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?

FRIDAY FILE - Threats and violence against women journalists are on the rise in many regions of the world. In their work exposing injustices and bearing witness to human rights violations, women journalists are women human rights defenders and as such are in need of better security and protection mechanisms.

By Katherine Ronderos

While governments were selling out on women’s reproductive rights at the official United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), women’s rights and feminist groups were organizing at the People’s Summit for Social and Environmental Justice to denounce the green economy and neoliberal development model and offer feminist proposals in relation to the future of the planet.

By Alejandra Scampini

FRIDAY FILE: Between January and February 2012, while demonstrating against the passing of a law violating their human and territorial rights, the Ngöbe-Buglé indigenous community from Panama suffered brutal repression. AWID spoke to Mariela Arce (1) about this situation.

By Gabriela De Cicco

Friday File: Tonya Haynes spoke with AWID about a recent “Catch a Fyah” convening she organized of young feminists from different countries, religious backgrounds and ethnicities in the Caribbean.

Tonya coordinates online and offline activities for CODE RED in Barbados. CODE RED began as a student organisation of feminist women and men looking to find space within Caribbean feminism

By Masum Momaya

We invite you to share your opinion in the comments box below.

FRIDAY FILE: A discussion about the implications of the proposed UN Fifth World Conference on Women in 2015 is urgently needed among feminists and women’s rights activists from all regions of the world.

There are diverse opinions about the organization, hosting and purpose of the proposed conference, which have not been broadly debated.

By Susan Tolmay[i]

The proposed 5th World Conference on Women

On April 27, during its 45th Session, the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD) adopted a landmark Resolution on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescents and youth.

FRIDAY FILE: Feminists have started to consider self-care and security as a political tool to ensure the survival of our movement as well as our personal wellness. But, the patriarchal legacy mandating women as “care-givers of the world”, creates contradictions in balancing the demand of caring for others with needing to care for ourselves.

By Katherine Ronderos

Rape and gender violence in conflict is a problem of huge proportions across the globe.

The International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict has been launched to end this wanton scourge. AWID spoke to Yee Htun, Coordinator of the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict at the Nobel Women’s Initiative about the objectives and hopes for the campaign.

FRIDAY FILE: Corinna Lim, Executive Director of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), speaks with AWID about the women’s rights implications of various contentious issues at play in Singapore today: freedom of expression, access to the government and steady economic growth reliant on migrant domestic workers.

By Masum Momaya