© DW/M. Magunia

Scilla Elworthy Ph.D., Councillor of the World Future Council and founder of the Oxford Research Group and Peace Direct, was the one of the first women to publish a report on female genital mutilation that led to the World Health Organization campaign to eradicate the practice. Three-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, she recently published her latest book “Pioneering the Possible – Awakened Leadership for a World that works” and is certain that a different future for all of humanity is possible, if humans wake up.

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Audrey Hepburn was one of the world’s most photographed women and is now the focus of a London exhibition. During the 1950s and 60s she was a screen goddess. These are the films that made her a Hollywood icon.

© Roheena Sajid

An exhibition was organized in the Pakistan-china Friendship Centre in Islamabad a few months ago. I visited the centre to attend the exhibition, and met many women who came there from different areas of Pakistan to present their work. When I saw their art work, I was pleasantly surprised. Each and every piece was so dedicatedly made that I fell in love with the work.

Things are on the move in the world of gaming. About half of all gamers are female. Now game producers are starting to employ more female developers. And women in tech are also a key focus of this year’s “International Games Week” in Berlin.

© Eros International

Bollywood heroines are worshipped in India but have also sparked the ire of activists who believe that the actresses allow themselves to be objectified. Over the last two years, there has been a drastic shift in the way popular actresses have presented themselves. Some like Kangana Ranaut have vowed never to do item numbers while others like Vidya Balan have launched powerful social media campaigns.

We always discuss women’s issues, such as domestic violence, anxiety and depression and most of the times men are blamed for all these problems. I have seen many women end their marriages because they think that they are being oppressed by their partner even when it is not so. Have we ever thought, how we as women can have better love or marriage relationships, and eventually can live happier lives, even when we have problems?

In the early 1990s, Liao Xiaoyi saw the important role played by NGOs in environmental protection in the United States, but she also found problems with the American lifestyle. “During the winter months, the AC temperature in malls and department stores was so high that people had to wear summer clothes, while during the summer months, it was so cold indoors that people had to take thick clothes with them. The weather in the state of California is sunny, but there was a law against airing clothes within your own courtyard, so that people have to use a drying machine; otherwise they would be fined USD 50. I believe our earth cannot sustain this kind of wasteful lifestyle.”