Source: Institute for Security Studies
Research in the region most affected by violence shows why focusing on gender-specific needs would deliver better responses.
The security crisis in Niger's south-western Tillabéri region is taking a heavy toll on local communities. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project has documented over 2 500 deaths in the area since 2017. This is 52.8% of the national count over that time - making Tillabéri the epicentre of violence in Niger.
Nearly 100 000 people in the Tillabéri region had been displaced by the beginning of 2022, and the figure is growing. Women and girls make up 51% of those in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Source: Front Page Africa
MONROVIA – The international community in Liberia has welcomed the ban on the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Liberia, as declared by the Chairperson of the National Council of Chiefs and Elders of Liberia (NACCEL), Chief Zanzan Karwor.
Source: New Zimbabwe
Akashinga, International Anti-Poaching Foundation's (IAPF) exclusively female anti-poaching unit operating in the Zambezi Valley has received a US$700,000 grant from Australian businesswoman Judith Neilson who was born and raised in Zimbabwe.
Source: VOA
The BBC said Monday it has uncovered evidence of sexual exploitation on Kenyan tea plantations that supply some of Britain’s most popular brands.
Source: The Conversation
In March 2022, Nigerian women suffered backlash in their pursuit of gender equity. Five gender bills presented to the National Assembly were thrown out.
The bills sought to advance women's rights on a number of fronts. These included: providing special seats for women at the National Assembly; allocating 35% of political position appointments to women; creating 111 additional seats in the National Assembly and the state constituent assemblies; and a commitment to women having at least 10% of ministerial appointments.
The rejection of the bills showed that the assembly wasn't interested in gender parity in politics. It has 469 members. Only 21 are women.
This is a tragedy for Nigerian women, whose representation in politics falls short of the goal set by the National Gender Policy in 2006. This policy demands that 35% of women be involved in all governance processes.
Source: VOA News
Cameroon's military has released about 30 youths it detained as suspected rebels after a protest by several hundred women, including mothers of those detained. The women from the Southwestern town of Ekona also accused Cameroon's military of committing abuses in the region, which it denies.
Source: NewsDay
A Kenyan senator is reported to have been sacked from parliament after attending a session while wearing a white suit stained red in an apparent menstrual activism campaign.
Gloria Orwoba, of the ruling coalition, is due to table a motion on a bill to provide free sanitary pads on Wednesday as part of efforts to end period poverty.
According to reports, senators disrupted Tuesday’s afternoon session to draw the Speaker’s attention to Ms Orwoba’s “inappropriate dress code”.
But the senator protested saying: “I am shocked that someone can stand here and say that the House has been disgraced because a woman has had her periods.”
Speaker Amason Kingi ordered the senator to go change her clothes before she could be readmitted to the chambers.
“Having periods is never a crime… Senator Gloria, I sympathise with you that you are going through the natural act of menstruation, you have stained your wonderful suit, I’m asking you to leave so that you go change and come back with clothes that are not stained,” the BBC quoted speaker in a report
Outside the chambers, Senator Orwoba confirmed the report to journalists saying “unfortunately I have been kicked out because I’m on my period and we are not supposed to show our period when we are on our period and that is the kind of period stigma girls and women are having outside…”
Source: Xinhua Net
Facing a persistently high unemployment rate, Mary Tackie-Yaoboi, a young female graduate of Knutsford University College in Ghana, decided to take her destiny into her own hands by establishing She Guards, an all-female private security company, the first of its kind in Ghana. And it goes well.
“My Command appreciates the recognition of female officers as a catalyst of systematic change within the Zambia Police Service,” said the Inspector General of Police Lemmy Kajoba. “We take very seriously our role in driving policy reforms, ensuring gender mainstreaming and accountability for gender equality and women’s empowerment within our institution.”
Source: WEForum
The information and communication technology (ICT) sector contributed 18.44% to Nigeria’s gross domestic product(GDP) in the second quarter of 2022 and the industry is projected to experience more leaps in the future.
