By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN, NEW YORK | 9 March 2025 (IDN) — In an inspiring song “Imagine” from his 1971 album, British musician John Lennon encouraged listeners to imagine a world of peace, without materialism, borders separating nations and religion. Much to our chagrin, that world has remained a pipedream. So has a gender-equal world […]
Entrenched Patriarchal Structures Hindering Women’s Political Participation’
Joseph Kayira interviews Oxfam Malawi country director, Lingalireni Mihowa LILONGWE, Malawi | 9 March 2025 (IDN) — The persistent challenge in increasing women’s participation in politics, decision-making, and the broader economy in Malawi stems from deeply entrenched patriarchal structures that have not been effectively dismantled, despite the existence of progressive policies and legal frameworks, said […]
Afghan Activists Honoured with 2025 International Women’s Rights Award
By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA | 22 February 2025 (IDN) — A cross-regional coalition of more than 30 human rights organizations announced today that Dr. Massouda Jalal and her daughter Husna Jalal will receive the 2025 Geneva Summit International Women’s Rights Award, on behalf of all Afghan women’s rights activists. Dr. Massouda Jalal, Afghanistan’s former Minister […]
Ukraine War Calls for A Scale-Up in Support to Women and Girls
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK | 19 February 2025 (IDN) — Ahead of 24 February marking the third anniversary of Russia’s all-out assault on Ukraine, the United Nations has warned that the war is having a devastating effect on women and girls, with 1,869,000 internally displaced, almost 6.7 million women in need of humanitarian assistance, […]
The Next UN Secretary-General — Must be the Turn of a Woman
By Dr Palitha Kohona Former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN and Former Ambassador to China COLOMBO, Sri Lanka | 8 January 2025 (IDN) — With Antonio Guterres’s term of office tapering off, there is increasing chatter in the corridors of the United Nations in New York regarding his potential successor. The interest in […]
Robots to the Rescue: Can AI Clean up Household Labour Gaps?
By Jessica Henn & Channe Lindstrom Oguzhan, ESCAP* BANGKOK, Thailand | 7 January 2025 (IDN) — Imagine a world where cooking, cleaning and grocery shopping are no longer all-consuming recurrent chores. This vision is fast becoming a reality as the rapid evolution of automation and artificial intelligence transforms households across the Asia-Pacific region. These advancements […]
Sudan: Funding Women-Led Organizations Is Critical Amid Surging Gender-Based Violence
By UN Women NEW YORK | 18 December 2024 (IDN) — As the crisis in Sudan continues to deepen, UN Women has just published a new Gender Alert on the impact of the conflict on women and girls. More than 11 million people have been displaced as of October 2024, with more than half (54 per […]
Colombia: Women-Led Fish Farming Is Offering an Alternative to Drug Crops
By Iñigo Alexander* BOGOTÁ, Colombia | 11 December 2024 (IDN) — The Amazon rainforest in southern Colombia stretches lush and green across the horizon, but beneath its dense canopy lies a shifting reality. The southern province of Putumayo—a remote region bordering Ecuador, at the edge of the country’s Amazon—has long been dominated by coca plantations […]
Call for Accelerating Progress Eradicating Violence Against Women and Girls.
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK | VIENNA | 27 November 2024 (IDN) — The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on 25 November was commemorated the brutal assassination of the Mirabal sisters in the Dominican Republic on 25 November 1960, whose activism and sacrifice galvanized global attention towards efforts to end violence […]
Report Reveals Harrowing Truth Behind Africa’s Hidden Rape Crisis
By Kizito Makoye DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania | 27 November 2024 (IDN) — A 17-year-old Adebi* recalls how her life changed forever after the war that tore through the walls of her house in Northwest Cameroon in 2019, leaving indelible scars in the way she never imagined. “Some men broke in and raped me and […]