Global Issues
News headlines for “Women’s Rights”, page 26
International Women’s Day, 2025 - The Quest for a Female UN Secretary-General: Assessing the Probability
- Inter Press Service
NEW YORK, Mar 06 (IPS) - The United Nations has chosen “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” as the theme for International Women’s Day on March 8, 2025. This theme emphasizes the importance of equal rights, power, and opportunities for all women and girls, urging action to create a feminist future where no one is left behind.
One in four countries report backlash against women’s rights in 2024
- UN News
The basic rights of women and girls are facing unprecedented growing threats worldwide, from higher levels of discrimination to weaker legal protections -and less funding for programmes and institutions which support and protect women.
Our Silence on Female Genital Mutilation in Sierra Leone Will Not Protect Us
- Inter Press Service
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, Mar 05 (IPS) - Over 200 million women and girls around the world have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM). This is the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons.
Stitching Hope: Two Afghan Women Rebuild Their Lives with Needle and Thread
- Inter Press Service
Mar 05 (IPS) - Zainab and Mursal, two young Afghan women, had their education cut short by the Taliban. But instead of surrendering to despair, they picked up a needle and thread—transforming their skills into a thriving sewing business that now provides income and inspiration to other Afghan women.
International Women’s Day, 2025 - In Zanzibar, Women Turn the Tide with Sponge Farming
- Inter Press Service
JAMBIANI, Zanzibar, Mar 05 (IPS) - In the early morning, as the tide pulls away, Zulfa Abdallah ties her scarf tightly around her head. She adjusts her goggles, places a snorkel across her forehead, and wades into the chest-deep waters off Jambiani village in Zanzibar. The Indian Ocean is her livelihood now, its waves offering a lifeline to women like her who confront challenges of poverty and climate change.
International Women’s Day, 2025 - It’s time for a Feminist Woman Secretary General at the UN
- Inter Press Service
NEW YORK, Mar 05 (IPS) - In 2025, the United Nations will celebrate 80 years of shaping global policies, fostering peace, and driving international development. Yet, in those eight decades, not a single woman has held the position of Secretary-General.
Anti-LGBTQI Legislation in Europe Curbs Speech Freedom, DemocracyReport
- Inter Press Service
BRATISLAVA, Mar 04 (IPS) - LGBTQI communities across Europe and Central Asia are being ‘weaponized’ by governments as part of a wider attack on fundamental human rights and freedoms, rights activists have warned.
International Women’s Day, 2025 - New Report Finds Sexist Laws Persist Worldwide
- Inter Press Service
NEW YORK, Mar 04 (IPS) - A new global report analyzing sex discrimination in laws reveals that while some commendable gains have been achieved in strengthening legal protections for women and girls over the past five years, progress remains slow, uneven, and increasingly under threat from a growing backlash against women’s rights.
Sudan: Children as young as one raped during conflict, UNICEF warns
- UN News
As conflict rages across Sudan, armed men are raping and sexually assaulting children, including some infants as young as one, according to the UN children’s agency (UNICEF).
The Gates to Paradise Are Closing
- Inter Press Service
MEXICO CITY, Feb 28 (IPS) - In 2020, a historic announcement emerged from the Global Trafficking in Persons Report, an annual assessment that evaluates human exploitation in 129 countries. For the first time, the world witnessed a 13% decrease in the number of victims. For those of us who fight against this heinous crime, it felt as if a door to paradise had opened—an Eden where no human being is for sale.
Powered by 
and 