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9 February 2011, World Social Forum, Dakar, Senegal: In this year, 2011, the World Social Forum joins with the peoples of Africa for the third time, following Mali in 2006 and Kenya in 2007. We, women from different parts of the world who have gathered in Dakar, recognizing that uniting our strengths will eventually bring change, confirm our solidarity and our admiration for the struggles of Senegalese women, African women, and women of the world.

It was just over two years ago that a group of women were brutally murdered in Balochistan. The details have not yet been established, but it seems they were killed by people who had some political clout with the provincial government. The crime was even discussed in the Senate. The story made headlines not so much for the fact of their murder, but because at least some of them were said to have been buried alive. It has not been possible to ascertain the status of the investigation or legal case, if one was ever filed. By Ayesha Khan

FRIDAY FILE: A review of the 2010 UN Human Development Report By Kathambi KinotiWhat is well being? Is it individual or collective wealth, health, and/or political participation? Over the past 20years the United Nations has produced an annual Human Development Report that attempts to measure how far nations have gone in ensuring that their citizens are healthy, safe, politically engaged and equal to each other.

FRIDAY FILE: On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, AWID revisits struggles and gains for the indivisibility of rights. By Lejla MedanhodzicDisability Rights are Human Rights

For the past year, Israelis and Palestinians have been participating in a weekly demonstration against the evacuation of Palestinian families from their houses in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Last summer, in the midst of the demonstrations,a feminist debate flared up on the internet following the request of organizers of the "Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement", who asked protesters to come to the demonstrations dressed in a way that respects the values of the Palestinian residents of the neighborhood.

FRIDAY FILE: The Third African Feminist Forum was held in Dakar in towards the end of October 2010. In this Friday File article we offer some reflections on the meeting. By Kathambi Kinoti

FRIDAY FILE: Due to the financial and economic crisis, renewed attention has been placed on Financial Transaction Taxes (FTTs), which have been lauded by proponents for both their revenue generating potential and regulatory effects.[1] The crisis – which has disproportionately impacted women – has reversed many development gains of the last 10 years.

FRIDAY FILE: Since the end of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, there have been tremendous gains for women, particularly on the political front. By Kathambi KinotiRwandan President Paul Kagame was re-elected into office last September with an overwhelming majority vote of well over 90 percent. Kagame played a central role in putting an end to the horrific events of 1994 that saw between an eighth to a fifth Rwanda’s population massacred in a period of three months.

FRIDAY FILE: How do women fare in this rich nation with a relatively poor women’s rights record? By Kathambi Kinoti

FRIDAY FILE: Fifty four years ago, in 1956, Tunisia adopted its Personal Status Code, the most progressive legislation in terms of women’s rights in the Arab world. What provisions of this law safeguard women’s rights and interests within marriage and in the event of divorce? How does the Code promote equality between men and women? By Massan d’Almeida Marriage