Global Issues News Headlines for “Women’s Rights”

Lailuma Built Opportunities for Afghan Women – Then She Was Killed

2026-08-21T12:34:27-07:00

FAYZABAD, Afghanistan, August 21 (IPS) - Afghanistan has seen a number of unexplained murders in recent months.One of the latest victims is Lailuma, the wife of well-known local singer Salam Maftoon and a community activist.

Read the full story, “Lailuma Built Opportunities for Afghan Women – Then She Was Killed”, on globalissues.org →

How the Taliban Hunt Women in Afghanistan

2026-08-20T10:24:38-07:00

ROME, August 20 (IPS) - FIVE years after the Taliban returned to power, Fawzia Koofi, the former Deputy Speaker of the Afghan Parliament, denounces what she describes as “gender apartheid.”

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Nairobi Biodiversity Talks Set the Stage for Key COP17 Decisions

2026-08-18T08:15:02-07:00

NAIROBI, August 18 (IPS) - Despite record participation in global biodiversity reporting and planning processes, countries remain off track to meet the world’s 2030 biodiversity goals, according to discussions that concluded this month at two key meetings under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Read the full story, “Nairobi Biodiversity Talks Set the Stage for Key COP17 Decisions”, on globalissues.org →

How Global Aid Cuts are Undermining Women-Led Humanitarian Response in Sudan

2026-08-17T08:05:16-07:00

UNITED NATIONS, August 17 (IPS) - Women-led and women’s rights organizations (WLOs) in humanitarian settings are collapsing amidst a complicated predicament in which needs are surging and international support is dwindling.

Read the full story, “How Global Aid Cuts are Undermining Women-Led Humanitarian Response in Sudan”, on globalissues.org →

PARAGUAY: ‘Transparency Should Strengthen Democracy, Not Turn Criticism of Those in Power into a Cause for Suspicion’

2026-08-14T05:54:28-07:00

CIVICUS discusses the challenges posed by Paraguay’s ‘anti-NGO law’ with Hugo González, executive director of the Paraguayan Network of LGBTQ+ Artists (REPAR+), a civil society organisation (CSO) that promotes the rights of LGBTQI+ people, which has joined the constitutional challenge against this law.

Read the full story, “PARAGUAY: ‘Transparency Should Strengthen Democracy, Not Turn Criticism of Those in Power into a Cause for Suspicion’”, on globalissues.org →

African Rights Advocates Coordinate Response to Family Law Backlash

2026-08-13T08:31:42-07:00

NAIROBI, August 13 (IPS) - Women’s rights advocates, judges and lawyers have launched a coordinated campaign to reform family laws that discriminate against women and girls in Africa.

Read the full story, “African Rights Advocates Coordinate Response to Family Law Backlash”, on globalissues.org →

Nicaragua: End of the Electoral Illusion

2026-08-12T08:57:34-07:00

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, August 12 (IPS) - On 19 July, the 47th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution that first brought him to power, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega declared that his country would hold ‘no more elections’ so that the opposition could never again try to ‘seize power’. Just like that, he scrapped a presidential vote that had previously been pushed back to 2027, abandoning even the fiction of democratic legitimacy. The move changes little in practice, since no free vote had been possible for years. But it’s still revealing: a government that controls the army, the courts, the electoral machinery and the police, and will still not risk even a stage-managed ballot, is one that has lost confidence in its people.

Read the full story, “Nicaragua: End of the Electoral Illusion”, on globalissues.org →

UN Special Rapporteur Urges the Protection of Children’s Rights Amid Deepening Conflict and Digital Threats

2026-08-12T08:00:18-07:00

UNITED NATIONS, August 12 (IPS) - On July 7, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres presented a report from the Special Rapporteur on the sale, sexual exploitation, and sexual abuse of children, Ai Kihara-Hunt, to the General Assembly, underscoring her goals and priorities for the implementation of protection measures for children worldwide. The report, submitted in coordination with the Human Rights Council, highlights the systemic barriers that leave children increasingly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse, including weak government oversight, limited support and justice services for victims, and worsening protracted crises.

Read the full story, “UN Special Rapporteur Urges the Protection of Children’s Rights Amid Deepening Conflict and Digital Threats”, on globalissues.org →

Obstetric Violence: Syrian Women Speak Out

2026-08-11T07:44:01-07:00

ALEPPO, Syria, August 11 (IPS) - The abuse 30-year-old Nour Al-Badawi experienced in an Aleppo public hospital while giving birth resulted in her having two major follow-up operations and left her with depression and anxiety.

Read the full story, “Obstetric Violence: Syrian Women Speak Out”, on globalissues.org →

INDIA: ‘The Cockroach Janta Party Brings Together Everyone Who Has Been Neglected for Years’

2026-08-10T06:58:42-07:00

CIVICUS discusses India’s Cockroach Janta Party movement with Harshit Singh, a young activist, poet and storyteller who took part in protests in Delhi.

Read the full story, “INDIA: ‘The Cockroach Janta Party Brings Together Everyone Who Has Been Neglected for Years’”, on globalissues.org →