Latest news with #CommonwealthFoundation
Business Recorder
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Women cotton workers demand justice, fair wages
HYDERABAD: More than 90 participants including women cotton workers, trade union leaders, progressive growers, civil society representatives, and officials from the labor, social welfare, health, and environment departments gathered in Hyderabad Thursday to demand justice, fair wages, safe working conditions, and climate resilience for over one million women cotton workers across Sindh. Organized by the Sindh Community Foundation (SCF) in collaboration with the Commonwealth Foundation, the day-long event featured a powerful Women's Assembly held at Indus Hotel under the theme 'Claiming Safe Working Conditions and Climate Justice.' The forum served as a vital platform for women agricultural workers and labour advocates to raise concerns about exploitative wages, exclusion from labour protections, and the worsening impacts of climate change on women's health and livelihoods. Opening the assembly, Javed Hussain, Executive Director of SCF, called for the accelerated implementation of social protection programs for women in agriculture, particularly in light of their disproportionate exposure to both labor injustice and climate shocks. 'Climate change is not just an environmental issue it's a growing threat to the health and dignity of rural women workers,' he said.' The government must act urgently to recognize and protect them.' Hussain also highlighted the lack of enforcement of the Sindh Women Agricultural Workers Act (2019), which mandates ensure minimum wage healthcare, maternity benefits, and social security, but remains slowly unimplemented in rural districts. Nadeem Shah, representing the Sindh Abadgar Board, noted that over 70% of agricultural labor in Sindh is performed by women, who are still not formally recognized under labor laws. He called for the legal classification of agriculture as an industry to ensure enforceable labor protections. Dr. Muhammad Ismail Kumbhar, an agricultural and climate expert, warned that only 65% of the expected cotton yield was produced this year due to water shortages, with women workers suffering the most when productivity falls. From the grassroots, Ms. Zubaida Solangi, President of Sujagi Women Cotton Workers Trade Union from Meho Machi, Matiari, voiced workers' frustrations: 'We are still excluded from welfare boards and compensation funds.' Dr. Muhammad Aslam Memon, of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, raised alarms over harmful agro-chemical use, urging a shift toward sustainable farming, tree plantation, and training for women in food preservation. Other speakers including Shahnaz Sheedi, Pushpa Kumari, Gufrana (HRCP), and Pirah Syal (EPA Hyderabad), Sajid Soomr of Social Protection Department also shared, their views on gender-sensitive enforcement of labour and environmental laws and better coordination between departments to protect women in the fields. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
31-07-2025
- General
- Express Tribune
'Women's Assembly' demandsjustice for women cotton pickers
Organised by the Sindh Community Foundation (SCF) in collaboration with the Commonwealth Foundation, a Women's Assembly was held under the theme "Claiming Safe Working Conditions and Climate Justice." Over 90 participants gathered for the event, which served as a platform for women agricultural workers and advocates to raise concerns about exploitative wages, exclusion from labour protections, and the worsening impacts of climate change on women's health and livelihoods, disproportionately impacting over one million women cotton workers across Sindh. SCF Executive Director Javed Hussain called for social protection programmes for women in agriculture, particularly in light of their disproportionate exposure to climate shocks. He stated, "climate change is not just an environmental issue, it's a growing threat to the health and dignity of rural women workers." Hussain also highlighted the lack of enforcement of the Sindh Women Agricultural Workers Act (2019), which mandates minimum wage, healthcare, maternity benefits, and social security, but remains unimplemented in rural districts. Meanwhile, representing the Sindh Abadgar Board, Nadeem Shah noted that over 70 per cent of agricultural labour in the province is performed by women who are still unrecognised under labour laws. He called for the legal classification of agriculture as an industry, to ensure enforceable labour protections. The assembly concluded with a set of demands, including the immediate enforcement of the Sindh Women Agricultural Workers Act, 2019; monitoring of minimum wage compliance; universal health insurance and social protection coverage; inclusion in welfare boards and compensation schemes; labour rights awareness campaigns targeting landlords and contractors; climate adaptation measures; and expanded outreach.
