Source: Global Times
Domestic violence against women poses a challenge to human rights, hurting human dignity and hindering full development of human beings, Angolan Minister of Social Welfare Joao Baptista Kussumua said on Tuesday.
Source: UN News Centre
A group of independent United Nations experts today called for urgent actions to advance women’s human rights during political transitions, stressing that their equal participation is critical for any democratic and lasting change.
Political transitions “offer unprecedented opportunities for progress on women’s human rights, despite there being a risk of regression and new forms of discrimination,” according to the UN Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice.
“Good practice is evidenced where States take advantage of the opportunities to advance women’s human rights and avoid any kind of regression,” said Kamala Chandrakirana, who currently heads the group and presented its first annual report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The group voiced concern at reports that women who have been active in the fight for democracy and justice find themselves excluded from decision-making in new state-building processes.
Countries in transition need to effectively take advantage of the ongoing legal, policy and institutional reforms to guarantee strong participation of women in all spheres of political and public life, especially at decision-making levels, and include them as equal partners in shaping the future of their country, they noted.
“Women’s full and equal participation in ongoing political transitions in many regions of the world is a prerequisite for any democratic and lasting change, and is critical to sustainable development, peace, and progress,” said Ms. Chandrakirana.
“There is a window of opportunity to consolidate women’s involvement in politics as many have participated in and driven the civil movements in their countries and are poised to make further progressive contributions to their societies,” she added.
The Working Group also regretted that there were still too few women in politics and in decision-making positions despite decades of efforts, and underscored the importance of affirmative action and of the guarantees of freedom of expression, assembly and association to rectify this.
The Human Rights Council, which is currently holding its 20th session, appoints experts to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The experts work in an independent and unpaid capacity.
Head of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and pratice Kamala Chandrakirna. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré
Source: AFP
South Africa on Tuesday made a last-ditch effort for its candidate to head the African Union Commission one week before the bloc votes in what may augur a changing of the guard on the continent.
Source: Tunisia Live
Currently, Tunisian women hold 49 out of the 217 seats making up the country’s Constituent Assembly (CA). While they only comprise a minority within the governing body, women have begun to play an evolving role in post-revolutionary Tunisian politics. As they navigate the interim power structure, there have been signs of female solidarity within the Assembly.
In conflict-hit West African countries, husbands often pose a greater threat to women’s lives than an armed assailant, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said in a recent report, but even in more stable countries, violence against women is hard to eradicate.
Domestic violence against women constitutes a challenge to human rights by hurting the human dignity and restricting the opportunities for full development of citizenship, said Tuesday the Angolan minister of Social Welfare.
Egyptian women’s organizations and a number of public figures called on Egypt’s new President Mohamed Morsi to investigate recent attacks on women, specifically against non-veiled women.
The recent announcement by a local chief that he is living with HIV has brought the conservative world of traditional Swazi leadership into the thrust of 21st century AIDS mitigation efforts.
Source: All Africa
Nigerian female lawyer and gender rights activist, Ms. Oby Nwankwo has been elected into the United Nations' Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women, CEDAW.
Source: All Africa
WOMEN have been encouraged to join small groups and start income generating projects to improve their standard of living.
This was said on Monday by wives of government leaders who visited Equal Opportunities For All Trust Fund (EOTF) pavilion hosting women small and medium entrepreneurs at the ongoing 36th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair(DITF).
Source: All Africa
Bong County Women for the Protection of Women Rights has called on authorities of the Ministry of Justice and the 9th Judicial Circuit Court in Bong County to bring to justice the "notorious" women rights violator in Sanoyea District.
Source: All Africa
In conflict-hit West African countries, husbands often pose a greater threat to women's lives than an armed assailant, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said in a recent report, but even in more stable countries, violence against women is hard to eradicate.
Source: Vanguard
Rivers State Governor, Mr Chibuike Amaechi, has said that one way to curb violence against women and sexploitation of women was to address the economic imbalance in the country.
Source: ANGOP
The first Angolan conference on Women and Domestic Violence will happen on July 3 in Luanda, under the leadership of the Ministry of Family and Women Promotion (Minfamu) and Banco Espírito Santo Angola (BESA) bank.
Source: This Day
Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina, has expressed the readiness of the Federal Government to work with the United Nations and other development partners to empower Nigerian women economically.
The nation of Zambia has started the process of domesticating legal protective and reporting mechanisms that may increase help to women inside the country revealed the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Gender and Development in Zambia, Mr. Edwidge Mutale recently.
The Ecowas Federation of Business Women and Entrepreneurs (FEBWE) Gambia Chapter was Friday officially launched by the vice president and minister of Women's Affairs, Her Excellency Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, at SunSwing Hotel and Resort in Kololi.
A Moroccan rights organization launched an awareness campaign against the veiling of young girls, describing it as a major form of child abuse.
Source: France24
Senegal will vote for new lawmakers in an election Sunday set to put more women than ever in the national assembly thanks to a new law which requires an equal gender balance on party lists.
The international press has been quick to pick up the horrific story of the sexual assault and mob attack of British journalist Natasha Smith last Sunday. Local media, however, has been silent, highlighting one of the most pressing concerns among women’s rights advocates in the country, who continue to battle against stereotypes, violence and a lack of attention for the work they are doing.