By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK | 12 March 2024 (IDN)— Julia Duncan-Cassell, Former Liberian Minister of Gender and President of the Brussels-based European External Programme with Africa (EPA), has highlighted the urgent need for action regarding the proliferation of conflict-related sexual violence in an Open Letter to the 68th annual Commission on the Status of […]
Let Us Strive to Build a Gender Equal World
By Anwarul K. Chowdhury Ambassador Chowdhury is a former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the UN. NEW YORK | 9 March 2024 (IDN) — This year’s International Women’s Day is being observed as two major wars are making their vicious attacks on the aspirations of peaceful peoples of the world for a safer, saner and […]
One in Every Ten Women in the World Lives in Extreme Poverty
By J Nastranis NEW YORK | 8 March 2024 (IDN) — In a world facing multiple crises that put enormous pressure on communities, achieving gender equality is more vital than ever. Ensuring women’s and girls’ rights across all aspects of life is the only way to secure prosperous and just economies and a healthy planet […]
UN Observes ‘Zero Discrimination Day’ While Anti-Gay Laws Spread Across Africa
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 4 March 2024 (IDN) — Forced evictions, loss of jobs, increased violence and other human rights abuses are being reported across Africa, worrying UN agencies and other watchdog groups around the world. Since a harsh new bill was passed in Ghana, 12 UN agencies issued an […]
Kenyan Women Rally Against Gender-Based Violence
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 22 February 2024 (IDN) — Hundreds of women dressed in black gathered in Kenya’s capital at a vigil dubbed “Dark Valentine” to protest the rise in femicides in the country. More than 16 cases were reported by police and local media since the start of the […]
Two Mothers Are Killed in Gaza Every Hour
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK | 19 January 2024 (IDN) — Since 7 October 2023, more than 24,620 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip, 70 per cent of whom were women or children. More than 1.9 million people—85 per cent of the total population of Gaza—have been displaced. The entire population of Gaza—roughly […]
South Africa-US Partnership Supporting Girls with Critical Health Information, Education & Mentorship
By Amy West* WASHINGTON DC | 11 January 2024 (IDN) — Climentine Thupaagale knew she needed a job. As an unemployed 26-year-old from a remote rural area of Northwest province in South Africa, she was at one of the lowest points in her young life and dependent on others to survive. “I heard about an […]
Climate Crisis Fuels Child Marriages, FGM in East and Southern Africa
By Kizito Makoye DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania | 3 December 2023 (IDN) — At 15, Sarah* was entangled in an early marriage that would change her life forever. The drought spells in Kotulogh village in Kenya’s West Pokot country had pushed many pastoralist families to the brink of survival. Sarah’s mother, desperate for money to […]
The Killings of Women and Girls Hit Record Levels
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK | VIENNA | 27 November 2023 (IDN)— Almost 89,000 women and girls were killed intentionally in 2022 across the globe, the highest yearly number recorded in the past decades. Besides, available data suggest that while the total number of homicides globally has begun to fall in 2022 after a spike […]
UN Women Report Highlights Shocking Impact of the Gaza Crisis
By Caroline Mwanga New York | 21 October 2023 — UN Women estimates that the eruption of violence and destruction has already resulted in close to 493,000 women and girls being displaced from their homes in Gaza. Furthermore, the violence has resulted in a growing number of widows, with an estimated 900 women becoming the […]