Source: AllAfrica
Civil society and human rights organisations are deeply appalled by recent indications that many members of the Parliament of Somalia are inclined to pass the Sexual Intercourse Bill over the historic Sexual Offences Bill (SOB) that was adopted by the Council of Ministers in May 2018. With so many members showing preference for the Sexual Intercourse Bill, we feel it is paramount to mobilize support for the Sexual Offenses Bill before it is too late.
Source: News24
An overwhelming majority of Batswana agree women should have equal rights and that the government should do more to promote this, a new Afrobarometer survey reveals.
Botswana's unemployment rate is roughly 24.72%.According to Afrobarometer, 77% of those surveyed strongly disagreed that men should be considered ahead of women for scarce jobs.
Source: Africanews
Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio on Thursday signed into law a law requiring all public or private organizations to reserve 30% of their jobs for women, including in leadership positions, in a society that traditionally favours men.
Source: The Herald
There is strong support for the proposed minimum mandatory 15-year jail term for all rapists, with many saying it will deter the criminals and reverse the rising number of sexual assault cases.
The provision for a mandatory sentence for rape is one of four sets of amendments sought in the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Amendment Bill gazetted last week. It will amend section 65 of the principal Act to put 15 years as the minimum mandatory sentence for rape and aggravated indecent assault, a similar crime where it is a man who is penetrated without consent.
Source: Biz Community
Cuplings Foundation managing director and co-founder, Farah Abdulla has made it part of her life's purpose to effect positive change.
Source: The Star
Gender inequalities, harmful masculinities and discrimination against key populations are major stumbling blocks in the HIV response, according to the United Nations.
"Adolescent girls and young women between 15 and 24 years are three times more likely to acquire HIV than adolescent boys and young men of the same age group in sub-Saharan Africa," said Winnie Byanyima, UNAids executive director, speaking during the launch of a United Nations report in Dar es Salaam, ahead of World Aids Day.
Source: Daily News
PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has cited inclusion of women as among key tools for unlocking the economic potentials in Africa and the world at large.
The Head of State remarked this during the African Women Leader Network’s (AWLN) fourth Intergenerational Retreat of the Young Women Leaders held in Zanzibar, yesterday, indicating issues like safeguarding meaningful participation and equal rights coupled with resources for women and girls as key to make greater progress.
Source: aciafrica
An official of the overseas development of the Catholic Bishops of Ireland, Trócaire, has lauded the passing into law of the Gender Equality Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Bill in Sierra Leone as a great win for women and a step towards their advancement.
On November 15, Members of Parliament (MPs) in Sierra Leone unanimously voted for the new law, which states that one third of parliamentary seats be reserved for women. The Bill will now go to President Julius Bio who is expected to assent it into law.
“The GEWE Bill is a great win and a big leap in the advancement of women in governance and leadership in Sierra Leone,” Trócaire’s Programme Officer for Women Empowerment in the West African country has been quoted as saying in a November 22 report.Sudie Sellu says that through the adoption of the Bill into law, “the lives of Sierra Leonean women and girls can only get better from now on.”
Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs developed GEWE and the Minister introduced it to Parliament on 21 October 2021. The Bill also aims at improving women’s access to finance, more positions in employment, and to link government spending to improving gender equality. In the November 22 report, Trócaire officials say Sierra Leonean women are “routinely discriminated against and at risk of gender-based violence.” Ms. Sellu says Trócaire collaborated with other partners in “campaigning tirelessly to draft and ensure the enactment of this Bill.” “We will continue to advocate until the Bill gives the women of Sierra Leone what they deserve,” says Ms. Sellu.
In pushing for GEWE enactment, Trócaire reportedly worked alongside Campaign for Good Governance (CGG), Association for the Wellbeing of Rural Communities and Development, Women’s Forum for Human Rights and Democracy (WOFHRAD-SL), Social Enterprise Development, and the Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD).
