Perspective

A leading women's rights campaigner has spoken to FRANCE 24 about how she was subjected to female genital mutilation at the age of just seven in her home country of The Gambia. Fatou Baldeh explained that although the procedure was a horrific personal experience, it was seen as the norm when she was growing up. But later, when studying in Scotland, she became more aware of what had happened to her. She has now returned to The Gambia and is the founder and CEO of Women in Liberation and Leadership. She talked to us on Perspective ahead of International Women's Day this coming weekend.

The author of a new book that explores the lives of three gay men through different generations in India has spoken to FRANCE 24 about how attitudes to homosexuality have changed in his home country. Santanu Bhattacharya is the author of "Deviants", which follows the lives of the men from the same family as they grow up in the mid-1970s, 1990s and today, and how gay men are perceived during those periods. His first book "One Small Voice" was widely acclaimed, being named an Observer best debut novel of 2023 and shortlisted for the Society of Authors' Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize. He joined us on Perspective.

A celebrated Palestinian filmmaker who was born and brought up in Gaza has told FRANCE 24 that he and his colleagues just want to share their stories through art. Rashid Masharawi has put together a film made up of 22 individual short projects filmed and put together in Gaza amid the Israeli bombings since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023. "From Ground Zero" tells the stories of the people of Gaza in their own words. His other current film "Passing Dreams" was notably filmed in Bethlehem, Old Jerusalem and Haifa. He spoke to us in Perspective.

As an American living in Paris, "the jokes are writing themselves". That's the sentiment from stand-up comedian Sarah Donnelly, whose act is taking the Anglophone comedy circuit by storm in Paris. She has lived in Paris for 12 years and has a French husband and children. Her comedy takes the mickey out of all the obstacles she has come up against during her life in France. Her first one-hour comedy special "The Only American in Paris" is available on her YouTube channel. She spoke to us in Perspective.

The situation in Haiti is now an "unprecedented humanitarian crisis" with the "population on the brink of starvation". That's according to the charity ActionAid, which says that nine out of 10 people there now go all day without eating. It also says that 99 percent of all families in Haiti go without meals, sometimes for days at a time. In Perspective, we spoke to ActionAid's Haiti country director Angeline Annesteus from the capital Port-au-Prince.

On the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an expert has spoken to us from Kyiv about the impact of the war on children. In the spring of last year, UNICEF reported that nearly 2,000 children had been killed or injured in the conflict. That figure does not take into account those who have lost family members or friends. Mykola Kuleba, founder of the NGO Save Ukraine and a former Ukrainian presidential commissioner for children's rights, spoke to us in Perspective. 

A Libyan-born Irish singer has spoken to FRANCE 24 about her love for music, and how primarily she makes music for herself, this as she prepares for a concert here in Paris. Farah Elle's music is defined by her Libyan roots as she performs songs for piano as well as selections from her debut album "Fatima" that weaves together pop, touches of R'n'B, jazz and Middle Eastern music. She spoke to us in Perspective. 

A year after the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Oscar-winning documentary producer of the 2022 film "Navalny" has spoken to FRANCE 24 about her memories of him. Odessa Rae spent over three months living with the Russian dissident in Germany following his 2020 poisoning as she tracked his life to make the film. Navalny died just over a year ago in a penal colony in the Russian Arctic in circumstances that remain unclear. Speaking to us in Perspective, she called Navalny "one of the most extraordinary humans that I have ever met."

An award-winning filmmaker has spoken to FRANCE 24 about how a dark sense of humour is the strength of the real-life characters in her latest film. "The Flats" has just been released here in France and revisits what has become known as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the conflict there that lasted around 30 years and killed more than 3,500 people. The story is told through Joe, who from his tower block apartment in Belfast reenacts memories of his childhood as he's joined by some of his neighbours. In Perspective, we spoke to director Alessandra Celesia.

A leading exiled blogger from Bangladesh who has more than 3 million followers on YouTube has spoken to FRANCE 24 about his hopes for the future after the revolution there. Pinaki Bhattacharya, who now lives here in France, is credited by supporters back home with playing a part in the toppling of the Bangladeshi government and its Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India last August. A UN report published last week accused the former government of being responsible for systematic attacks and the killings of protesters as it tried to hang onto power, warning the abuses could amount to crimes against humanity. He spoke to us in Perspective.