Source: AWID
The revolution of the 25th of January, 2011 was not born out of the moment, but was the result of a long struggle of all political and civil forces in Egypt. Women participated in all phases of this struggle and bore serious risks to confront the former regime and its security armory. This year, the 25th of May comes after the great revolution in which women participated to its success. Today marks the day in which women paid the price on the day of the referendum to amend article 76 of the constitution in 2005.
Across Africa, cell phones are rapidly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. From an isolated rural village, a business owner can make a bank deposit through her phone; a farmer can access current crop prices; and an expectant mother can learn about antenatal care.
Source: IPS
In an open space near her home in Makoko, a crowded suburb of the sprawling city of Lagos, Latifat Agboola sits in the midst of bags of charcoal, attending to her customers. Some of them call her "the charcoal woman with the dirty job, but she sees herself as a businesswoman on the rise.
Source: All Africa
Reports reaching The Chronicle indicate that women in the three northern regions of Ghana grow older more easily than those in the south, due to uncontrolled birth practices.
Source: South Africa Department of International Relations & Cooperation
Speaking at the re-launch of the ANC Women’s League in 1990, the visionary leader of the historic people’s movement - the African National Congress - Oliver Reginald Tambo unequivocally expressed that “women themselves have to organize and act so as to bring about the changes in attitudes amongst both men and women”
Source: Pambazuka
Members of Uganda's ninth Parliament were sworn-in this week, with female representation in the House reaching an all-time high. Women in the East African country are now sitting in 35 per cent of 375 available MP seats, up from the previous 30 per cent.
Source: Peace X Peace
Interview with Amany Mufta Ismail by Anna Therese Day. In late March, 29-year-old Libyan student Eman Al-Obeidy caught the world’s attention when she burst into a Tripoli hotel to inform Western media of her alleged detention, torture, and rape at the hands of Gaddafi’s forces.
Source: UNICEF
UNICEF is concerned about the situation of children and women in the southwestern province of Bas-Sassandra in Côte d'Ivoire. Weeks of clashes near the town of Soubré have triggered population displacements and prevented UN aid agencies from accessing affected people to deliver life-saving assistance.
Source: PlusNews
Rwanda is in the third and final phase of testing a vaginal ring containing antiretrovirals, which, if successful, could provide an important female-controlled method of HIV prevention.
What are the Millennium Development Goals?
Adopted by world leaders in the year 2000 and set to be achieved by 2015, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provide concrete, numerical benchmarks for tackling extreme poverty in its many dimensions.United Nations agencies in Nigeria, including the UN Women and the United Nations Development Programme have pledged their support for Nigerian women in their quest for better representation in government ahead of the local government elections in the country.
The Nigerian government needs to increase its investment in the education of women if the country is to achieve its dream of development. The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Josephine Anenih, said at the weekend in Ilorin.
The systematic use of sexual violence along with torture, cruel and degrading treatment – such as the common use of flogging - continue to be one of the major security threats and tools of repression targeting women and communities all over Sudan. Amel Gorani reports on those who are daring to speak out.
Public lecture delivered by UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet at the London School of Economics, London, 17 May 2011.
"As an 18 year old woman I wanted to join what I saw as the coolest and toughest force - not the Air Force, not the Navy, but the Army. I was the first woman to join, and arrived full of ideas of what life would be like as a woman in the army. Things were not as I had imagined at all...."
Sixteen countries have announced concrete commitments aimed at drastically reducing current levels of maternal, newborn and child mortality, the United Nations reported today.
How far do our post-conflict reconstruction efforts go when it comes to addressing the trauma and loss that women and girls experience during conflict? Jessica Horn reports ahead of the Nobel Women’s Initiative conference on ending sexual violence in conflict.
The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 279th meeting held on 18 May 2011, discussed the issue of the protection of civilian populations in armed conflicts, on the basis of the Progress Report of the Chairperson
Source: IRIN News
Maternal health will be the focus over the next week when Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon begins a four-nation trip that will take the United Nations chief to Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Ethiopia and France, his spokesperson said today. The trips to Nigeria and Ethiopia are part of the "Every Woman, Every Child" global health effort, which Mr. Ban launched in September last year during the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) summit at UN Headquarters in New York.
Source:IRIN News
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today commended the Nigerian Government for investing in women's and children's health, saying the United Nations would support efforts to make communities in the West African country healthier. "Health systems that work for women and children are health systems that work for all," Mr. Ban said when he visited the Maitama Hospital in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.