DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti – “There are so many young girls who get pregnant and have hidden, illegal abortions. Young girls are forced into sex work, and many are forced to undergo female genital mutilation.”
Published in 1992, Daughters of Africa is a groundbreaking volume of writing by women of African descent. It was followed by an expanded second edition, New Daughters of Africa, in 2019. The mind behind the books is pioneering Ghanaian-born publisher, writer, and editor Margaret Busby. She became the first Black female publisher in the UK at 20 when she co-founded Allison and Busby in 1967. The company was the first to publish several significant writers during her two-decade tenure.
Make Every Woman Count (MEWC) is looking for RESEARCH FELLOWS!
Are you a self-directed, cause-driven individual with strong research and communication skills? Are you looking for an opportunity to work with a women's rights organisation? Are you looking for a challenging work experience? If you answered yes to these questions, then apply to be a volunteer Research Fellow with MEWC!
GOMA, DR CONGO —
In the eastern reaches of the Democratic Republic of Congo, women entrepreneurs in Goma continue to catch the eye of the business world, thanks to their creativity and resilience. Thirty-year-old Deborah Nzarubara is one of Central Africa’s pioneers of beekeeping, repeatedly recognized worldwide for the quality of her honey and its contribution to environmental preservation.
NEW YORK, 25 April 2024: After one year of hostilities in Sudan, we are appealing for more international engagement to combat sexual violence against women and girls in the country. These barbaric acts, which echo the horrors witnessed in Darfur two decades ago, must spur immediate action.
BLANTYRE, MALAWI —
Malawi and its development partners are trying something new to help the country’s most vulnerable women and girls get out of extreme poverty. Besides enhancing their socio-economic status, a new three-year program will strengthen their resilience to crises, shocks, and disasters.
Imagine missing school or work every month because you can't afford sanitary pads. This is the reality for over 37 million Nigerian women and girls, according to a former Minister of Women's Affairs, Pauline Tallen.
South Africa is feeling the impacts of global warming. Heat is frequent and more intense. Human-induced climate change made the severe 2015-2017 drought three to six times more likely. But climate change also doubled the likelihood of the heavy rain that hit parts of South Africa in April 2022, which led to 400 people being killed and many thousands forced to flee their homes.
SOURCE: Afrobarometer
Women still trail men in educational attainment and ownership of key assets.
Key findings
- In Liberia, women are less likely than men to have secondary or post-secondary education (42% vs. 61%).
- Women trail men in ownership of key assets, including a mobile phone (72% vs. 86%), a bank account (15% vs. 23%), a motor vehicle (10% vs. 18%), and a computer (6% vs. 11%). However, decision-making on how household money is spent is fairly equal between women and men.
- Majorities of Liberians say women should have the same rights as men to own and inherit land (85%) and to get paying jobs (59%). However, men are less likely than women to support gender equality in land rights and hiring.
- A large majority say women enjoy equal rights when it comes to jobs (79%) and land ownership/inheritance (82%).
- More than three-quarters (78%) of Liberians say women should have the same chance as men of being elected to public office. o But while more than eight in 10 (86%) think a woman's family will gain standing in the community if she runs for office, 65% consider it likely that she will be criticised or harassed by others in the community, and 54% think she will probably face problems with her family.
- Two-thirds (67%) of Liberians say the government should do more to promote equal rights and opportunities for women.
- Gender-based violence ranks as the most important women's-rights issue that citizens say their government and society must address.
Despite the groundbreaking election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the country’s first female president in 2006, bridging the gender gap in post-civil war Liberia remains a challenge. The Sirleaf government formulated a National Gender Policy in 2009 that aimed at integrating gender policies into national development agendas and ensuring that gender-responsive frameworks enable women and men to benefit equally from development initiatives (Ministry of Gender and Development, 2009).
Officials from the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) and the Office of the Vice President have affirmed to the National Assembly Select Committee on Health, Disaster, Humanitarian Relief, and Refugees that the Nutrition Bill 2023 will empower women in The Gambia.
Two-thirds of citizens say men should be given priority over women in hiring.
Officials from the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) and the Office of the Vice President have affirmed to the National Assembly Select Committee on Health, Disaster, Humanitarian Relief, and Refugees that the Nutrition Bill 2023 will empower women in The Gambia.
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — Anastasia Majasho's journey with obstetric fistula began during her second pregnancy. Prolonged labor led to complications, and despite a previous cesarean scar, a vaginal delivery was attempted. This resulted in a ruptured scar and the tragic loss of her baby.
Lusaka, Zambia — "We began our life together from scratch. I was full of life, passion and blind love," says mother-of-three Mwaka*. "Then, later, you find out who the person truly is."
The Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, will this week host a policy dialogue on the prevention of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).
Formerly dominated by men, the Nigerian banking industry is gradually being overtaken by female banking gurus as the number of women leading the major banks in the country has increased in recent years.
Following two hurried weeks of campaigning, Senegal's delayed presidential election is set for this Sunday - with more than 7 million people registered to vote for a record 18 candidates.
CONFINED in a violent marriage, Rose Mweneali fought for her life.
Luanda - The promotion of the economic and social empowerment of women and girls and the fight against gender violence constitute the main challenges of the Ministry of Social Action, Family and Promotion of Women (MASFAMU), The secretary of State, Alcina Lopes Kindanda said on Wednesday in Luanda.
What do poverty, climate change, and conflict have in common? They are among the biggest challenges confronting Africa, and they all disproportionately affect women living in poverty or on the margins of society. Both research and experience have demonstrated that these women have enormous potential to improve the well-being of their families and communities.