How many more times do we have to say this?

We still have a long way to go in the fight for women’s rights ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Online-Version

19 May 2026

Dear newsletter subscriber,

I’d love to give you a powerful, combative intro to this newsletter – but my frustration is getting in the way. As a woman, I find it increasingly tiresome to have to point out time and again that we are still a long way from a world in which women can walk through their neighbourhoods in the evening without hesitation, make free decisions about their bodies and their futures, and receive the same economic opportunities and pay as their male colleagues.

The world we live in is currently focusing its attention once again on powerful men waging war against one another across the globe. The fact that women also suffer through rape and displacement remains a footnote.

At the same time, I almost feel guilty for my frustration, because so many women in far less privileged situations continue to fight undeterred every day. They never tire of highlighting the existing injustices. And they can point to successes that show that perseverance is key – especially now, when right-wing populist forces across the world are not only curtailing reproductive rights but would ideally assign women only two roles: mother and housewife.

To all those who, on some days, feel above all frustration and helpless rage, we would like to recommend three texts today by women from Algeria, Zambia and Brazil. They document the successes the struggle for women’s rights and gender equality has already achieved – but do not shy away from acknowledging the long road still ahead of us until women across the world are safe, free and equal.

Please feel free to share your opinions, criticisms and suggestions by emailing us at euz.editor@dandc.eu.

Kind regards, 

Katharina Otieno
editor at D+C

D+C Deep Dives

Promoting women’s property rights in Zambia

If women are to participate equally in economic life, they must, not least, have the opportunity to acquire property themselves. In many countries, there are legal loopholes and restrictions in this area, even though gender equality is, in theory, supposed to be promoted. This is the case in Zambia, for example. For D+C, economist Beaulah Chombo takes a look at the state of property rights in her country.

Algeria’s legal recognition of women’s rights must be put into action

Algeria has taken significant steps towards gender equality in recent years, writes Khadidja Kelalech. However, patriarchal structures continue to hinder real progress in the legal system and society. In her article, Kelalech also takes a look at other North African countries.

Femicide in Brazil: If women must arm themselves the state has failed

In Brazil, women can buy pepper spray for self-defence in pharmacies. The fact that such measures are necessary means that the political system has failed, writes Thuany Rodrigues from a country that is recording record levels of gender-based violence and femicide.

Our latest Digital Monthly:

Tomorrow needs technologies, what’s the price?

of the world’s 15 fastest-growing economies are currently in Africa. At the same time, the balance between development funding and foreign direct investment is shifting: in 2024, the latter totaled $ 97 trillion and exceeded the overall volume of development funds – even before the USAID cuts – by around a third.

Several indicators also suggest that African investors in particular are increasingly investing their money within the continent. Last year, for example, 45 % of all venture capital commitments were attributable to them. So, while capital appears to be available, it remains crucial that structural political problems are addressed at the same time – so that growth is broad-based and does not primarily benefit elites.

Good news

Although FIFA has recently done little to present itself as a credible defender of human rights, it set a precedent in April with a landmark decision: it recognised a team of Afghan women refugees as Afghanistan’s official national team – for the first time without the consent of the responsible member association. The team had already competed in Morocco in 2025 as part of the FIFA United Women’s Series, but at the time only under the name “Afghan Women United” without full recognition. With its new status, the squad can now qualify for major tournaments such as the World Cup, the Asian Cup, and the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. By the way, in the next issue of D+C we’ll be looking at the political implications of some impressive stories football has to offer – stay tuned!

What has also caught our interest

AI: "Parallel justice" …

AI can save history – or intimidate journalists. The “Daily Maverick” and CNN both report on just how close utopia and dystopia lie.

Nic Dawes writes in the South African “Daily Maverick” about Objection.ai. The start-up, funded by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, aims to make media reports contestable for around $ 2000 per “objection”: A team, which according to the company is recruited from staff at the CIA, the FBI and British intelligence services, is supposed to review the material and have an AI model “judge” it. The end result is a kind of private, binding arbitration – with potentially serious consequences. Dawes is alarmed: this, he says, is a new, cost-effective tool for quasi-legal harassment of journalists – and thus an attack on democratic institutions.

… or digital memory?

Sam Peters’ CNN article shows that it also depends on who is utilising the seemingly endless potential of AI. The Nigerian artist Malik Afegbua uses it to preserve the stories of older people with “LegacyLink” (through interviews, video, 3D scans, “digital twins”) and to virtually reconstruct destroyed or inaccessible cultural heritage sites with “ReMemory” – such as the historic city of Benin. Here, the technology does not act as an arbiter, but as a bridge between generations and lost places.

We have compiled further positive examples of AI applications for our April focus section on AI.

Local Power

In this section, we occasionally highlight small projects that are making a difference at the community level – because sometimes it's not major international decisions that make a tangible difference on the ground, but small, local actions.

In Kenya, private nature reserves are becoming increasingly numerous and important – serving as ecological bulwarks against urban sprawl, deforestation and poaching. 230 such “conservancies” are now registered, including many community-run reserves with a tourism component.

One of the oldest dates back to the 1990s: the scenically spectacular “Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary” on the South Coast. Its 40 square kilometres are owned by some 200 local landowners, who have given up farming and are compensated from the revenue. Initially, this was sufficient, but tourism crises, declining wildlife populations and also management errors brought the project to the brink of failure.

Mwaluganje survived because the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a major NGO based in Nairobi, covered the lease payments and rangers’ salaries for years. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, a local German-Swiss couple helped, among other things, to establish an online presence (www.mwaluganje.africa) and develop tourism concepts. Building on this, the new Mwaluganje management recently secured a GIZ microloan from the International Climate Initiative. Another big help would be students of tropical ecology who could map the conservation area, for example as part of an academic project (contacts: info@mwaluganje.africa; info@mbuyubeach.com).

For your consideration

The Due Diligence Fund supports practical projects to strengthen corporate human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) in global agricultural supply chains, with grants of up to € 250,000. In the fifth Call for Proposals, the focus includes topics such as deforestation-free supply chains, climate and biodiversity as well as digital inclusion – while placing particular emphasis on projects centered on gender equality and social inclusion.

Application deadline: 15 June

Learn more

The Changemaker Fellowship is a 10-week programme for staff from nonprofits, the UN and intergovernmental organisations who want to implement AI within their organisation’s processes. The programme supports participants from developing an idea through to implementation and starts on 24 June.

Application deadline: 22 May

Learn more

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Publisher information: ENGAGEMENT GLOBAL gGmbH Service für Entwicklungsinitiativen

Publisher: Fazit Communication GmbH, Pariser Straße 1, D-60486 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Telephone: +49 (0)69 7591-3110 | Email: euz.editor@dandc.eu
Webseite: www.fazit.de | Managing Directors: Jonas Grashey, Hannes Ludwig