Credit: IPS TerraViva

By Selina Rust

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 11 (IPS/TerraViva)- Whenever Yusriya saw her neighbours leaving for school, she would cry.

“I wanted to read signs, understand ads, read the news and even write my name,” she explained.

The 13-year-old girl lives in Abu Teeg, an Egyptian city that hasn’t changed much over the years: the vast majority of women are uneducated, focus on the needs of their families, and even require their husband’s permission to leave the house. Continue Reading

A mother comforts her child as he receives tetanus and diphtheria vaccinations provided by the World Health Organisation. Credit: UN Photo/Sophia Paris

By Marguerite A. Suozzi

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 3 (IPS/TerraViva) Women in Haiti are more vulnerable than ever to attacks on their dignity and gender-based violence after the massive Jan.  12 earthquake crippled the already struggling nation. Continue Reading

Carol Orozco hawking candy at a busy intersection in Guatemala City. Credit: Danilo Valladares/IPS

By Danilo Valladares

GUATEMALA CITY, Feb 16, 2010 (IPS) – “I’ve been working in the streets since I was a girl. My parents didn’t send me to school, so it’s really hard for me to find a job,” says Carol Orozco, 31, who forms part of the veritable army of vendors hawking their wares on the streets of Central America.
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Maya Yadav (L) mobilises women for gender awareness activities. Credit:Nitin Jugran Bahuguna/IPS

By Diana G. Mendoza

MANILA, Feb 17, 2010 (IPS) – Women and poverty still share an uncomfortable spot on the development matrix of countries across Asia-Pacific that are struggling to end deprivation, according to the newly launched third joint report of the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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CUBA: Women Knitting for Change
By Dalia Acosta

Women from East Alamar workshop working together on a banner. Credit:José Luis Baños /IPS

HAVANA, Feb 5, 2010 (IPS) – A neighbour started calling Andrea del Sol “Perseverance,” and the name stuck. Since 1998, she and a small group of women from Alamar, on the outskirts of the Cuban capital, have been throwing their combined energies behind a common purpose: “changing things.” Continue Reading

Primary health care in Uganda is increasingly entrusted to community-based workers: is the strategy safe? Credit: Charles Akena/IRIN

Isaiah Esipisu

KAMPALA, Feb 22 (IPS) – A severe shortage of highly-trained medical personnel is one of the many challenges to providing health care at a local level across Africa. Task shifting – permitting less-specialised people to carry out certain functions – is one proposal to over come this, but it is meeting resistance. Continue Reading