Some weeks ago, Laura Chinchilla, political scientist, former Vice President, and Minister of Justice of the [outgoing] Oscar Arias government of Costa Rica, became the first woman elected as President of this Central American country. Both Chinchilla and Arias are representatives of the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN, National Liberation Party), which has social-democratic roots, but in the last several years, has strongly sustained a neo-liberal stance.

by Gabriela De Cicco

At the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean conference (ECLAC) Regional Conference on Population and Development in Montevideo, Uruguay in August 2013, AFM launched an innovative and engaging campaign calling on passersby to "Talk to God" without intermediaries, via a telephone booth.

Hassan Rouhani has now passed the six-month mark as Iran’s President, after his landslide victory in summer 2013 marked the end of the 8-year rule of Ahmedinejad. His predecessor presided over a period widely considered to be among the most challenging for women’s rights activists in the history of the Islamic Republic. Sussan Tahmsebi, an Iranian-American activist and co-founder of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) reflects on expectations of, and concerns about, Rouhani after his first six months in office.

Women human rights defenders organizations presented a shadow report to the CEDAW Committee of Experts, highlighting the Mexican Government’s lack of compliance and demanded a special investigation on violence against women human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico. The Mesoamerican Women Human Rights Defenders Initiative contributed to the report and was part of the delegation to New York, along with Consorcio Oaxaca, Red Mesa de Mujeres de Ciudad Juárez, and Just Associates (JASS).

FRIDAY FILE: In October AWID spoke to Mirna Cunningham and Maria Oberto, about the first ever World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP), this week we follow up with Dalí Angel, young indigenous woman activist from the Zapoteca nation in Oaxaca and Latin America Focal Point for the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus[1], about the Caucus’ involvement in

FRIDAY FILE: Nicaragua's Comprehensive Law on Violence Against Women, or Ley 779, is a historical demand of the women's movement, but the Decree to implement is problematic according to feminists in this Central American country.

By Gabby De Cicco*

A President who favours traditional family values over women’s rights

FRIDAY FILE: As we commemorate the Day for the Decriminalization of Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean on September 28 we take a look at the situation in El Salvador where abortion is illegal and where many women remain incarcerated because of these laws.

By Gabby De Cicco

FRIDAY FILE – In January this year the United Nations declared 2015-2024 The International Decade for People of African Descent. AWID spoke to Vicenta Camusso Pintos, coordinator of the South Cone Region for the Red de Mujeres Afrolatinoamericanas, Afrocaribeñas y la Diáspora, to learn more about Afro-descendant women’s organizing in Latin America over the past two decades.

By Gabby De Cicco

FRIDAY FILE: On September 5, 2013 the Domestic Workers Convention (C189), adopted by International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2011, entered into force. A year later, AWID spoke to Andrea Londoño S., Coordinator of the citizens' initiative Hablemos de Empleadas Domésticas (Let's Talk About Women Domestic Workers) from Medellin, Colombia, who outlines the legal landscape, how women domestic workers are organizing, and the challenges they face.

FRIDAY FILE – In December 2013 Michelle Bachelet won a landslide victory in the first ever presidential race between two women candidates, giving her a second term in the top decision making position in Chile. AWID spoke to feminist Sociologist Teresa Valdés, Coordinator for Chile's Gender and Equity Watch, about women's expectations and challenges to be addressed.

By Gabby De Cicco

AWID: What were some of the challenges in President Michelle Bachelet's first mandate (2006-2010) according to the women’s movement and feminist activists?