation but also at how to build political will for gender-responsive budgeting.

Importantly, we recognize that such work cannot be done by the public sector alone. We are also working to strengthen dialogue with the private sector, helping businesses understand the return on investment in human capital when they support inclusive and family-oriented work environments. Learning from Central Asian experiences is another key pillar of this tour, helping us apply practical and proven models in our context.

Ensuring that legislation and budgets work in harmony is at the heart of what we are exploring during the Parliamentarians’ study tour in Bosnia and Herzegovina. While our country has adopted key laws supporting gender equality and family-friendly policies, the reality is that without dedicated and sustained budget allocations, these policies often remain aspirational.

Parliamentarians are now increasingly aware of the need to bridge this implementation gap.

Through the support of partners like UNFPA and AFPPD, they are engaging in cross-country dialogue and peer learning to understand how to advocate more effectively for budget lines that support affordable childcare and other essential social services. Evidence from UNFPA’s unpaid care work studies, labor market projections, and gender equality programming underscores that without these services, women’s participation in the workforce will remain limited.

IPS: How are parliamentarians working toward ensuring that both the legislation and budgets work in harmony so that women can fully participate in the workplace?

Pekić: Making a law and passing it in the Parliament is just the beginning of a solution for certain issues in society, as you said in your question; law enforcement depends on the executive part of the system and budget, of course. That is why, personally, when proposing some of the laws and solutions, I consult the executive branch as well as the NGOs that closely work on those questions.

For example, in Sarajevo Canton, we have devoted a lot of attention to programmes and measures aimed at empowering families, with a special focus on childcare—from subsidies for kindergartens and extended school stays to maternity allowance for women during maternity leave lasting 12 months. All of these are measures that require significant financial resources, but with careful prioritization and planning of financial flows, their implementation is possible and sustainable.

IPS: Could you elaborate on any projects enabling young women’s entry into both the workplace and spheres of government? How have parliamentarians been supporting these projects?

Pekić: As a Member of Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I am deeply committed to advancing initiatives that empower young women to enter both the workforce and spheres of government.

Here, I would especially highlight employment programs by the government for young people and women through co-financing employment or starting their own businesses, as well as programs such as employment and education of the women who left the safe house—women who were victims of the violence. And when it comes to programmes empowering women to enter spheres of government, non-governmental organizations play an important role by providing numerous mentorship and education programs.

Riđić:  When we speak about enabling young women to enter the workforce and public life, we must begin with a broader picture because true empowerment doesn’t start at the job interview or ballot box. It starts much earlier, through inclusive education, health services, community belonging, and opportunity.

That’s why UNFPA, in partnership with parliamentarians, supports a range of initiatives that build foundations for young women to succeed. Through our youth empowerment programmes, social cohesion and peacebuilding efforts, and intergenerational dialogue initiatives, we are helping to create safer, more inclusive communities where young women can envision—and claim—their place in the public and professional spheres.

Innovative digital tools and platforms have been developed to amplify young people’s voices in local communities and support their engagement in decision-making processes. These tools encourage civic participation and nurture leadership skills from an early age. Our work also extends to strengthening the social and healthcare systems. Initiatives promoting HPV vaccination and healthy lifestyle education in primary schools are not only improving health outcomes: they are teaching girls to value their bodies, understand their rights, and grow with confidence. Programmes focused on social protection and rural outreach have helped ensure that young women from marginalized communities, including Roma, women with disabilities, and those from remote areas, have the support they need to pursue education and employment opportunities.

While these may not always appear as direct employment interventions, they are essential building blocks. Without systems that ensure dignity, inclusion, and safety, meaningful and sustained participation in the economy or politics remains out of reach. UNFPA’s demographic work and policy advocacy are deeply rooted in identifying and scaling measures that support sustainable solutions.

MPs and delegates walk through Sarajevo on their Study Tour on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Credit: Delegates in session during the Study Tour on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Bosnia and Herzegovina, held on May 29 and 30 in Sarajevo. Credit: AFPPD

IPS: Could you elaborate on one or more specific projects that address gender-based violence? How have parliamentarians been supporting these projects?

Prlić: Recently we adopted in the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina a new law with the main goal of protecting women and families against violence, and very soon we are expecting to adopt the new changes to the Criminal Law, which will be harmonized with the mentioned law previously adopted, as well as with the Istanbul Convention, The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which is the first instrument in Europe to set legally binding standards specifically to prevent gender-based violence, protect victims of violence and punish perpetrators.

By adopting these two laws, there is a legal framework set to criminalize some of the acts that were not in the past, as well as give more tools to the police, judiciary, and medical workers to protect victims and punish perpetrators to make society safer and to make women safer in their homes.

Delegates in session during the Study Tour on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Bosnia and Herzegovina held on May 29 and 30 in Sarajevo. Credit: AFPPD

Riđić: Addressing gender-based violence (GBV) remains a core priority for UNFPA and a central theme in our cooperation with parliamentarians. The study tour will include discussions on national and regional projects aimed at preventing GBV and providing support for survivors. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the work involves tackling both traditional forms of violence and emerging challenges like technology-facilitated abuse.

Parliamentarians have played a critical role in advancing legislative reforms and supporting institutional responses. Notably, they have been instrumental in the development of a legislative roadmap on protection from digital violence, a growing concern in today’s digital world. UNFPA’s “bodyright” campaign has contributed to public discourse and legal advocacy in this area.

Investment in healthcare services to support GBV survivors has been secured under the framework of the Istanbul Convention, with parliamentarians helping to ensure these commitments are reflected in national budgets. Equally important has been our collaborative work with survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and programs addressing perpetrators as part of a comprehensive approach to justice, healing, and prevention.

These efforts show that fighting GBV is not limited to reactive responses but requires long-term, structural engagement, and that’s why sustained parliamentary support is vital for ensuring that every law, budget, and service reflects the dignity and rights of women and girls in Bosnia and Herzegovina and beyond.

Note: The Study Tour on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Bosnia and Herzegovina is organized by the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) and supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Japan Trust Fund (JTF).

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By External Source
Mar 4 2025 (IPS-Partners)

 
In 2025, our world remains deeply unequal.

Women earn, on average, 20% less than men globally.

Only 26.8% of national parliament seats are held by women.

Over 600 million women and girls are affected by war—a 50% increase in the past decade.

Every 11 minutes, a woman or girl is killed by a family member.

Women perform three times more unpaid care work than men.

Less than 20% of the world’s landholders are women.

At the current pace, it will take 134 years to close the global gender gap.

In Afghanistan, nearly 1.5 million girls have been barred from secondary and higher education since 2021.

The Taliban have issued over 70 decrees restricting Afghan women’s rights, defying international conventions.

UNESCO is amplifying Afghan women’s voices in 2025, hosting an international conference in Paris.

UNESCO is increasing support for alternative learning solutions for Afghan girls.

Investing in women could boost global GDP per capita by 20%.

Expanding care services could create nearly 300 million jobs by 2035.

Educating girls could add $10 trillion to the global economy annually.

The theme for International Women’s Day 2025 is “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.”

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

It’s time to accelerate progress for women’s rights and gender equality.

Together, we can create a world where no woman or girl is left behind.

Join us in taking action for ALL women and girls.

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The face of Bangladesh’s founding father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, will soon be erased from the country’s currency. Credit: Kumkum Chadha/IPS

By Kumkum Chadha
DELHI, Jan 7 2025 (IPS)

History seems to be chasing Bangladesh even while the interim government is grappling with real issues of administering a country thrown into chaos.

In July last year, this south Asian country faced an upheaval when a students’ movement drove out Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from office.

Protestors took to the streets over a quota system for government jobs. Their angst—disproportionate benefits to descendants of freedom fighters.

Once political parties and fundamentalists jumped in, the focus shifted, with protestors demanding Hasina’s resignation.

Hasina was forced to leave the country she had ruled for 15 years. She landed in India for what was then flagged as a temporary refuge: “For the moment only,” as India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar had then told the Indian Parliament.

Back home in Bangladesh, an interim government headed by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus took charge of governing a country clearly at a crossroads—in other words, a toss-up between Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s legacy or charting a new course without the baggage of history.

It is against this backdrop that one must examine the new narrative of the interim government to reprint Bangladesh’s currency notes.

Initiated by the Central Bank of Bangladesh, the new notes will no longer carry the customary picture of Bangabandhu as Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, as the former leader who led the country to independence is known. In common parlance, Bangabandhu means Friend of Bangla people.

“Phasing out” is how officials from Bangladesh Bank explained the move, while 70-year-old Alamgir, a witness to the War of Liberation, called it “an altered history,” in other words, pressing a delete button on Bangabandhu’s legacy.

To say that the sins of a daughter have adversely impacted her father’s legacy may be a bit of a stretch because even on his own, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a controversial figure.

A folk hero turned dictator, he failed to address the real issues of Bangladesh. Instead, he became authoritarian and suspended rights. As Prime Minister, his daughter Hasina followed in her father’s footsteps.

Hence the anger of the people that spilled to the streets last year took a toll both on Sheikh Hasina and the legacy.

For starters, the current generation, many in the forefront of the students’ protest in Bangladesh, resent the undue space accorded to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman through the years, particularly when Hasina ruled. Not only do they want to erase his imprint, but they also intend to rewrite and, if possible, clean up the bloody chapters of history.

In this context, is the currency note redesign the first substantive step taken by the interim government headed by Yunus?

Fazal Kamal, former editor of The Independent and Bangladesh Times, does not think so.
“It is not the government that has taken the initiative. It is an intense reaction from among the people of Bangladesh to Hasina’s insistence on ensuring Mujib’s seal on everything. It is this overkill that Bangladeshis want to end. The interim government is only going along,” he told IPS.

Given the hullabaloo, it must be pointed out that this is not the first time that Mujibur Rahman’s mugshot, if one may be allowed to use the term, has been taken off currency notes.

In 1976, a year after Bangabandhu and some of his family members were assassinated, the series of notes that were introduced did not have his image. It was only in 1998 that he made a comeback on the taka and has remained since. A taka is a basic monetary unit in Bangladesh.

Therefore, when Farid Hossain, who has served as Minister at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, calls the currency issue “much ado about nothing,” he is not off the mark.

“On ground, people want governance—they want law and order and currency, which can buy more rather than which image it carries,” Hossain said, adding that the move is indicative of the interim government “giving in to pressure” from the radicals.

To many, Hasina’s ouster is nothing short of a “second independence.” Yet there is a large segment that is against what Hossain has termed “wholesale erosion” of history and legacy: “Today Bangladesh faces an ideological divide and the narrative that was buried years ago seems to have resurfaced.”

In other words, today’s generation in Bangladesh wants to resurrect the real face of Mujibur Rahman and strip him of the legacy draped in grandeur. And in this, the interim government has been an active player.

“The intention of the interim administration is to take the country away from its historical legacy. The current regime has pandered to its unruly student followers who have been crushing every symbol of history,” says political analyst Syed Badrul Ahsan.

As for succumbing to pressure, the interim government is in the eye of a storm on another issue—the tricky and sensitive issue of Hasina’s extradition.

Bangladesh has sent a note verbale to the Indian government saying that it wants Hasina back for a judicial process. A note verbale is a diplomatic communication from one government to another.

There has been a persistent demand, as Kamal points out, for leaders of the previous regime to be brought back and tried. Call it vendetta politics if you will but the popular sentiment seems to be that Hasina should be sent to the gallows.

Though India and Bangladesh have an extradition treaty in place, it exempts political vendetta.

Article 6 of the treaty states that extradition may be denied if the alleged offence is of a political nature. That Hasina is being tried for her political offences is a given: “A note verbale is not enough. The interim government does not have a mandate. It is there to administer and steer reforms and not indulge in politicking. But it seems to be taking up the side issue of radicals and seems to be giving in,” Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, told IPS.

Dismissing the extradition request as “mere rhetoric resulting from domestic pulls and pressures,” the former ambassador says India is unlikely to accommodate its neighbor on this issue.

He also did not rule out Yunus using this as a “pressure tactic” to tell India to restrain Sheikh Hasina from making political statements from Indian soil.

For record, in a virtual address last month, Hasina stated that Yunus was running a “fascist regime” that encouraged terrorists and fundamentalists. Interestingly, the extradition request had followed soon after.

Both issues seem to be hanging in the air—the new currency notes are yet to be printed and on Hasina’s extradition, the Indian government is silent.

As for Mujib’s legacy, his statue can be vandalized, his images defaced and his daughter’s sins denigrate his legacy, but Bangabandhu’s footprint from history, however controversial, cannot be erased.

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Mahrang Baloch recently was acknowledged by the BBC as one of the most inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2024. Credit: Baloch Yakjehti Committee

By Zofeen Ebrahim
KARACHI, Dec 13 2024 (IPS)

“This recognition by a media outlet highlights the painful stories of abductions, torture, and the genocide of the Baloch people,” said 31-year-old political activist Mahrang Baloch, speaking with IPS over the phone from Quetta, Balochistan, in reference to her inclusion on the BBC’s annual list of 100 most inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2024.

“BBC 100 Women acknowledges the toll this year has taken on women by celebrating those who—through their resilience—are pushing for change as the world changes around them,” stated the media organization.

This is the second award that Mahrang received this year. In October, she was among Time magazine’s ‘2024 Time100 Next’ list of young individuals to recognize for “advocating peacefully for Baloch rights.”

She was invited by the magazine to attend a ceremony in New York, but she was stopped at the airport from boarding the plane on October 7 “without giving me a reason” why. She stated that she was termed a “terrorist” and a “suicide bomber,” with multiple cases filed against her. “And if this were not enough, now I and my brother have been placed on the Fourth Schedule list,” she said. Introduced in 1997, the Fourth Schedule aimed to combat sectarian violence, militancy, and terrorism. Almost 4,000 Baloch have been placed in the Fourth Schedule list.

Being placed on the Fourth Schedule under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) is a serious matter, resulting in restrictions such as travel bans, frozen bank accounts, prohibitions on financial support, arms license embargoes, and employment clearance limitations.

A trained medical doctor, Mahrang began protesting against the alleged abductions and killings of innocent Baloch by Pakistani security forces in 2006, well before her father, a political activist, forcibly disappeared in 2009. His tortured body was discovered in 2011.

In 2017, her brother was abducted, and though he was released in 2018, Mahrang continued to advocate for justice for all the disappeared, despite facing threats and intimidation. In 2019, she founded the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a human rights movement dedicated to raising awareness and seeking justice for the Baloch people.

Balochistan’s history of resistance against the Pakistan government began in 1948 and continues. Pakistan’s military, paramilitary and intelligence forces have responded with kidnapping, torturing and killing tens of thousands of Baloch men.

The Voice for the Baloch Missing Persons, a non-profit organisation representing family members of those who disappeared in Balochistan, has registered approximately 7,000 cases since 2000.

“We have been fighting for our families now for over two decades, on every platform. I have appeared in courts, even the Supreme Court of Pakistan, presented our cause at every commission and committee that the government or the judiciary has set up but so far there has been no progress. In fact, in the last three months of this year alone, more Baloch individuals are being picked than in any other time,” said Nasrullah Baloch, chairman of the VBMP, speaking to IPS over the phone.

“We have no confidence in any government institution, especially the government-constituted Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CoIED), anymore to resolve our issue,” he rued.

But neither does the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). In 2020, Ian Seiderman, ICJ’s Legal and Policy Director, stated the commission (established in 2011) had failed to hold even a single perpetrator of enforced disappearance responsible.

“A commission that does not address impunity nor facilitate justice for victims and their families can certainly not be considered effective,” he said.

Since the ICJ’s policy brief, not much seems to have changed. Indeed, Mahrang asserts that the situation has deteriorated. In the past three months, “over 300 Baloch have been abducted, and seven cases of extrajudicial killings have been reported.” On the other hand, the CoIED reported that it had resolved 8,015 of the 10,285 cases it had investigated from 2011 to June 2024.

In 2021 and then again in 2022, Pakistan’s parliament tried passing a bill to criminalize enforced disappearances but it has not yet come into force. Pakistan has refused to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Media’s Dismal Role

While the international media has given Baloch activists like Mahrang “hope” by amplifying their voices and bringing “visibility” to their “genuine” cause, she said it has failed to ignite the Pakistani media.

