Conflict, Poverty and Climate Change Remain Challenges to Achieving the MDGs In Ivory Coast, Should be Priorities Post 2015

FRIDAY FILE – While discussions on the new development agenda to replace the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) when they expire in just over a year took centre stage at the United Nations 69th session of the General Assembly (UNGA69) last week, AWID takes a look at the reality of women in the Ivory Coast, demonstrating why it is crucial that the new development agenda be based on principles of human rights, equality and sustainability.

By Mégane Ghorbani

El Salvador - Breaking the Silence on Criminalizing Abortion

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

UNGA69: Human Rights and Financing for Development in the Post-2015 Agenda

FRIDAY FILE - Discussions on the new development agenda to replace the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) when they expire in just over a year (with many goals not yet achieved), are reaching crucial stages. United Nations head Ban Ki-moon recently stated that the post-2015 development agenda will be a key part of the 69th UN General Assembly Session (UNGA), starting this week. We look at some of the ongoing concerns with the debates and negotiations ahead of the 69th UNGA.

Afro-descendant Women’s Organising in Latin America

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

The gap between laws and reality for Colombian domestic workers

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.

LGBTQI Movement Building in Middle East and North Africa

FRIDAY FILE - On August 1, 2014, the constitutional court of Uganda overturned the discriminatory anti-gay law passed through parliament on December 20, 2013. However, the decision was based on procedural technicalities rather than on the substance of the law, which goes against freedom of sexual orientation and gender identity.

By Mégane Ghorbani

Gender Mainstreaming at the African Development Bank: Issues and Challenges

FRIDAY FILES – September 1st, 2014 marks the first anniversary of the creation of the Special Envoy on Gender at the African Development Bank[i] (ADB). AWID spoke to Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, the first Special Envoy on Gender Issues at ADB, to learn more about the Bank's main goals and challenges for gender equality.

By Mégane Ghorbani

Patriarchy allows child marriage and female genital mutilation to flourish

FRIDAY FILE : This week's ‘Friday File’ is a blog post written by our Young Feminist Activism team on the recent Girl Summit in London originally published on the Guardian's Poverty Matters blog.

By Ghadeer Malek, Rachel Arinii and Nelly Bassily

Young feminists must help steer the fight against wider issues harming girls including poverty, marginalisation and exclusion

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet's New Mandate Has A Gender Agenda

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?

Youth Strategize for the Post 2015 Development Agenda

FRIDAY FILE – From 27-29 June, 21 young people from across Central, Eastern and Southeast Asia, the Pacific, Africa, North America, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, with diverse experiences came together in Hong Kong to strategize for the post-2015 development agenda process currently underway at the United Nations.