Scoop
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Canadian Vincentian Chanel Sutherland Wins 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize
41-year-old Canadian Vincentian writer wins the world's most global literature prize for 'Descend', a story in which enslaved Africans share their life stories, as the ship transporting them sinks Sutherland, a former CBC short story prize-winner, describes how she 'took a risk' with 'Descend'—'its shape, its voices—because I believed every enslaved person deserves to have their story told with dignity' Judges praise a story that 'affirms the unrivalled power of storytelling to set our spirits free and find hope where none exists' Canadian Vincentian writer Chanel Sutherland has today been announced as the overall winner of the world's most global literature prize. The 41-year-old, who was born in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and lives in Montreal, Canada, saw off 7,920 entrants worldwide to take the £5,000 prize. The Commonwealth Foundation announced her win at an online ceremony, presented by Rwandan performing artist and storyteller, Malaika Uwamahoro, in which Chanel and the other four regional winners spoke about their writing and read short extracts from their stories. In 'Descend', as a slave ship sinks, one of the enslaved Africans starts telling a story of the wife he has left behind. In the darkness, others join in. Springing vividly to life, the men and women tell their own stories—of love, family and the worlds from which they had been brutally removed. The chair of the judges, Dr Vilsoni Hereniko, said, 'Told in the quiet voice of a seer, 'Descend' is deep and profound. It tells the story of slaves packed like sardines in the hull of a sinking ship, an allegory that affirms the unrivalled power of storytelling to set our spirits free and find hope where none exists. My deepest gratitude and congratulations to the judges and the Commonwealth Foundation for shining a light on this masterpiece.' Dr Anne T. Gallagher AO, Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation, the intergovernmental organisation that administers the prize, said ''Descend' is a superb piece of storytelling—bold in form, precise in detail, and unforgettable in its impact. Chanel Sutherland has taken a moment of extreme peril and fashioned a narrative that holds the reader from first line to last. She handles the weight of history with precision and imagination. This is exactly the level of craft and originality the Commonwealth Short Story Prize exists to celebrate. My congratulations to Chanel, to our outstanding regional winners, and to every writer who entered this year's record-breaking competition.' Chanel Sutherland said, 'I took a risk with 'Descend'—its shape, its voices—because I believed every enslaved person deserves to have their story told with dignity. I can't tell all the stories, or restore the lives that were stolen, but I'm humbled that this one resonates.' Describing how she found her voice as a writer, she added, 'My love for storytelling began before I even fully understood what a story was—I only knew they made me feel something, and I wanted to make others feel it too. Back in Saint Vincent, I used to scrawl my earliest stories into the sand in our yard, knowing they'd be washed away by rain or footsteps. We didn't have the resources for writing as a hobby, but I kept writing anyway, because the stories kept coming. To go from that little girl with fleeting words to now being recognised with such a prestigious and global prize is something I could never have dreamed possible. Winning feels deeply affirming—as if that little girl scribbling in the sand was always right to believe that stories mattered. 'My deepest gratitude to the Commonwealth Foundation, the judges and to my fellow regional winners Joshua, Faria, Kathleen and Subraj—your stories are extraordinary, and I'm honoured to be in your company. Here's to the stories that move us, mend us, and remind us we're not alone—may we keep telling them!' Chanel Sutherland is a Canadian Vincentian writer of fiction and creative nonfiction. Her debut short story collection, Layaway Child, will be published by House of Anansi in 2026. Chanel won the 2021 CBC Nonfiction Prize and the 2022 CBC Short Story Prize and received the 2022 Mairuth Sarsfield Mentorship. CBC Books named her one of 30 Writers to Watch in 2022. The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is free to enter and is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from the Commonwealth. It is the only prize in the world where entries can be submitted in Bengali, Chinese, Creole, French, Greek, Malay, Maltese, Portuguese, Samoan, Swahili, Tamil, and Turkish as well as English. The story was selected as the overall winner by an international panel of judges, chaired by Dr Vilsoni Hereniko. The judges are: author, poet and scholar Nsah Mala from Cameroon (Africa); writer and 2019 Asia regional winner Saras Manickam from Malayasia (Asia); writer and journalist Dr Anita Sethi from the United Kingdom (Canada and Europe); writer, editor and comedian Lisa Allen-Agostini from Trinidad and Tobago (Caribbean); and poet, actor, musician and writer Apirana Taylor from Aotearoa/New Zealand (Pacific). As part of the Commonwealth Foundation's partnership with The London Library, the overall winner receives a two years' Full Membership to the Library and the regional winners receive a year's Full Membership. The literary magazine Granta has published all the regional winning stories of the 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, including 'Descend'. The five stories will also be available in a special print collection from Paper + Ink ( Global impact on writers' careers Winning or being shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story prize opens a wealth of opportunities for writers, propelling them further in their writing careers. Every year, winning and shortlisted writers have found literary agents, been invited to literary festivals, and had their work published in national and international literary publications. 2024 overall winner Sanjana Thakur had her winning story Aishwarya selected for the Best American Short Stories 2025 following its publication on Granta. She has since spoken on literary panels and had stories and poems published in Adroit, Booth, The Rumpus, Michigan Quarterly Review, and Pigeon Pages. For Julie Bouchard, 2024 regional winner for Canada and Europe, the prize allowed her to apply for and receive a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to transform her winning short story 'What Burns' into a novel. Moreover, the recognition gave her Québec editor the chance to present her work to anglophone Canadian publishers, highlighting her Commonwealth Short Story Prize win. As Julie put it, 'Ultimately, this experience offered me far more than mere recognition—it became a gateway to new creative ventures and a significant catalyst in my artistic journey'. Pip Robertson, 2024 regional winner for the Pacific region, was invited to submit a story for one of the premium journals in New Zealand, Newsroom. 2024 Caribbean regional winner Portia Subran (Trinidad and Tobago) was invited to the British Virgin Islands Literature Festival. Moreover, writers continue to benefit from their prize success. In 2024, Kwame McPherson, the 2023 overall winner, announced that his winning story 'Ocoee' was under consideration for a film/TV adaptation, and in 2025 he was invited to the 34th edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF) as a guest speaker at its cultural and professional programme. Submissions for the 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize will open on 1 September 2025. Those interested in entering the prize can follow @cwfcreatives on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and keep up to date with the prize via Notes About the Commonwealth Short Story Prize The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is administered by the Commonwealth Foundation. The prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2000-5000 words). Regional winners receive £2,500 GBP and the overall winner receives £5,000 GBP. Short stories translated into English from other languages are also eligible. The winning stories are published online by Granta and in a special print collection by Paper + Ink. The 2025 regional winners and their stories are: Africa: 'Mothers Not Appearing in Search' by Joshua Lubwama (Uganda) Asia: 'An Eye and a Leg' by Faria Basher (Bangladesh) Canada and Europe: 'Descend' by Chanel Sutherland (Canada/Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) Caribbean: 'Margot's Run' by Subraj Singh (Guyana) Pacific: 'Crab Sticks and Lobster Rolls' by Kathleen Ridgwell (Australia) About the Commonwealth Foundation The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental organisation mandated by its member countries to advance the interests of Commonwealth civil society. Upholding a firm commitment to the principles and ideals of the Commonwealth, the Foundation seeks to nurture the growth of vibrant and free societies: championing the active and constructive participation of people in all aspects of governance. About the Commonwealth Short Story Prize The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is administered by the Commonwealth Foundation. The prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2000-5000 words). Regional winners receive £2,500 GBP and the overall winner receives £5,000 GBP. Short stories translated into English from other languages are also eligible. The winning stories are published online by Granta and in a special print collection by Paper + Ink. About the Commonwealth Foundation The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental organisation mandated by its Member States to advance the interests of Commonwealth civil society. Upholding a firm commitment to the principles and ideals of the Commonwealth, the Foundation seeks to nurture the growth of vibrant and free societies: championing the active and constructive participation of people in all aspects of governance.