“Our national media has failed us,” she lamented, adding that they never supported their “genuine” cause. In such circumstances, the recognition by the international media gives her some “hope.”

Prominent journalist and author Mohammad Hanif, who has consistently highlighted the issue of missing Baloch, described Mahrang as “articulate, clearheaded, and inspirational.” He admitted that the media in Pakistan has not given the issue adequate coverage, revealing, “There were standing instructions to newsrooms not to cover it.” Furthermore, he pointed out a “clear bias among mainstream journalists against Baloch issues.”

Talat Hussain, political commentator and journalist, agreed that media coverage of enforced disappearances had been “limited and partially blacked out” but added it was not entirely absent in its coverage.

He acknowledged he had not covered the issue extensively, not because he had been asked to avoid it, but because the overwhelming news flow in Islamabad, driven by political unrest, protests, rising terrorism, and economic challenges, eclipsed everything.

However, Hussain noted that what was considered a human rights issue had become deeply politicized, increasingly intertwined with Baloch separatism. Many now view the activists as opponents of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects. “This complicates efforts to recognize Mahrang solely as a human rights campaigner,” he remarked.

Farah Zia, director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, declined to equate the BYC with the separatist movement. She described women like Mahrang, who “come out to protest and even lead them,” as a refreshing phenomenon. “This completely unarmed, non-violent resistance movement makes these young women leaders extremely powerful.” Moreover, said Zia, “Even her followers are young, educated Baloch who have defied their traditional power centres, including their tribal elders.”

“They have broken many stereotypes associated with Baloch women,” agreed Zohra Yusuf, a rights activist. In 2023, Mahrang led hundreds of women on a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) march to the capital Islamabad to demand information on the whereabouts of their family members. She was arrested twice during the journey. The BBC highlighted her December 2023 march to Islamabad, where she and hundreds of women marched for “justice for their husbands, sons, and brothers.”

“The people of Balochistan see Mahrang and the BYC as a beacon of hope because they have completely lost faith in the politicians,” pointed out Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur, who has been associated with the Baloch rights struggle since 1971 and wrote about violations of their rights in newspapers till 2015, after which he said the “media stopped publishing my pieces due to state pressure.”

“There are no consequences for those implementing disappear, kill and dump policies,” said Hanif. “The state believes in its own brute colonial power.”

“Enforced disappearances will continue as there is total impunity for the perpetrators. Those associated with the intelligence and security agencies have no regard for the rule of law,” pointed out Yusuf. She said the young doctor had exhibited “positive leadership qualities by being firm on her demands without creating hatred towards anyone.”

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Konris Maynard, Minister of Public Infrastructure, Energy, and Utilities, and Dr. Joyelle Clarke, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Action, and Constituency Empowerment. Credit: Aishwarya Bajpai/IPS

By Aishwarya Bajpai
BAKU, Nov 20 2024 (IPS)

At COP29, Saint Kitts and Nevis, the smallest independent nation in the Western Hemisphere, stands as a beacon of climate action and renewable energy ambition.

The Federation has set its sights on achieving 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, leveraging its natural resources of trade winds, solar radiation, and geothermal potential. Despite a modest 40 MW power demand, it can generate over 1 GW, enabling it to support regional energy solutions.

Konris Maynard, Minister of Public Infrastructure, Energy, and Utilities, outlined the nation’s strategy for transitioning to renewable energy.

“We have tremendous renewable energy capability,” he stated, emphasizing the need for partnerships given the country’s limited financial resources. For solar energy, Saint Kitts and Nevis have adopted power purchase agreements (PPAs) to attract private investment.

Geothermal energy, a riskier endeavor, is being supported by contingently recallable grants from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). “If the geothermal source is viable, the grant converts into a concessionary loan; if not, it remains a grant,” he explained.

However, the country’s climate challenges are stark. Rising sea levels, intensifying extreme weather, and a 20 percent reduction in rainfall over the last decade have taken a toll on its people and ecosystems. The government has invested in desalination plants to address water scarcity and maintained a low debt-to-GDP ratio for economic resilience.

Still, Maynard stressed the need for international support. “We need action now and easier access to assistance. Countries are disappearing while we continue to talk.”

Dr. Joyelle Trizia Clarke, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Action and Constituency Empowerment, echoed the urgency for action, particularly for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like Saint Kitts and Nevis.

She emphasized the critical role of finance mechanisms such as the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) and the loss and damage fund.

“We are hoping the NCQG establishes a minimum floor for financing, with a focus on concessionality and the inclusion of loss and damage mechanisms,” she said. Transparency, particularly in tracking and reporting carbon credits, is vital for ensuring the effectiveness of such frameworks.

Clarke also highlighted the challenges of balancing disaster recovery and economic development. “We can’t respond to the climate crisis through social protection strategies alone while also trying to develop our economies—it’s unsustainable.”

“Financing must be concessionary and grant-based. If it comes to debt, it should be sustainable, and debt servicing should be paused during climate crises, as outlined in the Bridgetown Agenda.”

The recurring devastation caused by hurricanes and other disasters has set back decades of development. In one example, Grenada accessed USD 44 million from the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility after Hurricane Beryl.

However, Clarke called for more direct and accessible global financing. “We shouldn’t have to pay into these funds to access support. Global financing must directly reach local mechanisms, enabling us to extract funds quickly in times of need.”

Both ministers emphasized the importance of unity among SIDS to address shared vulnerabilities.

Clarke underscored the need for South-South cooperation. ‘We must explore technology transfer, knowledge sharing, and local solutions rather than solely relying on the elusive financing from developed countries.’

As COP29 progresses, Saint Kitts and Nevis continue to advocate for actionable outcomes.

“Declarations and alliances are just words. The real conversation is about the money—that’s what matters most,” Clarke stressed.

Maynard added a hopeful yet pragmatic perspective: “We’re not just waiting around. We’re doing everything we can to survive and thrive, but there has to be climate justice and collaboration.”

Saint Kitts and Nevis exemplifies how small nations can lead the charge in climate action. Through its renewable energy ambitions and calls for global partnerships, it demonstrates that size is no barrier to driving meaningful change in the fight against climate change.

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Romina Khurshid Alam, the Coordinator to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Climate Change at the Pakistan Pavilion at the COP29 Venue in Baku. Credit: Umar Manzoor Shah/IPS

By Umar Manzoor Shah
BAKU, Nov 19 2024 (IPS)

Romina Khurshid Alam, the Coordinator to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Climate Change, praised the resilience of the people of her country in the face of climate disasters and has put her faith into diplomacy to achieve climate justice.

Speaking to IPS against the backdrop of a rising environmental crisis and unfulfilled promises by developed nations, Alam outlined the necessity of climate diplomacy as a tool to bridge global disparities and address the collective challenges posed by climate change. 

Climate Diplomacy: A Global Imperative

Alam said that climate diplomacy is of utmost importance in a world where disasters transcend borders.

“Climate diplomacy is crucial because the challenges we face today are not confined to one nation,” she said. “Smog, floods, and melting glaciers do not ask for permission to cross boundaries. Even the largest wars have been resolved through dialogue, and we must adopt the same approach for climate issues.”

Recalling the devastating floods in Pakistan in 2022, Alam said the human and economic toll the country has faced was massive. Vulnerable nations like Pakistan, she argued, are bearing the brunt of a crisis they did little to create.

“We are paying the price for a problem caused by others. Despite our minimal contributions to global emissions, we are expected to ‘do more’ while developed countries delay fulfilling their commitments.”

A flooded village in Matiari, in the Sindh province of Pakistan. Credit: UNICEF/Asad Zaidi

Unkept Promises and the Loss and Damage Fund

Alam expressed frustration with the slow progress of the Loss and Damage Fund, a financial mechanism agreed to in previous COPs to support vulnerable nations.

“What happened to those pledges? Where is the funding? Promises are made at every COP, but they rarely materialize into action,” she said, while urging developed nations to stop making new commitments until they have fulfilled their existing ones and also stressing that accountability and transparency are essential.

Alam also criticized the lack of accessibility to promised funds for developing nations.

“It’s not just about pledging money—it’s about ensuring those funds reach the countries that need them. Mechanisms must be simplified so that nations like Pakistan can access what is rightfully theirs.”

Education and Climate Justice

During the interview, Alam drew attention to the intersection of climate change and education.

“Children in Pakistan are losing their right to education because of environmental crises like smog and floods,” she said. “How can we expect to provide green education when children can’t even make it to school safely?”

Alam called for climate justice that includes the protection of basic human rights, such as education, for the next generation.

She also pointed to the reluctance of neighboring countries to engage in meaningful discussions on shared challenges. “Regional solutions are imperative. Disasters don’t respect political or geographical boundaries, and neither should our response to them.”

International Climate Justice Court

Alam also shared her vision of an International Climate Justice Court, where vulnerable nations can hold major polluters accountable.

“I have requested the establishment of an International Climate Justice Court to protect the rights of those most affected by climate change,” she said. “Pakistan has already taken the lead by engaging national and international judges in this effort. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah has been instrumental in highlighting the need for such a court.”

According to Alam, this court could empower vulnerable nations to seek redress and enforce accountability, especially for unfulfilled commitments by developed countries.

“Why should children in Pakistan or other vulnerable nations suffer because of decisions made elsewhere? It’s time we demand answers.”

Human Rights and Climate Change

For Alam, the climate crisis is not just an environmental issue but also a severe human rights violation.

“Developed nations often champion human rights, but they fail to recognize the rights being violated in vulnerable countries due to climate change,” she said. “The loss of lives, homes, and livelihoods in countries like Pakistan is a direct result of inaction by wealthier nations.”

She called on the international community to view the climate crisis through a humanitarian lens. “This is about humanity. The sun shines on all, and disasters strike indiscriminately. We must come together, regardless of our differences, to address this shared challenge.”

Pakistan’s Role as a Climate Advocate

Alam praised the resilience of the Pakistani people, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022 floods.

“Our people have shown incredible strength,” she said. “Even the poorest woman who loses her roof to a flood will rebuild her life with courage. This resilience is what keeps us moving forward.”

She also highlighted Pakistan’s leadership in raising the voices of vulnerable nations. “Pakistan doesn’t just speak for itself; we speak for all developing countries that are facing the consequences of climate change. Peace and cooperation are essential, and Pakistan will continue to advocate for both.”

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Kemitoma Siperia Mollie, Praise Aloikin, and Kobusingye Norah appear in court early in September. They were charged with common nuisance. Credit: Wambi Michael/IPS

By Wambi Michael
KAMPALA, Oct 24 2024 (IPS)

Until recently, Margaret Natabi would never have dreamed of taking her anti-corruption fight on the streets of Uganda’s capital, Kampala.

Natabi, 24, is a University student. She has first-hand experience of how corruption affects marginalized groups, especially women and girls.

She was orphaned during childhood. Her mother died while giving birth to one of her siblings. She believes that if it were not for corruption, her mother would not have died.

Natabi is among those arrested in July during the famous “march to parliament in protest.” The march followed a social media campaign by young Ugandans using the hashtag #StopCorruption.

On the day of her arrest, Natabi was holding a poster reading, “The corrupt are playing with the wrong generation.” Data from the latest population and housing census indicate that some 15 million out of a population of 45 million Ugandans.

When the police approached her during the protest, Natabi did not resist.  Female police constables lifted her and bundled her into the police car.

“I was so determined to preach the gospel against corruption to everyone. Even the police officer that was arresting me,” she shared.

However, the arresting officers were not about to listen to her.

“I actually don’t know where the policemen and women got that anger from because I was peaceful. It was as if something was charging them with anger. I was just exercising my constitutional rights. But here they were charging at me with brutal force,” Natabi narrated.

While others went to beat the young men taking part in the protest, she claimed that a male police officer kicked her hard in the back.

“Then the police officer turned to me, saying, ‘Look at you. You have painted nails; you have money to plait in your hair. What has corruption done to you? And you are saying this country is hard for you!’” she narrated.

Natabi further narrated that she insisted on “preaching to the officers” the dangers of corruption.

“I told the officer that by the time you see me here, you don’t know how many things I have lost due to corruption. I do not have a father. I do not have a mother. Do you know how corruption caused that? My mother had to die because she was not attended to at the hospital when she was pregnant. She lost her baby and she lost her life.”

Even though she had just come out of prison, Natabi told IPS that she was not about to give up in her fight against corruption. “Because the more I keep quiet, I’m doing an injustice to my country,” she said

“We may not end corruption. But the number of people who have seen what we are doing, the eyes that we are opening—there is a person today who is going to pick that courage from us,” said Natabi. “When we all keep quiet, nobody is going to rise up. But some people just want to see one person standing up and they will get that courage.”

Natabi is not alone; more and more young women like 25-year-old Claire Namara have come out to challenge the status quo. She was charged with disturbing a lawful religious assembly.

Her problem stemmed from a lone protest during mass at a Catholic church in the suburbs of Kampala. Dressed in black and holding the Ugandan flag, Namara attempted to preach to the congregants about the dangers of the luxurious lifestyle of the country’s Speaker of Parliament, Annett Anita, whom many believe squanders public money for personal gain.

Namara also had a poster with a picture of a sanitary pad with the message, “Magogo’s birthday car would pad one million young girls for a year. #StopCorruption.”

The Police questioned her about the message on the sanitary pad poster.

“He asked me to read the placard twice. I confidently read it because I wrote it when I meant it. He asked me what the meaning of this message was. I told him the cost of Magogo’s car would (provide) pads for one million girls in a year; that is what we are meaning and that is a fact,” Namara narrated.

Anita bought a new Range Rover as a birthday present when millions of girls were going with sanitary pads.

Many young girls in rural Uganda continue to miss long constructive hours away from school because of a lack of sanitary pads.

In 2021, the government and a group of civil society organizations published A Menstrual Health Snapshot of Uganda, which found that 65% (nearly 7 out of 10) of girls and women in Uganda did not have access to products to fully meet their menstrual health needs. It noted that 70 percent of adolescent girls mentioned menstruation as a major hindrance to their optimal school performance.

“I would at certain point fail to get sanitary pads and I would end up using cloth. That is a personal story but as well, in my village, many girls still struggle to afford sanitary pads,” Namara told IPS.

President Yoweri Museveni during the 2016 election pledged to provide funds for free sanitary pads in schools. However, in 2020, his wife, Janet Museveni, also the Minister of Education and Sports, said that there were no funds to sustain the provision of free sanitary pads.

Namara told IPS that while the government said it lacked the money to fund menstrual hygiene, politicians—more so women politicians—have been named in corruption scandals.

“I must believe that even when we think that we have it all, every woman, apart from those who belong to the first family and those who are stealing from our taxes, has struggled to get pads. Even when you access it, you struggle to get that money,” argues Namara, who believes that the state must ensure that young girls have access to safe menstrual hygiene services.

Namara told IPS that while she was facing ridicule from a section of the public that condemned her for carrying “her” protest to church, she has equally been receiving messages of commendation from many.

“We need a bigger discussion in Uganda about women in Uganda and how they are facing these societal norms. I was so disappointed by fellow women who were asking how she could go to protest in church. She is a young girl. Who will marry her?

In early September, Norah Kobusingye, Praise Aloikin Opoloje, and Kemitoma Kyenziibo were arrested while marching the Parliament building with posters “No Corruption.” They had almost stripped naked and painted their bodies.  The youthful protestors, who belong to the Uganda Freedom Activists, were slapped with a common nuisance charge contrary to the Uganda Penal Code Act.

In reaction, the feminist scholar and writer Dr. Stella Nyanzi said the young women’s imprisonment would not deter the peaceful protests.

“Charging comrades Kemitoma Siperia Mollie, Praise Aloikin, and Kobusingye Norah with common nuisance and remanding them to Luzira Women’s Prison until September 12, 2024 will not stop the peaceful #March2Parliament to #StopCorruption and demand that #AnitaMustResign,” observed Nyanzi, known for using “radical rudeness” as a form of political protest similar to what the young men did.

The emergence of a young breed of female anti-corruption actors in Uganda has triggered debate. For some, these young people have broken the formal and cultural barriers about women and corruption.

