Source: Reuters
Niger’s human rights commission has called for an independent inquiry following alleged rapes, including that of an 11-year old girl, by Chadian soldiers deployed in the country to help fight armed groups.
Source: Nyasa Times
Government has challenged traditional and community leaders in Dowa and Ntchisi to take a leading role in safeguarding and promoting the rights of girls and women in their societies.
Gender Officer in the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, Kondwani Mhone, observed that violence is contributed to rising levels of inequalities in Malawi.
Source: UN News
South Africa's failure to address domestic violence is a violation of women's rights, independent UN experts said in a report published on Monday, citing low levels of prosecution and conviction as factors.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) visited the country in September 2019 to conduct a confidential inquiry into allegations raised by civil society organizations.
Source: The Point
The minister of Women Affairs, Children, and Social Welfare has revealed that women make up about 51% of the country's population with a literacy level of about 48.1% between the ages of 15 - 49, according to MICS 2018 report.
Source: The Conversation Africa
In 2019, Zimbabwean comedy made international news when comedian Samantha Kureya, known on stage as Gonyeti, was abducted and tortured by masked gunmen.
She is one of many comedians in Zimbabwe who have faced violent repercussions for their comedy. Interviewing 23 stand-up comedians in Zimbabwe in 2018 and 2019, I was made aware of how several comedians had been intimidated, harassed or arrested because they joked about the "wrong" political party, policy or decision.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
It is the second time Egypt's parliament has cracked down on FGM — which typically involves the removal of a girl's external genitalia — but activists remain skeptical about enforcement in a country where cutting is deep-rooted and widespread.
Source: Africanews
More than 20 Congolese women have claimed to have been sexually abused, in the form of job blackmail, by aid workers in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to an investigation released Wednesday.
Source: Reuters
Kenyan judge Martha Koome has defended dissidents and helped to write women's rights into the constitution - now she's on track to be the first female chief justice in a country where the role is particularly sensitive.
Source: VOA
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is calling on Uganda to amend a bill to ban same-sex relations that it says would violate human rights standards and undermine public health.
Source: The Organization for World Peace
According to various United Nations (UN) and human rights organization reports, there has been a dramatic increase in sexual violence and assault cases towards women in the Anglophone Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon. According to Al Jazeera, the main perpetrators of the attacks are “armed separatists, military personnel and civilians.” Children and women have been the main targets of sexual violence during the conflict that has caused mass displacement and harm in Cameroon since 2016.
Source: Africa Union Commission
The Special Envoy of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission is following with great concern the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Palma and other districts of Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado and the impact on women and girls.
Source: UNFPA East and Southern Africa
United Nations — Fully investing in midwives by 2035 would avert roughly two-thirds of maternal, newborn deaths and stillbirths, saving 4.3 million lives per year.
Millions of lives of women and newborns are lost, and millions more experience ill health or injury, because the needs of pregnant women and skills of midwives are not recognized or prioritized.
Source: UNAIDS
Winnie Byanyima, the UNAIDS Executive Director, recently visited the Hakahana Clinic in Katutura, Windhoek, Namibia, where she saw the Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-Free, Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) project in action, a project funded by the United States of America. The clinic is a government health facility and a DREAMS participating clinic that has provided health services to 10–24-year-old adolescent girls and young women since September 2020.
Source: The New Times
There is need for more female journalists in decision-making positions and protection of women in the trade from sexual and any other violence that may impede their career growth, officials have said.
The call was made on Monday as the world celebrates Press Freedom Day which is marked every year on May 3.
Source: The Conversation Africa
Throughout West Africa, the artisanal fishing sector is a crucial source of livelihoods and food security. For instance, in Nigeria artisanal fishing accounts for 80% of the fish consumed and supports the livelihoods of about 24 million people.
Both men and women work in the sector, though the labour - throughout the region - is divided by gender. Men dominate fishing and production while women dominate post-harvest processing, such as dressing, sorting, salting and smoking the fish. Women also do most of the selling and marketing. Women thus play a crucial role in artisanal fishing.
Source: Foroyaa
The covid-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of people globally, posing a major threat to the economic and social fabric of society. The differently able women in the Gambia were among the people hard hit by the pandemic. These women complained that they were marginalized by the State following the advent of coronavirus in the country.
Source: Nation
The nomination of Justice Martha Koome for the position of Chief Justice marks yet another milestone in the evolution of the Judiciary. First, it institutionalises the constitutional provision of competitive recruitment of top judicial officers, a move intended to insulate the institution from extraneous influences.
Source: UNFPA East and Southern Africa
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lesotho experienced a 14 per cent decline in family planning coverage in certain districts in 2020, compared to 2019, with one district registering a significant 40 per cent drop.
Source: Sudan Tribune
April 27, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese cabinet Tuesday approved the ratification of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
In a statement released after its weekly meeting, the Council of Ministers announced the approval of the CEDAW and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol).
Source: ISS
The Boko Haram crisis in the Lake Chad Basin has harmed women’s livelihoods. Extremists and other armed groups have looted and destroyed markets, cutting off many women’s access to supplier credit lines.