Full Coverage: Gender

31.01.2008 Over 1.5 million young women have been widowed in Afghanistan owing to armed conflicts over the last two decades. Food, shelter and social protection are the most pressing needs for these women and their children with most of them lacking the economic means to earn a decent living.

28.01.2008 The latest issue of the Oxfam journal Gender & Development calls for vibrant and alternative media spaces to prevent stereotyping of women, while providing insight into development initiatives throughout the world. Recommended read for development practitioners, policymakers and academics.

25.01.2008 While the men folk of north IndiaÂ’s nomadic Bedia tribe live a parasitic life, women of their community remain unmarried and are pushed into sex trade in the name of tradition. The men have refused to mend their ways for the simple reason that it frees them of the burden of earning.

23.01.2008 A Dalit-centric policy framework can help the disadvantaged community to have a greater say in local and national programmes and their implementation, says a report released this month by the peopleÂ’s campaign Wada Na Todo Abhiyan.

22.01.2008 The movement to end female genital cutting continues to spread across many parts of Africa. Molly Melching and the women of Senegal are leading the way with innovative, culturally sensitive programs to educate and relieve suffering.

In a telling OneWorld dialogue, Molly Melching discusses Tostan's uniquely successful approach to development and how it relates to traditions, values, human rights, and human nature.

22.01.2008 As women suffer the horrific consequences of war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one Congolese and one American women are helping to stem the violence and support its victims.

22.01.2008 Betty Makoni drew on an unimaginable personal tragedy to build an unparalleled network of empowered young women.

22.01.2008 In another effort to empower women, the Ministry of Women and Child Development in India has prepared a handbook on gender-budgeting. It provides guidelines for all central ministries to ensure a greater say for women in the planning process to remove disparities in access and control over resources.

21.01.2008 A comprehensive data pool on gender issues was launched by the SAARC Secretary General at the inaugural of the recent Sixth South Asian Regional Ministerial Conference by UNIFEM at New Delhi. The Gender Database will provide records on violence against women and trafficking in the South Asia region, and on womenÂ’s health and HIV/AIDS.

21.01.2008 Weak law enforcement and a feudal mindset are some of the reasons for growing child abuse in Pakistan, says a report by Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA). The country is also a major hub for the trafficking of children from South Asia to the Middle East and Europe.

21.01.2008 Chitamma, an old and frail woman in eastern IndiaÂ’s coastal state of Orissa is the driving force behind Samudram, a state level federation of organisations of women fish workers. She has helped them become economically independent and has fought social evils such as alcoholism.

17.01.2008 In a recent report, Amnesty International India and Human Rights Watch have demanded an impartial enquiry into all acts of human rights violations that took place in the eastern IndiaÂ’s Nandigram area. Local farmers protesting state acquisition of land had clashed with ruling party supporters, leading to a spurt of violence since early 2007.

16.01.2008 Gender inequality and discrimination significantly affect the development of community as a whole. Gender mainstreaming project: the gender issue, a paper brought out by Government of Pakistan Planning and Development Division, talks of prevalence of gender disparity in the country and its relation to the Millennium Development Goals.

15.01.2008 A family-run newspaper in India gives marginalised women the opportunity to tell their own stories by making them reporters. Launched in 2003, Mahila Paksh was borne out of the need to focus on womenÂ’s concerns and help them get justice.

11.01.2008 In northern Indian state of Haryana, an all-women Muslim panchayat is making real improvements in their village by taking up developmental projects. More importantly they are challenging the conservative and patriarchal attitudes.

07.01.2008 UNITED NATIONS, Jan 7 (OneWorld) - Amid fears that ongoing violence could take many more human lives in Kenya, rights activists are calling for the government in Nairobi to allow an independent investigation of the presidential poll results.

03.01.2008 In Kyrgyzstan and many other Central Asian countries, social norms bar women drug users from self-help programs, such as needle exchange, and facilitate their exploitation by other members of society.

02.01.2008 UNICEF Germany’s ‘Photo of the Year’ of a 40 year old groom with a child bride in Afghanistan raises global concerns about child marriages, widely condemned for their sexual abuse and violation of human rights. The bride in the photograph has just turned 11.