Dr. Miria Matembe, a former Minister of Ethics and Integrity under Museveni, agrees with those who believe that the young women anti-corruption activists have come to challenge the status quo because the once vibrant women’s movement in Uganda has been silenced.

“Do you hear any NGO going out the way we used to do? They are in their offices doing their work. So the space for us who used to go out is completely closed.”

She told IPS that the entire system of governance in Uganda is corrupt.  “Corruption is not about the Prime Minister because she is a woman. Look at the women politicians individually. They are greedy. We have a transactional parliament. Rather than a transformative parliament. When Museveni wants something, he takes them aside and asks how much.  Therefore, I must say we are heading nowhere,” she said.

Others say they are posing a challenge to women who are holding “big” positions under Museveni. There is a feeling that women in leadership like Vice President Jessica Alupo, Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, and Prime Minister Robina Nabanja have conspired with Museveni in propping up a corrupt regime.

Younger female Ugandans, like Nantongo Bashira, believe that those leaders have let them down.

Bashira, a lecturer at the Islamic University in Uganda, told IPS that young women bear the responsibility to make the future they want.

“We keep on saying the future is female. If you tell us that the future is women and corruption is skyrocketing, the future is female and things are not going your way, it is our responsibility to shape that future that we want,” said Bashira.

Aili Mari Tripp, a Vilas Research Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison USA, wrote in a paper titled “How African Autocracies Instrumentalize Women Leaders” that Uganda is among the autocracies that have instrumentalized women to stay longer in power.

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Riot Police in Mbeya City unleash teagas to disperse members of the Chadema opposition party who gathered to mark International Youth Day on August 12, 2024. Credit: Kizito Makoye/IPS

By Kizito Makoye
DAR ES SALAAM, Oct 21 2024 (IPS)

At a rally to mark International Youth Day on August 12 in Tanzania’s southern Mbeya region, John Mnyika stood with a determined expression, addressing his supporters. The air was charged with anticipation. Mnyika, the Secretary-General of Tanzania’s opposition party, Chadema, was preparing to speak about the upcoming elections when the chaos erupted. Without warning, heavily armed police officers stormed the event, grabbed Mnyika, and dragged him away.

Amid the fracas, an officer ripped the rimless eyeglasses from Mnyika’s face and callously crushed them underfoot. “They beat me with clubs and the barrels of their guns,” Mnyika would later recount. “It was a calculated move to humiliate and silence us.” His voice trembled with anger, but he remained resolute. The brutality of that day was not an isolated event—it was a sign of a deeper malaise in Tanzania’s political landscape.

Tanzania’s promised reforms

When Samia Suluhu Hassan assumed the presidency in 2021, following the death of John Magufuli, there was hope for a new dawn. Samia, the first female leader of Tanzania, had promised to usher in a new era of democratic reform. She lifted bans on political rallies, allowed media outlets to reopen, and signaled a commitment to freedom of speech.

For a brief moment, it seemed as though Tanzania was emerging from the shadow of autocracy. Opposition parties, long suppressed under Magufuli’s rule, were allowed to hold rallies once more. Political discourse blossomed, and for the first time in years, the country appeared to be on the path toward genuine democracy.

But as the 2024 local elections approached, those hopes began to fade. The government’s promises of reform gave way to a resurgence of authoritarian tactics. The optimism that had accompanied Samia’s ascent to power was slowly being replaced by fear and uncertainty. Political violence was on the rise, opposition leaders were being silenced, and dissent was once again being met with brutal repression.

The return of repression

Mnyika’s ordeal was just one of many incidents that signaled a return to the heavy-handed tactics of the Magufuli era. On the same day as his arrest, Chadema Vice-Chairperson Tundu Lissu, along with over 500 supporters, was detained in what appeared to be a coordinated crackdown on the opposition. Lissu, who survived an assassination attempt in 2017, has long been a vocal critic of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party.

“We are witnessing the death of democracy in real-time,” Lissu told reporters after his release. “The government wants to crush any form of opposition, and they are willing to use violence to achieve that goal.”

The Tanzanian government’s crackdown on opposition figures has not gone unnoticed. International human rights organizations and foreign governments have raised alarms about the escalating violence. In a joint statement, the United States and European Union called for an independent investigation into the growing number of politically motivated arrests and disappearances. But President Samia has remained defiant, asserting Tanzania’s sovereignty and dismissing foreign interference.

“We do not need outsiders to tell us how to run our country,” she said in a televised address, marking the 60th anniversary of the Tanzania Police Force. “We will investigate these incidents ourselves.”

The price of dissent

The crackdown on opposition parties is not only limited to arrests. In recent months, Tanzania has seen a sharp increase in politically motivated abductions and murders. One such case is the abduction and brutal killing of Ali Mohamed Kibao, a senior Chadema member. Witnesses described how Kibao was forcibly removed from a bus by armed men, only for his body to be found a day later, bearing the unmistakable signs of torture and acid burns.

“We are living in fear,” said Freeman Mbowe, Chadema’s leader. “If they can do this to someone like Kibao, what’s to stop them from coming for any one of us?”

The government’s response has been dismissive. Despite promises of investigations, no meaningful actions have been taken to hold the perpetrators accountable. Many suspect that the state security forces are behind the violence, though officials continue to deny any involvement.

A nation at the crossroads

As Tanzania approaches its 2025 general elections, the country finds itself at a dangerous crossroads. The political violence of the past year has raised fears that the country may be sliding back into authoritarianism. Samia, who once positioned herself as a reformer, now faces accusations of using the same repressive tactics as her predecessor.

“The optics are troubling. When opposition figures are targeted under the guise of legal procedures, it sends a message that political dissent will not be tolerated,” says Michael Bante, a political commentator based in Dar es Salaam It’s a significant setback for the progress we thought we were making under her leadership.”

While some may argue that these actions are necessary for stability, Bante believes it’s a dangerous precedent. “Tanzania’s democracy will only thrive if we can guarantee the space for all political voices to be heard—whether they align with the government or not.”

For many Tanzanians, the future seems grim. The escalating political violence has fostered an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, leaving many feeling helpless. “These are troubling times,” remarked Juma Mwinyi, a street vendor who saw the abduction of Kibao. “If they can snatch someone in the middle of the day, what’s to stop them from targeting the rest of us?”

The International Response

Internationally, Tanzania’s political situation has drawn widespread condemnation. Foreign governments have called on Samia to reverse course and restore the democratic freedoms that were promised when she took office. But so far, those calls have gone unanswered.

“President Samia has a choice to make,” says  Halima Mheta, a Tanzanian social justice activist. “She can be the leader who restores Tanzania’s democracy or the one who destroys it.”

As the nation waits for the upcoming elections, one thing is clear: the stakes have never been higher. For opposition leaders like John Mnyika and Tundu Lissu, the fight for democracy has never been more dangerous. But despite the risks, they remain determined.

“We will not be silenced,” Mnyika said defiantly. “Tanzania belongs to all of us, and we will fight for our right to be heard.”

For now, the future of Tanzania remains uncertain. But in the face of mounting repression, the country’s opposition leaders are determined to keep fighting, no matter the cost. As the political violence escalates and the government tightens its grip, the question remains: will Tanzania’s fragile democracy survive?

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Nilab, a student-turned-tailor from Kabul: “I was in the 12th grade when Afghanistan fell to the Taliban. With the Taliban takeover, everyone’s dreams in Afghanistan were crushed. I remember the night I heard the news of Herat’s fall, and I cried until morning. Suddenly, fear, terror and despair took hold of my life. I knew I could no longer attend school, all the preparations I had made for my education vanished into thin air. I realized I couldn’t serve my country as a working woman. While girls in other countries go to school every day without any obstacles, for me, this has become nothing more than a dream.” Credit: Sayed Habib Bidell

By Jen Ross
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 11 2024 (IPS)

In line with the 2024 International Day of the Girl theme, ‘Girls’ vision for the future’, a dozen Afghan girls speak up to express their hardships and resilience. They also share their visions for the future.

Negina, a 15-year-old student-turned teacher from Bamyan

“I went through a period of severe depression, but with the help of my family, I managed to regain my spirit and start reading some books again. And for the past six months, I’ve been teaching 12 neighbourhood children who, due to poverty or other reasons, couldn’t go to school. We hold daily one-hour classes in one of the rooms in our house. I’ve been teaching them subjects like math and Dari, and fortunately, they can now read and write. Despite my concerns about my own future, when I see my students, who are able to learn and have a desire for education with my help, it rejuvenates me. Sometimes my worries weigh me down, but I raise my head high and promise myself that I will achieve my dreams. We are girls who have lived with human rights and freedom, and we are still fighting for what rightfully belongs to us, which is freedom and equality.” Credit: Sayed Habib Bidell

Sadaf, an 18-year-old writer from Kapisa

“My journey into the world of writing began when I was nearly 15 years old. I was motivated to use the power of words to address the challenges faced by women. I wanted to write about the Taliban and raise the voice of women and what they are experiencing in Afghanistan, but my father never let me do that and he beat me. I remember burning my stories several times [so he wouldn’t find them]. I encountered difficulties, including financial constraints that made buying a computer impossible. I’ve faced a lot of difficulties because of the Taliban. They’ve brainwashed my father with false ideas about Islam and women’s duties. Now my father doesn’t treat me well because I want to raise my voice for my rights. I’m not someone who gives up when things get tough. Instead, I see these challenges as opportunities to grow and become stronger.” Credit: Sayed Habib Bidell

“Despite all my efforts, sleepless nights studying and working hard to get good grades and learn new things to have my dreams come true, I was forced into marriage [at the age of 17]. From a young age, I have been through a lot. Unfortunately, now I am living through the pain of seeing my future as dark as my son’s ashes. We are walking towards an unknown future with no education, no work, and poverty and violence are at their peak.” Credit: Sayed Habib Bidell

“I thought the best years of my life would be my teenage years. But after the events of 15 August 2021, when I attempted suicide for the second time as an 18-year-old girl and spent the hardest days of my life, I realized that adolescence is not pleasant and wonderful. I was in my last year of high school when education for girls was banned, and my dream of wearing a white coat and becoming a doctor vanished. I faced very difficult conditions, and every night I had nightmares and tremendous fear for the Taliban. When the Taliban first entered the city, I couldn’t leave the house for a month. I witnessed girls being whipped by the Taliban just because they didn’t wear the desired hijab. I look forward to a day when women and men will stand side-by-side again, experiencing equal rights.” Credit: Sayed Habib Bidell

Mahnaz, a forced bride and former university student from Farah

“My hopes were shattered, and I was forced to accept a marriage that would lead my future into darkness. My family, especially my father and brothers, insisted on this marriage. They argued, ‘What else can you do? There are no opportunities for women; all doors to education are closed. We can no longer afford to support your living expenses. It’s better for you to get married and begin your own life.’ Even if the Taliban allows universities to reopen, my family will likely not permit me to attend, and I have lost the motivation to start from scratch. Moreover, it’s unclear what the curriculum will entail under the Taliban regime. Will it emphasize human rights and humanity, or violence and killing?” Credit: Sayed Habib Bidell

Nazmina, a former journalism student from Kapisa

“In the early days of the Republic’s collapse, I endured challenging times, spending months in severe depression. I lost my job and, soon after, the university gates were closed to me. I felt like my dreams, aspirations and identity had been reduced to nothing. It is essential to support those who have been pushed into oblivion under these dreadful and inhumane conditions, facing numerous challenges in their lives. I have sought to provide educational opportunities for girls who survived the disruption of schooling. Today, even if the doors of schools and universities are closed to us women, we have transformed our homes into schools and universities. Women in Afghanistan must receive support from the people and the international community in every possible way. I am certain that the sole path to fighting the Taliban and gender discrimination in Afghanistan is to support women and girls.”

Rabia, a former basketball athlete from Herat

“Before the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, I was a member of the national basketball team. But after the events of 15 August, all my dreams were shattered overnight. Right now, things in the country are very unpredictable. It’s like going to sleep at night, and when you wake up in the morning, you find out that they’ve added new rules for women. The hardest part for me was when they said girls can’t play sports anymore. I had put in so much effort and overcome so many challenges to make it to the National Basketball Team, and suddenly, they took away my job, my freedom and the sport I loved. Now, I train about 50 girls below the sixth grade in one of the orphanages in Herat. I train them in sports like volleyball, soccer and basketball. I also secretly teach some of the older girls.” Credit: Sayed Habib Bidell

Mahbuba, a midwifery student from Sarpol

“After 15 August 2021, the situation took a grim turn. The arrival of the Taliban darkened our lives. They imposed their strict rules and regulations on us, confining us to our homes, effectively taking away our freedoms and rights. … Our lives have become a constant battle between our aspirations and the harsh reality imposed by the Taliban. With every obstacle we face, we are reminded that the fundamental rights and freedoms we once took for granted have slipped away, and our journey through a rapidly changing Afghanistan is fraught with uncertainty and danger. Why is it that just because one is born a girl in this country, they have to pay a lifelong price?” Credit: Sayed Habib Bidell

Motahara, a baker and former nursing student from Logar

“After a few months of wallowing in such despair, I realized that I have to be strong for my children, so I started baking some cakes and cookies at home that my husband could sell at the market. I also have two other women who help me. I hope to one day be able to grow my business so that I can provide more jobs for other women. We must rise, united as one voice, and demonstrate that we can achieve our fundamental rights to work, an education and freedom.” Credit: Sayed Habib Bidell

Note: These profiles and others can be found at After August, the women’s stories were shared with IPS’ readers courtesy of UN Women, Limbo and Zan Times, where Afghan women and girls tell their stories in their own words (with anonymized photos and names and locations changed to protect their identity).

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Fawziya Koofi, former Deputy Speaker of Parliament in Afghanistan, addresses reporters following the "The Inclusion of Women in the Future of Afghanistan" meeting. Credit: Mark Garten/UN Photo

By Naureen Hossain
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 24 2024 (IPS)

Women in Afghanistan have continued to advocate for their rights and have called on the international community to not only stand in solidarity but to take decisive action to prevent the erosion of their rights and presence in public space.

On Monday, the New York missions of Qatar, Indonesia, Ireland and Switzerland, with the Women’s Forum on Afghanistan, convened at a high-level meeting to discuss the current situation for women’s rights.

Since August 2021, the Taliban authorities have systematically reversed the rights of women and girls, all but shrinking and obliterating their ability to participate in Afghan society. Despite repeated calls from the international community to protect women’s rights, the Taliban have only doubled down. Their latest edicts of morality laws further restrict the activities of women and girls, barring them from speaking or singing out in public.

Asila Wardak, from the Women’s Forum on Afghanistan, told the meeting women were being systematically erased from public life.

“The future of Afghanistan cannot be built on the exclusion of half the population,” she said. “Women must be part of the solution, not sidelined.”

The event included messages from notable members of the international community extending solidarity to the women of Afghanistan.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the UN would continue its work to engage women and women-led groups in Afghanistan and ensure their spaces for operation, calling for them to “play a full role, both inside its borders and on the global stage.”

“Without educated women, without women in employment, including in leadership roles, and without recognizing the rights and freedoms of one-half of its population, Afghanistan will never take its rightful place on the global stage,” said Guterres.

UN Undersecretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, reiterated Guterres’ show of support to protect and amplify the voices of Afghan women.

In her statement, she summarized the Doha process, which was intended to increase international engagement with Afghanistan and the Taliban, wherein the Taliban were expected to make governance more inclusive and protect women’s rights, resulting in the international community easing restrictions in Afghanistan.

Unfortunately, the news of the morality laws has threatened that process, especially as the Taliban have refused to meet with Afghan civil society in previous meetings.

DiCarlo added that the Taliban “must begin to abide by their international obligations, especially regarding women.”

In the panel, American actor Meryl Streep remarked that Afghanistan granted women the right to vote in 1919, many years before countries like the United States and Switzerland had done the same. Much has changed since then, she observed.

“Today in Kabul, a female cat has more freedoms than a woman. A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park. A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today because the public parks have been closed to women and girls,” Streep said.

“The way that this culture, this society, has been upended is a cautionary tale for the rest of the world,” she warned. Streep further noted that the Taliban’s numerous edicts on women had “effectively incarcerated half the population.”

