'It’s raining men at the UN'... which is a big problem

Amassing the world’s movers and shakers in one place, the UN General Assembly makes it easy to assess the global ratio of men and women in power. Hibaaq Osman, a women’s rights advocate from Somalia, is doing just that.

Why Training Diverse Leaders is Important for the Transatlantic Community

The logic of leadership diversity is that diverse and representative voices need to be at the decision-making table for the best political outcomes to be reached, at all levels of government.

'French answer to Playboy' makes heady comeback

While a UK campaign to ban so-called "lads' mags" is gathering speed, a men’s magazine with a distinctly macho flavour has just relaunched here in France. And it's selling like hot cakes.

Not a Happy Diwali for Family of Dead Hindu Woman Denied Abortion in ‘Catholic’ Ireland

Savita Halappanavar, an Indian immigrant, died at an Irish hospital after she was repeatedly denied an abortion, according to her husband. “This is a Catholic country,” she was told. It’s also a part of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize-winning EU.

DSK’s wife: ‘No different from a woman who wears the burqa’

Publishing the first interview with Anne Sinclair since the arrest of her husband in May, French magazine Elle has sparked outcry among some French women, who describe her as both a “victim” and an “accomplice” for standing by her shamed partner.

Why ‘Mademoiselle’ is an insult to French women

“Is that Madame... or Mademoiselle?” It’s a question often asked in France, whether you’re opening a bank account, voting, or even booking a train ticket. But French feminists argue that France needs to stop defining women by their marital status.

Battered, bruised, now threatened by new Afghan plan for women’s shelters

Urged by Afghanistan's answer to Rush Limbaugh, the Afghan government’s new move to take over the operations of women's shelters threatens the safety of women and girls in Afghanistan.

Talking to the Taliban: Violence against women not on the cards

As the world marks International Elimination of Violence Against Women Day, Afghan women such as Bibi Aisha are wondering what’s in store for them as the international community eyes a troop withdrawal while talking to the Taliban.

Sex, drugs, boys and a rocking house full of kids

More children, more wives, more boys - that's the Afghan sexual ideal. But that increases the sexual anxieties and so yes, there's more sexual health enhancers on the market too.

The Election Is Over, Come Together – But How?

So Election Day passed in the usual flood of contradictory assessments. What else do you expect in a country as complicated and dangerous as Afghanistan?

 


But I’m not about to discuss whether the elections were a success or failure here. We’ll leave that for another time.

 


I do however want to talk about a bout of post-election blues. Serious post-election blues.

 

In the course of covering Afghanistan for many, many years, I’ve made some extremely dear friends – so dear, I consider them my extended Afghan “family”.

 


So when I get an alarming message from an Afghan “family” member – and from one as imperturbable as Manizha Naderi – it’s disturbing to say the least.

 


In the interest of full disclosure: Manizha is an old friend from New York days, before she moved to Kabul as executive director of WAW (Women for Afghan Women), an organization that runs women’s shelters in Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad and Kunduz – among a host of other things.