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Welcome to the archives of Women’s Advancement Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on November 15, 2018, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on women’s economic advancement. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors and contributors.
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Read features, analysis and in-depth coverage from Women’s Advancement Deeply correspondents, including stories about financial inclusion, the gender pay gap, unpaid care work and entrepreneurship.
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Educating India’s girls about menstruation and ending the existing culture of shame requires a multifaceted approach: The Indian government’s flagship toilet-building initiative is one step; another is getting people talking and tackling period-based taboos.
In Liberia, the Ebola outbreak drove steps to restore water pipes devastated during 14 years of civil war. As well as improving public health and productivity, access to clean, running water will, locals say, help keep girls in education.
Women with disabilities often encounter ‘double discrimination’ in Turkey – faced with unemployment or lower-grade jobs on account of their gender and their disability. Government work quotas are not solving the issue, so Turkey’s women are taking matters into their own hands.
From small beginnings, a group of Kenyan women in a slum area have developed a thriving savings group that has brought a measure of financial independence and stability to their lives.
In Part 2 of a two-part report on the informal banks that help women secure financial stability, we look at the safeguards the women have put in place to protect their pooled resources.
Technology solutions to address water, sanitation and hygiene issues have had a litany of failures, but a few responses seem to be breaking the mold. One of the most exciting is the idea of decentralized systems.
In Part 1 of a two-part report on the informal banks that help women secure financial stability, we look at a savings group in Kenya that grants independence to the women who join it.
A little over a year after the Nepalese government outlawed the chhaupadi tradition that places restrictions on menstruating women, little has changed in practice. Activists say the beliefs underlying gender-based discrimination need to be addressed.
Dar Es Salaam is slowly overcoming the sexism that pervades the field of engineering, drawing on the skills of its women engineers in an effort to tackle the city’s sanitation challenges.
Tensions are running high in India’s Khasi community, one of the world’s few remaining matrilineal societies, as a new bill seeks to prevent women from marrying non-tribal members.
A new study of women in lower socioeconomic circumstances in British Columbia found midwifery care to be an effective model of prenatal care, significantly lowering the likelihood of preterm births, and small and low birth-weight babies.
In part 2 of our report on the low-income food sellers of Nairobi, we examine the threats facing the women who provide this vital link in the food-security chain – and what the future may hold for them.
Kenyan women operate low-cost food kiosks that fulfill an essential function: providing hot food to people too poor to buy fuel to cook their own meals. But they often struggle to make ends meet, not least because some of their clients are unable to pay.
The thousands of women who volunteer in low-income countries’ healthcare systems deserve proper training, appropriate remuneration and the chance to be heard in decision-making, argue Maisam Najafizada and Jill Allison of Memorial University, Newfoundland.
In Dar es Salaam, a local charity is raising women traders’ awareness of their rights and helping survivors of abuse and assault bring the perpetrators to justice. Founder Jane Magigita says the scheme has led to a large decline in sexual violence in the city’s markets.
Women in Chhattisgarh state have branched out on their own as farmers rearing Kadaknath chickens, which are in great demand for their high-protein meat. A local enterprise scheme is boosting the women’s independence and has saved the birds from the edge of extinction.
The Women’s Funding Network embraces a ground-up philosophy that empowers women to work together in planning and raising money for community projects. Key to its success, says CEO Cynthia Nimmo, is the fact that WFN takes a long-term view of project impacts.
As Tanzania seeks to decongest Africa’s fastest growing city, more women are stepping up to become registered as professional engineers.
Many Russian women find it difficult to get back into work after having children, but coworking centers with free childcare – the brainchild of P.R. specialist Olesya Kashaeva – are helping many in Moscow. This year Kashaeva is opening centers in 35 Russian cities.
Nursing assistant Bosco pushes himself to his physical limit to help the mothers and infants of Kapoeta, South Sudan, in the face of a brutal conflict and shortages of supplies. Talking to Sam Mednick, he shares his pride in his work and his commitment to his community.
With limited access to public services, Israel’s Bedouin are recognized as the country’s most disadvantaged community. Today, a growing band of Bedouin businesswomen are showing that women can attain financial independence in this male-dominated society.
BuildPalestine’s CEO and cofounder, Besan Abu-Joudeh, talks about the Ramallah-based platform’s newest goal – building a ‘TripAdvisor for nonprofits’ – and discusses the problems and the impact of the projects already implemented.
The oil-rich Gulf States depend on the migrant labor of millions of domestic workers to cook, clean and care for children across the region. For those workers, the chance of a better life for their own families comes with the risk of exploitation, abuse, even slavery.
When the government bought their land to make way for a new railway line, the residents of Kangawa village were promised compensation. Two years on, the women of the village are staging a sit-in protest, demanding fair pay for the loss of their land and livelihoods.
Gujarat chooses to grow maize and wheat, despite being drought-prone, which leaves these crops failing and farmers hungry. But one woman’s secret mission to plant hardy millet has turned fortunes around.
Nigeria’s federal budget includes support for women farmers, but many still feel left behind. So, for the first time, Ondo state is giving its smallholder women farmers their own line in its annual budget.
Segenet Kelemu is the first woman to lead ICIPE, one of the largest insect research organizations in Africa. She tells her story to Mary Mwendwa.
Starting in school, women in Benin are steered away from careers in tech. But now a new generation of women tech developers is emerging, serving as mentors for others and showing that coding isn’t just for men.
The Tanzanian Women’s Bank, designed to close the financial gender gap between men and women, fell victim to bad loans and the country’s ongoing liquidity crisis.
In rural Kenya, the Waata people were displaced by the creation of a national park. But solar-dried pineapples have offered a lifeline to women who had struggled to make a living from farming in the past.
Aarey Milk Colony is a lush forest on the outskirts of India’s commercial capital, but a nationwide program to boost financial inclusion has passed many of its female inhabitants by.
Often doubted by friends and rejected for bank loans, women entrepreneurs in Kenya are challenging stereotypes and finding success in the male-dominated business of import/export.
A bill designed to eradicate gender inequality in politics, education and employment has been sitting in the Nigerian Senate for eight years. Now the upcoming 2019 election could erode support among key senators.
The unofficial street traders of Dar Es Salaam used to endure insecure work conditions and harassment from militias. Now a government program is allowing them to make their businesses official for the first time.
Without bank accounts, two-thirds of Bangladeshi women are missing out on the chance to take control of their money and have a say in financial decision-making. Low workforce participation and lack of interest from banks are to blame, experts say.
Kamala Damor, or Sister Kamala, works with women and girls in rural Gujarat to help them access their right to property and inheritance. She tells her story to Chhavi Sachdev.
The women restaurateurs of Nakuru were hit hard by a recent ban on logging that pushed up cooking fuel prices. But they are turning a profit again thanks to clean-burning briquettes made from human waste.
Breaking into the tech industry is never easy for women. It’s even harder in Gaza, under the shadow of conflict. Entrepreneur Ghada Ibrahim shares her experience of trying to build a new life for herself and her family through learning to code.
Mexico gives poor, jobless moms up to $147 a month to feed and educate their kids. But money with strings attached may actually overburden women while freeing up their husbands’ time and money, Nora Haenn of North Carolina State University writes.
The collapse of the Rana Plaza building sent shockwaves through Bangladesh and prompted a series of reforms to improve worker safety in garment factories. Five years on, the measures designed to protect employees are also shutting many women out of the workforce.
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