Source: Calgary Herald
From the horrific violence of the 1994 genocide to international recognition for its work in tackling social problems, from political pariah to democratically elected republic, it's been a heady trajectory for the central African nation of Rwanda.
Source: RNW
Egyptian women are speaking up against sexual violence after harrowing tales of mob attacks in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square prompted initiatives to combat the "epidemic."
Source: CNN
As the first female judge to be appointed to Botswana's high court, Unity Dow is a trailblazer in her home country, paving the way for other women fighting for equality and justice.
Source: SciDev Net
A vaginal ring containing an antiviral drug is being tested in Africa and, if successful, could provide women with an easy-to-use alternative to vaginal microbicides to help reduce their risk of HIV infection.
Source: The Herald
A lot has been written about the causes of maternal deaths with the main cause attributed to the high costs of maternity fees. What is being overlooked are the reasons women want to get pregnant in the first place. Do they want to get pregnant out of choice or are they forced to get pregnant due to other pressing forces which are beyond their control?
Source: Salon
We weren’t officially there to talk about abortion, but I asked the four Kenyan women in a Laikipia health clinic anyway. Did any of them have friends who had died of illegal abortions?
Three out of the four said they did.
Source: AllAfrica
In a country where deaths from pregnancy and childbirth have been rising - more than four-fold in a decade, according to reports - not a single maternal death was recorded at a maternal obstetric unit in Khayelitsha, a poor settlement outside Cape Town, from April 2011 to May this year.
Source: IRIN
Nigeria’s health services halved the maternal mortality rate between 1990 and 2010, but in parts of the predominantly Muslim north, which is less socio-economically advanced, women are 10 times more likely to die in childbirth than in the oil-rich, predominantly Christian south. Maternal health personnel are calling for more appropriate interventions to bridge the gap.
Source: All Africa
Condemning the March seizure of power by some members of the armed forces in Mali, as well as human rights violations by rebels in the north of the Sahelian country, the Security Council this morning called for the creation of a road map for the restoration of constitutional order and State authority throughout its territory.
Source: Washington Post
We live in a world where our newspapers and television screens are filled daily with reports of violence from nearly every continent and region. While there is no one root cause for this violence, too much of it is spread and escalated through the illegal and under-regulated international trade of weapons. Countries are coming together in July to negotiate the Arms Trade Treaty, the first-ever international agreement that would close loopholes in international laws and regulate the sale of arms between nations. As Christian leaders, our faith compels us to speak out in favor of this treaty and its ability to promote peace and security for all God’s children.
How much has really changed since NGO Save the Children, and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) published a report that shocked humanitarian agencies a decade ago, when it exposed sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) perpetrated on disaster-affected communities in West Africa by aid workers, peacekeepers and other community members?
Today at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, its members adopted by consensus a resolution on “The Right to a Nationality: Women and Children.” This resolution, which the United States led with Botswana, Colombia, Mexico, Iraq, Turkey, and Slovakia, aimed to address an important but under-recognized human right, the right to a nationality, with a specific focus on women and children.
Source: IPS
Patricia Kollie should be at school today but instead she is at home in Gbarnga, Liberia, pounding a pile of cassava leaves in a wooden mortar. Her entire body is slightly swollen. Her dress fits a little too snug at the stomach.
Source: UN Dispatch
A new website, ArmsTreaty.org, just released this nifty interactive map that displays each country's position on specific parts of the Arms Trade Treaty currently under negotiation at the UN in New York.
Source: Bikya Masr
Egyptian women are planning to take to Cairo's central Tahrir Square on Friday afternoon to protest against the rising sexual violence in the country.
Source: Zambia Daily Mail
In February this year, First Lady Christine Kaseba joined the rest of the country in condemning violent crimes against women.
These ranged from beatings, rape to brutal and sometimes just senseless killing of women and girls.
Source: The South African Civil Society Information Service
One in three women is raped or beaten on our planet. On a planet of 7 billion people, that's one billion women who experience this savage violence.
Source: Commonwealth News and Information Service
The high-level group which oversees progress on the Commonwealth's gender equality targets has agreed on a clear set of markers for measuring efforts in member countries.
Source: Women News Network
At the MENA 1325 conference, hosted by WILPF – Women's League for Peace and Freedom in Geneva, Switzerland, women came together to share, talk and solve global challenges facing all women in the MENA – Middle East North Africa region.
Source: Tanzania Daily News
Communities within Karatu district in Arusha region mutilate infant girls in accordance to traditional beliefs that the most sensitive part of a woman makes her promiscuous. Having got rid of the big fanfare usually done when the girls are teenagers they have now resorted to doing it quietly when the girls are still toddlers.