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African Women See No Reason to Hail Int'l Women's Day

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — March 8 marks the UN's International Women's Day — an occasion meant to be a global celebration. But with more and more women suffering each day, there is little to rejoice in Africa, say many women leaders from the continent.

"International Women's Day should celebrate the fruits of decades of activism. But on a continent where those who stand accused of sexual abuse often get rewarded rather than punished, what is there to be proud of?," said Cameroonian journalist Mimi Mefo Takambou.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 08 March 2021

Collage: Photos of Senegal President Mackey Sall, the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso, and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.

Attempts for Political Change in Senegal and in the Republic of Congo — Army Barracks Blast in Oil-Rich Equatorial Guinea

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Calm has abandoned Senegal, a country in West Africa. The young people are rising up against the "wealth hoarding" political class. In Central Africa, the Republic of Congo, the opposition is seething as the 77-year-old President seeks another term. In another Central African country, Equatorial Guinea, a series of four explosions in the commercial hub, Bata, left a huge plume of smoke hanging over the city. Some 20 have reportedly died.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 08 March 2021

Photo: Fishers retain a cultural memory of wildlife and habitats that has accrued over generations. Credit: Alastair Cole/Tongue Tied Films, author provided

Gaelic Helping Preserve Scotland’s Marine Environment

Viewpoint by Magnus Course and Alastair Cole*

EDINBURGH | NEWCASTLE (IDN) — Regulations brought in following the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union have delayed the export of live shellfish to Europe, causing entire lorry loads of lobsters and langoustines to expire in Scotland’s ports.

Fishing is a relatively small part of the UK’s economy, but fishing rights dominated much of the Brexit negotiations with the European Union. And with the UK free of the EU’s environmental protections, fishing is once more a battleground for competing ideas in marine conservation.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 08 March 2021

Photo: The Energy Charter Treaty allows fossil fuel companies to sue government for taking action on climate change. Credit: Alfred T. Palmer/Wikimedia

Little-Known Energy Treaty a Climate Threat

Viewpoint by Fabian Flues, Cecilia Olivet and Pia Eberhardt*

LONDON (IDN) — On February 4, the German energy giant RWE announced it was suing the government of the Netherlands. The crime? Proposing to phase out coal from the country’s electricity mix. The company, which is Europe’s biggest emitter of carbon, is demanding 1.4 billion euros in ‘compensation’ from the country for loss of potential earnings because the Dutch government has banned the burning of coal for electricity from 2030.

If this sounds unreasonable, then you might be surprised to learn that this kind of legal action is perfectly normal — and likely to become far more commonplace in the coming years.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 08 March 2021

Photo: Displaced people in Adigrat town, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. © UNICEF/Zerihun Sewunet

Brutal Gender-Based Violence in Tigray — A Personal Account

By EEPA

BRUSSELS (IDN) — “A woman in her 40s was found dead on the road to her home. She was found with her hands tied, injured to her head and sexually assaulted. This was in Mekelle. I know her son.” This is what one of our reporters (A.G.), who herself is a young woman, has reported.

The extent and cruelty of the assaults, sexual violence and rape of women and girls that the Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA) has received information about is simply chilling. Much of it goes unreported. There is still no internet, and journalists were prevented from reaching the region for three months. Often, these atrocities are not reported, because the facts are just too repulsive. How do you talk about such horrific incidences?

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 08 March 2021

Women Need to Claim their Space in Leadership

By Caroline Mwamba

NEW YORK (IDN) — Women have key contributions to make to leadership across all sectors, communities and societies from politics and corporations to sports and STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), diverse leadership benefits everyone, says UN Women, the global champion for gender equality. "Leaders need to represent the people they serve to best understand their wants and needs."

This year on International Women’s Day, UN Women is celebrating women’s leadership in all its forms and calling for women and feminists across the world to claim their space in leadership and decision-making.

: Caroline Mwanga; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 07 March 2021

The Future Is Better with Women in Every Decision-Making

By Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director

[Also available in: ar |es | fr | ru | zh]

NEW YORK (IDN) — International Women's Day (March 8) this year comes at a difficult time for the world and for gender equality, but at a perfect moment to fight for transformative action and to salute women and young people for their relentless drive for gender equality and human rights.

Our focus is on women's leadership and on ramping up representation in all the areas where decisions are made—currently mainly by men—about the issues that affect women's lives. The universal and catastrophic lack of representation of women’s interests has gone on too long.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 07 March 2021

Photo credit: The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

Share of Women Parliamentarians Reaches 'All-Time High'

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) — There is a long way to go to achieve gender parity. But a new report reveals that the share of women parliamentarians worldwide reached more than 25 per cent in 2020 marking a historic step. Women in Parliament report was launched on March 5 ahead of the International Women’s Day on March 8.

"It gives me great pleasure to announce that for the first time, women now account for more than a quarter of parliamentarians worldwide," Secretary-General of UN partner the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Martin Chungong said at the UN Office in Geneva. "The global average of women in parliament has now reached 25.5 per cent." 

: Jamshed Baruah; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 06 March 2021

More Women Researchers in Developing Nations Than in the Rich

By Jaya Ramachandran

PARIS (IDN) — While women make up 33.3% of researchers in the global average, in South and Southeast Asia, several countries are achieving gender parity, according to data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics for 107 countries covering the years 2015–2018.

This is the case for Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand, for instance. The most recent addition is Sri Lanka, where women accounted for 46% of researchers in 2015, up from 24% in 2006.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Sustainable Industrialisation; 06 March 2021

Free COVID-19 Vaccines from Big Pharma Control

Viewpoint by Sonali Kolhatkar

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute. Sonali Kolhatkar is the founder, host and executive producer of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations.

LOS ANGELES (IDN) — At a recent virtual gathering of parents and faculty at my children’s school, one parent who is a teacher and therefore eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine mentioned that she got her first Pfizer shot at a local pharmacy, and when she asked about a leftover dose that could be given to her husband rather than thrown away, her husband got lucky.