18-11-2009 Women's political participation is a fundamental prerequisite for gender equality and genuine democracy, says Ines Alberdi, executive director, UNIFEM in an interview with Pamela Philipose. She avers that a lot has been achieved but there is still a great deal more to do.
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19-10-2009 Nearly 200 million people globally are victims of discriminations based on the notions of purity and pollution. Recently, a UN body deliberated on the recognition of caste as race and proposed to ensure that this scourge needs to be fought against, writes noted social activist and author Ram Puniyani.
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08-10-2009 Anwara Begum’s new book takes a look at women in the Bangladesh media. She argues that TV ads don’t only sell products but also attitudes and in the process set standards of beauty and mannerism, as defined by men. Hana Shams Ahmed reflects on the stereotyping of women.
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24-09-2009 Whether or not the greater cause of 'women's rights' will move beyond rhetoric in Afghanistan remains to be seen. There is, however, a sense that the initial enthusiasm among donors and Afghan returnees to push forward an agenda of women's rights is dissipating, write Tanya Goudsouzian and Fatima Rabbani.
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23-09-2009 This year nine workers including minors have fallen prey to snakebites and pesticide inhalation in the Bt cotton fields of Gujarat in western India. Shobhita Naithani investigates the unabated practice of child labour amidst corruption and absence of legal action.
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17-09-2009 Hailing the Indian government’s move to reserve 50% quota for women in local bodies, Pamela Philipose, Director, Women’s Feature Service, says it is important to translate numerical strength into meaningful empowerment. The proposed amendment must create spheres of influence where women can act decisively.
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16-09-2009 Bodo women in Assam, a state in northeast India, have been asserting their ethnic and nationalistic pride by participating in the struggle for political self-determination. They are now penning the grim realities of repression and mindless violence that their community is facing, writes Uddipana Goswami.
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27-08-2009 Nobel laureate Dr Amartya Sen maintains that the theory of justice must be more concerned with the elimination of removable injustices rather than engaging itself with a hypothetical ‘perfectly just society’. He finds it appalling that India has not done enough to eliminate hunger, deprivation and gender inequality.
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24-08-2009 A classic capitalistic battle is being staged in Chhattisgarh in central India as the state agencies connive with corporates to drive tribals away from land rich in natural resources. Gandhian activist Himanshu Kumar fights to rehabilitate people displaced by the state-backed Salwa Judum.
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14-07-2009 Afghan parliamentarian and women’s rights activist Malalai Joya personifies courage and serenity. In an interview, she discusses the plight of her countrywomen and remembers several other brave women who laid their lives fighting for freedom and equality.
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