News headlines in March 2019, page 10

JOHANNESBURG, Mar 08 (IPS) - This opinion piece is part of IPS coverage of International Women's Day on Mar. 8Africa is facing dire times. Climate change is having major impacts on the region and on agriculture in particular, with smallholder farmers, and especially women, facing drought, general lack of water, shifting seasons, and floods in some areas.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 08 (IPS) - It is time to rise up and fight a long neglected taboo: menstruation.

Marking International Women's Day, United Nations human rights experts called on the international community to break taboos around menstruation, noting its impacts on women and girls' human rights.

LEYTE ISLAND, Philippines, Mar 07 (IPS) - This feature part of IPS coverage of International Women's Day on Mar. 8

Eluminada Roca has lived all her life next to the  Leyte Sab-a Basin peatlands. The grandmother from of San Isidro village in Philippines' Leyte island grew up looking at the green hills that feed water to the peatland, she harvested tikog—a peatland grass to weave mats—and ate the delicious fish that was once in abundant in the waters.

But today, the land is losing its water, the grass is disappearing and the fish stock has drastically decreased.

BRUSSELS, Mar 07 (IPS) - Women human rights defenders around the globe are facing heightened threats of violence and repression. Sometimes they are targeted for being activists, and sometimes just for being women. World leaders should do much more to secure space for women's safe participation in public life.

NEW YORK, Mar 07 (IPS) - Akio Matsumura* is Founder of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival.

On March 11, we commemorate the 8th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. To an outside observer, this anniversary passes as a technical progress report, a look at new robot, or a short story on how lives there are slowly returning to normal.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 07 (IPS) - Ibrahim Thiaw is Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

Science and technology offer exciting pathways for rural women to tackle the challenges they face daily. Innovative solutions for rural women can, for example, reduce their workload, raise food production and increase their participation in the paid labour market. But even the very best innovative, gender-appropriate technology makes no sense without access to other critical resources, especially secure land rights, which women in rural areas need to flourish.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 07 (IPS) - The United Nations, which diligently monitors human rights violations worldwide, believes that centuries-old slavery still exists worldwide—largely as human trafficking.

Medford, USA, Mar 07 (IPS) - On March 8, women all over Cameroon will don custom-made dresses sewn of pagne, specially printed for International Women's Day. They will parade through cities and towns, joining women around the world in celebration of the day.

LIMA, Mar 07 (IPS) - This article is part of IPS coverage of International Women's Day on Mar. 8.

Women in Latin America earn one-fifth less than men for every hour worked, on average - one of the statistics that reflect the continuing inequality in the world of work that makes it unlikely for the region to meet the goal of equal pay by 2030.

KAMPALA, Mar 06 (IPS) - This opinion piece is part of IPS coverage of International Women's Day on Mar. 8

Bakera excelled in school. As a girl who grew up in a rural, poor community, she had, against all odds, realized her education goals and was elated to go to the capital city, Kampala where she would now work.