Source: TheEastAfrican
More needs to be done for Tanzania and the rest of the world to end the Aids public health threat by 2030, a newly launched global HIV/Aids report shows.
Although Tanzania has had a positive impact in fighting HIV/Aids, the new report reveals that the key populations in the country still lag behind when it comes to testing and treatment. Launched in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, the new report titled ‘Dangerous inequalities’ shows early testing, prevention and treatment measures have slowed down, hence Aids-related deaths and new HIV/Aids cases are rising.
Available data shows there are over 4.9 million people living with HIV/Aids in Tanzania while only 1.3 million are on treatment. According to UNAIDS data, Tanzania has over the past ten 10 years consistently reduced new HIV infections and reduced Aids-related deaths by 46.6 percent and 50 percent respectively. Prof Tumaini Nagu, Tanzania’s Chief Medical Officer, noted that although the country has made progress, more needs to be done since with the new report findings, it is evident that some key populations — including adolescence girls — have been left behind.
"50 percent is a good progress but we haven't really made progress when it comes to adolescent girls, which is actually what our strategic health plan requires us to do. That is why we are currently targeting them together with other groups such as migrants, fisheries, people living in rural areas for we cannot fight the epidemic disease with one-size-fits-all kind of solution," she said.
On her part, Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and Aids, (UNAIDS), commended Dodoma’s efforts in the fight against HIV/Aids. “Tanzania is the leader, a strong performer in the fight against this disease. The country has succeeded in reducing new infections by almost 50 percent and successful treatment scale up has led to over 50 percent reduction in the number of Aids-related deaths,” said Ms Byanyima.
New infections rising
“The world is not on track to end the Aids pandemic. New infections are rising and Aids deaths are continuing in too many communities. Inequalities are holding us back,” added Ms Byabyima. The report shows that gender inequalities, inequalities faced by key populations and inequalities between children and adults have had negative impacts on Aids response by countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women are three times more likely to get HIV than their male counterparts, according to the report.
“The world will not be able to defeat Aids while reinforcing patriarchy. We need to address theintersecting inequalities women face. The only effective route map to ending Aids, achieving the sustainable development goals and ensuring health, rights and shared prosperity, is a feminist route map. Women’s rights organisations and movements are already on the frontline doing this bold work. Leaders need to support them and learn from them,” added Ms Byabyima
Source: AmnestyInternational
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the beginning of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, Amnesty International is reiterating its call to mediators in the ongoing peace process on Ethiopia to prioritise justice for survivors, including survivors of sexual violence in the two-year conflict.
“The African Union must urgently pressure the Ethiopian government to fully cooperate with both regional and international investigative mechanisms on human rights to ensure justice for victims and survivors of violations — especially sexual violence,” said Flavia Mwangovya, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes Region.
“The Ethiopian authorities must urgently allow unfettered access to the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) and the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights to enable investigations to take place, and ultimately to ensure those responsible for atrocities in Ethiopia’s two-year conflict face justice.”
On 2 November 2022, Amnesty International launched a campaign which highlights the atrocities committed by all sides to the conflict. It also called on the international community to stand in solidarity with survivors and victims of sexual violence during the conflict.
16 Days of Activism
On 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Amnesty International will also hold an exhibition in Nairobi at the Baraza Media Lab, in which a documentary film will highlight the demands for justice by survivors of sexual violence during the conflict in Ethiopia.
The exhibition will also be showcased in London on 28 and 29 November 2022, during the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) Conference.
Background
On 2 November 2022, the Government of Ethiopia, and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed a peace agreement. The accord, however, fails to offer a clear roadmap on how to ensure accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and overlooks rampant impunity in the country, which could lead to violations being repeated.
All parties to the armed conflict in Ethiopia, which pits forces aligned with Ethiopia’s federal government, including the Eritrean army, against those affiliated with Tigray’s regional government led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), have committed serious human rights violations and abuses, including extrajudicial executions, summary killings and sexual violence against women and girls. Abuses documented by Amnesty International in the conflict include war crimes and crimes against humanity.