Neha Wadekar

Nairobi

Independent International Multimedia Journalist at Freelance

journalist | Work @newyorker @wsj @nytimes @washingtonpost @newshour @guardian | @IWMF @typeinvestigate @pulitzercenter @opcofamerica fellow

Articles

‘Urgent action is needed to safeguard the lives of women and children’

4 weeks ago | fullerproject.org | Jodi Enda |Allan Olingo |Claire Provost |Neha Wadekar

VYONGWANI, KENYA – Mwaka Chimera sits on a worn-out leather couch outside her two-roomed house in Vyongwani village, in southeastern Kenya, cradling her newborn daughter. “I dropped out of primary school, and for my first five pregnancies, I never attended a single antenatal clinic. I would just show up at the hospital when it was time to give birth,” Chimera, 31, says in Swahili.
The U.S. aid freeze: Counting the global cost of chaos

4 weeks ago | fullerproject.org | Winnie Byanyima |Neha Wadekar |Allan Olingo |Eliza Anyangwe

GOLINI, KENYA – Saumu Mwavugadi gazed from her veranda past mud-walled chicken coops and umbrella-like acacia trees to a vast horizon of hills. The heat was unrelenting on this March day, and Mwavugadi cradled her two-week-old daughter in her arms. She was wracked with despair. “How will I get my baby vaccinated?” Mwavugadi worried aloud. “Postnatal clinics feel like an impossible dream,” she said in Swahili.
The Long Road to Justice for Sexual War Crimes

1 month ago | foreignpolicy.com | Neha Wadekar

ADRÉ, Chad—When the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) entered El Geneina, the capital of the Sudanese state of West Darfur, Sadia Adams’s* two brothers knew they had to hide. RSF fighters were systematically exterminating men from the Masalit ethnic group, and their best chance of survival was to disappear and reemerge once fighters from the rogue paramilitary force had departed.
A Looming Threat: Trump Likely to Further Limit Abortion in U.S. and Abroad

Nov 11, 2024 | fullerproject.org | Jodi Enda |Neha Wadekar |Zsuzsanna Lippai

Overturning the constitutional right to abortion was the first step. When Donald Trump returns to the White House next year, the former abortion-rights supporter — who has since proclaimed himself to be “the most pro-life president” in history — is expected to do much more. During the presidential campaign, Trump touted his role in overturning Roe v. Wade by nominating three anti-abortion justices to the Supreme Court.
Women Support Harris, but the American Presidency Remains a Male Bastion

Nov 6, 2024 | fullerproject.org | Neha Wadekar |Jodi Enda

In the end, Americans chose the man whose presidency led to the undoing of abortion rights over the woman who said she would fight to restore them. And yet, in seven of 10 states, residents also voted to protect and in some cases reinstate their legal right to abortion, which is supported by the vast majority of Americans.
Standing Strong: The Fuller Project’s Post-Election Promise to You

Nov 6, 2024 | fullerproject.org | Jodi Enda |Neha Wadekar

When Trump praised Hungary’s Viktor Orban during the September 2024 debate with Harris, it struck a personal chord. Having grown up in freshly post-communist Hungary as the daughter of Szeged’s first democratically elected mayor, I absorbed lessons about the dangers of authoritarian regimes — be it left- or right-wing — through osmosis. I then witnessed firsthand how democracy can erode.
America’s Anti-Abortion Business Is Booming in Africa

Nov 4, 2024 | foreignpolicy.com | Neha Wadekar

The Full Story A monthly column published by Foreign Policy and reported by journalists at The Fuller Project, a global newsroom that catalyzes positive change for women. Sign up for The Fuller Project’s newsletter. Anti-abortion, and pro family activists hold placards during a prayer rally in Nairobi, on November 14, 2019.
Why the American abortion debate is affecting access in Kenya

Oct 31, 2024 | pbs.org | Neha Wadekar

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Audio Abortion is a closely watched issue in this year's election, and not just in the U.S. As president, Trump cut funding for international groups that offer and counsel on abortion services. With support from The Pulitzer Center, special correspondent Neha Wadekar reports from Kenya where advocates are watching for who wins. A warning, this story contains accounts of sexual and gender-based violence.
World Bank Financing Arm Rejects Calls to Directly Compensate Victims of Harm at Kenya Schools

Jun 12, 2024 | theintercept.com | Neha Wadekar

The World Bank’s private investment arm is refusing to directly compensate individuals who faced sexual, physical, and financial harms at a chain of schools it funded in Africa and India, despite requests from the people who were hurt and pressure from civil society advocates, U.S. senators, and an internal watchdog.
Sudan's Desperate Refugees in Chad Prove the World’s Relief System Is Broken

May 29, 2024 | foreignpolicy.com | Neha Wadekar

Human Rights Africa ADRÉ, Chad—Abdussalam Mustapha and his friends used to play soccer for hours after school in El Geneina, a city in the West Darfur region of Sudan. But the 10-year-old can’t play anymore.