Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Cairo — Under the new personal status law, a male guardian would sign the marriage certificate, rather than the bride
Source: The Point
A renowned Gambian rights activist cum commentator has observed that the country's laws are not strong enough in protecting women and girls, thereby exposing them to sexual and gender-based violence.
Source: Angop
Angola has defended the participation of women in peace processes, considering this to be crucial in the quest for sustainable solutions to conflicts and in dynamic changes involving world pacification and security.
Source: FOROYAA
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) remains a practice in The Gambia despite the ban by the State.
There is a law criminalizing this traditional practice, which has been declared medically harmful. However, many Gambian women who are standing against this practice said the Government should do more in terms of implementing the law.
Source: Ministry of Information, Eritrea
Encouraging effort is being exerted with a view to strengthening the economic and educational capacity of women. The comment was made by Ms. Senait Mehari in an interview she conducted with Erina in connection with 8 March, International Women's Day.
Source: Capital News
The Kenya Parliamentary Caucus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Business now want gender issues and protection of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) survivors prioritised in all sectors.
Kenya Parliamentary Caucus Chairperson Gideon Ochanda who is the Member of Parliament for Bondo said combined efforts and a multisectoral approach is needed in fighting the menace, while emphasising on the need to human rights.
Ochanda pointed out that GBV has greatly contributed to rising cases of mental health in the country hence the need to address it.
Source: Botswana Daily News
Kanye South MP Dr Lemogang Kwape has underscored the need for all to take part in eliminating all forms of gender-based violence (GBV) as it robbed individuals of their human right.
Dr Kwape, who is the Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation, said this recently when giving a keynote address at a seminar organised by Peculiar Dreams Organisation aimed at raising awareness on GBV.
Describing GBV as a serious problem that had lasting and harmful effects on individuals, families and communities, he said the goal was for all to take part in preventing it.
Source: Ghanian Times
Cases of Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) in the Volta Region have risen to alarming heights in the wake of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
A total of 932 of such cases were recorded in the region in 2020 as against 512 in 2019.
This represents an increase of more than 82 per cent over the period.
Source: The Conversation Africa
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women in Nigeria. There were 31,955 new cervical cancer cases in West Africa in 2018, and Nigeria accounted for almost half (14,943). There were also 10,403 deaths (28 deaths every day) from cervical cancer in the country in the same year.
Source: The Herald
Certainly, women constitute more than half the world's population, yet their involvement in electoral and governance processes where decisions regarding their lives are made remains marginal in many countries.
Zimbabwe is no exception, especially at local government level.
However, the Central Government continues to show political will through the enactment of various pieces of legislation chief among them the National Gender Policy (NGP) of 2013 to 2017 which was later revised and unveiled on 6 July 2017.
Source: African Arguments
International organizations have consistently reported grave human rights violations committed since the outbreak of conflict in Darfur in 2003. Five years on, according to the UN, at least 300,000 people had been killed and 2.5 million had been displaced. Since then, the people of Darfur have continued to suffer extrajudicial executions, unlawful killings of civilians, torture, rape, kidnapping, destruction of villages and property, looting of livestock and property and destruction of livelihoods.
Now 17 years later, and despite the December 2018 revolution in Sudan and the establishment of the Transitional Government in April 2019, the situation remains insecure. Even after the popular protests that ousted former President Omar al-Bashir and the Islamist regime, attacks on civilians and incidents of violence still occur. Women still experience rape and sexual assaults; their bodies are still being utilized as a battleground.
Source: Oil in Uganda
At the center of the effects of the COVID19 pandemic were/are the women and young girls in the mining communities of Namayingo district in eastern Uganda, whose social and economic activities were far adversely affected by the restrictions to prevent the spread of the pandemic compared to their male counterparts. These women and girls were initially involved in the supply of food to the mines, gold panning, selling protective gear, managing lodges some of which were among the first activities to be restricted to limit congestion in the mines. From time to time, the women and girls also were involved in taking supplies to neighboring islands and at times across the borders. All such activities were affected by the closure of borders and limitations on transport options.
Source: Front Page Africa
Campaigns to increase women's representation in political representation to 30 percent are picking up steam again in the country with Deputy Speaker J. Fonati Koffa promising to robustly advocate with his colleagues and support the Women Legislative Caucus for its passage.
Source: The Namibian
Justice minister Yvonne Dausab last week introduced sweeping proposed amendments to the country's domestic violence law, which could improve the government's response to cases of domestic and gender-based violence (GBV) and protect victims against intimidation.
Source: The Telegraph
Governments around the world are ignoring women in their Covid-19 recovery plans, despite the fact that women have been worst hit by the pandemic’s fall-out, according to a key UN figure.
This risks women being unable to get back on their feet for “many years to come”, said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the executive director of UN Women who made history when she became South Africa’s first female deputy president in 2005.
Source: Lesotho Times
Women in Lesotho have always played a major role in food production albeit at a subsistence level.
In this patriarchal and gendered society, it is inculcated into every female- from toddlers as young as five years to great grandmothers- that theirs is to till the land and put food on the table for their families.
Despite their prowess in farming, most women hardly venture into commercial farming, thanks to the patriarchal system and its attendant customary law precepts which deny women ownership of the land.
Source: FOROYAA
Jarra West Lady Councilor, Sanjally Saidykhan, has on Saturday called on the government to support and empower women in the rural area of The Gambia to ensure they participate in decision-making processes of their country.
Madam Saidykhan also urged women in her district to know their roles, rights and responsibilities to be able to participate in decision making process.
Source: SA News
Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD), Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, has hailed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) as a roadmap for South Africa’s recovery during one of the country’s darkest periods.
“In an insightful State of the Nation Address spanning a wide range of topics, the department was satisfied with President Ramaphosa’s affirmation of his commitment to dedicating resources to ending gender-based violence, supporting women empowerment, focus on empowering youth, and creating job opportunities, and empowering persons with disabilities through opportunities and not handouts,” Nkoana-Mashabane said.
Source: The Conversation
The African Union (AU) held the 38th Ordinary Session of its Executive Council at the beginning of February 2021.
One of the agenda items was to elect six new members of the AU Commission. The Commission is the AU's secretariat, which carries out its day-to-day operations. These are the first commissioner elections since the Union's reform process began in 2017. The reform process was deemed urgent and necessary given the role the AU is expected to play in achieving Africa's Agenda 2063.
Source: The Herald
- Ms Mutake said from what they gathered, constant fights at the water points emanated from people who did not want to wait in the water queues.
- New forms of GBV were raised as men lamented that they, too, are now becoming victims. Some male voices coming out of the dialogue stressed the importance of intentionally engaging men and boys in gender issues particularly where GBV is concerned.