Source: UN News Centre
The world’s population is projected to surge past 9 billion before 2050 and then reach 10.1 billion by the end of the century if current fertility rates continue at expected levels, according to United Nations figures unveiled today.
Source: UN WOMEN
Speech delivered by Ms. Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women at the Women’s Foreign Policy Group Luncheon, New York, on 28th April 2011.
Source: Amnesty International
A Ugandan woman who has defended the rights of her country’s marginalized lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community has been honoured with a prestigious human rights award, Amnesty International said today.
Source: NIGERIAN Tribune
President Goodluck Jonathan has again stated that his promise made on the 35 per cent representation of women in governance will be fulfilled.
Source: Human Rights Watch
The murder of a South African lesbian activist who was stoned and stabbed to death is part of an "epidemic" of hate crimes against gays, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.
Somalia, like many other African countries, has endured sustained militarization and armed conflict. This phenomenon has become a significant obstacle to Somalia's progress towards peace, justice, democratization, and development. As a rule of thumb: where militarization increases, so does death and destruction, and human rights abuses.
Libya has 60 days to respond to an application alleging serious and widespread violations of the African Charter, including the repression of peaceful demonstrations and the use of heavy weapons and machine guns against its population.
President Rupiah Banda has said he will continue appointing more female judges to the bench for as long as he remains president.
Source: The Observer
The ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, in partnership with Uganda's development partners, has for two years now held a campaign dubbed "16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence in Uganda."
INTERNATIONAL: Information Technology Skills Will Boost Women’s Participation in Crucial Sector – UN
Greater efforts to support girls and young women to acquire skills in information and communications technologies (ICTs) could help address projected shortages of manpower in those professions, the United Nations telecommunications agency said today, marking the first “Girls in ICT Day.”
Source:AEGiS-UNAIDS
"Investing in adolescent girls benefits everyone, and when they flourish, their families and communities flourish as well. That's why they are at the heart of our agenda." This was the message of Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA, speaking at the 44th Session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD).
Source: health-e
A clinical trial aimed at investigating whether an antiretroviral pill a day could prevent women from getting HIV was abandoned yesterday.
Source: IPS
“We no longer need to go to Hanène, three kilometres away, for vaccinations or for a check-up for our children,” said Maguette Niang, a 40-year-old mother from Keur Madaro, a village in the west of Senegal.
Source:UN News Centre
Programmes to impart sexuality education to young people are more cost-effective when integrated and mandatory, according to the findings of a United Nations study released today at a symposium in New York.
Source: OHCHR
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay on Friday ended a two-day visit to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, where she discussed the human rights challenges facing the country with top officials and civil society representatives.
Source: Magharebia
It is a common practice in Mauritania; wealthy families in the cities hiring young girls as household servants. But after activists recently persuaded the government to prosecute employers for violating anti-slavery laws, many maids under the age of 18 were left with no job.
Source: Open Society Foundations
In many parts of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a rape victim has to walk for days or travel more than eight hours by car to get to the nearest court. For example, outside the city of Bukavu in South Kivu—a region that has the highest incidence of sexual violence in the world—there are no courts or magistrates who can hear cases. For those who persevere in filing a police report, justice is still often out of reach: local authorities have no capacity to investigate or prosecute such crimes. Because of this, tens of thousands of gender violence survivors have no meaningful access to justice.
Source: Al Jazeera
A new ruling guarantees Tunisian women a place in the country's new political landscape [GALLO/GETTY]
Tunisia's ruling that men and women must feature in equal numbers as candidates in July polls is an Arab world first that builds on this year's revolt and allays fears of conservative influence, observers say.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, is on a mission to empower a generation, one woman at a time. As the founder and President of the 31st December Women’s Movement, a grassroots NGO, Nana Rawlings is a firm believer that women hold the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.
Source: IRIN
Preventing stillbirths can cost just US$2.32 per mother if governments, the private sector and international institutions adopt a package of 10 health interventions, rather than allowing stillbirths to be an almost invisible problem.