Source: Global Post
As First Ladies from around the world, including Michelle Obama, gather in Tanzania on Tuesday to talk about women's empowerment, it's crucial that both education and contraception are addressed.
Source: Democratic Alliance
The DA is shocked and saddened by reports of the brutal rape and murder of Thokoza resident, Duduzile Zozo.
Phiona Mutesi was a muddy, desperate nine-year-old foraging for food in Uganda’s biggest slum, Katwe, when she discovered, through her older brother Brian, a chess programme.
Source: Leadership
Speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Tambuwal on Monday assured of his commitment to protecting the rights of women to promote gender equality. Tambuwal gave the assurance on Monday in Abuja in a speech he delivered at the opening ceremony of a two-day Women in Parliament Summit, organised by Democracy for Good Governance project.
Source: This Day
A non-governmental organisation (NGO) known as the Nigeria Northern Education Initiative (NEI) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has disclosed that about 65.5 per cent of girls in the North-east region of Nigeria lack access to basic education.
Source: IPS
More and more of Sudan's female politicians and rights activists are being arrested and detained in the government's clampdown on opposition political parties.
Source: Huffington Post
On July 2, First Ladies from nations across Africa will join First Lady Michelle Obama, President George W. Bush, Laura Bush and distinguished leaders in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for a two-day summit, entitled "Investing in Women: Strengthening Africa." The event will focus on strategies for advancing opportunities for African women.
The future of Africa was the focus of President Obama's sweeping speech in Cape Town, where he announced a $7 billion U.S. electricity initiative and he exhorted the continent to fight on behalf of women's rights and human rights to fulfill the legacy of South Africa's heroic leader Nelson Mandela.
Source: The Star
High cases of maternal and infant mortality rates are as result of traditional massage, Malindi district Medical Superintendent Afsa Zuberi has said.
Source: The Star
18 girls who got impregnated in Nyakach District have been enrolled back in schools to continue with their education.
The program spearheaded by World Vision majorly targets young girls who have children to improve their future lives.
Source: The Herald Online
The United Nations plans to establish more programmes that advocate for and ensure the empowerment of widows in Zimbabwe who number nearly 434 542.
Source: UNFPA
In countries where women have adequate access to reproductive health services -- such as family planning, skilled attendance at birth and emergency obstetric and neonatal care -- maternal and newborn deaths are rare.
Source: UNDP
Less than one percent of rural communes in Mali have electricity.
Source: UNDP
"In my job, men have no objections to women making the decisions ," says Sona Nadian, 37, from Bissau.
Source: New Times
About 800 women, mostly single mothers, who were raped during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and conceived through the ordeal, have appealed for support to raise the children who are now in their late teens.
Genet Tesfaye is a young, married mother of one living in Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis Ababa. A potter by trade, Genet has been contributing more and more to her family’s income through her craft.
Source: Daily Monitor
The First Ladies summit scheduled to take place in Tanzania from July 2 to 3 reminds me of the folk tales about wicked stepmothers.
The term wicked has been stamped on the forehead of some First Ladies across the continent and this sweeping generalisation has become universally accepted. This why I want to call upon the selected few who are going for this meeting in Dar es Salaam to go back home and rally as many women as possible to take on their husbands in polls for the coveted seats in the presidential palaces.
Let us go back to the summit which is expected to be attended by US First Lady Michelle Obama and is set to bring together at least eight spouses of African Heads of State who will be sharing progressive ideas.
The meeting, whose theme is Investing in Women, Strengthening Africa, will focus on the important role that First Ladies play in promoting women's education, health and economic empowerment in their countries.
The meeting will also focus on the crucial role that First Ladies play in promoting women's education, health and economic empowerment.
Other matters of interest will be entrepreneurship through training and technology, providing opportunities and improving agricultural outcomes for female farmers and life-saving collaboration to combat cervical and breast Cancer.
Education will also feature on the agenda list thus the state of literacy, access to education and teacher training as well as the need to invest in women's economic empowerment and health in general. However, these should not just remain in the boardrooms of five-star hotels but should be realised in their home countries.
Male-dominated politics
Why did I introduce the wicked stepmother theory? Well, perhaps because most mothers are known to be loving and kind while the former has a negative connotation. Many a times, First Ladies have made news for the wrong reasons like alleged murders, property grabbing, and milking State coffers dry among others. They have also been accused of doing everything within their means to ensure their husbands remain in power including using public and State funds.
Lest I forget to mention, they are at times linked to whipping their husbands' opponents into shape. Just ask the Zimbabweans. Others are known for lavish holiday and shopping trips abroad. Swaziland's citizenry can relate well with this.
Some have been accused of using their foundations to divert donor aid allocated to non-governmental organisations to their personal use.
Population and development in the Arab region were issues discussed this week in Cairo, during a three-day conference that ended with a declaration highlighting the need to empower women, promote gender equality, and step up efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals.
Source: UN News Centre
Two senior United Nations officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have condemned the recent cases of rape of young girls in the eastern province of South Kivu as "unacceptable" and called for an end to such abuse.
Calls were made on June 26 for concerted efforts to stop discriminatory practices against widows. One of the most vulnerable groups in society, widows, was once more under reflection in the Littoral regional capital, Douala.