Surviving the "underground" economy →

March 08, 2017 by Andrew Green in Women Across Frontiers

It has been 15 years since South Africa introduced its first proposed quotas to encourage the mining industry to hire women. The quotas, which were included in the country’s draft mining charter, were a marked change in a country that once prevented women from even entering the industry.

Some elements are still missing, though — including the enforcement of sexual harassment policies, which researchers say continues to fuel inequalities and can put the lives of women working underground at risk. Read more.

Refugee women create economic opportunities →

June 20, 2016 by Andrew Green in Women Across Frontiers

In 2008, when fighting broke out near her home in North Kivu province, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s, Kathy Mbweki fled with her family to neighboring Uganda. Mbweki and her husband struggled to pay rent and to feed their five children in the capital, Kampala, and after two years decided to move to a refugee settlement in western Uganda.

They received a plot of land and made some money selling the produce they grew, but Mbweki said it was still a constant struggle to stay afloat -- especially because the children were constantly falling sick. So two years later they decided to try to make it in Kampala again -- except this time she had a plan.

Israel's forgotten refugees: African asylum seekers trapped in limbo →

June 20, 2016 by Andrew Green in Women Across Frontiers

Thousands of African asylum seekers have fled to Israel, only to be systemically ostracized by a government that has made it clear it wants nothing more than for them to leave. The situation is especially difficult for women, who sometimes experience abuse from their partners and their employers or have particular health concerns, but without access to vital social services. Read more.

Women in Uganda are leading climate change adaptation →

March 01, 2016 by Andrew Green in Women Across Frontiers

Farming is easily the most common occupation in this East African country. Much of it is small scale – scratching out just enough cassava, beans or maize to get by. And the vast majority of the people doing it are women – 80 percent according to some estimates. That means they are also the ones suffering most from the effects of climate change, whose impacts – changing weather patterns, intermittent floods and droughts and devastating landslides – can wipe out entire harvests and put families on the brink of starvation. Read more.

Mozambique struggles to contain HIV epidemic among young women →

November 22, 2015 by Andrew Green in Women Across Frontiers

At their first meeting, the group of 30 young women just eyed Nousa Winica warily. When she asked a question, they hurriedly dropped their gaze. It would be, she quickly realized, a struggle to earn their trust.

Winica spent the first few of their weekly gatherings sticking to light subjects – what chores they did, their favorite classes, even the weather – just to make the girls, pooled from one of the poorest neighborhoods in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, comfortable sharing with her and with each other. Eventually, she started peppering the conversation with questions about HIV. What did they know about the disease? Could they explain how it was spread? What steps could they take to avoid getting infected?

After weeks of dragging answers out of them to the most banal questions, she was shocked at their interest in the topic. “They receive it with some kind of happiness,” she said. “Most of them have someone at home in the family who is sick. They have some questions about the disease.”

A victory on the path to maternal healthcare in Uganda →

August 26, 2015 by Andrew Green in Women Across Frontiers

Irene Nanteza went into labor late on the morning of May 5, 2011. It was her fourth pregnancy, so she and her husband, David Mugerwa, were prepared. By 1:30 p.m. she was checked into the maternity ward at nearby Nakaseke Hospital, one of the best medical facilities in central Uganda. And when the nurse on duty looked in on Nanteza just before her shift ended at 3:30 p.m., she noted that, “everything looked normal.”

Six hours later, her uterus ruptured, Nanteza and her unborn baby were both dead.