Meryl Streep introduced the screening of a short feature from Roya Sadat’s A Sharp Edge of Peace. Credit: IPS

The documentary follows the four women parliamentarians that participated in the peace talks in 2020 between the international community and the Taliban shortly after the United States withdrew their troops.

The feature highlighted the stakes that were on the line for the women leaders of Afghanistan. It included scenes of the parliamentarians listening to young women during consultations leading up to the peace talks in Doha, Qatar, where the young women pleaded for the Taliban not to take action that would restrict their rights and dignity. Prior to the peace talks, one of the women in the documentary said, “Peace is not a luxury. It is a necessity.”

What the documentary highlighted was that even with the (limited) presence of women leaders and advocates during negotiations, it evidently did not sway the Taliban to act in accordance with the demands from the international community.

The former deputy speaker of Afghanistan’s parliament, Fawzia Koofi, observed that the Taliban and the international community were largely in charge of the peace negotiations after the US pulled out of the country, leaving little room for the Afghan people or their elected government.

Habiba Sarabi, Afghanistan’s former minister for women’s affairs, remarked that the Taliban would only continue to push their agenda for what they perceived as a ‘pure Islamic regime’. She warned that this was already affecting younger generations who were at risk of being brainwashed by Taliban-controlled religious schools.

Sarabi implored the international community to hold up the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), along with applying UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), which calls for the protection of women’s’ and girls’ rights for peace and security.

Koofi also urged that more pressure needed to be placed on the Taliban, as this would be “the only leverage that the international community has.”

She called for the institutions and charters for international law and order to hold onto their solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and assure them that the “culture of impunity would end.”

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Dr Hilda C. Heine, President, Republic of the Marshall Islands, departs the International Conference Centre after presenting her keynote speech during the first day of the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women. Credit: Chewy Lin/SPC

By Catherine Wilson
SYDNEY , Sep 20 2024 (IPS)

Parliamentary representation by women in Pacific Island countries remains stubbornly low at 8.4 percent. Yet women leaders across the region have been meeting every year for the past four decades to discuss goals and drive action to address gender inequality and the most pressing development challenges in the Pacific.

One of the critical issues discussed at the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women, convened recently by the regional development organisation, Pacific Community, in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands, was endemic levels of violence against women. Up to 68 percent of women in Pacific Island countries have suffered physical or sexual violence by a partner, more than double the global average of 30 percent, reported by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The conference is an invaluable opportunity for government, civil society and donor stakeholders to monitor progress on addressing this issue and identify action plans. And, for many Pacific women leaders, an important part of the long-term vision is preventing violence against women in the next generation. Educating the youth of today to change attitudes and behaviours that are perpetuating these human rights violations, and the severe socioeconomic repercussions is a critical strategy that the Pacific Community is working to roll out across the region.

“Young men and women can be impactful agents for change on the ground,” Mereseini Rakuita, Principal Strategic Lead for Pacific Women and Girls in the SPC executive team, told IPS. “The root cause of gender-based violence is unequal power relations between men and women. This necessitates the engagement of young men and women in advocacy work to enhance their understanding about this violence and its link to inequality.”

Group photo of delegates to the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women held in Majuro, RMI. Credit: SPC

Growing the seed of change in young people is the vision behind the Pacific Girl project, managed by Pacific Women Lead at SPC, and also the Social Citizenship Education (SCE) program, which is part of the multi-partner Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women. The SCE program is supported by the European Union. It employs a ‘whole of School’ approach by training teachers in four Pacific Island countries, namely Kiribati, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, to embed education about human rights, gender equality and gender-based violence into the formal curriculum. And, also, informally, through the cultivation of respectful behaviours and supportive advocacy.

“In Kiribati, the SCE programme has rolled out nationally across all schools, whereas in Vanuatu it’s focused on six schools in the capital, Port Vila. In Tuvalu, it reaches four schools and 22 in the Marshall Islands across urban and rural locations,” Rakuita explained. “It successfully reaches many rural and remote communities; however, there are so many more to reach given the challenges of transport and resources, remembering that several Pacific Island countries have more than 300 islands.”

Senator Daisy Alik-Momotaro (left) with young Marshallese women sing prior to the first session on the third and final day of the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women. Credit: SPC Chewy Lin

It is a strategy that resonates strongly with national leaders in Pacific Island countries. “I fully support this initiative,” Sokotia Kulene, Director of the Gender Affairs Department in Tuvalu’s Office of the Prime Minister, told IPS. “This is the mandate of the Tuvalu National Gender Equity Policy objective and plan of action, and it will make a difference by changing attitudes, behaviours and mindsets.”

Despite decades of awareness raising and international donor support for reducing the entrenched rates of violence against women, its prevalence remains stubbornly high across the region. The proportion of women who have experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner, ranges from 68 percent in Kiribati and 66 percent in Fiji to 62 percent in Samoa, reports UN Women. Globally, the Pacific Islands ranks the worst in the world for this form of violence. Fifty one percent of women in Melanesia have ever suffered physical or sexual violence, compared to 33 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa and 25 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to WHO.

Marshall Islands’ Minister for Culture and Internal Affairs, Jess Gasper Jr. Credit:

“There is a need for greater investment in addressing the root causes of violence, such as tensions over economic insecurity in a family, which is exacerbated by climate change impacts and loss of livelihoods, and misinterpretation of the bible needs to be supported with transformative approaches to biblical teachings. And media content needs to be produced through various platforms to reach audiences in a way that educates men and boys, as well as women and girls,” Sharon Bhagwan Rolls, Programme Manager for the Pacific Women Mediators Network in Fiji, told IPS.

Gender inequality is the central cause of violence against women and girls. Making tangible progress to address this issue is hampered by additional barriers, including low levels of education in remote areas, perceptions of women’s lower social status, abuse of alcohol and financial abuse within families. And now, in the twenty-first century, the issue is further exacerbated by technology-facilitated gender-based violence.

It is also a major challenge to overcome the strong stigma of domestic and sexual violence in communities that influences the reluctance of survivors of gender-based violence to report these crimes to the police, resulting in a high level of impunity for perpetrators.

“In Fiji, only half of women living with violence have ever told anyone about it and only 24 percent of survivors of violence in Fiji have ever sought help from an agency or formal authority,” Rakuita claims.

From L to R: RMI Senator Daisy Alik-Momotaro, Tuvalu Prime Minister and Minister of Gender Equity and Women Empowerment, Feleti Teo, and Marshall Islands’ Minister for Culture & Internal Affairs, Jess Gasper Jr. Credit: SPC/Chewy Lin

Survivors are, therefore, often trapped in a continuous cycle of abuse when spouses or partners control women’s access to financial resources and the means to independence. And the effects on women’s lives are devastating. Beatings and injuries from violent attacks leave deep physical and mental wounds, including disability, while sexual violations expose women to sexually transmitted diseases. The damage to a woman’s mental health ranges from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder to a high risk of suicide.

The broader costs of domestic violence to island societies and nations are immense. In Fiji, 43 women are physically maimed by domestic assaults every day and, in Papua New Guinea, up to 90 percent of all injuries presented by women to health facilities are due to gender-based violence, reports the Pacific Community. Studies in Vanuatu show that children with mothers who suffer domestic violence are far more likely to drop out of school. And it impacts national economies, such as Fiji, where violence contributes to 10 days of lost work time per employee per annum.

The support of Pacific Island governments and male leaders, in partnership with women, is essential to any meaningful progress.

“If most leaders in the Pacific are men, then their engagement is critical,” Rakuita explained. “We have some great examples in the Pacific of male leaders taking on this critical developmental challenge. The PNG National Parliament has a Standing Committee on gender-based violence as an oversight mechanism on the country’s response to GBV efforts. This was driven by male leaders and led by them—male leaders who recognise the deep impacts GBV is having on their communities and have had enough. They have rightly exercised their power whilst in office to create something sustainable.

There are now signs that the SCE programme, Pacific Girl and other initiatives are triggering leadership in young islanders. At SCE there are after-school clubs for students, organised to directly engage boys and girls in more than 150 primary and secondary schools in the four participating countries. “Students who have participated in the clubs are now demonstrating leadership roles in their schools, such as leading school assemblies, building positive and healthy relationships among their peers and conducting awareness sessions about violence against women in schools and communities,” Rakuita said.

For Kulene, there are major long-term gains of reducing gender-based violence, which would significantly “contribute to Tuvalu’s sustainable development goals,” whether it is improving good health, diminishing poverty, or strengthening peace, justice and economic development.

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Could the Arab Spring scenario from Egypt repeat in Bangladesh as well?. This is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Give attribution to: Rayhan9d

By Randa El Ozeir
TORONTO and DHAKA , Aug 20 2024 (IPS)

“I hope the outcome [of the recent revolution in Bangladesh] would be different. I hope the end result will not be the same,” says Shireen Huq, women’s rights and human rights activist and Founder of Naripokkho organization, to IPS about the many similarities with the Arab Spring.

In the recent revolution in Bangladesh that led to dismantling of the autocratic ruling of Sheikh Hasina, many hundreds of young lives, including at least 32 children, were lost at the hands of the police and the auxiliary forces. According to a recent report conducted by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commission, there are “strong indications, warranting further independent investigation, that the security forces used unnecessary and disproportionate force in their response to the situation.”

The Islamists (Muslim Brotherhood Party) came to power through parliament elections in Muslim-majority Egypt in 2011 on the heels of the Arab Spring and got elected president in 2012. The military came back, staging a coup, re-seized power in the country in 2013 and put the current president as head of state. Could this scenario repeat in Bangladesh as well?

I spoke with Huq, who believes that there is a real issue of religiosity among young people in Bangladesh. However, this would not necessarily lead to supporting fundamentalist forces. “We saw that the fundamentalist forces were active in the protest. It is uncertain at this time to what extent they will be able to navigate the situation and get some advantage out of it. Hopefully, the interim government will be able to maintain their hold on the situation and keep it moving in the right direction.”

Disappointment with leaving women at the forefront of the movement out of the interim government

However, Huq is disappointed that the young women have not been represented in the interim government, although some discussions were held initially.

“The garment industry has been led by a majority of the female workforce. During this uprising and these protests, we saw hundreds and thousands of women on the streets. This has also been unprecedented, as women will outnumber men not only in numbers but also in energy force. Two young men have been taken [in the government] from the movement, so this is a little bit worrying. But I am not worried on the whole about women’s rights being further eroded. If anything, I am hopeful that women’s rights will be further advanced,” stated Huq.

In 2018, Huq and her organization, which consists mainly of feminists, many in their middle ages, developed a women’s manifesto that they are currently sending to all members of the interim government to set the expected priorities for women. “We have to wait and see. We have to give young women space to organize themselves the way they want. They will sort out how they want to build their own space, their own structures and their own organizations.”

Hundreds of thousands of female Bangladeshis took to the street during the recent uprising that dismantled the autocracy in the country. This is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Credit: Rayhan9d

In her article titled “Living on Revolution Time”, Anne Alexander, Founder of MENA Solidarity Network, wrote that rulers “will always seek to tip the scales back, to restore their capacity to rule by any means they can. In a very real sense, therefore, “revolution time” is always borrowed time.”

The overthrown Awami league is a big political party in Bangladesh and has plenty of supporters, including among the grassroots. They made a failed attempt for a comeback on the 15th of August, the date when the independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in 1975.

First Reforms, then Democracy

What the world saw in Bangladesh embodies the analysis of Martha C. Nussbaum in her book titled Anger and Forgiveness, “Awakening people to the injustice of society’s treatment of them is a necessary first step toward social progress… Sometimes the legal structure is itself unjust and corrupt. What people need to do is not just to secure justice for this or that particular wrong, but, ultimately, to change the legal order.” (p. 211, 212)

Social justice and reforms appear to occupy a primordial place on the youth agenda in Bangladesh, while democracy takes a back seat, for the time being. “Democracy is definitely one of the major goals, but it is not only democracy which is popularly understood as elections,” clarifies Huq. “What is on the agenda right now is ‘reforms’. The slogan from the streets is also ‘Reform of the State’ in every sector. The success of the interim government, to some extent, is to deliver on those reforms. Democracy is equality and justice in the real sense of the term. Social justice and democracy will go hand in hand.”

Student demonstrators held their ground rejecting calls for swift elections and voiced the planning of their own political party. No doubt there is a generational gap when it comes to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was considered as the Father of the Nation. Youth don’t have any memory of previous times. “Hasina has used her father in every possible way,” says Huq. “I think it is my generation who is lamenting the inability of young people to make that separation, so they attacked his statues and his portraits which wasn’t probably necessary. There is a lot of pent up anger, not only about the autocracy of his daughter, but also about the misdeeds during his time.”

We are living in an era of acceleration around the world with the prevalence of technology and the pace of life. New generations seem to have lower inertia compared to previous generations and we are witnessing many youth revolutions. Huq thinks revolutions can be infectious. “I am not saying what is happening in Pakistan is because of Bangladesh, but it is interesting that it is happening in South Asia, and maybe we’ll see something happening in India as well, [it is] much-needed in India.”

Despite the great momentum of the revolution’s energy, Huq worries about India’s intervention and interference. “I think some warnings have been issued about that. If India really wants for Bangladesh to prosper and to do well, then the best thing it can do is to keep its hands off.”

Randa El Ozeir, is a Canadian-Lebanese journalist who writes on health issues, women’s rights and social justice.

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Women farmers in Helambu, Sindhupalchwok. Women, who are the primary growers, have to deal with changing patterns of snowfall and rain, which is affecting their agricultural activities. However, they feel like no one is listening to their concerns. Credit: Tanka Dhakal/IPS

By Tanka Dhakal
KATHMANDU, Jul 18 2024 (IPS)

A group aligned with the mayor of Chhayanath Rara Municipality in the Mugu district of Nepal’s Karnali Province physically attacked Aishwarya Malla for simply asking for a budgetary review of the local government.

“As a deputy mayor, I have the right to know where the budget is allocated, but the mayor’s team attacked me,” Malla said. “They did it only because I’m a woman, but they forget I’m also an elected representative with a responsibility to serve people, especially women and marginalized sections of our society.”

Malla has had an upward battle trying to get her voice heard.

Earlier in May, she requested just a few minutes to lay out her area’s issues related to climate change. She was in the nation’s capital, Kathmandu, where the International Dialogue on Climate Change was happening.

“If you want to know the ground reality, you have to give time to speak,” she said in her loud, passionate voice, but she didn’t get the chance. “We represent the women and lower sections of society, and nobody listens or wants to give us space.”

In Nepal, local governments have the responsibility to be the first and most accessible authority to serve people, and elected representatives run their constituencies.

In leadership positions (mayor and their deputies or presidents and their vice presidents), women’s representation as candidates is mandatory for political parties. However, only 25 local governments have women serving as either mayors or presidents. Out of 753 local governments, 557 have women as deputy mayors or vice presidents.

Largely, women leaders are forced to remain second in line of power. But as Malla says, women leaders are the ones whom people in need reach out to, but they struggle to find their space within the male-dominant local political sphere.

Aishwarya Malla (left), Deputy Mayor of Chhayanath Rara Municipality, and Shanti Malla Bhandari (right), Vice President of Guthichaur Rural Municipality. Credit: Tanka Dhakal/IPS

“This is affecting our efforts to find solutions and adaptive measures to the climate change impact in our community and the same is true of other issues too,” Malla said, expressing her frustrations.

Local Struggle on National Platform

During the International Expert Dialogue on Mountains, People, and Climate, organized by the government of Nepal on May 22–23, experts discussed the importance of locally led adaptation to tackle the impacts of climate change in the community. However, there was no representation from the local community.

Apsara Lamsal Lamichhane, vice president of Helambu Rural Municipality, Sindhupalchowk district, stood up and expressed her frustrations when the floor was opened for questions.

“We are the ones who are suffering from the dire impacts of climate change, and we are trying to find a way to adapt,” Lamichhane angrily said as her microphone was about to be cut off. “But the central government doesn’t even listen to us, and we don’t get a chance to present our ground reality on platforms like this.”

Apsara Lamsal Lamichhane, Vice President of Helambu Rural Municipality, Sindhupalchowk, during the International Expert Dialogue on Mountains, People, and Climate. Credit: Tanka Dhakal/IPS

She comes from one of the most vulnerable areas, where locals are facing the direct impacts of disasters exacerbated by climate change.

Lamichhane, Malla and other women in deputy mayor or vice president posts share the same complaint: that the provincial and central governments don’t listen to their concerns, including the losses caused by climate change.

“At the local level, the Mayor or President tries to silence us. In national discussions like this, we are invited but not allowed to speak. It’s our reality,” says Shanti Kumari Malla Bhandari, vice president of Guthicahur Rural Municipality in Jumla.

The Same Story on the International Stage

Just as there are internal obstacles to getting even a few minutes to present the issues local communities on the frontlines are dealing with, experts and leaders at the national level complain that in international climate forums, their voices are suppressed, and they don’t get enough space to present the reality of the climate plight.

Former Foreign Minister Dr. Bimala Rai Paudyal acknowledges that there is much to do to foster smooth discussion internally and to create a listening environment.

“We are working in isolation; there is an inter-ministerial communication gap, and yes, local representatives have to struggle much to make their voices heard,” Paudyal, who advocates for women’s representation in climate change discussions, says.

“Women are not only frontline victims of the climate crisis but also the first responders. We need to give them space, and then we can make our case in international forums. But there is a long way to go.”

To have better negotiation power in global forums, internal discussions need to prioritize local voices, she says. If we listen to each other here, then we can raise our collective voice with much conviction in international forums like the Conference of the Parties (COP) and climate finance committees.

According to Raju Pandit Chhetri, who works on climate finance negotiation, for countries like Nepal that are dependent on donor countries and agencies, negotiating on the global stage is not easy.

“There is already a giver-receiver relationship, and our psyche may be hesitant to negotiate strongly on climate finance issues. I think that kind of mentality may also exist at the national level too,” climate finance expert Chhetri said. “We have to break that wall of hesitation both internally and on the global stage.”

Note: This feature is published with the support of Open Society Foundations.

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The newly-signed Sierre Leone law outlawing child marriage also says that those who entered into marriage as children before the new legislation came into effect can petition for annulment. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
FREETOWN & NAIROBI, Jul 11 2024 (IPS)

“A person shall not contract marriage with a child,” Sierra Leone’s landmark Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2024 says, outlawing, in no uncertain terms, child marriage, giving consent to and attempted child marriage, officiating, attending and promoting child marriage, and use of force or ill-treatment of a child.

The legislation was signed by Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio earlier in July in a ceremony organized by First Lady Fatima Bio, whose “Hands Off Our Girls” campaign played a crucial role in this achievement.

Men who marry girls under 18 face 15 years in prison, a fine of around USD 4,000, or both.

Fatou Gueye Ndir, Senior Regional Engagement and Advocacy Officer for Girls Not Brides, told IPS that the power of the new legislation towards ending harmful practices cannot be overemphasized, as “it also includes provisions for enforcing penalties on offenders, protecting victims’ wives, and ensuring access to education and support services for young girls affected.” 

Girls Not Brides is a global partnership of over 1,400 civil society organizations committed to ending child marriage and enabling girls to fulfill their potential. Fatou says the new law has injected new life into the fight against child marriage and early and forced marriages in Sierra Leone.

“This is a turning point. We call upon the government to continue to provide support services for affected girls and access to education, which are essential so that girls are protected and are not negatively impacted by criminalization of child marriage.”

The law also prohibits conspiracy to cause child marriage and aiding and abetting child marriage. So comprehensive is the new law that it also prohibits cohabitation with a child, any attempt to do so, conspiracy to cause cohabitation with a child and, aiding and abetting cohabitation with a child.

Fatima Maada Bio, the First Lady of Sierra Leone, championed the legislation with her Hands Off Our Girls campaign. Credit: UN

UNICEF says in 2020 alone, nearly 800,000 girls under the age of 18 were married, accounting for a third of the girls in Sierra Leone. Half of them married before they turned 15. So prevalent is the child marriage scourge that approximately nine percent of all children will have gotten married by age 15, and 30 percent by age 18.

Hannah Yambasu, director for Women Against Violence and Exploitation in Society Sierra Leone (WAVES-SL), which is a national NGO, told IPS that in the absence of a law prohibiting child marriages, “the compulsory education policy, where all children must go to school, has not been enough to keep girls within the education system. There are ethnic groups and communities that believe girls, in and out of school, should not turn 18 years old before getting married.”

She says girls entered risky territory at the age of 12 and that many were subsequently forced into child marriages and their lifelong consequences.

Yambasu agrees, saying that the law in and of itself is not enough and concerted efforts must be made to sensitize the community on all sections of the law, especially as the Customary Marriage and Divorce Act 2009 allowed for child marriages with the consent of a parent or guardian and did not stipulate a minimum age of marriage. Stressing that massive, grassroots civic education is urgently needed.

Fatou said effective implementation of the law will lead to substantial gains and positive outcomes in education, health and the economic advancement of women. Emphasizing that child marriage and education are strongly interlinked, as girls who stay longer in school are protected from child marriages. Furthermore, girls will have fewer disruption caused by early marriage or early pregnancy and, are more likely to perform better.

“Child marriage is linked to girls’ pregnancy, so the law will progressively help reduce maternal and infant mortality. Delaying marriage and pregnancy will significantly lower the risk associated with early childbirth, including all the complications that often lead to higher rates of maternal and infant mortality,” Fatou says.

Further indicating that girls who avoid early child marriage are less likely to experience the psychological trauma or stress associated with child marriage, leading to improved mental health outcomes.

“When more girls complete their education, there will be a larger pool of educated women entering the workforce, contributing to economic growth and development. Educated women are more likely to secure better-paying jobs, which can elevate the economic status of their families, reducing poverty levels,” she says.

The rapid rise in the child population in Africa necessitates radical steps towards ending all harmful practices, including child marriage, as they derail progress towards universal access to education. Child marriage is particularly a major obstacle to sustainable development. Six of the world’s 10 countries with the highest rates of child marriage are in West and Central Africa, where the average prevalence across the region remains high—nearly 41 per cent of girls marry before reaching the age of 18.

The new Sierra Leone law is timely, especially in light of the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024, which details the significant challenges the world is facing in making substantial strides towards achieving the SDGs. It features areas with setbacks while also showcasing where tangible progress has been made, for instance, the world continues to lag in its pursuit of gender equality by 2030.

While harmful practices are decreasing, the report finds it are not keeping up with population growth. One in five girls still marries before age 18, compared to one in four 25 years ago—68 million child marriages were averted in this period.

The report raises concerns that far too many women still cannot realize the right to decide on their sexual and reproductive health. Violence against women persists, disproportionately affecting those with disabilities. With just six years remaining, current progress falls far short of what is required to meet the SDGs. Without massive investment and scaled-up action, the report calls into question the achievement of the SDGs.

The UN’s Summit of the Future will be held in September 2024. A once-in-a-generation opportunity to enhance cooperation on critical challenges and reaffirm existing commitments, including to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Yambasu understands these challenges all too well, as she works closely with adolescent girls, women and vulnerable persons, including those with disabilities and implores all governments, stakeholders and the older generation to give girls a chance to live their life as they choose

“A chance to go to school and to later on choose the husband of their choice. They go into forced marriages with their hearts bleeding and the trajectory of their lives changing for the worst. All children deserve protection and happiness, and we now have a legal blueprint to safeguard their dreams,” she says.

Stressing that girls deserve “access to all the tools necessary to fully participate in developing our nations in Africa. We need to rise up against all harmful practices. The traditions are there, yes, and we want to preserve them. But let us keep only those that develop and advance our communities.”

Note: This article is brought to you by IPS Noram in collaboration with INPS Japan and Soka Gakkai International in consultative status with ECOSOC.

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Ase Kristin Ask Bakke, MP and Chair of APPG Norway, reads the Oslo Statement of Commitment. Alando Terrelonge, MP, Jamaica, chair of the IPCI Drafting Committee, sits second from left. Credit: Naureen Hossain/IPS

By Naureen Hossain
OSLO, Apr 12 2024 (IPS)

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.

Remarking on the drafting process, he remarked, “We have definitely placed people’s rights and their dignity, the whole essence of human rights, at the forefront of our discussion.”

“Human rights really are at the heart of human civilization and sustainable development.”

Terrelonge, along with Ase Kristin Ask Bakke, MP and chair of APPG Norway, presented the statement before the conference in its penultimate session.

In brief, the Oslo Statement calls for parliamentarians to advocate for and promote SRHR across the life course, from birth to old age. It addresses the “rising polarization, conflicts, and fragile environments” that threaten the achievements made in the realization of IPCD’s Programme of Action by mobilizing their efforts and cooperating with relevant stakeholders.

It calls for increased accountability towards governments, the tech and healthcare sectors, and other relevant stakeholders, to respect human rights law. The statement makes a specific note to protect women, adolescents, and other vulnerable, marginalized groups who suffer disproportionately in conflicts and crises.

This statement seems pertinent in the wake of prolonged conflicts in Gaza, South Sudan, and Ukraine. In this light and in a broader context, the statement reaffirms a commitment to uphold international human rights law and humanitarian law in all contexts.

The statement reaffirms and expands on the core issues of the conference: policy and megatrends in demography, technology, and financing.

Technology’s impact on SRHR and political practices was officially codified in the statement, as it calls for governments to recognize the impact of digital technology on people’s lives, and the “immense potential” for the “full realization of the ICPD [Programme of Action].”

It also cautions that governments promote the safe and meaningful participation of women and girls in the digital space.

Financing SRHR programs has also been recognized as a priority, along with urging governments to allocate 10 percent of national development budgets towards the implementation of the Cairo program of action (POA). Furthermore, the statement advocates for following another UN-codified program, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, for its framework on long-term investments in development projects.

The participants had also agreed to increase political commitment to the continued implementation of the IPCD POA on parliamentary action for accountability and political commitment. The parliamentarians present pledged to accelerate developments and promote laws that respect international human rights obligations.

All those present enthusiastically applauded the statement’s adoption by consensus. As the conference reached its end and the statement was formally pledged, attendees expressed their support and its relevance to their states.

A delegate from Guatemala noted that while there were several pieces of legislation aimed at SRHR, they were not implemented clearly enough for civilians to know that these laws existed. She added that it was important to bridge the gap between governments and civilians in their understanding and implementation of SRHR policies.

The MP from Peru said parliamentarians needed to return to hold their governments accountable for the setbacks in the SRHR. She added that there needed to be investigations into the factors driving conservative groups to push back against the expansion of SRHR.

A MP from Mauritania noted the progress that is achieved through pursuing gender equality: “Any society that does not give a space for women is a society that will suffer, socially and politically.”

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On the campaign trail: Dr Saveera Parkash, a nominee for the Pakistan People’s Party. She is the first Hindu woman to run in Pakistan's general election Credit: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPS

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
PESHAWAR, Jan 18 2024 (IPS)

A woman medical graduate from the Hindu community is making waves, as she is the first minority woman to contest the Pakistan Parliamentary election for a general seat, and she does so in the face of deep-rooted religious traditions and wealthy political opponents.

Dr Saveera Parkash, a nominee of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for the February 8 polls, is sure of her victory despite her religion.

“I have been witnessing the support that I am getting from the Muslim-dominated district of Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province,” Parkash told IPS in an interview. 

“My slogan is addressing issues of pollution, women’s empowerment, gender equality, female representation, and their health issues, in addition to ensuring respect for all religions,” she elaborated.

Born to a Christian mother and Hindu father, she has lived in a Muslim-dominated community; therefore, interfaith harmony is on her wishlist.

“Interfaith harmony is extremely significant because we have seen enmity among different religious sects on flimsy grounds.”

“We have to inculcate a sense of brotherhood among all schools of thought and pave the way for lasting peace in the area. We have to respect our religious places and shun differences, as all religions advocate peace and harmony,” she says.

Candidates in Buner, one of the 36 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that remained thick with militants from 2007 to 2010, are likely to witness a hard contest as the women and youngsters have shown support for the first-ever minority female candidate.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, one of Pakistan’s four provinces, has 145 elected members, 115 regular seats, 26 reserved for women, and 4 for non-Muslims.

Pakistan is home to 4.4 million Hindus, which is 2.4 percent of the total population.

Her father, a medical doctor and late leader of the PPP and twice Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated by militants in December 2007 in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, inspire her, she says.

“While my ideal is Mother Teresa, my main focus will be women’s education. The overall literacy rate is 48 percent, but only 25 percent of females are literate; therefore, I want to spread awareness about the importance of women’s education,” she says.

Additionally, it is very important to end favoritism and nepotism and ensure merit in the appointment of teachers, especially women.

After completing medical education in July 2022, she saw the issues women visiting hospitals faced and decided to enter politics instead of continuing her career as a doctor, as she believed issues needed to be resolved at the policy level.

“We need more women doctors, nurses, and paramedics to encourage female patients to visit hospitals. Currently, the number of female health workers is extremely low, due to which most of the women don’t come to hospitals because they don’t want to be seen by male doctors,” she says.

“My big advantage is that I belong to a middle-class family, and the people will vote for me because I am approachable to my electorate.”

The promotion of women’s rights is her main objective.

“We have to scale up awareness regarding women’s rights to property inheritance and their right to education. I sense victory in the polls, as I know the people listen to me and would reject opponents for their bright future.”

So, how does she feel the run-up to the election is going?

“In our district, 75 percent of voters are under 30, and they are well-informed about the issues they are facing. I may be lacking wisdom and knowledge compared to senior politicians, but my sincerity will lead to my success,” says the 25-year-old, who routinely wears a headscarf.

Because she is trying to reach a young electorate, her campaigning includes the wide use of social media, apart from the traditional approaches of public meetings and house-to-house canvassing.

Highlighting corruption is also part of her election campaign.

At the moment, she is concentrating on a smooth run-up so she can win popular support in her constituency

“Voters in my constituency call me ‘sister’ and ‘daughter,’ which gives me immense strength,” she said.

Parkash said she wanted to follow in the footsteps of her father, Oam Prakash, a retired doctor, and serve the people.

Securing a space for women is vital for development, as they have been suppressed and neglected in all areas.

She said “serving humanity is in my blood” due to her medical background, highlighting that her dream to become an elected legislator stemmed from having experienced poor management and helplessness in government hospitals as a doctor.

Most people in the area endorse her candidacy, regardless of her Hinduism or political affiliation. Voters appreciate her bravery for challenging traditional policies

The Election Commission of Pakistan makes it mandatory for all political parties to award 5 percent of seats to women in general seats.

Political analyst Muhammad Zahir Shah, at the University of Peshawar, said that Parkash has created history by contesting the general election.

“We have been seeing women becoming members of the assembly on reserved seats. They don’t contest elections but are nominated by parties on the basis of the seats they win in the election,” Shah said.

In the past, some women have fought elections, but they were Muslim; therefore, they don’t draw as much media and public attention, but the case of Parkash is unprecedented.

She is well educated and belongs to the Hindu community while standing for vote in an area where 95 percent of the voters are Muslims.

“She is contesting on the PPP’s ticket, which isn’t a popular political party, but it seems that she will make her presence felt during the electioneering,” Shah said. Already, she has hit headlines, and if the election takes place in a fair and transparent manner, there is a greater likelihood that she will emerge victorious,” he said.

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Women were reduced to cheerleaders in Zimbabwe's recent 2023 general elections. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe/IPS

By Farai Shawn Matiashe
BULAWAYO, Nov 6 2023 (IPS)

Zimbabwe’s recent election has exposed weak gender policies both at the political party and governmental levels as women were sidelined despite the fact that they make up more than half of the 6.5 million electorate.

Zimbabwe held its presidential, parliamentary and local municipality elections on August 23 and 24.

Only 22 women were elected for the 210 National Assembly seats out of the 70 women contested against 637 male candidates, according to the Election Resource Centre.

The number of women who contested the National Assembly seats shows a decline compared to the previous election in 2018, where the number of women who competed against men was 14 percent.

In the 2023 election, the total number of women was 11 percent.

The 22 women who were successfully duly elected as Members of Parliament represent a meagre 10 percent of women in the National Assembly, meaning only 30 percent of the women who contested won, according to the Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE).

