What role did women play in the social and cultural life of Ancient Egypt? Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women uncovering secrets from this incredible civilisation. Dr Monica Hanna is an Egyptologist and a leading heritage expert. She’s the acting dean of the College of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage at the Arab Academy in Aswan. Monica’s been awarded for her fight against looting. Dr Solange Ashby is an Egyptologist at UCLA whose work focuses on Nubia, a region in Northeast Africa split between present-day Egypt and Sudan. Solange’s current research explores the role of women in ancient Nubia and she’s writing a monograph about the royal women of Kush.Produced by Alice Gioia and Lorna Treen.(Image: (L) Dr Monica Hanna, credit Justin Merriman. (R) Dr Solange Ashby, credit courtesy of Dr Solange Ashby).

Today we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of BBC 100 Women - an initiative that highlights the work of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world. Australian activist Chanel Contos started a movement dubbed 'Teach Us Consent’. Thanks to her campaign, consent education will be mandatory in all Australian schools from kindergarten until year 10. It all started in 2021, when Chanel posted a story on Instagram, asking her followers if they or someone they knew had been sexually assaulted at school. Within 24 hours more than 200 people had replied “yes”. Now she is educating people about non-consensual condom removal, or stealthing, as well as campaigning to criminalise the act.Ghanaian writer Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah is the author of The Sex Lives of African Women, which has been described as “an astonishing report on the quest for sexual liberation”. She is the co-founder of Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women, a website, podcast and festival that publishes and creates content that tells stories of African women’s experiences around sex, sexualities, and pleasure.Produced by Alice Gioia (Image: (L) Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, credit Charles Lawson. (R) Chanel Contos, credit Side-Note.)

Global food insecurity is putting millions of people at risk, and during hunger crises women are more vulnerable to the effects of malnutrition. Rukia Yacoub is the World Food Programme’s deputy regional director in East Africa. A nutritionist by trade, Rukia currently oversees the UN agency’s efforts to provide food to people in crises in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. In the past, Rukia worked to tackle malnutrition in Yemen, Ghana and Rwanda. Neha Mankani is a midwife from Pakistan. In 2015 she started the Mama Baby Fund, a charity providing women with emergency medical treatments and food supplies. She has been working in the poorest regions of Pakistan, including remote islands in the Arabian Sea and in the Sindh province, which was devastated by floods in the summer of 2022.Produced by Alice Gioia(Image: (L) Neha Mankani, courtesy of Neha Mankani. (R) Rukia Yacoub, credit WFP/Alessandro Abbonizio.)

While synonymous with status and romance, diamonds have also been linked to controversy, colonialism and conflict. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women whose lives have been shaped and transformed by the diamond industry in Botswana and Namibia.Anna Marie Johnson was paralysed at the age of eight. Reliant on a wheelchair, she missed out on completing her education. She's found a new lease of life and renewed ambition as part of a diverse workforce at Andre Messika in Windhoek, Namibia.Naseem Lahri is the first woman, and the first female citizen of Botswana, to run a diamond mine in the country. She says she's a product of diamond mining through the funding the industry puts into education in her country and that she's delighted to be part of the process giving back to the local community.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Anna Marie Johnson, credit Natural Diamond Council. (R) Naseem Lahri, credit Lucara Diamond.)

An increasing number of women have become addicted to gambling in recent years, and experts fear the current cost of living crisis could put even more women at risk. Sandra Adell is a professor of literature in the Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the author of a memoir, Confessions of a Slot Machine Queen, and she is currently working on a book about the impact of gambling on underprivileged communities in the US called And Then The Casinos Came: Narratives of Gambling and Loss. For Lisa Walker, gambling has always been a recreational activity. She started at the age of seven, playing cards for pennies with her dad, and she continued throughout her twenties. But winning £127,000 at a game of poker led her to develop a severe addiction that left her broke and homeless. She is now a community outreach worker with the UK charity Betknowmore and she leads New Beginnings, a project supporting women who struggle with gambling.Producer: Alice Gioia(Image: (L) Sandra Adell, courtesy Sandra Adell. (R) Lisa Walker, courtesy Lisa Walker)

