The World Urban Forum – Bringing Grassroots Women to the Urban Planning Table

FRIDAY FILE: The World Urban Forum 6 (WUF6) took place in Naples from 1-7 September 2012.

AWID spoke to Carmen Griffiths, Executive Director of the Construction Resource and Development Center (CRDC), and leader and organizer of GROOTS Jamaica[1]about grassroots women’s participation at this important global urban planning event.

By Susan Tolmay

Women with disabilities and economic rights

by Gabby De Cicco

AWID spoke to Maria Veronica Reina, Executive Director of Global Partnership for Disability and Development to examine how women with disability are faring in terms of economic rights.

Challenges for Young Women Human Rights Defenders in Pakistan

FRIDAY FILE - Gulalai Ismail, a 25-year-old woman human rights defender (WHRD) and Chairperson of Aware Girls[1], has been working from an early age to improve conditions for young women in Pakistan.

Gulalai shares with AWID her experiences as a young WHRD living in a context of oppression and discrimination in the name of culture and religion.

By Katherine Ronderos

A New Development Cooperation Framework that works for whom?

FRIDAY FILE: Six months after the 4thHigh Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4) took place in Busan, a new Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) was launched, but civil society organizations have expressed concerns about the inclusiveness of the process and scepticism that any real change will take place.

Women’s Rights and Organizing in China

FRIDAY FILE: AWID interviewed Cai Yiping[i]about the status of women's rights and major issues affecting women in China - the history of women's struggles for equality, what has been achieved and what challenges remain.

By Rochelle Jones

AWID: How would you describe the status of women's rights in China at present and what are the major issues women are facing?

Political Crisis in Mali and the Rise of Fundamentalisms

FRIDAY FILE: A coup d’état and the occupation of northern Mali have left many searching for answers to a deepening crisis.

AWID spoke with Head of Cooperation at the Netherlands Embassy in Mali, To Tjoelker, and socio-anthropologist Lalla Mariam Haidara, native of Timbuktu and specialist on women’s rights in Mali, to shed light on the situation.

By Ani Colekessian

Defending the Defender – Women Human Rights Defenders in Uganda Face Unlawful Criminalization

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

Paraguay Parliamentary Coup: Another strike against Latin American democracy

FRIDAY FILE: On June 22, 2012, almost three years after the coup d’etat in Honduras, the Paraguayan Senate removed President Fernando Lugo from office after finding him guilty of impeachment in a 39 to 4 vote.

AWID talked with Paraguayan political scientist and feminist lawyer Line Bareiro about this situation.

By Gabriela De Cicco

In Spite of the Many Ongoing Challenges there is Hope for Women in South Sudan

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?

Women Journalists in the Eye of the Storm

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