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

Risk and Disaster Management - The importance of making cities resilient

FRIDAY FILE: In the last two months an earthquake and unprecedentedly high-intensity forest fire have affected Nicaragua and Chile respectively, raising questions around how local authorities are equipped to evacuate populations and assist victims, while also mobilizing resources to alleviate post-disaster situations.

Women Take a Stand Against Monsanto Across Latin America

FRIDAY FILE: This year, on World Food Day, 52 countries organized a Global Day of Action Against Monsanto that became a catalyzer for several expressions of resistance against this corporation. In this Friday File we take a look at actions in three Latin American countries, where women are taking the lead in resistance movements.

By Gabriela De Cicco

Changes afoot to ensure gender aware climate change policies in the Pacific Island countries and territories

FRIDAY FILE - The Pacific region is one of the most vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change, with effects already being felt in sectors such as agriculture, water resources, forestry and tourism. But what mechanisms are in place to ensure women’s involvement in climate change processes?

By Rochelle Jones

AWID interviewed Dr. Netatua Pelesikoti and Peniamina Leavai* from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) about new moves towards gender mainstreaming climate change initiatives.

Idle No More: Women Leading Action for Indigenous Rights in Canada

FRIDAY FILE: Idle No More (INM) is a Canadian resistance and protest indigenous people’s movement that kicked off last year. AWID spoke with Dr. Lynn Gehl* (Gii-Zhigaate Mnidookwe), an indigenous human rights advocate, about the movement.

By Gabriela De Cicco

Oil Giant Shell is Held Responsible for Environmental Pollution – A Small Victory for Women in The Niger Delta

FRIDAY FILE - After a five-year-long case, a Dutch Court has held the Nigerian Subsidiary of Shell responsible for the pollution of farmlands in Nigeria, marking a victory in the struggle against the oil company that has been at the centre of environmental concerns in Nigeria for over 40 years.

AWID interviewed Caroline Usikpedo, the National President of the Niger Delta Women’s movement for Peace and Development (NDWPD), for a women’s rights perspective on the ongoing struggle against the oil giant

By Rochelle Jones

COP18: Between losing rights and gender balance

FRIDAY FILE - The eighteenth Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP18) took place from November 26 to December 8, 2012 in Doha, Qatar.

Defending ancestral lands: Indigenous Women Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines

FRIDAY FILE - Murders of indigenous women human rights defenders (WHRDs) in the Philippines have caused worldwide condemnation. Defending indigenous communities’ rights to sustainable livelihoods, and protecting ancestral lands from mining interests has become an increasingly dangerous struggle.

Two decades of Indigenous Women’s leadership in Latin America

FRIDAY FILE - Indigenous women have and continue to play key leadership roles in their communities as well as in international spaces. AWID talked to Otilia Lux de Coti, Executive Director of the Indigenous Women’s Forum (IIWF) about how indigenous women leadership has evolved in the past decades.

Rural Women and Food Sovereignty

FRIDAY FILE: As we celebrate International Food Day and International Rural Women´s Day this month AWID interviewed Elizabeth Mpofu, peasant women leader of La Via Campesina in Zimbabwe to reflect on the intersections between hunger, agriculture, gender, social and environmental justice and highlight the importance of food sovereignty.

By Alejandra Scampini