Gender Justice is Climate Justice
As the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties approaches, the Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls recognizes the critical role women and girls play in the fight against climate change. Across the world, women often hold the role of primary caregivers in their communities, taking on responsibilities including finding food and fuel. In doing …
Girl Power: How Women Role Models Advance Girls’ Leadership
by Devotha Mlay, Managing Director of Programs for GLAMI and Jessica Love, Executive Director of AfricAid In Tanzania, it is common for a girl to grow up believing that she should not ask questions, that being confident and determined is rude, and that she is less important than a boy. As a result, girls are …
How Refugee Women and Girls Lead
by Faridah Naimana, Intern, Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls Kakuma Refugee Camp based in Kenya serves refugees who have been forcibly displaced from their home countries due to war or persecution and is administered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Life in the semi-arid desert environment of Kakuma is rather …
Wings to Fly: Conversations on the Fight for Women and Girls’ Education
by Zamzam Abdikadir, Intern, Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls “Women and Girls’ Honor is earned when society gives them the wings to fly, by educating them”, Unknown I sat down early one morning with Kifah and her mother to find out her perspective on the impact of seven months of school closures on her …
The Impact of Sports on Women and Girls’ Leadership
by Joseph Divin Rugenyuza, Intern, Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls In our society, it is believed that sports are for men, and not women. Most people only consider that women should be focused on taking care of their families, and not sports. Although some girls and women are in sports here in the Kakuma …
Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg
RBG, We Salute You by Peggy Clark and Anne Mosle, Co-Chairs of the Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls The legacy of the inimitable RBG is powerful and far-reaching beyond measure. A tiny giant amongst us, RBG’s life’s work reached every individual in our society, and moved us closer to the kind of equality we …
25 Years Beyond Beijing: Measuring Progress for the World’s Women and Girls
by Donna Haghighat, CEO, The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts Twenty-five years ago, women from around the world gathered at the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China. What emerged from that conference was a Platform for Action that captured not just a framework of factors against which to measure progress, but aspirational …
“Silent Discriminator” – The Women Global Data is Leaving Behind
by Tsion Yohannes Waka, Chair, the Center for Gender Equity for the University of Global Health Equity and SOAR Fellow, Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls, and Agnes Binagwaho, Vice Chancellor, University of Global Health Equity This blog was originally published on Devex on June 19, 2020. We, as women, might be surprised at this time to see figures …
Racial Justice Leadership from the SOAR Fellows Community
by Marni Morse, Program Associate, Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls At the Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls, we recognize that gender equity is inextricably linked to racial equity. There is no gender justice without racial justice. Black women and girls must not be an afterthought in our outrage over police violence and white …