Surviving the "underground" economy →

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It has been 15 years since South Africa introduced its first proposed quotas to encourage the mining industry to hire women. The quotas, which were included in the country’s draft mining charter, were a marked change in a country that once prevented women from even entering the industry.

Some elements are still missing, though — including the enforcement of sexual harassment policies, which researchers say continues to fuel inequalities and can put the lives of women working underground at risk. Read more.

Refugee women create economic opportunities →

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In 2008, when fighting broke out near her home in North Kivu province, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s, Kathy Mbweki fled with her family to neighboring Uganda. Mbweki and her husband struggled to pay rent and to feed their five children in the capital, Kampala, and after two years decided to move to a refugee settlement in western Uganda.
They received a plot of land and made some money selling the produce they grew, but Mbweki said it was still a constant struggle to stay afloat -- especially because the children were constantly falling sick. So two years later they decided to try to make it in Kampala again -- except this time she had a plan.

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Israel's forgotten refugees: African asylum seekers trapped in limbo →

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Thousands of African asylum seekers have fled to Israel, only to be systemically ostracized by a government that has made it clear it wants nothing more than for them to leave. The situation is especially difficult for women, who sometimes experience abuse from their partners and their employers or have particular health concerns, but without access to vital social services. Read more.

Women in Uganda are leading climate change adaptation →

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Farming is easily the most common occupation in this East African country. Much of it is small scale – scratching out just enough cassava, beans or maize to get by. And the vast majority of the people doing it are women – 80 percent according to some estimates. That means they are also the ones suffering most from the effects of climate change, whose impacts – changing weather patterns, intermittent floods and droughts and devastating landslides – can wipe out entire harvests and put families on the brink of starvation. Read more.

A victory on the path to maternal healthcare in Uganda →

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Irene Nanteza went into labor late on the morning of May 5, 2011. It was her fourth pregnancy, so she and her husband, David Mugerwa, were prepared. By 1:30 p.m. she was checked into the maternity ward at nearby Nakaseke Hospital, one of the best medical facilities in central Uganda. And when the nurse on duty looked in on Nanteza just before her shift ended at 3:30 p.m., she noted that, “everything looked normal.”
Six hours later, her uterus ruptured, Nanteza and her unborn baby were both dead.

Read more.