Irish Women in Activism and Advocacy
7th Mar 2025
Explore inspiring stories of Irish women in activism and advocacy who have fought for human rights, social justice, and equality
Explore inspiring stories of Irish women in activism and advocacy who have fought for human rights, social justice, and equality
Today is the 101st International Women’s Day! First emerging as a day of celebration from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe, socialist movements in various countries sought to champion women’s rights at the turn of the 20th century
20 years later, yellow plastic rubber ducks are still appearing on our beaches having been part of a consignment of 28,000 of them lost at sea from a ship on its way from Hong Kong to the US. Since 1992 these yellow ducks have bobbed their way halfway around the
Can shopping save the world? The Story of Change is a new short movie that urges viewers to put down their credit cards and start exercising their citizen muscles to build a more sustainable, just and fulfilling world.
Having lived for years in African countries and loving the wonderful sunny climates there, I became very negative towards Ireland’s natural environment and was very cynical and irritated when people would constantly comment about how ‘green’ Ireland is. Of course it is – it’s always raining. The opportunities for glimpsing
The DEEEP Seminar “Development Education: Responding to the Crisis?” took place in Dublin last month, bringing together over 100 development education practitioners and policy makers from across Europe to consider the role and response of development education in this time of global financial crisis. Co-hosted by Dóchas and IDEA, the
If the production of refugees was an industry, Myanmar would be among the world’s market leaders. In the creation of the product, the Burmese regime has pulled out all the stops and ended up with something unique. For the Rohingya are more than refugees. They are also stateless, they are
“The Girls of Kajiado’ tells the story of the young Maasai girls of Southern Kenya and their struggle to remain in education. Their fight represents both a desire to break the bonds of poverty and also a challenge to the traditional role of girls and women in Maasai culture.” ‘The
I love coffee. I love good coffee, and have come to the conclusion that I am a coffee snob. I am so addicted – to “good” coffee that is – that I even have the necessary tools to make up my own latte, cappuccino, mocha, you name it, at home
The Guardian newspaper captured the essence of the issue in its editorial of April 21st: ‘A proud father who is fleeing persecution, a mother who wants to give her family a chance – every migrant who risks their lives in the Mediterranean has a story that any European would recognise.
There have been problems in Syria for years that featured in news but it was news that rarely reached young people. Over the summer, this situation became more pronounced to us when news of the Irish government agreed to accept 4,000 Syrian refugees hit headlines, following the first announcement of
With just 1 more sleep and more importantly only 1 shopping day (!!!) left (keep track of your sleeps and shopping days), “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Toys in every store…” And indeed there are, even here in Kampala, although not remotely comparable to the entire aisles
My name is Martha. My home is in Zimbabwe and I live in Harare our capital city. I am a mother of two daughters. I have been HIV positive for more than seven years.
My name is Felistas Murwisi but everyone calls me mbuya (granny). I am 48 years old. in 2004, I suffered a stroke that affected my right side. I went for physiotherapy and on the 22nd of November, 2004 I went for an HIV test which showed that I was sero-positive.
My name is Rudo Kembo, I’m a 32-year old widow and currently look after 6 children aged between 2 and 15 years. I have been ‘living positively’ with HIV for the past 4 years.
In supporting the rights of widows and orphans in Zambia, JWOP have carried out a variety of projects, the most successful being the ‘Bus Campaign’ where information regarding widow and orphan rights is presented and disseminated amongst the general public travelling on buses/coaches throughout Zambia. The campaign has focused on popularising and promoting legislation called the Intestate Succession Act, which was developed to support families in the event of the death of a spouse; it encourages individuals to write a Will; and carries out community workshops with church leaders to encourage them to promote the rights of widows and orphans during their church services and outreach activities
With the harsh conditions that many people in Zambia face such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, cholera, etc., death is a daily reality.
Meet Steven Mwanza. Steven is 39 years old. He is a grave digger and has been for the last 7 years.
Like strings on an acoustic guitar, roads run parallel across the city of Lusaka from North to South. We have Cairo Road, Freedom Way, Cha Cha Cha and Lumumba Roads. From East to West, we have Independence Avenue, Church Road and the Great East Road. All these roads are around the town centre of Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. The city is very busy during the day with people from all walks of life walking in different directions and there are so many cars on these roads. At night there are few activities because most people not live in the city centre, but go to their homes in different residential areas.
However, there are some people who do not go to their residential areas, because the streets of Lusaka are their workplace and home. They say life is how you take it. How would you take yours if you were living on the streets of the city of Lusaka?
Each year in Zambia’s Western Province the Litunga – the King/Paramount Chief of the Malozi people, moves in a symbolic ceremony known as the Kuomboka (“get out of water”).
This ancient ceremony celebrates the move of the Litunga from his ‘summer’ home at Lealui in the flooded villages of the Barotse Floodplain, to his ‘winter’ home in Limulunga on the higher ground, until the flooded plains subside in June/July. The festive event is celebrated each year at the end of the rainy season (around March/April) when the upper Zambezi River floods the plains of Western Province
The Public Health team at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published a 40-page fully illustrated novel to educate on the importance of emergency preparedness. The graphic novel “Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic” demonstrates the importance of being prepared for a real emergency in an entertaining way that people
At a manageable 88 pages in length, this is the first Leading Edge report to be made publicly available. It is hoped that it will benefit the development sector in Ireland and internationally. While the report does not make statistically significant findings nor does it test the assumptions of the
The handbook contains ten separate workshops exploring issues such as housing, work, migration, drugs, gender, debt, racism, health and people power. It has been specifically designed for use with groups seeking to explore both local and global aspects of these issues. Book contents Workshop 1: Unequal Ireland, Unequal World –
The resource is in five main sections. Each section describes the aims, concepts, attitudes, knowledge and skills involved in the particular section and recommends certain activities. It is not expected that a teacher will work through the resource with their students from beginning to end, although it is possible to
Contrary to popular belief, even in the midst of this global financial crisis, Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) levels now stand at an all-time high of $135 billion (2013). The key point of this report is that that the context of global poverty is changing dramatically, and a new and innovative
Joint winner of the 2017 Trinity College Dublin and developmenteducation.ie development issues blog series, Yukiko Suzuki explores development through a Japanese lens. When discussing development, it is most often measured by a country’s economic growth or through it’s performance based on the Human Development Index (HDI). Although developing countries have
Colm Regan reviews 5 books as part of his summer reading with recommendations for anyone interested in development and global learning. The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions by Jason Hickel Fans of Hickel’s contributions to the Guardian newspaper will thoroughly enjoy this well-written, accessible and
Who we are Students: Senior Infants “Class of Legends”, St. Patricks Loreto National School, Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland Teachers: Jean McDonnell and Clifton Rooney. What we did A Senior Infants class from St. Patricks Loreto National School, Bray, Co. Wicklow undertook to explore the Ocean as a theme for the
Toni Pyke (and her six year old son) reflect on what peace looks like, on International Day of Peace
Already, there are hundreds of videos available on the Sustainable Development Goals. Here, Colm Regan presents his top 5. 1. Leave No One Behind https://youtu.be/pBqe8JD62QE For us, the best place to begin. A powerful introduction outlining the issues at stake with striking images and quotes (‘because on earth, everyone has
It’s not all bad news. An increasing variety of ethically produced brands are emerging and offering ethical alternatives to high-street products whose ethical values are questionable. Websites like New Consumer (www.ethicalconsumer.org) advertise an array of ethically-informed products, from organic make-up to electric scooters, eco-kettles, fashion products and even ethical holidays.