This figure has fallen from the 25 women, 11.9 percent, who won seats in the 2018 elections.

“There is a lack of political will on the part of our political leaders to promote gender equality,” says WALPE executive director Sitabile Dewa.

“The political environment in Zimbabwe is characterised by violence, patriarchy, fear, harassment and marginalisation of women in electoral processes. These challenges are some of the major impediments to women’s ascendancy to leadership positions at all levels of government within the country.”

Dewa tells IPS that for Zimbabwe to close the gender gap, political party leaders must walk the talk on equality through genuinely and sincerely levelled the electoral field to allow women, young women and women with disabilities to freely, actively and fully participate as both candidates and voters.

A video went viral recently after a Zanu PF campaigner used derogatory names to refer to Judith Tobaiwa, a female candidate for Kwekwe Central, a constituency located 215 kilometres from Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital.

Expensive nomination fees were also a barrier to many aspiring female candidates.

In the 2023 general polls, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission raised the nomination fees beyond the reach of many women who are already disadvantaged economically as compared to their male counterparts in the country.

Presidential candidates paid USD 20,000 while parliamentary candidates parted away with $1000 and $100 for council candidates.

In contrast, in 2018, presidential candidates paid USD 1,000, while legislators paid USD 50.

Linda Masarira of the opposition party Labour, Economists and African Democrats (LEAD) is one of the aspiring presidential candidates who struggled to raise the USD 20,000 nomination fees needed by ZEC this year.

While seats for the National Assembly were shared between CCC and Zanu PF, those from the smaller parties and female candidates who ran as independents failed to win any seats from the plebiscite, showing difficulties outside the main political parties.

All these figures fall short of the 30 percent minimum threshold set out in the 1997 Southern African Development Community (SADC) Declaration on Gender and Development, Zimbabwe’s Constitution, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5, which seeks to promote gender equality and empower all women and girls, according to WAPLE.

In June, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced 11 presidential candidates, and there were no women.

Two female presidential candidates, Elisabeth Valerio of United Zimbabwe Alliance (UZA) and Masarira, were blocked by ZEC on petty issues of late payment of nomination fees.

Both female presidential candidates took their matters to court.

Valerio won her case, and ZEC was forced to accept her nomination papers.

But Masarira lost the case.

Incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) was controversially declared the winner of the hotly disputed contested election with 52.6 percent against his biggest rival Nelson Chamisa of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) with 44 percent of the vote.

The opposition has since rejected the election as the polls were marred by voter intimidation, ballot paper delays in opposition strongholds like Harare, Bulawayo and some parts of Manicaland Province and rigging by the electoral body in favour of the ruling Zanu PF.

Multiple observer reports, including SADC, declared the elections not credible, not free, and not fair.

The recently reelected leader has appointed just six women out of 26 cabinet positions.

The gender gap is manifesting in Mnangagwa’s appointment of cabinet ministers.

When Mnangagwa announced his cabinet ministers in September, only six were women out of 26 positions, representing 23 percent.

“It is going to be a mammoth task for Zimbabwe to achieve 50/50 gender balance as enshrined in the Constitution,” says Masarira.

She says this is because the country does not have a “Gender Equality Act to operationalise” some sections of the Constitution.

“Secondly, there is selective application of the Constitution by political parties and the government itself, especially when it comes to issues to do with gender balance, gender equality and non-discrimination,” Masarira says.

Kembo Mohadi, the vice president who was forced to resign in 2021 amid a sex scandal, bounced back as Mnangagwa’s deputy.

Alleged recorded calls of Mohadi soliciting sex from married women who are his subordinates were leaked to the local media. Mohadi has not been charged with any sexual offence and has refuted the audio saying he was a victim of a political plot and voice cloning.

“Mr Mnangagwa is obviously not bothered by Mohadi’s sex scandals or anyone for that matter,” says Gladys Hlatywayo, a CCC senior official.

“In fact, we have always known that the sex scandals were never the reason why he was forced to resign and were a mere cover-up to a political motive. The message that Mr Mnangagwa is sending by reappointing Mohadi is that he does not care at all about women’s rights issues,” she tells IPS.

Dewa says Mahadi’s reappointment as Zimbabwe’s Vice President shows that President Mnangagwa is not willing to consider the welfare and well-being of women.

“Mr Mohadi’s re-appointment stinks in the face of justice for all survivors of sexual abuse by men. It is an indictment on the highest office of the land that women’s rights are of no importance,” she says.

“The office of the Vice President demands the highest levels of integrity and moral probity by its occupants.”

The 2013 Zimbabwean Constitution introduced a women’s quota system, setting aside 60 out of 270 parliamentary seats for women.

This proportional representation provision, which was set to expire in 2023, was extended for two additional electoral cycles by an amendment made to the Constitution by Mnangagwa’s regime last year.

Some women prefer these proportional representation seats as compared to the contested ones.

Dewa says there is a need for a complete overhaul of the current electoral system to promote gender equality in politics.

“The electoral voting system must be changed from the first past the post to proportional representation, with a list in zebra format, as this guarantees gender equality. Citizens must vote for political parties, not individuals, as this also insulates women from political violence and vote buying,” she says.

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Keithlin Caroo speaks to young Saint Lucian on International Rural Women’s Day. Education is an important part of advocacy on behalf of women and girls. Credit: Alison Kentish/IPS

By Alison Kentish
SAINT LUCIA, Nov 3 2023 (IPS)

On August 22, 2023, Women’s Affairs Ministers from the Commonwealth huddled in a room at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, they were meeting in person.

The 13th Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting was being held under the theme, Equality Towards a Common Future. It was taking place amid the acknowledgement by policymakers that issues like accelerating climate change, economic turmoil, political upheaval in some parts of the world, and the COVID-19 pandemic have taken a debilitating toll on progress toward the empowerment of women and girls.

Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis vowed that the gathering would be solutions-oriented.

“The time is now for our Commonwealth community to be unabashedly ambitious in our goals and plans. We need more than slogans – we need commitments,” he said.

As Dr Anne Gallagher, Director General of the Commonwealth Foundation, addressed the high-level forum, images of a recent online civil society gathering organized by the Foundation flashed on screens across the room. The key outcome of that event was a list of ten recommendations that civil society groups from across the Commonwealth want women’s affairs ministers to consider.

Recommendation number seven, “Measure better to target better,” appeared on the screen. It was one of the recommendations that drew animated discussion among delegates. It came from a young woman dedicated to helping women farmers in her part of the world.

The journey of a recommendation from an online forum to the Commonwealth’s highest decision-making body for women’s affairs is serving as an example of the importance of not just giving a voice to those who are on the ground, working with women and girls but ensuring that their concerns are heard by those charged with gender equality policy action.

A Virtual Roundtable

Keithlin Caroo was a panellist on the Commonwealth Foundation’s Critical Conversations series, a virtual discussion that seeks to find sustainable solutions to the most pressing issues for the 2.5 billion citizens of the Commonwealth.

For years, Caroo has been on a mission to help rural women in her home country, Saint Lucia, and has extended that support to the neighboring islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Kitts and Nevis. She is the founder and executive director of Helen’s Daughters, a non-profit organization that she refers to as a ‘community,’ which has been changing the narrative on women in agriculture. Helen’s Daughters is built on the premise that while in small states, everyone is connected to agriculture, women are not sufficiently supported despite their pivotal role in the sector.

The organization helps rural women with market access and forges linkages for farmers with supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, and the public through a FarmHers Market. It runs a free Rural Women’s ‘Ag-cademy’ on the islands of Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which focuses on sustainable agriculture and entrepreneurship. It is the first all-women agri-apprenticeship programme in the Caribbean. The organization operates a structured care system that focuses on the holistic development of women, hosting training on trauma-informed care to peer-to-peer support and wellness retreats.

Before the virtual event, the Commonwealth Foundation had made it clear – recommendations from the forum would be put before decision-makers. When Caroo spoke, she did so on behalf of the women farmers who toil daily in a sector fraught with gender biases.

“This engagement was important because it shows that the voices of grassroots organizations are important to Commonwealth’s policymaking; however, what’s important for me is seeing to it that the recommendations translate from policy to actions on the ground,” she said in an interview with IPS.

“We recognized the lack of sex-disaggregated early on, and aside from our interventions, data collection, monitoring, and evaluation are key to our work. Lack of data places further burden on us because aside from crafting interventions relevant to our beneficiaries, we are also responsible for primary data collection, which takes more time and resources; however, we must craft interventions according to the current state of play rather than what is imagined. As I said during the roundtable- “We can only target better if we measure better.”

Voices like Caroo’s played an important role in ensuring a commonwealth-wide response to gender inequality.

The Process

With its theme Gender, climate change and health: how can we do better for women and girls? the virtual roundtable stoked discussion on cross-cutting issues such as violence against women, investing in women and access to education.

“The event was deliberately outcome-oriented: it included not just a debate and discussion but also a highly focused working session where all participants were charged with coming up with specific recommendations to present to this body. Not a shopping list of blue-sky ideas but practical steps that they felt reflect what Commonwealth civil society – what the 2.5 billion citizens of the Commonwealth, want their countries to do for women and girls when it comes to health and climate change,” said Gallagher.

She reminded the gathering that the Foundation is a link between Commonwealth Member States and the people they all serve. She urged the ministers to reflect on the ‘clear and urgent’ recommendations from civil society.

“For me, the clarity and simplicity of the ten recommendations signals an important truth: we all understand the challenges we are up against in relation to women’s rights and well-being, and also in relation to climate change. We all appreciate what must be done. But shifting the current trajectory in ways that make a real difference will require much more. It will require courage, commitment, and true solidarity within and between countries of the Commonwealth,” she said.

The Recommendations

Recommendation seven, “Measure better to target better,” might have struck a chord with attendees, but the other nine recommendations were also well received.

They are:

• Acknowledge that the impacts of the climate crisis are not gender-neutral,
• Empower women through gender-responsive climate policies and actions,
• Improve access to education and training for women and girls,
• Improve climate finance and bring women forward as leaders and decision-makers,
• Value and promote women and girls as adaptation educators and agents of change,
• Promote gender equality in access to healthcare
• Act to reduce gender-based violence
• Enhance women’s economic empowerment.

The meeting’s official outcome statement notes that the recommendations were welcomed and endorsed.

Their journey is not over – they are now part of the women’s affairs ministerial meeting recommendations that will be brought before Commonwealth Heads of Government at their 2024 meeting in Samoa.

“I thought this engagement was of particular importance because I had never been to a panel at this level that spoke on the intersection of gender, climate change and health or intersectionality in general. Far too often, we focus on these themes in silos,” Caroo said.

“We do not consider Helen’s Daughters an agricultural organization because we deal with gender, climate change, gender-based violence, health, economic empowerment, climate and environmental justice, several areas that contribute to the overall development of our FarmHers. I thought the roundtable was timely because our policymaking needs to take an intersectional approach.”

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Bukes Saliu, a forklift driver, is a Nigerian woman who challenging stereotypes. Credit: Promise Eze/IPS

By Promise Eze
LAGOS, Sep 28 2023 (IPS)

Bukes Saliu wakes up very early every workday to beat the gruesome Lagos traffic to head to a job quite unusual for a woman to engage in Nigeria. She is a forklift operator in one of the busy depots in the coastal city, a task traditionally meant for men in the West African country.

In a country where women are seen as second-class citizens and whose roles are expected to be confined to the kitchen, Saliu is not letting patriarchal norms put her in a box.

“People are always thrilled when I tell them what I do. Sometimes I get snide remarks from some men I work with, but I don’t allow that to get to me,” Saliu says.

In August 2022, her curiosity was piqued when she came across a post on WhatsApp from her friend featuring a woman confidently posed beside a forklift machine. That ignited her interest in the job. Soon after, she enrolled in training to become a skilled forklift operator.

“It was a change of career path for me. I used to be a project manager with a non-profit, but I left the job to be a forklift operator. The first day I started work, I was a bit afraid, but now I operate the machine like any other man would do. I believe that women should be allowed at the table because it brings different perspectives, ideas, and experiences,” she adds.

Patriarchy Lives in Nigeria

Discrimination against women has been a serious problem in Nigeria. Women still grapple with an array of challenges and are marginalized despite the Nigerian constitution providing for gender equality and nondiscrimination

Women face a heavier burden of violence, and different types of bias, which creates significant obstacles in their quest for gender equality. This is frequently caused by unfair laws, religious and cultural traditions, gender stereotypes, limited education opportunities, and the unequal impact of poverty on women.

Although the government has attempted to tackle these deep-rooted issues, the pace of progress remains sluggish. Women’s representation within politics and decision-making spheres remains poor. For example, out of a total of 15,307 candidates in the 2023 general elections, only 1,550 were women. Only three women were elected as senators as against nine in the last election, and only one woman emerged as a presidential candidate.

Women are often excluded from economic prospects. Within Nigeria’s populace exceeding 200 million, a mere 60.5 million people contribute to its labor force. Among this workforce, around 27.1 million women participate, a significant portion of whom find themselves involved in low-skilled employment. Nigeria’s position on the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index is a lowly 123rd out of 156 nations.

Swimming Against the Tide

A limited number of women are challenging conventional gender norms for the purpose of livelihood, stepping into roles that are male dominated in Nigeria. However, this transition is often met with resistance and negative reactions.

In 2021, Iyeyemi Adediran gained widespread attention for her exceptional mastery of driving long-haul trucks for oil companies. However, despite her remarkable skill, the then 26-year-old shared that she faced derogatory remarks for daring to break gender norms associated with truck driving—an occupation traditionally considered male-dominated.

In 2015, Sandra Aguebor, Nigeria’s first female mechanic, gained widespread attention for her all-female garages across the country. However, she revealed that her mother initially did not support her ambitions, believing that fixing cars should only be done by men.

Faith Oyita, a shoemaker in Benue State, Nigeria, is not letting patriarchal norms stop her. Despite Aba, a growing men-led market in southeast Nigeria, dominating the shoemaking industry, Oyita has been determined to make a name for herself since 2015, even though she resides kilometers away. She says she has trained over 300 other people on how to make shoes.

“When I first started, I didn’t care about the challenges that came with shoemaking. I had a deep passion for it, and I wanted to beautify people’s legs. Even though it was a skill dominated by men, I was determined to do things differently. I knew that greatness doesn’t come from convenience. In the beginning, many people questioned why I chose shoemaking. Even the man who taught me was hesitant and doubted my potential. I was the only female among all his apprentices, and many assumed that I came because I wanted to date him. Despite all the negative remarks, I never gave up,” she tells IPS.

Patriarchy Came Through Colonialism

“A lot of what is happening today is not how we originally lived our lives as Nigerian women. Patriarchy actually entered our society during the colonial era. Before colonization, both men and women were able to do things without being restricted by gender. Historically, women were involved in trading goods and services, and they could even marry multiple wives for themselves.

“However, when the colonialists arrived, they distorted our culture and, using religion, promoted the idea that men held more power. We should strive to correct this narrative. It’s unfortunate that we have been socialized to believe that men should always be in leadership positions and that women should only be in a man’s home,” says Añuli Aniebo Ola-Olaniyi, Executive Director, HEIR Women Hub.

Speaking further, Ola-Olaniyi argues that women who want to break gender norms must have a change of mindset and be ready to face challenges.

“The country that colonized us has their women driving buses and flying planes. They have progressed from where they colonized us. But Nigeria has failed to empower its women. When a Nigerian woman does something that is traditionally seen as only for men, it is seen as a big accomplishment. However, she has always been capable of doing those things. It’s just that the opportunities were not available. I don’t even think it’s a switch in gender roles. I believe that women are simply starting to realize their potential,” she tells IPS.

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Women and girls in Kenya's West Pokot celebrate as the government cracks down on those practising harmful Female Genital Mutilation in the area. CREDIT: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Aug 9 2023 (IPS)

It promised to be the most defining, groundbreaking, and transformative protocol on African women’s rights. Specific in its approach, broad in its reach, and unique in its all-encompassing nature, covering issues such as HIV/Aids, widow inheritance and property disinheritance in a most unprecedented manner.

To halt and reverse the systemic and persistent gender inequality and discriminatory practices against women in Africa, the African Union Assembly adopted the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique.

