Friday Files

FRIDAY FILE: Margaret Sekaggya, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders submitted her third report to the UN Human Rights Council. This report is the first to focus exclusively on the situation of women defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues.

FRIDAY FILE: At first glance, female genital mutilation and genital surgery carried out for cosmetic purposes might seem intrinsically different. On closer examination, however, they may be more similar than they initially appear.

FRIDAY FILE: Côte d’Ivoire has been in a political impasse since the declaration of contested results of a second round of presidential elections held in November 2010. Since both candidates claimed victory and have been sworn in, the country has two presidents and two governments. In order to understand the impact of this situation on women and women’s rights organizations, AWID spoke with two women’s rights defenders, Mata Coulibaly President of SOS EXCLUSION and Honorine Sadia Vehi Toure, President of Génération Femmes du troisième Millénaire (GFM3), as well as with an Ivorian politician who prefers to remain anonymous and to whom we have given the pseudonym of Sophie.

The north-east African nation of Sudan, currently Africa’s largest country by territory, will soon be split into two, following a referendum which took place in the south of the country in January 2011. On February 7, 2011 it was announced that an overwhelming majority (98.83%) of Southern Sudanese had voted in favour of secession from Sudan. 

FRIDAY FILE: Activist Anastasia Danilova explains how Moldova’s campaign to join the European Union provides some opportunity and some backlash for LGBT Rights

FRIDAY FILE: Microfinance is often regarded as having significant potential to alleviate poverty. Despite some success stories, though, micro-credit arrangements with unscrupulous lenders frequently contribute to making bad situations worse by driving women deeper into poverty and desperation. Many Dalit women have experienced the down-side of microcredit, the most common form of microfinance.

FRIDAY FILE: “The Colombian armed conflict has been going on for over 50 years and has developed alongside the situation of poverty in the country. Forced displacements, massacres of the Colombian people and other acts violating international humanitarian law are taking place, principally affecting women”.

FRIDAY FILE:  Growing unemployment, dwindling pensions, increasing taxes, domestic violence and a possible reinforcing of “traditional values” were just a few of the challenges facing women during Greece’s first wave of economic crisis and structural adjustment.

FRIDAY FILE: The Personal Status and Family Code of Mali was adopted in 2009 by the National Assembly, but promulgation by the President of Mali has been delayed until now due to the mobilization of Muslim religious organizations opposed to it.

FRIDAY FILE: Every year, the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice produces a Gender Report Card that assesses the progress of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in rendering gender-inclusive justice. AWID spoke with Brigid Inder, the Executive Director of the Women’s Initiatives, about the issues highlighted by the ICC Gender Report Card 2010.