Category Archives: Global development

To protect women from violence today, we must secure justice for victims in the past | FW de Klerk

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South Africa’s former president calls for the pandemic to be a turning point in strengthening the rule of law and empowering survivors

Violence and sexual assault have surged across the globe since the onset of Covid-19, in what the UN has called a “shadow pandemic”. Even before the pandemic, one in three women experienced physical or sexual assault globally, the World Health Organization reported this week.

In Africa, the impact has been particularly acute. In the first half of 2020, a rise in reported cases prompted Liberia’s President Weah to declare rape and all forms of gender-based violence a national emergency.

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Venezuelan women forced to risk online pill market in face of abortion ban

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The socialist-led country has little sex education, acute shortages of contraceptives and one of Latin America’s most restrictive laws

Sofía was 20 years old and coming out of an emotionally abusive relationship when she found out she was pregnant.

Her ex-boyfriend called her a “slut” for having conceived and claimed that he was not the father. Appealing to Sofía’s conservative family for help was not an option, since they had long warned that they would disown her if she ever got pregnant.

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Caste aside: hide names to curb Dalit job bias in India, study says

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Concealing candidates’ surnames in the ultra-competitive civil service exam would help to overcome caste prejudice, report urges

The exam is considered to be the country’s toughest – about a million people sit it every year vying for only a thousand or so vacancies in India’s hallowed civil service. Now a report suggests that it would be much fairer if all the candidates’ surnames were kept secret throughout the application process, as about 90% of Indian surnames reveal a person’s caste.

Candidates’ names are currently concealed, along with their religion, when they sit the written tests. But after the exam, the names of those who qualify for the final interview stage are used. And this, according to the report, scuppers the chances of Dalits, the lowest Hindu caste once called “untouchables”, because of the innate bias of interviewers.

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The UN food systems summit will consider all stakeholders’ interests | Letter

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Dr Agnes Kalibata responds to a report on the 2021 summit that she is leading as a special envoy for the UN secretary general

As you note in your article (Farmers and rights groups boycott food summit over big business links, 4 March), farmers have for too long been on the fringes of global discussions about hunger, poverty and climate change, despite being the frontline of our food systems and the custodians of our natural resources.

The UN food systems summit marks a momentous opportunity for farmers, producers and many others who support them to be at the heart of the year-long consultative process that has been launched to improve our shared food system.

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Australia urged to back plan to let poor countries make cheap copies of Covid vaccines

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Exclusive: union, health and aid groups plead with the Morrison government to support a WTO proposal to suspend vaccine patents during the pandemic

International aid groups, health organisations and unions are pleading with the Morrison government to support a World Trade Organization proposal designed to allow developing countries to make and sell cheap copies of patented vaccines, to achieve a quicker end to the global pandemic.

The WTO proposal would suspend Covid vaccine patents for successful jab formulas invented by pharmaceutical giants for the duration of the pandemic so poorer countries could acquire more affordable doses faster.

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Quarter of women and girls have been abused by a partner, says WHO

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Largest such study finds domestic violence experienced by one-in-four teenage girls with worst levels faced by women in their 30s

One in four women and girls around the world have been physically or sexually assaulted by a husband or male partner, according to the largest study yet of the prevalence of violence against women.

The report, conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN partners, found that domestic violence started young, with a quarter of 15- to 19-year-old girls and young women estimated to have been abused at least once in their lives. The highest rates were found to be among 30- to 39-year-olds.

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Visualising gender during the pandemic – in pictures

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From transgender sex workers living in a mass shelter whose health relies on back-street clinics, to community leaders who are making changes from the ground up despite a system that is stacked against them, This Is Gender 2021 is the world’s largest photography competition looking specifically at gender and health. The collection offers an insight into our gendered world during the time of pandemic.

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Humanitarian crisis looms on Chile-Bolivia border as migrants cross on foot

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Chile closed land borders last year due to Covid but authorities report surge in crossings, mostly Venezuelan migrants

Activists are warning of a looming humanitarian crisis on the border between Chile and Bolivia as growing numbers of migrants brave the harsh terrain of the Chilean altiplano to cross the frontier on foot.

Chile closed its land borders last year as a preventive measure during the Covid-19 pandemic, but authorities have reported a surge in irregular crossings, mostly caused by Venezuelan migrants fleeing economic instability and political turmoil in their home country.

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Afghan TV station ‘can’t hire women’ over security fears after four killed

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Government blamed for not ensuring safety as broadcaster’s female staff told to stay home after attacks by Isis

A radio and television broadcaster in eastern Afghanistan that has had four of its female employees murdered since December has said it will not hire any more women until security in the country improves.

The broadcaster, Enikass Radio and Television, has also told all female employees to work from home. Islamic State (Isis) has claimed responsibility for killing all four women, but Enikass also blames the Afghan government for not providing adequate security.

