Source: East Africa Business Week
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Tanzania has called on the government and communities to step up efforts to end Female Genital Mutilation that has cost more than 125 million girls and women in Africa and Middle East.
Source: ACNS
Scores of female church workers were massacred last month as they sought refuge at a church in the central South Sudanese town of Bor.
The women, several of whom were elderly, had fled rebel attacks to hide in the St. Andrew's Episcopal Church compound, when rebels descended on them, raping several of them before shooting them at close range.
Source: Malawi News Agency
Senior Chief Kapeni of Blantyre District has ordered all village headmen in his area not to entertain underage marriages in their areas as doing so could promote immoral behaviours among youths.
The Senior Chief sounded the warning on Friday in Lunzu, Blantyre during the formal handover ceremony of Aquaid Primary School to the Government.
Senior Kapeni admitted that there are cases of under-age marriages in his jurisdiction hence has ordered the village headmen to refer all those in underage marriages to school.
"I am impressed with how Aquaid Lifeline is carrying out its operations in my areas. The school which is private is offering free primary education to all children here.
"My appeal to all children is to utilise the opportunity that Aquaid organization has offered to them and avoid taking the opportunity for granted.
"To all village headmen who are here, make sure that there is no underage marriages in your communities," reiterated the senior chief.
Kapeni said it is possible for a woman to be educated noting that what is important to girls is to refrain from immoral behaviours.
Senior Chief Kapeni advised girls to be role models in their respective places and should grow with spiritual life.
"I don't want to see marriages of underage boys and girls in my area. Boys and girls aged 13 or 14 are not supposed to be in marriages," added Kapeni.
Kapeni said he is not the first person to bar underage marriages saying in some places they have already started doing so.
Source: Zambia Times
GENDER refers to culturally based expectations regarding the roles and behaviours of males and females.
The term distinguishes the socially constructed from the biologically determined aspects of being male and female.
Unlike sex roles that are biologically constructed, gender roles and behaviours are in most cases culturally prescribed.
Source: Heritage
A non- governmental organization, Women Against Female Genital Mutilation (WAFGEM), has embarked on a major campaign in the country aimed at sensitizing women on the harmful effect of female mutilation and the enforcement of laws to be enacted.
Source: Sunday Trust
The media plays a crucial role in the political or electoral process. It's the ears and eyes of the public and help mould perceptions.
Source: Angola Press
The activities of the Forum of Angolan Women, in the province of Cabinda, will start on February 21, said Thursday in this city, the provincial governor, Aldina Matilde da Lomba.
Source: Daily Trust
The 3 Division Special Operation Battalion of the Nigerian Army in Yobe State has denied a report on Friday, of an admission by a soldier at a check point to have slept with a married woman who was accosted at the check point.
Source: The Standard
It requires concerted efforts on many fronts with government, civic society and community leaders all pulling together.
In 2011, all these fronts converged in Harare for the second national Aids conference, which ran under the theme Eliminate New HIV Infections in Children, Keep Mothers Alive.
Source: Tanzania Daily News
RESIDENTS in Kagera Region have been urged to take a holistic approach to fight against gender imbalance and gender based violence by utilizing the Police Gender Unit.
Source: IRIN News
Youth unemployment and underemployment are among the main barriers to development in West Africa, say experts. Not only does the exclusion of young people from the labour force perpetuate generational cycles of poverty, it also breaks down social cohesion and can be associated with higher levels of crime and violence among idle youth.
Source: Daily Trust
The staff of the Yola branch of Fidelity Bank Plc has renovated two workshop blocks and donated sewing machines to the Women Development Centre in Yola, Adamawa state.
Source: Daily News
Unlike many other days on the calendar where a certain day signifies the commemoration of an event and a lot of the times these commemorations have a happy connotation to it, February 6, isn't one of them unfortunately.
Every February 6, the world receive the day with heads bowed because it is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.
Source: AlertNET
London community worker Sarian Karim Kamara underwent female genital mutilation (FGM) as a child in Sierra Leone. Karim Kamara, who moved to Britain in 1999, says far more needs to be done to protect thousands of girls at risk in the UK.
Source: South African Government News Agency
In celebration of the Reproductive Health Month, Gauteng Department of Health has encouraged pregnant women to know their health status and that of their children.
"The drive to encourage our people to know their health status will not only assist the department in its goal to reduce infant, child and maternal deaths but will also ensure that the mothers and their babies live a long and healthy life," said Gauteng Health MEC, Hope Papo.
Source: Amnesty International
The Egyptian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release three women arrested last November at a protest at Mansoura University, said Amnesty International.
Source: New Zimbabwe
THE loss of land and a gender hierarchy, among other factors, are forcing some young girls - with parental consent - to forsake school and turn to sex work on diamond mines in the Marange region of eastern Zimbabwe.
"Commercial sex among girls as young as 12 years has become a natural way out of poverty for these children and their families.
Source: Voice of America
Dakar — Ibtihaj Muhammad was the first-ever female Muslim athlete to compete on behalf of the United States in an international competition. Muhammad spoke to an all-girls school in Dakar Friday about her experiences as a female African-American Muslim fencer.
Source: Voice of America
Africa now has three female heads of state, after Catherine Samba-Panza of the Central African Republic took office in January. Though women leaders remain the exception in African politics, activists say things are looking up.
Women are breaking into the "boys club" of the African presidency.
Source: Times of Zambia
THE step taken by Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) to train 20 men as its ambassadors to spearhead Its "Good Husband Campaign" aimed at reducing rising cases of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) against women in Eastern Province is a step in right direction.