Gender Equality

Photo: Amina Mama, the poet. CC BY-SA 4.0

African Women's Groups Decry Spike in Sexual Violence Tied to Pandemic

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – As the number of cases of the coronavirus inched up in Africa this summer, another number was reaching new heights with less notice.

In Nigeria, Liberia, Morocco and South Africa, protestors have been taking to the streets demanding urgent action against the surge in rape and sexual violence against women. But it is hardly an African problem.

“African countries are not unique in this pattern of increased gender-based violence during the pandemic,” noted feminist writer Rosebell Kagumire and human rights lawyer Vivian Ouya in an online Al Jazeera opinion piece.

: THE WORLD; Africa; 31 August 2020

Helping Women Entrepreneurs in Asia and Europe to Thrive Under Lockdown

Viewpoint by UN Women, Bopinc and The DO School

NEW YORK (IDN) – The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the critical role of collaboration in creating gender-inclusive ecosystems where women can emerge and thrive. As the European Union, UN Women and its partners Bopinc and The DO School highlight their commitment to helping more women entrepreneurs on the occasion of the World Entrepreneurs Day this year on August 21, two initiatives should be recognised for their remarkable progress in providing the space and tools these women need: the Entrepreneurship Accelerator and Industry Disruptor.

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 20 August 2020

Photo: The Indian government is apparently trying to find some mechanism for informal sector workers. Credit: Press Trust of India (PTI).

India's COVID-19 Experience May Usher in a More Humane World for Women and Informal Sector Workers

Viewpoint by Lakshmi Lingam*, Tata Institute of Social Studies

MUMBAI (IDN) – Women in India spend 297 minutes on unpaid domestic work each day, 245 minutes more than men who contribute only 52 minutes. Women’s work is not accounted for in the national accounting system, making their contributions unrecognised and unvalued.

An Oxfam report observes that the unpaid work of Indian women plays a crucial role in sustaining economic activity, equivalent to 3.1 per cent of GDP. Economic and social challenges, including domestic violence, dowry at the time of marriage and the trafficking of women, coalesce to sustain and perpetuate gender inequalities in India.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 19 August 2020

Feminism in The Spotlight at South African Book Fair 2020

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – “Feminism: Our Bodies, Our Truths” will take centre stage at the upcoming South African Book Fair taking place virtually from September 11-13 at the culmination of South Africa’s National Book Week.

Featured speakers include Mishumo Maduma, Terry-Ann Adams, Jen Thorpe and Anelile Gibixego in discussion with Dr Alma-Nalisha Cele on how women’s bodies filter their life experiences and can be tools for conformity or resistance.

: SUSTAINABILITY; Quality Education; 18 August 2020

UN Women Bashed for Indiscriminate Partnership with Unilever

Viewpoint by Sharanya Kanikkannan

The writer is Legal and Policy Adviser at AIDS-Free World and its Code Blue Campaign.

NEW YORK (IDN) – Like so many Indian girls, I learned at an early age that light skin was feminine, precious, and desirable.

Pink tubes of Fair & Lovely cream—a product that comprises 40 percent of the skin lightening market in India—were a staple of my childhood, tucked away in dressing table drawers in every home and displayed on the shelves of every corner store. Looking back, I wonder why so many adults failed to imagine a world where girls were more than a “pantone” shade on a plastic tube.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 13 August 2020

Photo: Iwokrama forest in Guyana. Credit: Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development.

Indigenous Communities of Guyana and Women in Togo Fight Forest Degradation

Viewpoint by P.I. Gomes*

The writer, Dr Patrick I Gomes, was Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States for five years until February 29, 2020. The 79-nation inter-regional body officially became the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) on April 5, 2020. Dr Gomes was previously Ambassador of the Republic of Guyana, to the EU in Brussels.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) – The discussion on “Income Opportunities for Women" in the Togolese Republic in West Africa, reported in IDN on July 6, provides an opportunity to share some aspects of the experiences by Indigenous women and community loggers in the Iwokrama Forest area in Guyana, where sustainable forest management and income-generating activities are being pursued.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 28 July 2020

Photo: UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivers the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

UN Chief Makes a Passionate Plea for Discarding Fallacies and Falsehoods

The Rich and Poor are Not Sailing in the Same Boat

By Jaya Ramachandran

NEW YORK (IDN) – UN Secretary-General António Guterres has in a surprise dramatic move, castigated a series of "fallacies and falsehoods" perpetrated particularly on the deprived of the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed all lies such as the lie that free markets can deliver healthcare for all; the fiction that unpaid care work is not work; the delusion that we live in a post-racist world; the myth that we are all in the same boat".

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 19 July 2020

UN Gathering To Call for Robust and Urgent Actions to Advance Gender Equality

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – Twenty-five years after its adoption the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, member states and observers, civil society organizations, gender equality leaders, CEOs, and heads of academia will gather virtually on July 21 in a multi-stakeholder hearing. The purpose is to bolster priority actions at the global and national level that will address the challenges that threaten the bold vision of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

: Caroline Mwanga; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 18 July 2020

Photo: Pastoralist with herd, Horn of Africa. Credit: Katherine Bundra Roux, IFRC

Africa’s Livestock Sector is Key to its Covid-19 Response & Recovery

Viewpoint by Rhoda Peace Tumusiime

The writer is a member of the Malabo Montpellier Panel and former AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union Commission (AUC).

ENTEBBE, Uganda (IDN) – Livestock have long been the insurance policy of Africa’s poorest, with even a single goat or a chicken providing a buffer against economic hardship and hunger.

But as Covid-19 forces many to fall back on these safety nets, the need for more long-term support of the continent’s livestock sector is laid bare.

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 15 July 2020

Kenya Having Another Go at Passing a Reproductive Rights Bill

Viewpoint by Anthony Ajayi and Meggie Mwoka*

Kenya’s Senate is considering a reproductive healthcare bill, which seeks to address reproductive health gaps. This is the second time the bill has come before the senate. It has, once again, drawn fire from religious groups, some politicians and civil society lobbies opposed to its proposals. Anthony Ajayi and Meggie Mwoka unpack the bill and the lessons from previous failed attempts.