In 50.50's series of articles marking the centenary of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Madeleine Rees responds to Cynthia Cockburn, calling for a pragmatic approach that challenges and provides an alternative to the compartmentalisation of peace, security, disarmament, just
Reports that more than 200 girls kidnapped in north-eastern Nigeria have been forced to marry members of the rebel group Boko Haram bring home the brutal human-rights abuse—and, increasingly, security concern—that is child marriage.
In the first of a series of articles marking the hundredth year of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Cynthia Cockburn explores the roots of the women's peace movement and its aim not just to outlaw war, but to root out its causes.
Egypt’s current political scene is marked by ’Sisi-mania’, as the new leader’s supporters scramble to snap up the latest items of Sisi-branded consumer kitsch. A gendered reading of this ‘patriotic consumerism’ reveals its role in negotiating citizenship within Egypt’s refashioned political order.
In the six weeks since the citizens Barakat movement for a free and democratic Algeria was founded it has moved from cyberspace onto the streets. The voices calling for democratic transition are being heard. Pro-democracy activist Louiza Chennoub spoke to Karima Bennoune
Donors funding in conflict affected environments would be wise to focus on women’s leadership in conflict rather than women as victims of violence in conflict. This is key to changing the power structures which underlie violence, and to supporting sustainable peace efforts.
Glib and glossy visions of women’s empowerment, designed to avoid actual power structures, are being avidly promoted by corporations and the development industry alike. A new book by Srilatha Batliwala reminds us of what lies at the heart of feminist empowerment work.
Last month a young woman was mob attacked on Cairo University campus. Socially and culturally constructed circles that control our lives seem to be tightening at a time when individuals are trying their hardest to crack them open. Zainab Magdy explores whether women will ever find a space that is
The popular mobile money transfer service, M-Pesa, appears to improve the everyday lives of rural women in Kenya. But a review of some of the current research indicates a need for further conceptualisation of what women’s empowerment means.
Françoise Vergès talks to Kathleen B Jones about her life's work interlinking issues of women's oppression with anti-colonial struggles
Foreign policy reporting in the British media is dominated by an elite and a false neutrality presenting a particular ideology simply as authoritative. The question of who is positioned as the voice of reason must be examined.
Unpaid care work is one of the major barriers to women's rights, economic empowerment and poverty reduction. Will the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty, and the frantic efforts of women's rights advocates at the CSW in New York this week, get unpaid care work on to the post-2015
