Africa

Stories about any of the 54 countries on the continent of Africa.

The Feminist Leadership Syllabus: Where History, Politics and Pedagogy Meet

When women assume a position of power, does she represent feminist leadership? Can she govern according to feminist principles? What is the difference between women’s leadership and feminist leadership?

This public syllabus on feminist leadership, assembled by Ms. contributing editor Janell Hobson and students in her graduate research seminar at the University at Albany, is an attempt to respond to these questions by exploring different examples of feminist leaders and feminist movements—both globally and historically.

We hope this syllabus can educate us on the kind of feminist leadership that will move us forward toward an inclusive democracy.

(This is Part 2 of a two-part series on women leaders and feminist leadership. Part 1—out last week—breaks down Angela Bassett’s role as U.S. president in the latest and final installment of Mission: Impossible, and how her representation on screen blurs the line between the impossible fictions and possible realities of women’s power in American politics.)

Women Rise in Cabinets and Campaigns—But Gaps Persist, From Korea to Congress

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation about women’s representation in politics, sports and entertainment, judicial offices and the private sector—with a little gardening mixed in!

This week:
—For the first time in Australian history, there will be more women than men in the federal Cabinet, thanks in large part to ranked-choice voting and gender quotas.
—Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop announces South Orange Village Mayor Sheena Collum as running mate.
—A new report written by Jennifer Piscopo, Nancy L. Cohen and Natalia Vega Varela explores how gender inequality continues to limit women’s opportunities and well-being globally.
—As South Korea approaches its 2025 presidential election, the complete absence of female candidates on the final ballot marks a stark regression in gender representation.

… and more!

White Plight: Trump’s Embrace of White South African ‘Refugees’ Is a Racist Bullhorn

This week, Afrikaner “refugees” began arriving in the U.S.—some of the only refugees welcomed by the Trump administration. These white South Africans claim they are being persecuted at home: That white farmers are being attacked; that South Africa is not a safe place for them to live.

Much of the criticism of Trump’s decision to end refugee resettlement from just about everywhere else on the planet while welcoming a group that really isn’t facing particularly severe persecution has been derided as “political.” And it certainly is a stunt intended to provoke liberal outrage. But we should just call it what it is. It’s not “political.” It’s not a dogwhistle.

It’s racist.

This obvious troll from Trump (by way, I suspect, of Elon Musk and Stephen Miller) shows that, if they have their way, all the power will be white power.

No Room to Pump, No Room for Error: One Mother’s Fight to Feed Her Baby at Work

Could a system that was more responsive to parents’ needs improve their relationships, their children’s lives, even their sense of self? I began to report on that question and my book, Four Mothers: An Intimate Journey Through the First Year of Parenthood in Four Countries, is the result. It follows four women—from the U.S., Japan, Kenya and Finland, who all had babies around New Year 2022—through their first year of motherhood, to draw an intimate portrait of their lives and compare the support they received.

Read an excerpt from the book about one new mother’s experience in Kenya, where laws promise breastfeeding protections but workplaces often ignore them.

Why Motherhood Is Harder in Some Countries Than Others: The Ms. Q&A With Abigail Leonard, Author of ‘Four Mothers’

“Parenthood is shaped by the broad systems our societies have built over time,” writes award-winning journalist and mother Abigail Leonard in Four Mothers: An Intimate Journey Through the First Year of Parenthood in Four Countries. “Many of the big decisions, like how much time to spend with their children and how to divide the emotional and physical labor with their partner, are heavily determined by the social structures of the place women give birth.” 

The ways this works to reinforce or expand ideas about gender, family, reproduction and out-of-home work are at the core of Leonard’s deeply reported interrogation of the social, emotional and physical toll of parenthood in Finland, Japan, Kenya and the United States.

The U.S. Aid Freeze: Counting the Global Cost of Chaos

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On the first day of his second stint in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order freezing all U.S. foreign assistance. Four days later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio halted foreign aid work already underway. Soon after that, Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) began to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and Rubio canceled 83 percent of its programs.

“Since Inauguration Day, I’d say the Trump administration has immediately gone to work in reckless, heartless and shameless ways that have attacked sexual and reproductive health and rights [and] LGBT rights,” said Caitlin Horrigan, senior director of global advocacy for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

On the Fifth Anniversary of COVID-19, the Crisis for Women and Girls Isn’t Over

Five years ago, the world was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic—a crisis that transcended borders, affecting every facet of our lives. Today, while much of the world has moved on, the scars remain deeply etched in the lives of women and girls in the Global South. The crisis for us has not ended; it has merely been pushed into the shadows. As we mark World Health Day on April 7, it is imperative to confront the ongoing struggles of women and girls in the Global South and demand urgent action.

When the U.S. Turns Its Back on Aid, Women Pay the Price

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The justification is always the same: fiscal responsibility, foreign policy recalibrations, shifting political winds. But on the ground, the reality is much more cutting. When aid disappears, people die. Not theoretically. Not eventually. Immediately.

Aid is not a line item to be slashed when convenient. It is a commitment: to humanity, to protecting women, to the belief that no life is worth less simply because it exists beyond our borders. It is the difference between Judith finding safety and Nyamal being forced to return to her abuser. It is, quite literally, life or death.

Ms. Global: Spanish Police Target Trafficking Ring, A Historic Ruling in the African Court of Human And People’s Rights, and More

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The U.S. ranks as the 19th most dangerous country for women, 11th in maternal mortality, 30th in closing the gender pay gap, 75th in women’s political representation, and painfully lacks paid family leave and equal access to health care. But Ms. has always understood: Feminist movements around the world hold answers to some of the U.S.’s most intractable problems. Ms. Global is taking note of feminists worldwide.

This week: news from Japan, Tanzania, Guatemala, and more.