Something to inspire you.

At NADJA Media, we are committed to highlighting the achievements of women — past and present — who shape the world. Women’s contributions have often been overlooked in both the news and the history books, and we exist to help change that.

This newsletter is about reporting on the voices, victories and resilience of women everywhere. But telling women’s stories also means confronting injustices and exploring the obstacles they face.

To paraphrase a quote from below — there may be plenty to get angry about, but these stories show us there are also many reasons to be hopeful, and inspired.

Rachel Mwikali's compassionate, community feminism

Rachael mwikali 's brand of feminism is radical and confrontational, but also compassionate and inclusive. Born and raised in Mathare, a collection of slums in Nairobi, Kenya, her ‘Pussy Power’ movement is supporting women at the grassroots, while she also works to support displaced and vulnerable members of the local community through a community kitchen — when extreme flooding ravaged the slums in 2024, her team served up to 500 hot meals per day for months.

In this interview in The Star, she explains that her movement is "about caring for our local Mathare community. Here, we are all poor, uneducated and hungry. We mostly know each other and come to each other’s aid."

Mwikali herself is a survivor of sexual abuse, which she says has inspired her activism. Today she leads the Coalition for Grassroots Human Rights Defenders, a social movement for grassroots activists and human rights defenders in Kenya. She also coordinates the Pan-African Grassroots Women Liberation Movement, which unites grassroots African women and empowers them to take up leadership positions, and she sits on the Amnesty International board.

This mural inspired by Hokusai commemorates the Equal Rights Amendment

In Amherst, Massachusetts, members of the Young Feminist Party unveiled a striking mural commemorating their campaign for ratification of the US' Equal Rights Amendment. ‘The Four Waves of Feminism 2025’ symbolises the waves of feminist movements that have shaped history and continue to inspire activism today. The mural is adapted from a design started by Cinda Jones in 1986, in turn inspired by “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa,” by Japanese artist Hokusai.

The Young Feminist Party is a youth-led national group campaigning for gender equality and bodily autonomy. You can read more about the project in The Amherst Current.

This campaign is tackling FGM in Kurdistan

The New Organisation for Environmental Protection and Women's Rights has launched a widespread awareness campaign to combat female genital mutilation (FGM) in the villages around Halabja, in Iraqi Kurdistan.

In 2024, the organisation received the Kawsar Award, presented by the Arab Women's Center to honour initiatives that advance women's rights. Read more on VOA.

This new exhibition celebrates feminist history in Leeds

The UK's University of Leeds has opened ‘Animated Activism: Women Empowered’. This exhibition explores feminist history from the Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1970s to the present day, through the entwined stories of Women’s Aid and the Leeds Animation Workshop.

The university's own press release says, "Bringing these two important archives together, this exhibition is a vivid account of a half century’s struggle for women’s rights. It is also?a celebration of the survival of these organisations, and a reminder of how much work is still to be done.?Prepare to leave inspired – and angry."

Germany now offers maternity leave for women after miscarriage

Women in Germany are now entitled to maternity leave in the event of a miscarriage. The new law passed with cross-party support, and ensures adequate physical and emotional recovery time without the need to request leave from employers.

Previously, women who suffered a miscarriage before the 24th week of pregnancy had to actively apply for medical leave. Whether they would get it was sometimes unclear.

With the new regulation, women who miscarry?after the 13th week of pregnancy will?have the option of taking maternity leave. DW has the full story.

The programme supporting home-based childcare providers in Philadelphia

The Thriving Providers Project gives $500 a month to home-based childcare providers. Currently in the pilot phase in Philadelphia, it is helping to insulate early educators from the income volatility that stems from challenges accessing public childcare funding, such as subsidies and grants.

The 74 reports that home-based child care is the most prevalent type of childcare in the US, but these programmes are increasingly difficult to operate. However the project ensures educators have adequate funding, and participants also receive advice to help them learn about strategies to prevent benefits like housing vouchers or food stamps from being interrupted.?

The project keeping Afghan women’s words alive

'My Dear Kabul' is a book compiling the messages of an Afghan women’s writers’ group, shared with each other as the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan. While some women escaped and others couldn't, or chose to stay, the women kept in touch, as the book records.

Behind the book is Untold Narratives, a project founded by Lucy Hannah, a journalist and producer who worked in Afghanistan. Its aim, Hannah says, is to help writers, particularly women who have been “marginalised by community or conflict” to get their voices heard. Positive News has the full story.

NY shields abortion medication prescriptions

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed a law protecting the identities of anyone prescribing abortion medication, after a New York medic was indicted in Louisiana for providing a prescription online.

The new law allows doctors to request for their names to be left off abortion pill bottles and instead list the name of their healthcare practices.

Hochul also refused Louisiana’s extradition request to send the doctor to Louisiana to answer to charges of criminal abortion. Read more about this on CBC.

From NADJA Media's archive...

Before you go...

Our friends at Positive News US are starting a live video chat on the first and third Mondays of the month for participants to share uplifting stories from their lives, their communities, and from around the world. Called 'Blast of Good', editor Ilonka Wloch describes this as "an act of self care, resilience to hopelessness and an inspiration to create change." ??