The development press review March 21, 2019

Abdelaziz Bouteflika gave up on running for a fifth term, after twenty years of presidency. This short video gives the tone of the peaceful youth-led protests that pushed the Algerian President to this decision.

“ The Youth-led protests that force Algeria’s President not to run again  ” , Vice news/HBO, March 13, 2019

In Morocco, about 50% of farming jobs are held by women. Until recently, their rights were very limited. The female workers of large private company Zniber just changed things and hope their victory will spread.

“ Women farm workers achieve justice on the job in Morocco  ” , Equal Times, March 8, 2019

During the 2011 Arab Spring, social media helped organize collective action. Today, young Algerians are using the Internet to regroup and mock the power. A feat in the eyes of the older generations whose lives were marked by fear of repression.

“ Algeria: how Millenials used humour and creativity to force Abdelaziz Bouteflika to stand aside  ” , The Conversation, March 12, 2019

Once more, a Twitter campaign helped a hot topic reach front page. This time, the campaign aimed at calling out the degraded state of health infrastructures in Tunisia, specifically of hospitals, after the death of 11 premature babies in less than a day.

“ 11 premature babies die in less than a day in Tunisian hospital, sparking outrage  ” , The New York Times, March 16, 2019

It’s a tragic anniversary. War in Syria broke out 8 years ago, following the Arab Spring. Since then, it has claimed nearly 400,000 victims and created 12 million migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons. According to NGO CARE, 72% of the people in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria are women.

“ Syria death toll tops 370,000 in 8 years of war: monitor  ” , France 24, March 15, 2019