President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf receives France’s highest award and public distinction, the Grand Croix of the Légion d’Honneur this Wednesday, November 7 from the President of the French Republic, François Hollande.
We continue to live in a world that is profoundly unequal, where the opportunities are not the same for men and women.
Realizing women’s cultural rights can play a key role in ensuring that women’s rights are respected more widely.
The rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power in Egypt has brought with it a new group of female politicians who say they are determined to bring more women into leadership roles — and at the same time want to consecrate a deeply conservative Islamic vision for women in Egypt.
As Ethiopia imposes increasing restrictions on foreign-backed NGOs, cooperatives - which have boosted the country’s coffee industry - are being championed as a preferred model for economic development.
The Liberian Education Trust-Monrovia (LET) has received a US$75,000 scholarship grant to support 500 girls in schools and build staff capacity, among others.
West African women leaders this week participated in a United Nations-led conference held in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, to discuss ways to increase women’s leadership and involvement in ensuring peace and security in the region.
A group of women in Darfur say they’re ready to move beyond food assistance thanks to a set of skills they’ve learned through a WFP-supported project that teaches women in the troubled region how to make their own fuel-efficient cook stoves.
The series of prostitute murders that occurred this past summer in Rwanda’s capital has revived debate on the world’s oldest profession. On the whole, the country’s very modest population opposes the legalisation of prostitution. However, some young people, not to mention the sex workers themselves, are promoting more pragmatic solutions for safety in the industry.
New research also reveals three-quarters of DRC men believe women who do not dress decently are asking to be raped.
A women's group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo urged authorities Monday to guarantee the safety of a doctor who founded a rape victims clinic but fled the country after an attempt on his life.
Liberian Nobel laureate Leymah Gbowee has decried the low level of women's participation in governance in West Africa despite hope brought about by their recent achievements.
Statement by UN Women Deputy Executive Director, Lakshmi Puri at the High-Level debate organized by UNESCO on the occasion of the International Day of Peace. 21 September 2012.
The founder of Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS), Bineta Diop, has urged the media to show a positive image of marginalized groups, particularly women and young men.
Dr Angela El-Adas, the Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC), has said 125,141 persons out of the estimated 225,000 Ghanaians living with HIV and AIDS are women.
New study argues that to succeed, breed conservation efforts must empower women.
Empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors is essential to build stronger economies. This was said by the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Ms Elizabeth Thabethe during the Women's Entrepreneurship Conference held in Milan, Italy.
Source: The Guardian
Not only does gender equality lead to higher economic growth, it is key to ensuring a fairer world for both men and women.
Source: Sokwanele
Women in Zimbabwe constitute 52% of the population meaning that they are in the majority. This statistic does not translate to women's proportionate representation in decision-making processes. Women are under-represented and are often left on the sidelines, while men position themselves as the front runners in politics as political leaders, in the law as judges, in business and corporate giants as directors and top management. The advantage that men enjoy, and the disadvantage that women endure are due to a number of political, social and economic factors including the nature of politics characterised by patronage and violence, the patriarchal nature of society, gender stereotyping and how these factors impact women's decision making abilities, the distribution of wealth and women's inability to access resources to improve their financial status.
However there are various regional and international instruments that seek to improve women's participation in decision-making among these the Protocol to the SADC Gender and Development Protocol, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Zimbabwe has done very well in ratifying these regional and international instruments, signifying its willingness to be bound by the provisions therein. The implementation of these regional and international norms has, however, not been as smooth. It has been hampered by a plethora of challenges- top of which is the non-domestication of these norms.
This has largely been a function of the dualist system that the Constitution of Zimbabwe advocates; namely that any conventions or treaties that Zimbabwe signs and ratifies cannot become binding and have the force of law unless Parliament puts in place an Act of law giving them such force. Now, Zimbabwe is in a process of making a new Constitution, whose likelihood of becoming 'THE' Constitution of Zimbabwe is becoming more real by the day. It is hence trite that in light of that development this analysis be conducted to determine if at all, the possible adoption of a new constitution will improve the implementation of regional and international standards that seek to improve women's participation in decision-making processes.
All over Africa, young men and women have missioned across the country and arrived in Lagos, Nigeria. All they want to do is show off what they have made. Maker Faire Africa is more than your typical startup event: it actually shows off innovations, inventions, and initiatives that solve immediate challenges and problems, and then works to support and propagate them. Put another way, this isn’t just a bunch of rich people talking about how their apps are going to change the world.