Dr. Violet Okaba, 31, a pediatrician at Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, says she almost had to drop out of school when she was a teenager.
Women are battling death threats to run for Parliament and governor in Kenya’s March elections. Women currently constitute only 10 percent of Kenyan Parliament. Organizations advise female candidates to hire bodyguards and to wear pants in case they need to run from an attack.
Source: Magharebia
A young Moroccan house maid whose dramatic suicide attempt has revived concerns about violence towards women and child workers spoke to representatives from the National Institution for Solidarity with Women in Distress (INSAF), on Tuesday (January 15th), AFP reported.
TANZANIA: Pooling Resources For Local Development: Tanzanian Women Take Matters Into Their Own Hands
Source: UN Women
“You need to join forces if you want to stand strong,” explains Batuli Massawe, a 46-year-old mushroom farmer who has become a respected entrepreneur due largely to training and solidarity lending in the community of Morogoro, 190 km west of Tanzania’s capital.Source: UN Women
An African Ministerial Meeting to discuss enhanced collaboration and information-sharing among and between regions in Africa on strategies to End Violence Against Women and Girls kicked off today at the United Nations Conference Centre. This is a preparatory meeting for the 57thsession of the CSW to be held in March 2013 in New York. It brings Africans together to speak with one voice on the issue of Violence Against Women and Girls.
On 6th January, Rabha Elis Bandas Bilal was arrested and detained by plain clothed security personnel at the Wau Criminal Investigation section. This followed a statement that she made live on Radio Mariah regarding the demonstrations on 9th December 2012. She was later released on 11th January 2013. Rabha is a woman human rights defender and Director of Women Development Group (WDG).
Source: ASWAT MASRIYA
An Egyptian political party "Misr" announced on Monday that it holds on to its initial stance of women's status in the electoral list for the proposed amendments in the elections law.Source: allAfrica
An appeal has been made for the indigenes of Akatsi South and Buem to consider reserving their vacant parliamentary seats for only women to contest.Source: IRIN
Mahasa sits in the dust outside the hut she built herself, holding her youngest son in her arms. The 29-year-old mother of four knows how vulnerable she is. "I'm scared," she said. Mahasa* is one of many women who have fled, unaccompanied by their husbands, to Maban County in South Sudan's Upper Nile State, escaping the fighting in Sudan's Blue Nile State between government forces and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North.
Source: AllAfrica
Bamako/Dakar — Fear and rumour are rife in Mali as French military air strikes against Islamist militants continued for the sixth day in the centre and north of the country.
A new programme in the Republic of South Sudan is helping vulnerable farmers to improve their livelihoods by boosting the quality of the seeds used to produce key crops.
The Secretary General detailed the Alliance’s efforts over the past year to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 in its operations and activities in his second annual report on this issue, which was released on Tuesday 15 January. Adopted in 2000, the Resolution recognizes the disproportionate effect of armed conflict on women and children.
A United Nations expert group today called on Tunisia to adopt stronger measures in its new constitution to combat gender inequality and discrimination and accelerate the participation of women in all aspects of society.
The United Nations official dealing with conflict-related sexual violence today condemned the arrest of a Somali journalist who was detained for conducting an interview with a woman who claimed she was raped by members of the Somali Army in September.
The World Economic Forum has released its eighth annual Global Risks Report, which lists top global threats identified by a survey of over 1,000 experts. As in last year’s report, 2013’s risks were topped by economic and financial concerns, particularly the risk of major systemic economic failure.
It is unwise to wait for the last day of the registration of voters. That is the message which the President of ELECAM, Dr Fonkam Azu'u is taking to stake holders in the North West in efforts to encourage and step up the exercise expected to drop curtains on February 28, 2013. At Press time on January 11, 2013, the North West had registered 281.040.
Source: New Vision
Winifred (Winnie) Byanyima, a grass-roots activist, human rights advocate, senior international public servant, and world recognized expert on women’s rights, has been appointed Executive Director of Oxfam International – a role that provides strategic direction and coordination for the worldwide confederation of Oxfam affiliates.Source: Aswat Masriya
A number of Egyptian political parties and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have denounced the decision of the Ministry of Education to remove the picture of historic figure Doria Shafik amid developing curriculum of history textbooks.
The role of ICTs as development enablers is more widely understood today as access to new technologies, particularly mobile phones, has grown exponentially. Mobile phone subscriptions exceeded six billion by the end of 2012, three-quarters of which were in the developing world. However, women are at a disadvantage: they are 21% less likely to own a mobile phone than men, according to the latest Broadband Commission Report (PDF, 2.4Mb).
The head of the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has welcomed the return of a renowned gynaecologist to the clinic he founded for rape victims in the eastern part of the country.