Across the world, the Coronavirus has not only become another disaster to wipe us all out of the earth but has also put the spotlight on the level of competence of our political leaders.

In Africa, the case is not different as governments are putting in draconian measures to halt the spread just like their counterparts in Europe and Asia.

Downing Street has not used a female minister to lead its coronavirus press conference for more than six months, a tally by the Guardian has found, prompting accusations that Boris Johnson does not value the women in his team.

It has also emerged that the government has sent out no female minister as its main representative on the regular morning round of TV and radio interviews for five weeks – and has done so only once in the past two months.

Denouncing sexual violence, demanding abortion reform and destigmatising sex work –- once-taboo issues are finding public expression in Thailand as women take up leadership roles in a youth-led pro-democracy movement.

On the protest frontlines, they are urging for gender equality in a kingdom where workplaces and politics are still dominated by men.

On the night police tried to stop protesters from marching to the Thai parliament, activist Chonticha Jangrew remembers rallying them to push past the barricades.

In situations of crisis, language and communication matter — particularly at the highest levels of political leadership. But do men and women use language differently when they are in positions of power? A new study sets out to investigate, and MNT spoke to its authors about the implications of their research for global health policy.

Recently, there has been much discussion in the media about gender imbalance in the COVID-19 response.

Hundreds of women peacefully marched through the main streets of the Central African Republic’s capital Bangui today to demand for inclusive, violence-free elections.

“All we want is peace,” sang the participants who donned white t-shirts, a symbol of their message for peace. They called for election security and respect for women’s rights; they denounced election-related gender-based violence and urged unity among Central Africans.