Women in Ghana are disproportionately underrepresented in the fast-moving digital economy. What can be done to redress the balance, especially in a time where digital skills are needed more than ever? The race for high quality jobs in the rapidly evolving digital economy is aggressive, global in nature and male dominated. In African countries, getting a foothold...

The call came in at 10 p.m.—two hours after the COVID-19 curfew in Bosnia and Herzegovina in March. The caller was noticeably shaken, after being thrown across the room and having her hair ripped out by her ex-husband—all in front of her children, aged 10 and 15. The  woman and her children fled and stood...

As the sixth-born child to poor parents, there wasn’t enough money for me to pursue any studies after high school. Growing up, my siblings and I often missed school to help our parents harvest vegetables from our land so that we could eat. After graduating, I moved to Nairobi to find work to sustain myself....

A new report documents major challenges to women’s access to justice in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and puts forth recommendations to accelerate action and push back against threats to progress. Date: Thursday, May 21, 2020 21 May 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic escalates threats to women’s access to justice, according to a new joint report, Justice for...

WATCHING OUR WOMEN, GIRLS AND CHILDREN’S HEALTH A three-year “Catalysing Leadership to improve Women, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Wellbeing” (WNCAW) Project is being implemented in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Niger and Côte d’Ivoire. The WNCAW project focuses on issues related to vulnerable groups including women, new born, children and adolescents. The overall Goal of...

KEY FACTS ON SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH According to the World Health Organisation every day, approximately 830 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Also, about 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries Every day in 2017, approximately 810 women died from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. 94%...

Activists have welcomed the Sudanese government’s move to criminalise Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The transitional government amended the criminal code in an effort to protect women and girls from the traditional practice that is considered a violation of human rights. “There is so much that women’s groups are pushing for and the criminalization of FGM...

Emanuela Paul is the Rethinking Power Program Coordinator with Beyond Borders/Depase Fwontyè yo. The programme focuses on preventing violence against women and girls, including women and girls with disabilities, in Haiti and implements a project with funding from the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women. In light of COVID-19, she explains how her...

This commentary is co-signed by Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ghana; Kamina Johnson-Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica; Kang Kyung-wha, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea; Retno Marsudi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Indonesia; Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, South Africa; Marise...

The COVID-19 pandemic is a disaster that has severely disrupted the normal functioning of populations around the world and continues to proliferate indiscriminately. Disease outbreaks like COVID-19 threaten the health of all. But women and girls are disproportionately affected. During epidemics, the very measures taken to protect populations and keep health systems afloat leave women and girls especially...