Circumcisers in the Gambia publicly declaring that they have abandoned the practice of FGM. Credit: Saikou Jammeh/IPS
BANJUL, Jul 13 2014 (IPS) – Women’s rights activists in the Gambia are insisting that more than 30 years of campaigning to raise awareness should be sufficient to move the government to outlaw female genital mutilation (FMG).
The practice remains widespread in this tiny West African country of 1.8 million people, but rights activists believe that their campaign has now reached the tipping point.
Two years ago, , an apolitical non-governmental organ…
Melody Kemp/IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 7 2016 (IPS) – From forced sterilisation to sexual abuse, young women and men with disabilities are much more likely to have their sexual and reproductive health rights violated than other people.
However despite the increased risks they face, young people with disabilities are also much less likely to get the sexual health education that they need.
Sometimes this is because well-meaning caregivers fail to realise the sexual desires and needs of people with disabilities, Malin Kvitvaer who works for the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) told IPS.
“They see only the deafness a…
Crystal Simeoni is currently the Economic Justice lead at FEMNET – one of Africa’s largest women’s rights networks where she leads a body of work that intersects pan-African feminist narratives into macroeconomic policy processes and spaces at different levels. She is an at the London School of Economics.
Ebola Outbreak in Nigeria 2014
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 2020 (IPS) – The coronavirus disease, otherwise known as COVID-19, was first in Wuhan, China on the last day of December 2019. When it began to spread rapidly, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared it a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020.
As such, the coronavirus…
Mask mandates are now over, but health practitioners and scientists say it’s time to use what we have learnt about COVID-19 to manage other epidemics. Credit: IMF Photo/James Oatway
Johannesburg, Aug 18 2022 (IPS) – After two years of economic and social upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries, including South Africa, have lifted the tough protocols such as lockdowns, the mandatory wearing of masks and social distancing.
COVID fatigue, the global eco…