In a world striving for sustainability, Michelle Lingam’s aspirations for her solar installation business highlight a troubling paradox: despite the critical role of women entrepreneurs in combating climate change, they continue to be largely excluded from formal financing. When Lingam sought a loan to expand her business, she anticipated rigorous scrutiny. What she did not…
DOHA, Qatar – During the Second World Summit for Social Development, Spotlight Initiative hosted a Solutions Studio conversation to highlight strategies for addressing gender-based violence and to share best practices for driving collaboration on protecting the rights of women and girls. Spotlight Initiative Global Coordinator Erin Kenny introduced the session, which explored how to bring…
Doha, Qatar — During the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha, Spotlight Initiative and the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) hosted the side event ‘Invest in adequate social protection for women and girls to drive meaningful change across all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’. This session underscored the urgent need to strengthen universal, inclusive…
Located around the tri-border meeting point of Mali, Ivory Coast, and Guinea, the Wasulu region is home to one of the most unique confluences of culture and identity in West Africa. Renowned for traditionally being hunters, the inhabitants of this region are “of Fula lineage; their cultural framework falls within the Maninka-Bamana matrix; and these…
The 2025 International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (IDEI) theme, “Chat GBV: Raising Awareness on AI-facilitated Gender-Based Violence against Women Journalists,” highlights the urgent need to confront the use of artificial intelligence and other digital tools to harass, silence and endanger women working in the media. These online attacks, including coordinated harassment,…
Latvian MPs have voted to withdraw from an international accord aimed at protecting women from violence, including domestic abuse, after a long and intense debate in parliament. Several thousand people protested against the vote this week in Riga. It is now up to President Edgars Rinkevics to decide whether to approve the law or not….
New York – Sweeping aid cuts are dismantling the very organizations that are critical to ending violence against women and girls. The new UN Women report, At Risk and Underfunded, based on a global survey of 428 women’s rights and civil society organizations, finds that on the back of cuts by governments, more women are at risk of…
Around 676 million women lived within 50 kilometres of deadly conflict last year – the highest figure since the 1990s. That’s one of the key findings of the UN Secretary-General’s annual report on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) published on Monday. The report highlights the role that women play as peacemakers, describes how conflict affects…
New York – The world is experiencing the highest number of active conflicts since 1946, creating unprecedented risks and suffering for women and girls. The 2025 UN Secretary-General’s report on Women, Peace and Security warns that 676 million women now live within 50 kilometers of deadly conflict, the highest level since the 1990s. Civilian casualties among women and…
Johannesburg — Masterclass in Human-Centered Leadership at Women Create Wealth Summit #WCW2025 – Theo Sowa and Reeta Roy Yesterday, we had the privilege of witnessing a refreshingly candid conversation between two remarkable leaders, Theo Sowa, CEO of GMT and Reeta Roy, President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation as they explored what it truly takes…
