Military-run Abortions, Demanding Equal Pay: Here's Around The World in 5
This ongoing series highlights women's news and information about foreign policy. This week’s post covers April 15 to April 22.
Afghanistan
The United Nations (UN) has announced that it will withdraw support from Afghanistan in May if the Taliban refuses to make exceptions to its law banning women from working in humanitarian assistance.
The ban on women working at the UN is an extension of the Taliban's original ban on women working for NGOs in December, allegedly because the female workers were not wearing their hijabs correctly or following gender segregation rules.
Read more here.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia is recruiting up to five hundred thousand women to serve as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia.
The recruitment program is to serve as an alternative so women will not need to take the usual dangerous migrant routes through Djibouti and Yemen. They will instead board government-funded flights.
Read more here.
Canada
Canadian women footballers fight for equality ahead of the Women’s World Cup.
In a statement put out by their union, the Canadian soccer players association, the athletes said they were “outraged and deeply concerned” by news of significant funding cuts and warned that their world cup preparations were being compromised.
The players said they did not benefit from the same level of support as the men’s national team, which last year qualified for its first World Cup in 36 years, and were told “to simply make do with less”.
Read more here.
Nigeria
Reuters has released an additional report to the earlier released report on mass abortions run by the Nigerian Army.
In December, Reuters revealed that at least 10,000 pregnancies had been terminated among women and girls impregnated by Islamist insurgents since 2013.
In the new report, two women tell Reuters that they underwent abortions in military custody without their consent.
Read more here.
Global
Research indicates that women’s representation in national parliaments leads to the adoption of more stringent climate policies, resulting in lower emissions.
Their leadership in the workplace is associated with greater transparency around climate impact. And their participation in local natural resource management is linked to better resource governance and conservation outcomes.
Read more here.