Nearly 65% of adults in the Arab region remain excluded from formal financial systems, according to a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The Annual SDG Review 2025 paints a sobering picture of persistent financial exclusion that is undermining the region’s ability …
When a village watchman self-righteously stopped Navlibehn from cutting firewood in the forests adjoining Kotha village, she retorted, "To kya main apne haath jala kar roti pakaun (Should I burn my hands to cook food)?" In Boriya village, Manibehn and her sister-in-law were caught redhanded cutting wood. The watchmen seized …
ABOUT 1.2 billion women live in the rural areas of the developing world and at least one-third of these are heads of households. These women bear a crushing workload -- at home and in the fields -- but their contribution to rural development is often overlooked. Environmental degradation adds to …
FOR the lone woman crusader in a far-flung rural area, the fight for justice can be horrendously daunting in the face of an incomprehensible Indian Penal Code and male-dominated panchayats. In city courts, the course of justice is often longwinded. The Bhanwari Devi case is a pointer. A potter and …
Women's groups in India are peeved about the draft country paper on the challenges facing Indian women, presented at the Asia-Pacific Inter-ministerial Conference on Women in Development, held in Jakarta in the second week of June. This meet was preparatory to the Fourth World Conference on Women to be held …
"WE HAVE to find ways of creating an environment in which the individual most affected (by population control measures), in this case woman, is also part of the decision-making process," Nafis Sadik, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, told the press in New York, on the eve of …
WRAPPED AND bound in red tape, the 276 obstinate deodars growing near Tutu village in Rampur sub-division of Himachal Pradesh's Shimla district were an uncomplaining target for freewheeling woodcutters roaming the area. This time round, they were saved from the axe by a bunch of gritty village women. The deodars …
If a girl child in India could benefit every time somebody recounted her problems, hers would be a happy lot by now. Unfortunately, efforts to better her condition have been restricted to pieces of paper which do the rounds in various "concerned" ministries, elaborate action plans that serve to make …
Why were you chosen as a trainee? I was interested because of the money I could earn. Over a period of six months, 15 other poor women like me were trained. Are all of them caretakers of handpumps? No, only nine of us were assigned pumps. We undertake repair works …
AFTER designer clothes and designer food, will designer babies be next? Are you a black who wants a white baby or a 65-year-old woman who wants to conceive? No problem, except that of ethics. Made-to-order babies are now possible with the rapid development of assisted reproductive technologies (See box). Till …
ANGER should, ideally, lead to introspection. But all the anger generated by struggles women have waged in India over the last 15 years has not yielded a mature body of thought. So when someone like Gabriele Dietrich sets out systematically to examine issues like caste, class, sex, religion, development, science …
Several women's activist groups and research organisations have decided to step up their agitation against the proposed amendment to the Maternity Benefits Act, which seeks to limit maternity leave and related benefits to two children. This follows the dismissal of their objections by the Union deputy minister for health and …
TECHNOLOGY is essential for improved living and working conditions. However, women -- especially those in rural areas -- are often denied access to technology because of discrimination and lack of adequate information. For instance, rural women spend many hours away from home collecting firewood. If the women were provided energy …
SOUTH Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) chairperson Khaleda Zia called for a movement for the empowerment of women. At a SAARC ministerial conference in Kathmandu, she said non-governmental organisations could play an important role by coming up with "innovative programmes". Zia also urged legislation to ensure equality for women …
Women farm labourers are more vulnerable to pesticide poisoning -- and they don't even know it. A survey of 13 states conducted by the Consumers Forum, in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Consumer Organisations and the All India Women's Conference, found that pesticide-induced headaches, vomiting and uneasiness were common …
THE TRUE test of a development video is whether it informs and motivates its viewers or sends them to sleep. And this is where many of the entries for the 'Women in Development' video competition, organised recently in New Delhi by the British Council, failed miserably, for this viewer was …
ON NOVEMBER 7, residents of Vivekanandapally in Calcutta staved off yet another attempt by a group of real estate developers, which has been trying to fill up a shallow 0.134 hectare lake in the area for more than a decade. The developers, lured by the prospect of selling the filled …
GERMAN scientists say an understanding of car crashes could help childbirth specialists tell if a woman needs a Caesarean section (International Business Week, No 3327-657). The team of researchers at the Deutschland-based Electronic Data Systems, struck by the similarity of forces that come into play in a car crash and …
FAMILY planning practices are growing rapidly, but not fast enough to make a dent in the world's population. The UN argues there is a large unmet demand for family planning services. In one generation, the proportion of married women in the developing world who are using contraception has risen to …
WEST ASIAN countries have ample funds at their disposal thanks to their oil reserves, but they suffer a lack of adequate manpower. Men from Kerala are among those who have gone to these countries to work on construction sites, in factories and various other labour-intensive activities. While the phenomenon of …
* PATENT wars are heating up. British drug manufacturer Glaxo has won one patents case against a Canadian manufacturer, but faces a second against another. Both claim Glaxo's products -- stable and unstable forms of Zantac -- are not different enough to justify different patents. Zantac is the world's best-selling …
