Quietly, a revolution to develop cheap ways to draw water for irrigation is unfolding in small villages and rural regions in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, a new three-year study has found. This movement has the ability to turn agriculture around in the developing world.
Recent violence in Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo has forced thousands of people to flee their homes and seek refuge in neighboring Uganda. In the Ugandan settlements where refugees live, violence against women is a growing concern.
Abeline Razanamamy is an elderly widow living in central Madagascar. She is determined not to rely on anybody else for her survival.
President Joyce Banda of Malawi made her maiden appearance at the annual Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Heads of State and Government Summit that took place from 17 to 18 August in Maputo, Mozambique. At the same meeting, Banda got elected to the post of Deputy Chairperson of the regional body. The SADC Protocol on Gender and Development advocates for 50% representation of women in politics and decision-making by 2015. So far, Banda is the only woman Head of State in SADC.
North West Premier Mme Thandi Modise has made a call to women to emulate the generation of 1950s and declare to all and sundry that South African and African women are tired of the institutionalised disrespect and dignity robbery brought about by failure to provide adequate services to them.
Over 40 HIV-postive women who were allegedly sterilized against their will go to court to demand justice and possible compensation. The chairperson of the National Gender and Equality Commission Winfred Lichuma who is championing the women's cause described what happened to the women as "atrocious an infringement of their human rights and contrary to medical ethics."
Equality Now, an international human rights organisation that works to protect and promote the rights of women and girls around the world, on Wednesday released its 2011 Annual Report, calling on the global community to “remain vigilant in the face of backlash on women’s rights emanating from escalating fundamentalism.” According to the organisation’s Global Director, Yasmeen Hassan, the backlash on women’s rights often manifests as calls for cultural relativism.
A rash of recent rape cases has sparked local criticism of the weakness of the justice system in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where inadequate resources and simple incompetence mean survivors of sexual violence hold little hope of obtaining justice.
Six women from three remote and far flung villages in Mtwara and Lindi districts in Southern Tanzania have helped to bring a new way of life to their communities after training as solar engineers.
The United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice today called on the new Tunisian Government to take all necessary steps to safeguard the country's achievements in equality, non-discrimination and women's human rights, in accordance with its international human rights obligations.
Women human rights defenders (WHRDs) who promote the rights; health and safety of sexual workers are being persecuted, harassed and arrested. Although sexual work is illegal in Uganda, providing services and support for sex workers is not.
Women representation in parliaments in Africa is unlikely to increase as per the international requirements, former Ugandan minister for ethics and integrity Miria Matembe said on Wednesday.
Elections stakeholders ended a two-day workshop in Yaounde on August 14.
Source: Leadership
The National Council for Gender-based Violence in South Africa, which will lead and monitor the implementation of a 365 Days Plan of Action against gender-based violence for Children and People with Disabilities, will be launched on Saturday.
Source: IOL News
Most South African women are killed by their husbands, boyfriends or same sex partners, a Medical Research Council (MRC) study has found.
Source: Al Jazeera
The deadline set by the international community for Somalia's transitional government is Monday.
Disagreements about who should be among the 275 members of the next parliament, however, are threatening to delay the political process and destabilise the
Source: The Herald
THE constitution-making process in Zimbabwe has been one of the most publicized issue in Zimbabwe's media in the past year with the Constitution Select Committee (Copac)'s numerous "leaked" and semi-drafts having occupied front pages of most print media for a while now.
Source: The Star
The Government established the Women enterprise Fund in 2007 to promote Gender equality and Women Empowerment. The Fund has been able to provide affordable credit to more than 500 000 women across the country, who would not otherwise have accessed credit to the tune of Sh 2.4 billion.
Source: Nigerian Tribune
Regional Editor (News), Olawale Rasheed, reports the recently concluded African First Ladies Peace Mission in Abuja, affirming that Dame Patience Jonathan has re-emerged as the First Lady of first ladies on the African continent.
Source: Ghana News Agency
Ghana is reviewing its National Gender Policy with the goal of building a society devoid of discrimination and harnessing of potential of women and men as citizens regardless of their social groups or circumstances.