FRIDAY FILE - “When we speak of Roma women, discrimination becomes three-fold: for being women, for being Roma and for belonging to an ethnic minority”, say Maria José Jiménez Cortiñas and Aurora Fernández, President and Secretary of Asociación Gitanas Feministas por la Diversidad (AGFD)[i] , who AWID interviewed to learn how Roma feminist women work to tackle the discrimination they face on a daily basis.

By Gabby De Cicco

FRIDAY FILE: The recent abduction of hundreds of school girls from their school hostel in Chibok, Borno in north-eastern Nigeria is not an isolated incident, but rather has become a way of life for communities in three north-eastern states in Nigeria.

FRIDAY FILE: In the last two months an earthquake and unprecedentedly high-intensity forest fire have affected Nicaragua and Chile respectively, raising questions around how local authorities are equipped to evacuate populations and assist victims, while also mobilizing resources to alleviate post-disaster situations.

FRIDAY FILE: The First High Level Ministerial of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, which took place in Mexico City from 15 – 16 April, 2014, was the latest meeting on aid effectiveness since the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea (2011). While there was some support for commitments made in Busan, a number of concerns still remain.

FRIDAY FILE – In this week’s Friday File Savi Bisnath, PhD Associate Director at the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL), discusses the importance of macroeconomic policy and building strategic alliances for women workers to advance their rights post 2015. As presented at an event[i] at the recent Commission on the Status of Women (CSW58).

FRIDAY FILE: A Constitutional reform was passed in Nicaragua on January 27, 2014 and entered into force on February 10th, which will allow consecutive presidential re-election as well military personnel to hold government posts. AWID spoke to Azahalea Solís, from Movimiento Autónomo de Mujeres de Nicaragua (MAM- Autonomous Women’s Movement) about the reform, women´s rights and the recent repression during the International Women’s Day (March 8th) demonstration.

FRIDAY FILE – This year’s negotiations at the 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW58) saw women’s rights advocates, organisations and movements working extremely hard to retain existing human rights language, obligations and commitments, and attempting to push forward language that contained clear commitments for gender equality and women’s human rights; but present also, were strong fundamentalist forces pushing back on any, and all, advancement of rights language.

FRIDAY FILE: The 58th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women ended last week Friday. For many women’s and human rights advocates, organisations and movements it was an important opportunity to encourage member States to really put women’s human rights and gender equality at the centre of development. In this week’s Friday File we hear from young feminists who share their expectations, knowledge and experiences of CSW58.

FRIDAY FILE: As part of AWID’s commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, AWID spoke to feminist human rights activist, Lin Chew[i], about the importance of the conference and the instruments that followed.

FRIDAY FILE: The 58th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 58) to evaluate the challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for women and girls started this week and will continue until 21 March in New York. AWID interviewed gender, sexuality and human rights activist, Cynthia Rothschild, about some of the issues affecting this year’s negotiations.

By Susan Tolmay