FRIDAY FILE - Women human rights defenders (WHRDs) who promote the rights; health and safety of sexual workers are being persecuted, harassed and arrested.
Although sexual work is illegal in Uganda, providing services and support for sex workers is not.
By Katherine Ronderos
FRIDAY FILE: The pace of change has been slow for South Sudan since it became the newest country on 9 July 2011.
AWID spoke to Lilian Riziq, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Irrigation in Western Bhar El Ghazal State, Wau about some of the challenges for women in the fledgling nation.
By Susan Tolmay
AWID: It has been nearly a year since South Sudan became an independent nation, what, if anything, has changed for women in South Sudan during this period?
On 7April 2012 Joyce Banda made history by becoming the first female President of Malawi and the first in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)[1] following the sudden death of former President, Bingu wa Mutharika. The new President has an enormous undertaking to address the serious economic crisis in the country, and with a strong activist track record, civil society is hopeful that she will champion women rights.
FRIDAY FILE: A pending law in the Philippines may make women and girls’ reproductive rights and health more secure. AWID spoke to Junice Demetrio-Melgar of Likhaan Center for Women’s Health about the pending Reproductive Health Bill, 2001.
AWID: What is the situation of women and girls’ reproductive health and rights in the Philippines?
FRIDAY FILE: LGBTQI individuals in Africa face numerous civil, political, economic, social and cultural barriers. AWID spoke to Hakima Abbas, the Executive Director of Fahamu about the challenges of LGBTQI activism and how the politics of foreign aid impacts the struggle.
FRIDAY FILE: In Africa land rights are critical to economic power. In recent history, there have been three waves of land grabs: colonization, post-independence and present-day land grabs for commercial and apparently environment preservation purposes . Governments and corporations continue to wield their power to the detriment of women in Africa
FRIDAY FILE: Land, labour and livelihoods were the themes of the 2011 Gender Festival in the East African nation of Tanzania. Organized by the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), the Festival brought together about 4000 predominantly grassroots women’s rights and gender equality advocates over four days.
By Kathambi Kinoti
The Maputo Protocol is a ground-breaking women’s rights legal instrument that expands and reinforces the rights provided in other human rights instruments. The Protocol provides a broad range of economic and social welfare rights for women. Importantly it was produced by Africans and pays attention to the concerns of African women.
FRIDAY FILE: Conflict, violence, famine and natural disasters are just a few reasons why women are forced to flee their homes and become displaced. To better understand the situation of women refugees and internally displaced women in Africa, AWID interviewed Yifat Susskind, MADRE’s Executive Director.
FRIDAY FILE: The HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Bill, which criminalizes the transmission of HIV and AIDS in cases where a person is aware that they are HIV positive, was tabled in Uganda’s Parliament in 2010. The Bill has a number of adverse human and women’s rights implications.
By Kathambi Kinoti