Chi Mgbako

At the recent Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) international forum on economic rights, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates from around the world highlighted the urgent need to link economic justice and LGBT rights. As one representative of the International Gay and...

When we think of violence against sex workers, we conjure up images of dangerous clients and serial killers who target prostitutes. Indeed, the origins of the International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers, observed on December 17, lay in the decades-long serial murder of sex workers by...

In 2004, leading African gay rights activist Fannyann Eddy was brutally murdered while she worked alone in the office of the gay rights organization she founded in Sierra Leone. She was a courageous crusader for the rights of Africa's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Years after Fannyann's...

This post was co-authored by Tarek Meguid

The architectural design of two newly built public maternity hospitals in Malawi, which has one of the world's highest rates of women dying in childbirth, seeks to respect the human rights of birthing women and has had a significant impact on Malawi's maternal...

Over a year ago, Selene's 9-year-old daughter Emma began waking up every morning and saying that witches were taking her to the woods at night to teach her witchcraft. Selene, a gentle farmer in rural Malawi and fiercely protective mother, soon noticed that Emma was also experiencing weight loss, mood...

December 17th marks the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Sex workers and their allies, clustered in intimate gatherings in cities around the world, will light candles and read aloud the names of sex workers who have been victims of violence. These names will echo into a world...

The perspective often missing in the debate regarding female genital mutilation (FGM), a harmful traditional practice involving the partial or total removal of the external female genitals, is the voice of African youth. My recent experience conducting human rights workshops at schools in the Kambia District of northern Sierra Leone,...

After over twenty years of searching in the scientific wilderness, researchers have developed an effective vaginal microbicide gel that can block HIV transmission. The gel, laced with the antiretroviral drug tenofovir, can cut overall HIV infection rates by 39 percent and empower women whose intimate partners refuse to use condoms....

Fifty years ago, 17 African countries threw off the brutal and degrading yoke of colonialism. The 50th anniversary of African national liberation is an opportunity to critically reflect on the past five decades in post-colonial Africa, which began with luminous hope but have been marred by a leitmotif of grinding...