Washington, DC —One in five Nigerian children will die before reaching his or her fifth birthday, according to Save the Children. Their mothers are also suffering - the country accounted for 14 percent of maternal deaths worldwide in 2010, according to the United Nations.
Source: Amnesty International
Sudanese teacher and activist Jalila Khamis Koko, who was arrested by the National Security Service in March 2012, was released from detention after a court hearing today.
Source: Heritage
Three Nobel Laureates of the Nobel Women's Initiatives have recognized the tireless efforts of women in the Rock Hill Community, amid what they called "hardship" in the area. The Nobel Laureates including Leymah Gbowee (Liberia), Jody Williams (USA) and Shirin Ebadi (UK) are currently in Liberia on a six-day visit.
Source: allafrica.com
One in five Nigerian children will die before reaching his or her fifth birthday, according to Save the Children. Their mothers are also suffering - the country accounted for 14 percent of maternal deaths worldwide in 2010, according to the United Nations.
Source: IRIN
BRAZZAVILLE, 18 January 2013 (PlusNews) - The HIV infection rate has declined among pregnant women in the Republic of Congo from 3.4 percent in 2009 to 2.8 percent in 2012, according to a study by the Ministry of Health, which said it had taken specific action to help this section of the population.
"This significant decrease is due to many innovative and effective actions: screening using a mobile unit, as well as HIV/AIDS fairs throughout Congo to help inform young people about their vulnerability," said Health Minister François Ibovi.
"We have been urging pregnant women to get tested - and they are doing so. This allows them to receive treatment if they are HIV-positive, and their newborn children are supported in terms of antiretrovirals (ARVs),” Franck Marie Puruehnce, executive secretary of the National Council for Combating HIV/AIDS (CNLS), told IRIN.
"HIV infection among pregnant women is continuing to fall," she said, adding that despite this decline, the epidemic is becoming more feminine-specific “due to the low purchasing power of women, who are sometimes unable to avoid risky sexual encounters".
According to Puruehnce, protection of mother-to-child transmission services are available in health centres throughout the country.
Officially, HIV/AIDS prevalence in Congo is 3.2 percent, against 4.2 percent in 2003. The country (population 3.6 million) has 83,000 patients; women are twice as affected as men.
HIV rates vary according to different sections of the population. They are 7.5 percent among sex workers and 26 percent among homosexuals.
For Michel Bitemo, monitoring, evaluation and strategic information adviser at the UNAIDS office in Brazzaville, "the best protection against AIDS is knowing your status…
"We must move towards universal knowledge of HIV infection," he advised, regretting the fact that only 12 percent of people knew their HIV status.
Funding key
According to Michel Bitemo, "Congo can only maintain or improve results if financial resources are constantly increased."
"If funding falls, we will not have better, but worse, results. The HIV/AIDS response is 50 percent government-funded which is a good thing because in other countries it is below 50 percent, "said Bitemo.
At the last session of the National Council for the Fight against AIDS, the authorities recommended setting up a response fund.
"This fund will be funded by the government and industries such as oil, timber and mining... as well as international partners such as the World Bank and the Global Fund [to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis]," said Puruehnce.
"We want to reorganize the financing of the response to ensure no target is missed," she added.
Photo: Laudes Martial Mbon/IRIN
Healthy mother, healthy baby
Source: Wesglobal
Inventing new possibilities – beyond those thought possible – and designing breakthrough results – this is the central theme to the Women’s Enterprise for Sustainability (WES) Innovative Leadership training. Last week in Tunis, 23 new trainers from the eight WES partners gathered for a Training of Trainers (TOT) that included a three- day workshop on leadership led by Barbara Fittipaldi, President and CEO, Center for New Futures. These new trainers will now begin offering leadership training to women in their communities through their WES centers.
Source: FOROYAA
The V-Day is to be celebrated throughout The Gambia on the 14th of Febraury 2013 by different stakeholders which is expected to trigger One billion rise relating to violence against women and girls.
Source: The New Dawn
An all-women's delegation comprised of four Nobel Peace Laureates, journalists, businesswomen, global and grassroots women's rights activists and philanthropists are in Monrovia on a six-day visit to Liberia.
Source: UN News Centre
The ongoing crisis in Mali has led to serious human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, rape and torture, says a United Nations report released today, which warns that increasing ethnic tensions could have alarming consequences on the North African nation.
Source: allAfrica
INTERVIEW
Source: UN Women
Statement by Ms. Lakshmi Puri Deputy Executive Director of UN Women at Regional Conference on the Istanbul Convention. 17 January 2013
Source: FAWE
This month, FAWE embarks on a new five-year strategic plan that aims to bring about positive change in girls’ education in Africa and, ultimately, contribute to the continent’s long-term development.
Source: SpyGhana
Nigeria needs to ensure equal participation of women in economic, social and political activities, if it is to achieve the objectives of Vision 20:2020, a United Nations official said.
Source: Times of Swaziland
The Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGGA) has said abducting young girls for the purpose of having sexual intercourse with them is a crime and cannot be cloaked under the guise of ‘traditional marriage’.The organisation was reacting to a story that appeared in this publication yesterday, where a 21- year-old man abducted a 15- year-old girl for the purpose of traditionally marrying her.
Source: United States Department of State
The Internet gender gap is hurting the world's economy as well as millions of women across the globe, says a newly released, groundbreaking study.
Getting Internet access to an additional 600 million women in the next three years would result in an estimated increase of $13 billion to $18 billion in gross domestic product across 144 developing countries, according to the report titled Women and the Web.
Source: TrustLaw
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.
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.
Source: Global Press Institute
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.
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.
Source: allAfrica
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).
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).