On Friday, the Together Against Rape and Sexual Violence campaign launched an initiative to pressure the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to commit to prohibiting sexual violence in armed conflict. They are urging the parties to sign the “Instrument of Commitment to Prohibit Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict” to create a record of accountability and end impunity in Sudan.
Luanda — The role of women in the development of the country's oil sector was highlighted Tuesday in Luanda during a lecture on the "contribution of African women in the creation of new leadership."
SOURCE: UNFPA West and Central Africa
The inaugural National Forum on Gender Equality, "Agenda Igualdad," concluded successfully on May 11th, 2024, marking a significant milestone in the commitment to gender equality in Equatorial Guinea. The three-day forum, held in Djibloho, was chaired by her Excellency Mrs Manuela Roca Botey, the Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea and organized by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Gender Equality with the support of the United Nations. The Vice President of the Parliament, several Ministers, representatives from the government, Parliament, Senate, civil society, UN Resident Coordinator and UN Representatives, Youth, women activists, and various social sectors participated, underlining the importance of a unified approach to achieving gender equality.
Monrovia — Famata Dean's Liberia Under 20 girls' team will face Guinea in their quest to return home from the West African Football Union U-20 tournament in Senegal with silverware.
YAOUNDE —
Cameroon is observing World Menstrual Hygiene Day (May 28) with caravans visiting schools and public spaces to educate people about social taboos that women should not be seen in public during their menstrual periods. Organizations are also donating menstrual kits to girls displaced by terrorism and political tensions in the central African state.
Lagos State Government has recorded an all-time high rate of domestic violence in the last year.
SOURCE: DABANGA SUDAN
The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) reported today that several victims of gender-based violence (GBV) in Darfur have endured unwanted pregnancies due to inadequate access to medical attention. Harrowing testimonies by survivors shed new light on the realities of GBV at the hands of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan.
The online conversation surrounding women's participation in the labor force is heavily polarized, according to a new report by the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC).
Tanzania, in keeping with global political trends, reserves 30% of seats in parliament for women. These so-called special seats were introduced with multiparty politics in 1992, in response to the low numbers of women elected to positions of power.
ASAYITA, Afar Region, Ethiopia – Imagine being a midwife in a remote, fragile context, like the Afar region in Ethiopia. This hot low-land and desert-like area has been affected by conflict, driving up the headcount poverty rate to 30 percent. This has worsened food insecurity for Afar’s population, who mostly make a living as livestock farmers and are often dependent on government support. The conflict conditions have also damaged thousands of healthcare facilities in the northern part of the country.
DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti – “There are so many young girls who get pregnant and have hidden, illegal abortions. Young girls are forced into sex work, and many are forced to undergo female genital mutilation.”
Published in 1992, Daughters of Africa is a groundbreaking volume of writing by women of African descent. It was followed by an expanded second edition, New Daughters of Africa, in 2019. The mind behind the books is pioneering Ghanaian-born publisher, writer, and editor Margaret Busby. She became the first Black female publisher in the UK at 20 when she co-founded Allison and Busby in 1967. The company was the first to publish several significant writers during her two-decade tenure.
Make Every Woman Count (MEWC) is looking for RESEARCH FELLOWS!
Are you a self-directed, cause-driven individual with strong research and communication skills? Are you looking for an opportunity to work with a women's rights organisation? Are you looking for a challenging work experience? If you answered yes to these questions, then apply to be a volunteer Research Fellow with MEWC!
GOMA, DR CONGO —
In the eastern reaches of the Democratic Republic of Congo, women entrepreneurs in Goma continue to catch the eye of the business world, thanks to their creativity and resilience. Thirty-year-old Deborah Nzarubara is one of Central Africa’s pioneers of beekeeping, repeatedly recognized worldwide for the quality of her honey and its contribution to environmental preservation.
NEW YORK, 25 April 2024: After one year of hostilities in Sudan, we are appealing for more international engagement to combat sexual violence against women and girls in the country. These barbaric acts, which echo the horrors witnessed in Darfur two decades ago, must spur immediate action.
BLANTYRE, MALAWI —
Malawi and its development partners are trying something new to help the country’s most vulnerable women and girls get out of extreme poverty. Besides enhancing their socio-economic status, a new three-year program will strengthen their resilience to crises, shocks, and disasters.
Imagine missing school or work every month because you can't afford sanitary pads. This is the reality for over 37 million Nigerian women and girls, according to a former Minister of Women's Affairs, Pauline Tallen.
South Africa is feeling the impacts of global warming. Heat is frequent and more intense. Human-induced climate change made the severe 2015-2017 drought three to six times more likely. But climate change also doubled the likelihood of the heavy rain that hit parts of South Africa in April 2022, which led to 400 people being killed and many thousands forced to flee their homes.
SOURCE: Afrobarometer
Women still trail men in educational attainment and ownership of key assets.
Key findings
- In Liberia, women are less likely than men to have secondary or post-secondary education (42% vs. 61%).
- Women trail men in ownership of key assets, including a mobile phone (72% vs. 86%), a bank account (15% vs. 23%), a motor vehicle (10% vs. 18%), and a computer (6% vs. 11%). However, decision-making on how household money is spent is fairly equal between women and men.
- Majorities of Liberians say women should have the same rights as men to own and inherit land (85%) and to get paying jobs (59%). However, men are less likely than women to support gender equality in land rights and hiring.
- A large majority say women enjoy equal rights when it comes to jobs (79%) and land ownership/inheritance (82%).
- More than three-quarters (78%) of Liberians say women should have the same chance as men of being elected to public office. o But while more than eight in 10 (86%) think a woman's family will gain standing in the community if she runs for office, 65% consider it likely that she will be criticised or harassed by others in the community, and 54% think she will probably face problems with her family.
- Two-thirds (67%) of Liberians say the government should do more to promote equal rights and opportunities for women.
- Gender-based violence ranks as the most important women's-rights issue that citizens say their government and society must address.
Despite the groundbreaking election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the country’s first female president in 2006, bridging the gender gap in post-civil war Liberia remains a challenge. The Sirleaf government formulated a National Gender Policy in 2009 that aimed at integrating gender policies into national development agendas and ensuring that gender-responsive frameworks enable women and men to benefit equally from development initiatives (Ministry of Gender and Development, 2009).
Officials from the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) and the Office of the Vice President have affirmed to the National Assembly Select Committee on Health, Disaster, Humanitarian Relief, and Refugees that the Nutrition Bill 2023 will empower women in The Gambia.