The Maputo Protocol was designed in line with the realities of the plight of women on the continent. Providing tailor-made solutions to lift women from beneath the crushing weight of a cultural system that disadvantages women from birth. Twenty years on, it is time to take stock.

“The 20th Anniversary of the Maputo Protocol is a historical advocacy moment for women’s rights advocates. It offers an opportunity to demand from African Governments real and tangible change for women and girls in their countries,” Faiza Mohamed, Africa Regional Director of Equality Now, tells IPS.

“By acceding to the Maputo Protocol, lifting reservations, fully domesticating, and implementing the Protocol, and ensuring their compliance with accountability processes. Beyond this, it signifies the generational changes over two decades and points to the need to reflect on future generations and to future-proof the Maputo Protocol and the SOAWR Coalition.”

The Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) is a coalition of over 80 civil society organizations, a pan-African women’s movement that pushes for accelerated ratification of the protocol in non-ratifying states while holding governments accountable to deliver for women in line with the Protocol.

Youth delegates at Maputo Protocol 20th anniversary celebrations, July 11, 2023. CREDIT: Equality Now

Mohamed stresses that the SOAWR Coalition is a remarkable testament to the power of women’s organized movements and their capacity to influence transformative policy agendas, leaving a lasting impact.

“Through its persistent efforts, SOAWR has successfully kept the protocol on the agenda of AU member states, leading to significant influence as 44 out of 55 African states have ratified or acceded to the Maputo Protocol. This achievement has turned the Protocol into a potent public education tool for women’s rights, both at the national and grassroots levels,” she explains.

“Notably, there has been substantial progress in the advancement of national jurisprudence on women’s rights, as well as in the empowerment of women themselves. Thanks to the coalition’s effective public sensitization campaigns, formerly taboo subjects like sexual and reproductive health rights, female genital mutilation, and polygamy have become open and advanced topics in various countries.”

The coalition has demonstrated how much women and like-minded partners can achieve working in solidarity. Additionally, each organization continues to push the women’s agenda forward – pushing and pulling in the same direction, to realize the dream of a society where women are fully represented in every corner of the spaces they call home.

“The Maputo Protocol comes out of the African feminist fire, and we need to keep it burning. That it is one of the most progressive legal instruments that came out of Africa. That it represents our diversity and our strength because we are not a monolith. It also represents the power of collective action and also the dream of the Africa we want,” says Nigerian-born Becky Williams, a young woman who now lives in Uganda and works for Akina Mama wa Africa.

Equality Now is currently advocating for adopting the Multi-Sectoral Approach in implementing the Maputo Protocol. The Multi-Sectoral Approach (MSA) provides a framework for convening different sectors within governments and actors outside of government in a joint effort to implement women’s rights as provided for in the Protocol.

Mohamed emphasizes that if recognized and embraced by governments and civil societies, the Maputo Protocol can be a powerful tool for change as it offers women a tool for transforming the unequal power relations between men and women that lie at the heart of gender inequality and women’s oppression.

To coincide with the Maputo Protocol’s 20th anniversary, SOAWR, Make Every Woman Count (MEWC), and Equality Now released a report titled, “Twenty years of the Maputo Protocol: Where are we now?” Providing a detailed account of progress made thus far, successes, challenges and recommendations.

Regarding rights related to marriage and child marriage, the report finds that several countries have adopted constitutional reforms related to the prohibition of forced marriage. For example, the constitution of Burundi guarantees marriage equality. The constitutions of Guinea, Malawi, Uganda, and Zimbabwe set the legal age of marriage at 18 years. AU Member States have enacted legislation on rights related to marriage.

On economic and social welfare rights, half of the African states maintain constitutional provisions guaranteeing equal remuneration for work of equal value or the right to fair or just pay. More than half of African states have laws mandating equal remuneration for work of equal value.

Regarding health and reproductive rights, almost all African states maintain constitutional provisions related to health and/or health care, and many enshrine the principle of non-discrimination based on health. Notably, six countries, including Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, enshrine rights related to reproductive health care, such as access to family planning education or reproductive/maternity care.

Group photo of the delegates at the Maputo Protocol 20th anniversary celebrations held in Nairobi, Kenya. CREDIT: Equality Now

While women’s rights have come a long way, the report stresses that there is a long way to go and makes specific key recommendations, such as the need to address the right to abortion and treat each case as espoused in the Protocol. It also suggests that the Maputo Protocol should be used to protect women and girls’ reproductive health rights and advocates that Member states remove laws that fail to protect reproductive health rights.

It advocates for the passing of family laws to protect women’s rights before, during, and after marriage and establish special courts to deal with complex marriage issues. In addition, it suggests that Governments implement regional and international treaties such as the Maputo Protocol and educate women and girls on these.

It would like to see programmes that allow young women to return to school after giving birth promoted and demands that early marriage be criminalized, and customary law is adapted so that it no longer defines what happens to women in marriage.

It asks governments to provide universal health services and insurance access, especially for pregnant, vulnerable, and/or specially protected women. It requires member states to improve infrastructure, training, and equipment for health services in rural areas.

Equally important, the protocol includes the empowerment of women and girls to realize their sexual and reproductive health rights through awareness campaigns delivered in communities and schools and wishes to see menstrual hygiene management incorporated into national legal frameworks through awareness-raising activities from more actors, especially parliamentarians.

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Mahfudha Abdullahi Hajji is the second woman ever to be elected to a non-affirmative action political seat after renowned gender advocate Sophia Abdi made history by being elected Ijara MP, Garissa County, in 2017. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Mar 8 2023 (IPS)

Low literacy levels, a high prevalence of outlawed Female Genital Mutilation, early marriages, forced marriages, low contraceptive usage, multiple births, as well as high maternal, infant and child deaths, define the life of a woman in Kenya’s vast North Eastern region.

Here, women are to be seen and not heard – as life is organized around the all-powerful male-dominated clan and sub-clan system.

But as Kenya marks International Women’s Day, a once-in-a-year opportunity to assess the place of women in their respective countries and communities, Mahfudha Abdullahi Hajji has shown that a male-dominated system in a highly patriarchal society is not impenetrable.

“I vied for the Member of County Assembly (MCA) position in Ademasajida Ward, Wajir County, in 2013 and 2017 on the Orange Democratic Movement, the biggest political party in Kenya, but I was rigged out because I am a woman,” she says.

Hajji says she fell victim to negotiated democracy. A political euphemism for unchallenged leadership where clans negotiate and share political positions long before a single ballot is cast. On the day of the general election, the informal agreement is formalized.

In a region where women are equated to children and are expected to defer to their sons, clans are neither eager to be led by a woman nor front a woman for political leadership. As such, processes to deliver negotiated democracy do not prioritize women’s issues, least of all their inclusion.

“The absence of women in politics means that women are also absent where resources are shared. A woman can set budgetary allocations that are in line with the challenges facing us. Being represented by one of us is very important,” Habiba Mohamed Situpia, a retired teacher in Wajir County, tells IPS.

Abdirashid Jelle, the Sultna of Degodia Council of Elders, speaks of the challenge of women not being able to make decisions about their lives, “and then their lack of participation in politics, and this is dictated by clanism. Women have always been invisible in these clans, and this means we do not expect them to talk where it matters.”

For politically ambitious women like Hajji, as she found out in the last 10 years, there is no happy ending in contesting for a political seat without blessings from leaders of the Council of Elders or Sultnas, as they are all male.

Against this backdrop, women in Wajir County, which alongside Mandera and Garissa Counties constitute the expansive North Eastern region, formed the first-ever Women Council of Elders. The first such council in the entire region to enable them to negotiate with the Sultnas and other religious leaders toward the empowerment of women and girls.

“We first approached the Sultnas to make it very clear that the women’s council was not in competition or opposition to the traditional system. We spoke about how the world is changing, and we needed to change with it. We said that where women are left behind, the entire community lags behind,” Situpia explains.

In the beginning, she says, Sultnas in urban areas were more receptive compared to those in remote rural areas. In the end, the Wajir Woman Council of Elders was formed in 2020.

Kheria Kassim, one of the founding members of Wajir Council of Elders, tells IPS, “there is no resistance towards us because we concern ourselves with issues that hold us back. We want all our children to go to school and have an opportunity to make a living.”

“We are saying that as daughters, wives, and sisters of these Sultnas when we are left behind, the entire community falls behind other communities where women are more empowered.”

A few months before the 2022 general elections, Kassim says Hajji was already been referred to as a ‘mheshimiwa’ – Swahili for an honourable member of parliament.

“The Sultnas had finally agreed to support her. With their blessings, we all knew way before the general elections that she would win the MCA seat, and she did. Something that no woman has ever done in the whole of North Eastern region,” she says.

Hajji is the second woman ever to be elected to a non-affirmative action political seat after renowned gender advocate Sophia Abdi made history by being elected Ijara MP, Garissa County, in 2017.

Additionally, Situpia says the Women’s Council of Elders has made notable steps towards addressing Violence against Women and Girls, rampart in the strongly patriarchal community where the subjugation of women is normalized.

Even in such serious cases of rape or defilement, there is a preference for Maslaah and strong resistance to these cases being heard through formal judicial processes. Maslaah is a male-dominated, male-friendly traditional system akin to a kangaroo court and will, at best, confer a small fine to perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence.

“Today, it is very rare to find Sultnas dealing with sexual violence cases. We now work closely with Wajir Central police station and police officers in all six sub-counties in Wajir County to ensure that offenders are taken to court. It is also a way to warn potential offenders that they will experience the full force of the law,” Kassim expounds.

More so, a number of women have been absorbed into the male Council of Elders through the endorsement of the Sultnas.

“I belong to the sub-clan of the Degodia Council of Elders in Wajir; we are two women and six men. We sit together and consult as equals. Something that was unheard of before,” says Safi Abdullahi Adan, a senior member of the Women Council of Elders.

She further says that the Wajir Women Council of Elders has opened membership to women outside of the County to include those in Mandera and Garissa, “we share the same culture and religion, same challenges, and there is no winning for Wajir when our sisters are left behind. We do not know how many members we have because we are growing day by day.”

As Hajji settles down in a win that is very much a milestone for other women in the North Eastern region, she represents a new dawn of more girls in school, more women in gainful employment and progressively, increased participation in critical decision-making processes.

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By Katja Iversen
NORMA, Italy, Mar 7 2023 (IPS)

International Women’s Day is right around the corner and it presents an obvious opportunity to dig into what female and empowerment means for different people.

INXO invited their female CEO and two female board members to answer five sharp political and personal questions.

The following is a shortened version of my answers. It is an adapted version of the original Danish version, which can be found here.

Katja Iversen

I think: “More of that”…. We need more gender equality. We need more women in economic and political power. And we need more women to feel more in the driver’s seat, be more powerful and more valued in their personal and professional lives.

– Where do you see the biggest obstacle to Women’s Empowerment – in the individual woman?

Women are often brought up to be liked. We are often socialized to put others’ needs before our own, to be seen not heard, to smooth conflicts, and not to spoil the party – and taught that we indeed do spoil it, if we are too loud, or claim our rights, and rightful share of power.

Hence, many girls and women don’t articulate their own needs and what they themselves want, but – consciously or unconsciously – live a life in service for others, whether it is the children, the partner, the parents or the workplace.

This is not only an individual problem, but very much also a systemic problem, which is underscored by the statistics, documenting that women shoulder by far the largest share of the unpaid care work at home, as well as the largest part of the unpaid voluntary work at work, adding up to more than US$10 trillions a year.

– … and the obstacle to Women’s Empowerment – in the outer world?

Apart from the current political push back on gender equality, women’s rights, and not least sexual rights, I see three groups of obstacles: systems, stereotypes and language.

Many of the existing power structures and systems in societies are keeping men in power.

The world values production, but not reproduction. We already spoke about the unpaid care work which needs to be recognized, reduced and redistributed. But add to that the motherhood penalty – the systematic disadvantage that women encounter in the workplace when they become mothers – and how sector’s and jobs with predominantly women in them often have lower worth and salaries. And don’t get me started on the tax systems or systematic lack of diversity and inclusion in top leadership.

Then there are the norms and stereotypes: How many times haven’t we heard women in power be called too loud, too much, too aggressive, or criticized on their body, dress, looks? “Good girls” are typically described and defined as sweet, caring, quiet and beautiful, while “real boys” must be strong, fast, energetic and assertive.

Let it be clear that these stereotypes don’t just hold women back, they also hold men back. When men for example, do not live up to the stereotypical image of the ‘real man’, who is tall, powerful, never cries, and earns a lot of money, they too can feel inadequate.

Language is gendered. There are so many phrases in our language that denigrate or disparage women – bossy, nasty, catty, chatty, ditzy, slutty, mousy, moody, flakey, blond, kept. Or reproduce the man as the one with influence and power: Chairman, fireman, business man, manmade, manpower, mankind. And if you want to diminish or make less of a man, there are plenty of gender slurs like sissy, queen, cunt, bitch available – or just tell him that he acts, run or cries like a girl.

Luckily how language reproduces gender norms HAS gained much more attention, and it has begun to change, not least thanks to young people, who are challenging that and gender stereotypes at large.

– How have you empowered yourself throughout life?

You can be what you can see, and I have always had good female role models who were inspiring and strong in different ways – Pippi Longstocking, Rosa Parks, Virginia Woolf, Eleanor Roosevelt, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Christine Lagarde and my grandmother just to name a few.

Also, I followed by my grandmother’s strong advice of getting an education and never become financially dependent on a man.

Even if my family does not come from money, I know I am privileged – and that I am fortunate that my parents instilled in me from an early age that I am good, loved and worthy, just the way I am. I know, I don’t have to be perfect to be loved, and I’m allowed to make mistakes. This has made me confident in trying new things, without fear of failing.

I’m also good at forgiving myself – and others. I actually think, that I am both smart, beautiful and talented, even if I don’t live up to the standard norms. If someone says otherwise, I don’t listen.

In general it is a way of holding women down and back, indicating that SHE is the less capable, less confident, less good at this or that. But it is not the women who need to be fixed, it is the systems.

– … and what is your best advice to other women if they want to empower themselves?

The first piece of advice: You are good enough, you are strong enough, and you have enough worth in yourself. All women should remember that. We are not only worth something in relation to others. We are not only worth something or worthy of something when we give, care and nurture.

The second: We must stand up for ourselves and stand up for each other. Show some good old sister solidarity – and not just to women who look like us, or are privileged like us. Women should play each other good, and lift each other up.

The third: Be aware of what you want and what you desire – and this is both in relation to sexual desire and life in general. Desire (and pleasure) is a good thing and can be a huge positive, driving force, as can breaking habits and being more conscious about the choices you make every day.

Imagine if you for a period of time consistently could asked yourself: What do I want to do? Who do I want to see? How do I want to show up in life today? Imagine what an energy and power that could unleash.

Katja Iversen is Executive Adviser, Author, Advocate, and Professional Board Member

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Thelma Cabrera and Jordán Rodas launch their candidacy for the presidency and vice presidency of Guatemala in December 2022, which has been vetoed by the courts, in a maneuver that has drawn criticism from human rights groups at home and abroad. CREDIT: Twitter

By Edgardo Ayala
SANTA CATARINA PALOPÓ, Guatemala, Mar 4 2023 (IPS)

Centuries of racism and exclusion suffered by indigenous peoples in Guatemala continue to weigh heavily, as demonstrated by the denial of the registration of a political party that is promoting the presidential candidacy of indigenous leader Thelma Cabrera in the upcoming general elections.

On Mar. 2, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court ruled against Cabrera’s party, the leftist Movement for the Liberation of the Peoples (MLP), which had appealed a Feb. 15 Supreme Court resolution that left them out of the Jun. 25 elections.“There is a racist system and structure, and we indigenous people have barely managed to start climbing the steps, but with great difficulty and zero opportunities.” -- Silvia Menchú

Cabrera’s candidacy and that of her vice-presidential running-mate Jordán Rodas are now hanging by a thread, with their hopes depending on a few last resort legal challenges.

The deadline for the registration of candidates is Mar. 25.

