Source: AllAfrica
Monrovia — Religious leaders from all parts of the country have met in Monrovia to discuss the proposed bill for legislation currently at the Liberian senate, titled the Domestic Violence Act. The bill strategically address issues of Domestic Violence Act (DVA) of which Article 16.21 focused on the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). At the day long dialogue the religious leaders committed to using their various platforms to create the necessary awareness and education about the draft legislation.
Source: newsdeeply.com
Despite strong evidence of the important role that women play in peace, security and sustainability, their representation in politics across Africa is mixed. While Rwanda has 61% women in parliament, the highest in the world, the United Nations reports that several countries have seen a regression of women elected to parliament in several countries, especially those with no quotas.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
After Marcia Madeya's husband died his brothers accused her of witchcraft, stole her fruit trees, crops and goats, and shared them out between his other wives. Kicked out by her in-laws, the mother-of-three sleeps in the open, eking out a living by selling fruit and dolls on the roadside in this remote corner of eastern Mozambique.
Source: somalia.unfpa.org
More than 1000 community members in Hargeisa, Somaliland have committed to work towards advocating for the total abandonment of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the region. The community members made the commitment after IRADA, a local non-governmental organisation, carried out a community outreach event on May 15, 2017 at Sheikh Nur Camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Hargeisa. UNFPA Somalia provides IRADA with technical and financial support.
Source: ipsnews.net
The shouts can be heard from a distance as one approaches Domboshawa, 30 kilometres northeast of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.
Many Samburu women in Kenya’s north had come to fear lions, but now they’re taking up the conservation cause – and demanding the same training and opportunities as men.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Building a network of African women leaders in fields ranging from business to politics could galvanise female leadership across the continent and boost peacebuilding efforts and good governance, the head of U.N. Women said on Tuesday.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Women and girls may resort to exchanging sex for food, shelter, or money to meet their daily living needs for themselves and their families in order to survive another day.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
At least four in 10 girls in Nigeria are married before they turn 18, while almost a fifth are wed before 15, UNICEF data shows.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
"It's a no-judgment space ... helping end the culture of silence that exists for women in some parts of the world" - Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
A Kenyan man was acquitted for having sex with a 13-year-old because she seemed willing, the court ruled.
Source: DailyNews
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Kago Ramokate has decried lack of attention given to gender in sport.
Source: AllAfrica.com
Minna — They are fast becoming the face of the rice revolution in Niger state. The Usman twins, Gimba and Hussaini along with some youth and women are currently driving the states coordinating office of Fadama's generation shift initiative in the implementation of the 6th World Bank/Federal Government Fadama III Additional Financing across six states.
Source: All Africa
Amudat — Having been frustrated by the few available health centres in Amudat District, some desperate expectant mothers have turned to the neighbouring Kenyan hospitals in search of quality health services.
Source: pri.org
Caskets are carried off, carrying those who didn’t survive the two-day journey across the Mediterranean, from Libya to the Sicilian port of Palermo. Babies wail and those sick and burned from the effects of the gasoline mixed with saltwater stumble towards the medical tent. The Nigerian girls are given a plastic bag containing a liter of water, a piece of fruit and a sandwich. They're ushered to a vinyl tent for “vulnerabili” — the vulnerable ones.
Source: allAfrica.com
Moroccan authorities stifled a women's protest in the coastal city of Al-Hoceima, campaigning for access to jobs, health services and infrastructure in the northern Rif region. Police encircled hundreds of female protesters in a public park late on Saturday, impeding others from joining, as the women chanted "freedom, dignity and social justice," Reuters news agency reported.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Under a huge baobab tree in Sudan’s Nuba mountains, I met Sebila, a 27-year-old mother of three. In March last year, her village had been attacked by Sudanese ground troops and bombed by government war planes. The assault forced Sebila and many other villagers to flee deeper into rebel-held territory.
UN Women, the African Union Commission, and the Permanent Mission of Germany today launched the African Women Leaders Network, a ground-breaking initiative that seeks to enhance the leadership of women in the transformation of Africa with a focus on governance, peace and stability. The Network was launched following the three-day High-Level Women Leaders Forum for Africa’s Transformation, which took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 31 May to 2 June.
In the Central African Republic, the women of Obo are considering leaving their homes when Ugandan and U.S. troops abandon the hunt for Joseph Kony.
Men dominate the Ugandan journalism industry, but one radio station hopes to change that, employing only women in management positions, and putting voices on the air that would not otherwise be heard.