Source: Ghanaian Times
Civil Society Organisations have reiterated their call to the government to reclassify sanitary pad from luxury product to essential product, to make it affordable on the market.
According to them, the 20 per cent luxury tax on sanitary pad and the 15 per cent Value Added Tax made it expensive on the market, and out of reach for many adolescent girls.
Source: allAfrica
An Oman rescue campaign was started by the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) with the aim of raising about 180 million kwacha (U$17,500) ransom to seek the release of 50 women and girls stranded in the country.
Source: Scrolla
In a move which goes against the grain of tradition, a KwaZulu-Natal traditional leader has decided to replace male headmen with women to curb violence in his village.
Source: France 24
While Tunisian authorities continue to carry out mass arrests of people from sub-Saharan Africa as part of a campaign against irregular migration, there have been more and more reports of abuse experienced by Black Tunisians. Black Tunisian women activists are speaking out about this rampant racial profiling, denouncing the racist climate and showing support for the people targeted by the anti-migrant campaign.
Source: The New Times
First Lady Jeannette Kagame has urged members of the Rwanda Women Leaders Network (RWLN) to continue innovating and protecting the progress that has been made, so that future generations can benefit and build on what has been achieved.
She made the remarks on March 1 during the launch of African Women Leaders Network (AWLN) Rwanda Chapter at Intare Conference Arena. The launch coincided with RWLN Summit was held under the theme "Building the Next Generation of Women Leaders".
Source: Capital FM
Nairobi — President William Ruto has announced that the government has tripled the resources available under the Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) from Sh4.5 billion to Sh13.5 billion as it seeks to accelerate the economic empowerment of women across the country.
Source: ThisDay Live
Labour Party candidate, Ireti Kingibe has won FCT Senatorial election after she defeated the incumbent, Senator Philip Aduda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Source: UN News
Ms. Gbeho highlighted developments, including the Federal Government’s close cooperation with federal member states and renewed momentum in the fight against Al-Shabaab militants. However, she pointed to ongoing challenges, including severe drought and recurrent political conflict such as fighting this month in the town of Laascaanood which left at least 63 people dead and displaced more than 185,000.
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.