Evelyn Dolo saved a teenage girl’s life, but not out of good will alone, she admits. A traditional birth attendant for more than 15 years in the small Liberian village of Zahmboyee, Ms. Dolo was summoned one night to help the teenage girl deliver her baby. Ms. Dolo rushed the girl to the nearest hospital, about 25 miles away, where she was immediately taken into surgery.
Source: AllAfrica
International and national laws broadly recognise equal rights for all. These include the right to fair and equitable access to justice. But justice for women and girls before the courts remains elusive in many African countries.
Source: Liberian Observer
The Organization for Women and Children (ORWOCH) has concluded a one day training for female political aspirants and civil society organizations in Monrovia under the “Funding Opportunities for Women Project” with the aim of empowering participants to engage and participate in democratic processes in the build up to the 2017 presidential and representative elections.
Source: AllAfrica
Cases of informal cross-border traders using dangerous methods and routes to move their goods across the regional borders are many. As a result, those involved in informal cross-border trade, many of whom are women, live a risky life.
When Ugandan activist Lindsey Kukunda got tired of the constant sexual harassment she and other women in her country experience, she decided to do something about it. She founded a forum where Ugandan women and men come together to share stories about discrimination and harassment of women.
Until recently, South Africans faced a limit of 20 years to report sexual offenses committed against them, with the exception of rape. But on June 19, South Africa’s High Court declared the distinction between rape and other sexual offenses invalid and unconstitutional.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Women are routinely castigated in some countries for exposing their flesh to nurse. Lactating legislators were on Wednesday given a special room in Tanzania's parliament to nurse their babies in the latest development over breastfeeding in public.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Medical supplies and equipment are in short supply, and many hospitals are shut or barely functional.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Rogue churches in Kenya are delivering trafficked babies to infertile women, a Kenyan nun who rescues stolen children said, as the United States condemned government officials for complicity in the trade.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
If women had reliable contraceptives, there would be a sharp drop in the number of unwanted pregnancies.
With the rise of smartphones and social media, the problem of revenge pornography is growing across sub-Saharan Africa. But countries such as Zimbabwe have failed to introduce laws to protect victims against this destructive trend.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Ending child marriage would cut population growth and boost girls' educational achievements and earning ability.
Source: AllAfrica
Governments at all levels have been called upon to put policies in place to protect widows from external family members, obnoxious and ill-treatment, as well as set up counseling department to take care of widows' emotional and psychological state.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
When he worked as a nurse in his native South Sudan, Joseph Deng saw many women suffering in pregnancy and childbirth, inspiring him to retrain as a midwife to help cut the number of maternal deaths, one of the highest in the world.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
During six years of selling sex on the streets and in brothels across Cameroon's capital Yaounde, Rose has been abused, attacked and forced to have unprotected sex by her clients. "There are some ferocious beasts amongst them," said the sex worker, a tall woman in her late thirties, wearing a short black dress and sporting a neck-length wig of straight dark hair. "Some men get violent... sometimes they attack you.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Kenya has promised free sanitary pads to all schoolgirls to encourage them to go to school during their periods, rather than stay at home with rags or tissues stuffed in their underwear. Every schoolgirl is Kenya is entitled to "free, sufficient and quality sanitary towels" and a safe place to dispose of them, according to the law introduced this week.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
"We cannot allow this immoral behaviour to permeate our primary and secondary schools ... never".
A study in Zambia shows that a malaria prevention drug given to pregnant women not only protects them from the disease, but also reduces their risk of contracting sexually transmitted and reproductive tract infections. This, in turn, improves birth outcomes.