By: Tod Perry Women in Saudi Arabia are standing up in opposition to the kingdom’s $3.5 billion investment in Uber. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women from driving and the investment is seen as a way for the country and Uber to profit from oppression. To travel freely, women in the conservative Islamic country are forced to either be driven by a male family member or pay for services such as Uber. “They’re investing in our pain, in our suffering,” Hatoon al-Fassi, a Saudi women’s historian who teaches at Qatar University, said. “This institutionalizes women’s inferiority and dependency, and it turns women into an object of investment.” Women in Saudi Arabia who are caught behind the wheel are subject fines and, in some cases, flogging. To protest Uber’s partnership with the kingdom, Saudi women have posted pictures of themselves deleting the Uber app…

By: Malva Izquierdo Three decades after Nicaragua launched the first of many reforms aimed at giving women equal land rights, experts say rural women remain exploited and open to disinheritance, violence and abuse. Many women are locked out of land – first by a father then by a husband – while others say they are treated worse than the animals they tend. Yet all this was supposed to end decades ago. The first promised wave of reform to property law began in the 1980s, a new drive followed in the 1990s and the latest big attempt to give women fair treatment came just six years ago. All have failed, according to the experts, creating fresh opportunities for men to use ‘asset violence’ and blackmail to control both wife and land. Rene Rodriguez, author of a study by the Managua-based research institute, Nitlapan, says a major problem lies with inheritance…

African First Ladies have been called to intensify efforts in advocating changes in attitude and cultural norms as well as removal of legal and political barriers that stand in the way of the continent’s transformation, Ethiopia’s First Lady said. Speaking recently at the 18th Ordinary General Assembly of the Organization of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFL), First Lady Roman Tesfaye said African First ladies are increasingly using their role and influence to bring about changes nationally and internationally. She said “we, First Ladies of Africa take pride in our individuals and collective contributions to the encouraging socio-economic and political strides Africa is making.” African First ladies should not be considered as treating symptoms of social and economic problems or only reaching out of humanitarian causes, the First Lady added. “Our advocacy should continue to be geared towards addressing the root causes of the problems our society is facing,” she…

By: Nitin Srivastava, BBC Hindi The Congress party, which has ruled India for most of the time since independence in 1947, has been in a state of rapid decline in recent years. Now with elections in the politically key state of Uttar Pradesh just a few weeks away, the “grand old party” of India has allied with the regional Samajwadi Party which currently heads the state government, and is run by the powerful but feuding Yadav family. Interestingly, the credit for this strategic alliance is being credited to Priyanka Gandhi, sister of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. ‘Relevant dynasty’ Many in the party have fancied a larger role for Ms Gandhi for years, but this is perhaps the first time her backroom negotiating skills are being acknowledged publicly by the party. In the family stronghold of Rae Bareli district in Uttar Pradesh, Ms Gandhi is held in high regard. “If anyone…

The Africa Ministerial Pre-Consultative Meeting on the 61st Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 61st) on the theme “Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work” was held recently in Addis Ababa with Deputy Executive Secretary Giovanie Biha of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) urging Africa to repeal legislation that discriminate against women and girls. In her remarks welcoming Africa’s gender ministers to the pre-CSW61 consultative meeting, Ms. Biha said sound actions must be taken to ensure that women’s rights to employment are fully secured and protected as this would enhance their prospects in the changing world of work, She stressed that the need for African governments to enforce the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against women (CEDAW) and the African Charter on the Rights of People by removing all discriminatory national laws. Ms. Biha said for a long time, women…