Business Recorder
26-05-2025
- Health
- Business Recorder
Women agri workers to launch climate literacy campaign
HYDERABAD: In a major step toward advancing climate justice and labour rights, women agricultural workers and leaders from women-led cotton workers' trade unions in Matiari district have united to launch a district-wide climate literacy campaign. The campaign aims to raise awareness among women workers and growers about the rising risks of climate change and the urgent need for safer, more dignified working conditions. The initiative emerged from a two-day Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop on Climate Change and Health Literacy, organized by the Sindh Community Foundation (SCF) in collaboration with the Commonwealth Foundation, held in Matiari. The workshop brought together 42 women from 21 villages, equipping them with essential knowledge and practical skills to become climate campaigners. The training focused on addressing the impacts of climate change on health, livelihoods, and productivity, empowering these women to lead awareness and action in their communities. The training was inaugurated by Javed Hussain, Executive Director of SCF, who stressed that 'Climate change is not only an environmental crisis but a gender and justice issue. Women agricultural workers are on the frontlines of this crisis, and they must be at center of its solutions.' In two days training participants explored fundamentals of climate change and its specific impacts on women in agriculture. Javed Hussain opened the technical sessions, followed by Dr. Hira Arain, who addressed the effects of rising temperatures on livestock and rural livelihoods. Zubaida Turk spoke on climate-linked working conditions, while Dr. Bakhtwar focused on the health consequences of heat stress, including low blood pressure, heatstroke, and reduced productivity. She also highlighted that extreme heat is contributing to menstrual irregularities, uterine health issues, dehydration, mental health challenges, and even increased breast cancer risks all of which impact women's long-term wellbeing and ability to work. Learned how to stay safe during heatwaves, engage effectively with local communities, and conduct awareness sessions. By the end of the workshop, the women had developed a collective action plan to roll out localized climate awareness activities. Afroz, a cotton worker leader from one of the villages Long Khan Jiskanai, shared, 'We now understand how climate change is harming both our health and our livelihoods. If we don't act now, the situation will only worsen.' She urged growers to increase vegetation cover in the fields to provide shade and protect workers during cotton picking in the scorching heat. Workers also emphasized the urgent need to set a minimum wage for cotton picking. 'Without fair wages, and better working conditions' they said, 'it becomes a serious violation of our labour rights, especially as climate conditions make our work even harder.' With renewed confidence, all 42 women will now serve as local climate campaigners in Matiari. Launching a Climate Literacy Week, they aim to reach over 1,000 women cotton workers, advocate for eco-friendly shade structures, and demand stronger occupational health protections marking the beginning of a women-led climate resilience movement in rural Sindh. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Scoop
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2025 Regional Winners Announced
Five writers—chosen from a record-breaking 7,920 entrants—have been announced as regional winners of the world's most global literature prize Judges hail stories that 'cause us to feel that our lives have been enriched' A Bangladeshi writer has won the Asia regional prize for the first time The stories feature compelling characters including a new mother protecting her child from a bloodthirsty creature, a football-obsessed boy who befriends a woman against his mother's wishes, and a young woman who is literally falling apart. The Commonwealth Foundation has announced five regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, the world's most global literary prize. This year's prize attracted the highest-ever number of entrants, 10 per cent more than in 2024. The regional winners are Joshua Lubwama from Uganda (Africa region), Faria Basher from Bangladesh (Asia region), Chanel Sutherland from Canada/Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Canada and Europe Region), Subraj Singh from Guyana (Caribbean region), and Kathleen Ridgwell from Australia (Pacific region). They will now go through to the final round of judging and the overall winner will be announced on Wednesday 25 June 2025. Taking the reader from a surf shack in Australia to a village in Guyana on the eve of independence, the stories tackle powerful themes head-on. We read of a clash between generations as a boy's illiterate mother fears and resents the unconventional newcomer; the lost memories of enslaved Africans for whom storytelling is their final act of defiance; the legacy of colonialism reflected in a demon that threatens to prey on a young baby; the pressures on young women in their twenties to get married and rear children—or face dire consequences; and how two young people form an unlikely friendship in the face of racism and family pressure. Chair of the Judges, Dr Vilsoni Hereniko, said, 'These stories illuminate many aspects of human nature and demonstrate true mastery of the short story form. Each tale shows that geography matters in storytelling. They are works of fiction that are inseparable from the local culture and history from which they have sprung. They have colour and emotional resonance—and they moved me deeply. Congratulations to the regional winners and judges!' The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from any of the Commonwealth 56 member countries. It is the most accessible and international of all writing competitions: in addition to English, entries can be submitted in Bengali, Chinese, Creole, French, Greek, Malay, Maltese, Portuguese, Samoan, Swahili, Tamil, and Turkish. The winning stories are: Africa: 'Mothers Not Appearing in Search' by Joshua Lubwama (Uganda) Asia: 'An Eye and a Leg' by Faria Basher (Bangladesh)