What role are women playing in providing solar power and ensuring that vulnerable communities have access to cheaper and cleaner energy? Kim Chakanetsa talks to an electrical engineer working in the US and Nicaragua, and a Nigerian entrepreneur.Anna Bautista is vice president of construction at GRID Alternatives, a large non-profit solar company that works with low-income communities across America and in Nicaragua. Her career as an electrical engineer started in the private sector where she worked as a site supervisor, trainer, and design and installation technician on residential and commercial PV (photovoltaic) projects.Olasimbo Sojinrin is the chief operating officer of Solar Sisters, an enterprise selling solar powered lamps and electrical appliances to women living in off-grid communities across Africa. Growing up in Nigeria, her life was dictated by power outages, so she decided to empower other women by finding sustainable and affordable solutions to the energy problem.Producer: Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Anna Bautista, courtesy Anna Bautista. (R) Olasimbo Sojinrin, courtesy Olasimbo Sojinrin)

Kim Chakanetsa discusses the wonders of the sky with two world-renowned astronomers.Dr Ewine van Dishoeck is a Dutch astronomer and chemist who has been involved with the development of the James Webb Telescope, the largest optical telescope in space. A professor of molecular astrophysics at the University of Leiden, her work in researching the potential existence of water in space could help find answers to the biggest questions, including whether life is possible on other planets. Dr Catherine Cesarsky is an Argentinian and French astronomer. Her research in astrophysics has included the composition of galactic cosmic rays and how stars are formed. As president of the Square Kilometre Array telescope project she’s directing an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope.Produced by Emily Naylor and Alice Gioia(Image: (L) Dr Ewine van Dishoeck, credit Katinka Baehr. (R) Dr Catherine Cesarsky, credit EPFL/SKACH/Severin Bigler.)

After lockdowns, gig cancelations and a long and painful period for those in the industry, this year has seen the return of a full festival season around the world and millions of people have been making the most of it partying and dancing in vast crowds to live music and DJ-sets.Beatriz de la Pava is joined by two female DJ/producers from Denmark and Colombia to talk about creating a sound and vibe that brings thousands of people to dance as one.Rosa Pistola is hard to miss. Hailing from Colombia yet dubbed the Madonna of Mexico City, she mixes high energy reggaeton and sensual ballads to encapsulate the soundscape of her adopted city. Her mission is to celebrate the sounds of the Latin underground with the entire world, including Fabric in London on the 9th of December.Manda Moor is a Danish-Filipino DJ and producer based in Paris. Her productions and DJ sets are somewhere between techno and house and she’s spent much of her summer performing on the party-island of Ibiza.Produced by Jane Thurlow

There are many reasons people cut back on travelling once they have children - the cost for one, and the extra luggage! Beatriz de la Pava talks to women from Lithuania and the United States about bringing children along for a life of travelling adventures.Sunshine Abou Bakar describes herself as ‘an ochre obsessed mom of two’ who blogs and updates her social media followers about sustainable journeys under the name of African Boheme. Her moto is ‘Children are going to throw tantrums no matter where you are, might as well deal with the tantrum 30,000 feet in the air en route to paradise’.Jurga Rubinovaite describes herself as the chief adventure planner for her family holidays with her husband and three sons. Born and raised in Lithuania she now lives in Belgium where she blogs about her travels on her site Full Suitcase. Featured in Lonely Planet travel guides she also works with brands and holiday destinations – she says her aim is to help other families plan dream trips to create unforgettable memories.(Image: (L) Jurga Rubinovaite with her husband and children, courtesy of Jurga Rubinovaite. (R) Sunshine Abou Bakar, credit Sunshine Abou Bakar.)

Nearly half of the world’s population lives in an area that faces water scarcity for at least a month every year and one in three people globally do not have access to safe drinking water. Today we meet two women who are working on solutions to cope with droughts. Jimena Puyana is a sustainable development programme specialist with the UNDP Country Office in Colombia. She works on implementing nature and community-based solutions to fight climate change in La Mojana, a region with one of the most complex water deltas in the world.Smita Kurup is a scientist at Rothamsted Research, a non-profit organisation based in the UK. She leads research in seed developmental biology and has been working on developing drought-resilient and more sustainable rice crops.Produced by Alice Gioia(Image: (L) Jimena Puyana, courtesy of UNDP Colombia. (R) Smita Kurup, credit Alasdair Cross.)