Gender equality around the world has increased dramatically over the past half-century even though the vast majority of countries continue to restrict women’s economic development in at least one way, the World Bank reports this week.
Helen Baleke took up boxing at 16, after she was attacked by a man in Kampala’s Katanga slum. But the beating turned her into what she is today – one of only several female Ugandan amateur boxers.
The grim realities cannot be ignored as Africa celebrates its achievements in the area of human rights and empowerment of women, argues Joaquim Alberto Chissano, former president of Mozambique.
Women’s rights groups in Tanzania are demanding that a new constitution clearly define the word ‘person’ to mean a man and a woman in a bid to promote gender equality.
SUDAN: Shocking video: Sudanese Woman Flogged for Getting Into Car With Man Who isn't Related to Her
Sudan’s public order law lets police officers publicly whip women who are accused of public indecency. The woman in this YouTube video was reportedly riding in a car with a man who wasn’t her husband or an immediate family member.
Source: Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)
Government statistics say it all. According to the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, during the period of five-years, between 2004 and 2008, a total of 28,590 schoolgirls in the country dropped out of school as a result of unwanted pregnancy, 11,599 being secondary school students and 16,991 primary schools.
Source: Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)
Sumbawanga — DESPITE reports that the number of expectant mothers attending clinics has increased, few are said to give birth in health facilities and instead prefer using traditional midwives.
Civil society organizations in Africa commended governments on the continent for the progress made in improving socio-economic conditions of Africans, but urged them to do more to enhance women’s rights.
The United States is providing $10 million in funding for efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in humanitarian emergencies worldwide.
Women in Rwanda are at the centre of the country's development agenda, thanks to recent law reforms, MP-elect Esperance Mwiza, has said.
Source: UN News Centre
Women play a vital role as countries recover from conflict and seek to build lasting peace, top United Nations official said today, stressing the need to ensure their full participation in the economic and political lives of their nations.
Last week I joined other leaders at the United Nations to review progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and discuss the future of global health and development. As I prepared for that meeting, I was haunted by the memory of a letter I received years ago.
The failure of the electorate to vote women into positions of authority has occasioned much national soul-searching and even the Lutsango leader, Aylline Dlamini, has noted that our traditional modes of living bear much of the blame.
Source: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Washington, DC)
Washington, DC — We know a great deal about what it takes to prevent most pregnancy-related deaths and complications. This collective knowledge, coupled with political commitment and action, has led to a global reduction in maternal mortality of 47 percent since 1990 (WHO, 2012).
Egypt is writing its second constitution in as many years, and the makeup of the 50-person committee has activists worried that gender equality will take a backseat, yet again, with just five female members on board.
Source: The New Vision
The Constitutional petition over maternal deaths is back in court. Over 150 maternal health rights activists, including home-based care providers and community leaders, who lost the petition in the Constitutional Court in 2012, have appealed to the Supreme Court.
Source: VANGUARD
One of the secrets of living to a ripe old age is to prepare for it right from infancy and even while in the uterus during pregnancy.
Global leaders from governments, international organizations and civil society today warned that 28.5 million children in countries affected by conflict are still being denied access to learning – and that they must not be made to wait any longer for an education.
In cities like Rio de Janeiro, where 17 women are raped every day and 89 per cent of people have a cell phone, UN Women is utilizing mobile phone technology to help women identify, report and ultimately prevent violence in urban public spaces.
Source: SouthAfrica.info (Johannesburg)
While South Africa recorded a 0.4% decrease in rapes and a 6.2% decrease in sexual assault in 2012/13, these crimes still remain at an unacceptably high level, says Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa.