- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – President of the Republic of Liberia
- Joyce Banda – President of the Republic of Malawi
- Catherine Samba-Panza – Interim President of the Central African Republic
There is progress here and there on the continent regarding women's rights . We must go much further to ensure greater gender equality in Africa. It is not just a matter of justice....When women take their rightful place at the negotiating table, in the parliament and in leadership positions across society, we can unleash Africa’s enormous potential..." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
To learn more about women's political participation, please visit the following websites:
An unusual phenomenon was observed on the streets of Egypt on the first day of the constitutional referendum (14 January 2013): perfectly respectable looking Egyptian women were dancing in public in full daylight.
Source: Wararka Somalia
Mogadishu (RBC) The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) Ambassador Mahamat Saleh Annadif has applauded the relentless efforts of Somali women in shaping the country's destiny during a meeting with female representatives of the Somali civil society.
Source: Thomas Reuters Foundation
Central African Republic lawmakers chose their capital's mayor, Catherine Samba-Panza, to become interim president on Monday and lead the country out of months of sectarian killings towards elections.
Source: Dalsan Radio
Somalia's newly appointed Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed announced the new list of cabinet ministries at 2:00am midnight on Thursday 16th of January 2014. The cabinet consisted of 25 ministers, 25 deputy ministers and 5 state ministers which is three times the size of the previous cabinet.
Source: Times of Zambia
FEMALE political stakeholders have condemned the violence that characterised 2013 and have implored political parties to learn to co-exist.
Source: New Era
IKUMWE – A cultural revolution of some sort unfolded recently when for the first time the Masubia Traditional Authority selected a woman as the senior induna (senior headman or tribal chief), for Ikumwe area, some 55 kilometres east of Katima Mulilo.
There has been some impressive progress in some countries in increasing the number of women cabinet ministers, but how do these women act once they get into their new posts? Chiedo shares her research findings on the topic.
Source: The New York Times
The last month saw a sharp escalation of violence in South Sudan, with the usual impact on women and girls. The trauma has reverberated throughout the region, as the birth pangs of a new nation remain fresh.
Source: The Atlantic
From 1991 to 2002 civil war consumed Sierra Leone, killing more than 50,000 people. While the story of the war has been told in various forms (most notably the Hollywood movie Blood Diamond), far less attention has focused on the country's attempts to step out from behind the specter of violence.
Source: IFEX
The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) today called for the immediate release of a journalist who was arrested in Las Anod, a town in the Sool region on Friday, 3 January 2014, while photographing a women's demonstration.
AS the Federal Government intensifies efforts at achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), grassroots women leaders have observed that the continued exclusion of women from decision-making governance structures contributes to poor development indices and high rate of maternal mortality and morbidity.