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Mexico protests against attacks on women turn violent, as tension with president escalates

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Protesters angry that López Obrador has supported politician accused of sexual assault are calling for greater protections for women

Women marching on International Women’s Day have clashed with police at barricades surrounding the National Palace in Mexico City, where officers fired pepper spray after the protesters attempted to tear down a metal wall.

Sixty-two officers and 19 civilians were injured, said Marcela Figueroa, an official of the city’s police agency. The Mexico City government “categorically denied” using any kind of gas against protesters.

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Female workers at H&M supplier in India allege widespread sexual violence

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Multiple women at Natchi Apparels have reported abuse weeks after 21-year-old worker was allegedly killed by her supervisor

Women in India making children’s clothes for H&M have spoken out about widespread sexual violence they claim to have faced at one of the company’s suppliers in India.

The allegations come just weeks after the body of Jeyasre Kathiravel, a 21-year-old Dalit garment worker, was found in a field close to her family home after she failed to return from her shift at the Natchi Apparels factory in Tamil Nadu.

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Covid childcare crisis reversing decades of women’s economic progress – report

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Calls for recovery plans to address unequal burden of looking after children to advance equality and ‘because it makes fiscal sense’

The childcare crisis is at a “tipping point”, threatening to reverse decades of women’s economic progress, according to a new report published on Monday.

The report warned that the female-dominated childcare sector risked collapse, as coronavirus lockdowns and rising poverty levels had led to a “steep drop” in demand for formal and informal services.

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‘Pandemic of patriarchy’: Pakistani women defy threats to hold march

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Healthcare is focus of event to mark International Women’s Day, as organisers say pandemic has led to setbacks in rights

A march during the time of Covid is a difficult thing to plan safely. For Pakistan’s women, determined to have their “Aurat March” today, there are other risks – to their physical safety as well as of online abuse and trolling.

Noor is an organiser for this year’s masked nationwide rallies. She said she could not give her surname for fear of reprisals over her work.

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Aid spending cuts may not get put to Commons vote, No 10 suggests

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Denying MPs their say could head off Tory rebellion but potentially open government to legal action

A planned reduction in aid spending may not go to a vote in the Commons, Downing Street has indicated, which would head off a likely rebellion by Conservative MPs but could expose the government to legal action.

Pressed repeatedly on whether the cut in the aid budget from 0.7% of national income – which is set out in law under the 2015 International Development Act – would be subject to a Commons vote or a new act, Boris Johnson’s spokesperson declined to confirm this.

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‘Amlo made us public enemy No 1’: why feminists are Mexico’s voice of opposition

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A president who claims to represent the dispossessed faces widespread backlash over his tacit support for a politician accused of rape

Mexico’s president had a confession to make. Women on social media were holding up signs reading, “President, break the pact” and Andrés Manuel López Obrador was confused.

He turned to his wife to set him straight. The women were describing the pact of the patriarchy, she told him.

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‘I always wanted a girl’: scandal of Czech Roma forcibly sterilised

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Czech MPs to debate compensation bill for women as state refuses to acknowledge ‘attempted genocide’

Elena Gorolová was 21 when she gave birth to her second son. “The doctor told me I would need to deliver via a C-section otherwise I would be risking the health of me and the baby.”

In the delivery room, a nurse gave her papers to sign. “I was in so much pain … I was in no state to think about what I was signing,” says the social workerfrom the Czech Republic. She had unknowingly signed an agreement to be sterilised.

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Hopes, dreams and fears: the world of teenage girls through their diaries

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To mark International Women’s Day, explore beyond the stereotypes with Masuma Ahuja’s book Girlhood, a collection of diary entries from girls around the world

Masuma Ahuja was tired of seeing the same stories told about teenage girls. They were either victimised or sexualised, even if an “exceptional girl” such as Greta Thunberg or Malala Yousafzai was occasionally held up as a role model for fighting back.

“We have very little understanding of the day-to-day life of girls and what life looks like for them,” says Ahuja. “I wanted to create a small portrait of what girlhood looks like in different places, and something that girls can pick up and feel seen by … and seen by girls elsewhere who share their own experiences.”

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‘So much trauma’: Mozambique conflict sparks mental health crisis

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Aid groups warn of collapsed health system as traumatised people displaced by Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado seek help

The insurgency in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province is causing a mental health crisis, with a quarter of the region’s population now displaced.

People are struggling with untreated trauma after witnessing extreme violence, including mass beheadings, said humanitarian groups concerned about the strain on those who have sheltered dozens of displaced people in their homes.

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Hong Kong activists and plight of the Uighurs: human rights this week in photos

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A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Colombia to the Sahara

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