A centuries-old racist system

Guatemala’s political and economic elites “are looking for ways to keep her (Cabrera) from registering; everyone has the right to participate, but they are blocking her,” Sonia Nimacachi, 31, a native of Santa Catarina Palopó, told IPS. The municipality, which has a Cachiquel Mayan indigenous majority, is in the southwestern Guatemalan department of Sololá.

“We would like a person with our roots and culture to become president, I think it would help our people,” added Nimacachi, standing by her street stall in the center of town.

Nimacachi, a Cachiquel Mayan woman, sells “granizadas” or snow cones: crushed ice sweetened with syrup of various flavors, perfect for hot days.

“There is a racist system and structure, and we indigenous people have barely managed to start climbing the steps, but with great difficulty and zero opportunities,” Silvia Menchú, director of the K’ak’a Na’oj (New Knowledge, in Cachiquel) Association for the Development of Women, told IPS.

The organization, based in Santa Catarina Palopó, carries out human rights programs focused on indigenous women.

Santa Catarina Palopó, a picturesque Cachiquel Mayan town located on the shore of Lake Atitlán in the southwestern Guatemalan department of Sololá, is preparing for the upcoming general elections, where voters will choose a new president, vice president, 160 members of Congress, 20 members of the Central American Parliament, as well as 340 mayors. CREDIT: Edgardo Ayala/IPS

“Racism has prevailed, we are mistreated everywhere by the government and the authorities, we are seen as people with little capacity,” said Menchú, of the Maya Quiché ethnic group.

An alleged illegality attributed to Rodas, the vice-presidential candidate, was the cause for denying the MLP the right to register for the elections.

Analysts and social organizations perceive obscure maneuvering on the part of the powers-that-be, who cannot accept the idea that an indigenous woman is trying to break through the barriers of the country’s rigid, racist political system.

Cabrera is a 51-year-old Mayan Mam woman who is trying for a second time to run in the unequal fight for the presidency of this Central American country of 14.9 million inhabitants.

Of the total population, 43.7 percent identify as indigenous Mayan, Xinca, Garífuna and Afro-descendant peoples, according to the 2018 census.

In the 2019 elections Cabrera came in fourth place, winning 10 percent of the total votes cast.

In the Jun. 25 general elections voters will choose a new president for the period 2024-2028, as well as 160 members of Congress and 20 members of the Central American Parliament, and 340 mayors.

In Guatemala, the ancient Mayan culture was flourishing when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the 16th century.

The descendants of that pre-Hispanic civilization still speak 24 different autochthonous languages, most of which are Mayan.

Years of exclusion and neglect of indigenous rural populations led Guatemala to a civil war that lasted 36 years (1960-1996) and left some 250,000 dead or disappeared.

The presidential candidacy of Thelma Cabrera, of the Movement for the Liberation of the Peoples (MLP), must be allowed by the Guatemalan authorities, so that the indigenous population is represented in the Jun. 25 elections, says Silvia Menchú, director of the K’ak’a Na’oj (New Knowledge, in Cachiquel) Association for the Development of Women. CREDIT: Edgardo Ayala/IPS

A blatant maneuver

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s (TSE) rejection of the MLP arose from a complaint against Rodas, who served between 2017 and 2022 as head of the Office for the Defense of Human Rights.

In that office, Rodas strongly questioned alleged acts of corruption by the current government of Alejandro Giammattei, who took office in January 2020.

The criminal complaint against the vice-presidential candidate was filed on Jan. 6 by the current head of the Office for the Defense of Human Rights, Alejandro Córdoba.

After Cabrera and Rodas attempted to register as candidates, Córdoba said he had “doubts” about some payments allegedly received by his predecessor in the Office for the Defense of Human Rights.

His “doubts” apparently had to do with some alleged illegality on the part of Rodas, but since Córdoba has not described it in detail, his statements have been nothing but a weak half-hearted accusation.

However, that was enough for the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to reject the MLP on Feb. 2, which triggered protests by rural and indigenous people, who blocked roads in at least 12 parts of the country.

According to Guatemalan law, all candidates for popularly elected positions must have a document that attests that they have no pending legal issues.

But analysts have pointed out that this document should only take into account actual legal rulings handed down by courts, and not “doubts” vaguely expressed by some government official.

By vetoing Rodas, the TSE automatically bars his presidential runningmate Cabrera, who may actually be the ultimate target of the maneuver, since she is the one who is trying, once again, to win the votes of the indigenous population.

On Feb. 15, the MLP runningmates filed a provisional injunction with the Supreme Court, so that it would take effect immediately and overrule the TSE’s decision, while the Supreme Court studied and resolved the matter in depth.

But the injunction was rejected, so the MLP appealed the next day to the Constitutional Court, asking it to review the case and order the Supreme Court to admit the provisional injunction, to allow the fight for the registration of Cabrera and Rodas to continue forward.

But the appeal was denied Thursday Mar. 2 by the Constitutional Court.

However, the Supreme Court has not yet issued a final ruling on the injunction, but only a provisional stance. This means that when it is finally issued, if it goes against the MLP, Cabrera and Rodas could once again turn to the Constitutional Court, in a last-ditch effort.

But it seems as if the die is already cast.

In a tweet on Thursday Mar. 2, Rodas wrote: “The constitutional justice system has denied my constitutional right to be elected and denies the population the right to choose freely. We await the Supreme Court ruling on the injunction and the position of the @IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights). Our fight continues.”

Guatemala’s political and economic elites are determined to block the candidacy of indigenous leader Thelma Cabrera, says Sonia Nimacachi, a Cachiquel Mayan woman selling snowcones in Santa Catarina Palopó, in the country’s southwest. She would vote for Cabrera again, if her candidacy is finally allowed. CREDIT: Edgardo Ayala/IPS

Cabrera’s second attempt

This is Cabrera’s second attempt to run for the presidency. Her first was in the 2019 elections, when she failed to fully capture the indigenous vote.

“I would dare to think that the majority of the indigenous population did not vote for her because of those instilled prejudices: that she is a woman and also indigenous, not a professional, are issues that have nothing to do with the dignity and the quality of a person,” argued Silvia Menchú.

She added that the right-wing parties have been allies of the country’s evangelical churches, through which they keep in submission segments of the indigenous population that end up supporting conservative parties, rather than a candidate who comes from their Mayan culture.

To illustrate, she said that in Santa Catarina Palopó, a town of 6,000 people, there is only one school to cover primary and middle-school education, “but there are about 15 evangelical churches.”

The TSE’s veto of the registration of Cabrera and Rodas puts the credibility of the elections at risk, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) warned on Feb. 27.

In a joint statement, the two organizations said the electoral authority’s rejection of aspiring candidates “is based on dubious grounds, puts political rights at risk, and undermines the credibility of the electoral process.”

“The electoral process is taking place in the context of a decline in the rule of law, in which the institutions responsible for overseeing the elections have little independence or credibility,” they stated.

In addition to Cabrera and Rodas, the TSE also rejected the registration of right-wing candidate Roberto Arzú, because he allegedly began campaigning too early.

HRW and Wola added that “efforts to exclude or prosecute opposition candidates create unequal conditions that could prevent free and fair elections from taking place.”

Meanwhile, the TSE did endorse, on Feb. 4, the presidential candidacy of Zury Ríos, daughter of General Efraín Ríos Montt, who governed de facto between 1982 and 1983.

In 2013 the general was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity for the massacre of more than 1,400 indigenous Ixil people in the north of the country.

He was sentenced to 80 years in prison, but the Constitutional Court later revoked the ruling. Ríos Montt died in April 2018.

Article 186 of the Guatemalan constitution prohibits people involved in coups d’état, or their relatives, for running for president.

Meanwhile, snowcone vendor Sonia Nimacachi said in the central square of Santa Catarina Palopó that she still held out hope that Cabrera would be able to register as a candidate.

“If they let her participate, I would vote for her again,” she said, while serving a customer.

Sierra Leone’s women are now guaranteed 30 percent of all political positions in national and local government, the civil service and in private enterprises that employ more than 25 employees. Credit: Annie Spratt/Unsplash

By Francis Kokutse
FREETOWN, Feb 14 2023 (IPS)

Sierra Leone’s new gender equality law will benefit women with political aspirations – as well as stimulate development, say analysts.

The country’s President, Julius Maada Bio, signed the new Gender Equality and Women Empowerment into law in January 2023. It has shaken the foundations of previously held ideologies that restricted females’ involvement in various aspects of the country’s life.

Reacting to the enactment of the law, Janet Bangoura, a 35-year-old administrative worker in the capital, Freetown, said: “A year ago, I only nursed the dream of ever becoming a politician because the playing field has never been equal for women. This has changed with the signing of the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (GEWE Act 2022), which guarantees at least 30 percent of female participation in Parliament and at least 30 percent of all diplomatic appointments to be filled by women.”

In addition, the law stipulates that not less than 30 percent of all positions in Local Councils should be reserved for women, same with 30 percent of all jobs in the civil service and at least 30 percent of jobs in private institutions with 25 and more employees. It also extends maternal leave extended from 12 weeks to 14 weeks.

Sierra Leone’s President, Julius Maada Bio, signing the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Bill into law. Credit: Francis Kokutse/IPS

Bangoura sees this new law as “shaking the status quo because it has brought a change that women of my generation had not expected. Now, we do not have any excuse but to seek our dreams in the political field. I know things will not immediately change, but the foundation has been laid for those of us who want to break the political glass ceiling.”

It is not only the women who are happy that the country has achieved the “unthinkable”. With the coming into force by this law, Sierra Leoneans of all ages and sexes are glad their country has overtaken neighbouring countries in the West African region by taking the lead in giving equality to women. Though such a law has been talked about by the countries in the region, the head of the United Nations Women’s office in Sierra Leone, Setcheme Jeronime Mongbo, said the September 2022 data on women’s representation in English West Africa shows that Ghana has 14.8 percent of women in Parliament, Gambia, 11.6 percent, Liberia, 9.7 percent and Nigeria, 7,2 percent, adding that, “Sierra Leone is leading the way.”

Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Manty Tarawalli welcomed the law, which she said has been late in coming but noted that it was better late than never. She attributed the lateness in enacting the law to the lack of political will that existed before. This changed with the current President’s role, adding that, “The climate wasn’t right in terms of women’s readiness and men not being accommodating for this sort of growth until now.”

Tarawalli said Sierra Leone was a “typical” African society. “We know the way things are, and to effect that sort of change that really needs a transformation and what shakes the status quo, it required time and understanding from both men and women for the change to happen.”

She said there were initial challenges in discussing the Bill. So, they had to cross massive hurdles to be able to change “the conversation from rights-based to economic growth, and it changed organically from our consultation,” adding that “those who were opposed became willing and ready to have the conversation.”

Tarawalli was of the view that the law was about economic growth meant to move Sierra Leone to a middle-income country, adding that “this cannot happen when 52 percent of the country’s population who are women are outside the economy and leadership position.”

She identified the unwillingness of men to accommodate women when they start getting into companies and institutions as a challenge they anticipate and said there was, therefore, the need to put in place structures to create a network to support females who will be in elective positions to know there is help for them.

Tarawalli said they would educate women to understand that “economic empowerment does not mean neglecting their duties as mothers and wives at home by abandoning the care of their children and other things that are expected of them. We will also make the men understand that economic empowerment contributes to the community and contributes to Sierra Leone.”

Speaking just before he appended his signature to the Bill,  Bio said the law has come to address the gender imbalances in the country comprehensively, and among other things, the provisions under the law provide for “inclusion, representation, participation, and a more responsive posture on gender.”

Bio said his signature on the law was to announce that a change has come to “our great country” and assured the country’s girls that it is a license for them to “get quality education, work hard and aspire beyond their wildest imagination to be the best at anything they do.”

“With this law, we break barriers to parliamentary representation and look forward to a more vibrant and diverse parliament with greater numbers of women and women’s voices. When compiling their proportional representation lists, I urge political parties to go beyond the legal minimum of the number of women,” he said.

Bio said his assent to the GEWE Bill has put the country on an irreversible path to achieving a more inclusive, equal, more just, more resilient, more sustainable, and more prosperous society for generations to come, adding that “with more women on the ballots, women voting, more women winning, and more women in Parliament, the country’s politics and the future of Sierra Leone will improve.”

It was his hope that the law would see more women in leadership and politics and more men supporting and acknowledging the central status of women as we work together for a vibrant, prosperous, inclusive, and democratic Sierra Leone. In addition, he believes the law ensures women equal access to credit and other financial services. To make it effective, those who discriminate on the basis of gender could face up to five years in prison as well as fines.

“Women dominate the informal economy, and data has shown that they are better at doing business, managing investments, and managing proceeds from those investments. Beyond that, as a government, we are eager to work with the private sector to create more jobs for women, harness business cultures that promote diversity and inclusion, and invest in training programmes tailored to create more job opportunities for women,” Bio said.

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“The Quilt in the Making”. Credit: Claudia Steinau

By Mumtaz Mia and Juliane Drews
GENEVA, Oct 28 2022 (IPS)

The organisational is personal. Every day since the two of us were asked back in 2020 to co-lead the process of culture transformation at UNAIDS, the United Nations organisation which drives global efforts to end AIDS, we have both felt at our very core how crucial it has been to get it right.

The mission of UNAIDS is vital to ensuring the health and human rights of every person. Staff and partners need to be confident of a supportive and empowering culture that will enable their work.

A 2018 Report by an Independent Expert Panel had shone a light on what were important organisational shortcomings, leading to a comprehensive set of changes in leadership, systems and crucially, culture.

As the Culture Transformation process has got underway, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented shifts in work, and a resurgence of global protests, including from the Black Lives Matter movement and for women’s rights, have a generated an inspirational momentum for action to tackle intersectional injustice.

Reflecting almost three years of UNAIDS culture transformation work, what stands out in particular for the two of us is how the “outer work” has required so much “inner work”. We have needed to be, and to help others be, our full selves, and to acknowledge what we don’t yet know of each other’s experiences.

The process has deepened our appreciation of how our differences, both personally and professionally, are a key strength, enabling each situation, each process, to be seen from a combination of unique angles, and how equality is crucial in enabling all these to be brought forth.

Creating safe spaces for our colleagues to speak about their lived experiences was transformative. We asked ourselves and those around us tough and tender questions. We had colleagues tell us they felt heard for the first time. Brave conversations helped colleagues to connect and to advance the tangible changes that matter most to them.

We understood the need for a common reference framework for all of us at UNAIDS. This has led to a first set of feminist principles that guide our way forward.

Through the process, it became ever more clear to both of us that culture transformation begins at the personal level. As a Malawian woman of African-Asian heritage, living and working in Latin America at this time, intersecting identities and multiple cultural heritage became for Mumtaz the centre of personal reflections.

In leading conversations on decolonizing the HIV Response, Mumtaz’s own colonization was calling for attention. For Juliane, too, this has been powerful journey: as someone who has experienced sexual assault in the workplace, this work is deeply personal, driven by a determination to build safe workplaces for everyone, including by addressing inequalities and unhealthy power balances. Our intersectional feminist approach has brought our experiences to our work.

But this work has also highlighted that whilst the organisational is personal, so too the personal is often dependent on the organisational. Engaging with intersectional feminist principles at the personal level was not enough.

That is why we were proud to help UNAIDS become the UN entity to put intersectional feminist principles at the core of its being. It is why vital work continues to integrate those principles into policies and practices to advance a workplace culture in which every individual can flourish.

As we have helped build a movement for change across six regions, engaged in conversation with more than 500 colleagues, and supported some 25 diverse teams in their own journey, we have recognised the centrality of the institutional level.

Cultural transformation is a long and challenging process that requires the tenacity and creativity of many. To weave the stories and aspirations of so many of the champions for change together while preserving their uniqueness, we have borrowed the quilt symbol that is iconic in the AIDS response.

As the change process evolves, new tiles will be added, others might fade or need repairing. But the work is not done. It is a ‘quilt in the making’ – individual and collective work, one tile at a time.

Mumtaz Mia and Juliane Drews have led UNAIDS Culture Transformation since May 2020.

Mumtaz is a Public Health expert with two decades of experience working to end AIDS. Juliane is a change management expert with 15 years of experience in developing inclusive and just organizations in which staff in all their diversity thrive.

The link to UNAIDS Culture Transformation here.

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