The promotion of women’s rights through the introduction of gender quotas in Jordan is being used to score points on ‘democratization’ and to present a ‘modern’ face to the world. What are the prospects for women’s empowerment?
Will president-elect Hassan Rowhani listen to human rights activists? Will he respond to Pegah Ahangarani's simple demand that he appoints qualified, non-corrupt, competent and accountable people to management and administration positions ? Nayereh Tohidi asks whether he will reset Iran's politica
Addressing the African Union 50th Anniversary Heads of States Summit, Amina Mama challenged the gathering to redefine the terms of Africa's insertion in the global economy, and raised critical questions regarding the lived realities of ordinary people and the central contribution of women to Afric
At a time when global warming requires that we do our most creative thinking, public education and free thought are under attack by both austerity programs and religious fundamentalism. So where are our new creative thinkers supposed to come from?
Fundamentalist mass murder of Algerian people of letters in the 1990s was an intellectocide, in the tradition of totalitarian culture wars. Today, official limits on expression benefit fundamentalist ideas. This is the second death of Algerian intellectuals, says Mustapha Benfodil
L'assassinat massif des intellectuels algériens par les intégristes dans les années 1990 est un veritable intellectocide. Aujourd’hui, des formes de censure culturel officiel sont à l'œuvre, laissant le champ libre aux idées les plus rétrogrades. C'est la deuxième mort des intellectuels Algériens
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the Algerian jihadists war on culture. Those who waged the intellectual struggle against fundamentalism in Algeria throughout the 1990s received little support internationally. Karima Bennoune pays tribute to those who fell in the culturicide, and warns
Cette année marque le vingtième anniversaire de la guerre menée par des djihadistes algériens contre la culture. Karima Bennoune rend hommage à ceux qui sont tombés dans ce culturicide et appelle à l’urgente la nécessité de ne pas les oublier.
George Orwell’s “1984” is alive and well in Spain as the Minister for Justice talks- up plans to deny women the right to an abortion, says Liz Cooper
The death of Savita Halappanavar lifted the lid on the church, the state, and women's reproductive rights in the Republic of Ireland, and has been the catalyst for the new legislation on the rights of pregnant women proposed last week.
There is a backlash against women’s agency in Northern Ireland in a number of different ways, all of which impact on the ability of women to participate fully in initiatives intended to deal with the legacy of the past and support the transition out of conflict.
