The African Development Bank and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation have long had a close affinity and a natural alliance based on shared interests and complementary objectives. These qualities showed clearly at the 10th Mo Ibrahim Governance Weekend in Marrakech, Morocco, where the President spent a productive working weekend in the company of well-known personalities from African politics, commerce, investment and finance.
One of the aspects of the fight for gender equality in Africa that has been particularly frustrating for women activists is that much of this inequality is the continuing legacy of colonialism, which has altered the empowered role that African women once had in traditional African societies.
A group of women in colorful African dresses danced and sang songs familiar to everyone present. They were neither in Nairobi nor in Lagos. They were in the southern German city of Munich. But their cheers and laughter signaled a kind of happiness they hadn't experienced for a long time.
“I will never go back to the time when I feared attending my own business,” says Evah Kakobe, a long-time vendor at Mchikichini market in the city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
For women working in the Mchikichini market, violence and discrimination was a daily reality, until recently. Betty Mtewele, a vendor there since 2005, describes the ordeal: “Women were verbally abused, sexually assaulted, their rights were not recognized by male traders, and in most cases, male traders would not settle their bills. Women did not know whom to approach, to address these violations and they lost hope.”
AFRICAN Union Commission (AUC) Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security has appealed to Somalia government and the African Mission in Somali to engage women in all efforts to counter violent extremism.
It is followed by South Africa and Botswana at 17.4 percent and 16.9 percent respectively. Morocco and Cote D’Ivoire have the least number at 5.9 and 5.1 percent respectively.
IFC East Africa program Lead Stefan Handoyo credits the high number of Kenyan women board members to pro-women company policies, advanced education levels and fluency in English.
The Young People in the Media (YPM), in collaboration with the Girls Generation and stakeholders in the empowerment of the girl child, yesterday organised a daylong All Girls Conference on FGM and Gender-Based Violence, held at the Paradise Conference Hall.
The Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, has warned community development officers (CDOs) against swindling funds meant for women's economic empowerment, saying culprits will be arrested and prosecuted.
Speaking at Buyengo Primary School in Jinja District last week, Ms Kadaga, who is also the Kamuli District Woman Member of Parliament, said it is not a secret that corruption is rife in government programmes such as the Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP) and the Women Entrepreneurship Fund.
Source: allAfrica
Thyolo — Thyolo-Luchenza Sex Workers Association has elected new leadership during elections held on Friday at Luchenza Community Centre Hall.
Source: Global Citizen
As women around the world continue to fight for equal representation in government, Kenya just took a major step forward as a global leader.
FGM is one of the most severe human rights violations and forms of violence against women. Somaliland has one of the highest rates of FGM at about 99.8% (NAFIS assessment Report, 2014). FGM has long and short term physical and psychological implications for girls and women, and it may lead to infertility and even death.
Source: The Monitor
Kuwait was in the news recently following a 12-second video that was posted online, of a maid falling seven floors from a window. The video was filmed and uploaded onto social media by her employer, a Kuwaiti woman. The maid is an Ethiopian woman.
Source: Leadership
Following weeks of public nominations from across the African continent and its diaspora, the final nominees for the much-anticipated New African Woman Awards 2017 have been announced.
Source: The Herald
Over 200 people who were victims of human trafficking to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have been repatriated, Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Mr Melusi Matshiya has said.
Source: allAfrica
Human rights activists in Malawi have urged authorities to enact new Termination of Pregnancy legislation following revelations that 141,000 abortions occurred in the southern African nation in 2015.
Source: IPS
The U.S. has withdrawn all of its funding to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), an agency that works on family planning and reproductive health in over 150 countries.
On 26 March 2015, the conflict in Yemen dramatically escalated. Two years later, it has become one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Egypt has the highest number of women affected by female genital mutilation in the world. Silence around female genital mutilation (FGM) in Egypt is costing lives, campaigners warned on Tuesday ahead of the traditional "cutting season" when thousands of girls are expected to undergo the ancient ritual.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
NAIROBI - Kenyan activists on Monday welcomed a High Court ruling giving parliament 60 days to ensure a third of lawmakers are women or face dissolution. The ruling follows a lengthy struggle to increase women's political representation in the patriarchal society. Kenya's 2010 constitution guarantees women a third of seats in parliament, but its male-dominated assembly has repeatedly frustrated efforts to pass legislation needed to enact the quota.
Source: The Independent
The brutal conflict, sparking UN warnings over ethnic cleansing, is driving a devastating famine that is threatening millions with starvation in the country.