Source: Africa Review
In 100 years or so, we shall look back in shame at how we treated womenfolk. People will wonder how generations like ours could be so blind to the obvious; so slow in setting right what is blindingly wrong. And I am indicting all of today's generation, be it Ugandan, European, American, or otherwise.
Source: Ghana Web
Peoples' Dialogue on Human Settlement, a non-governmental organisation, on Tuesday called on journalists to promote the rights of women to acquire and own property to make them less vulnerable to homelessness.
Source: VOA
Malawi's new president originally rose to prominence as a women's rights advocate. But Shereen Essof, a regional coordinator for feminist group Just Associates in Southern Africa, says President Joyce Banda may not be able to continue the battle for gender equality in the same way as president.
Source: Radio Dahanga
An armed group loyal to the government raped two displaced women from camp Bear Dagig of Sirba locality in West Darfur on Monday.
Source: Vanguard
Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Zainab Maina, has expressed concern over the prevalence rate of sexual violence against women, noting that such violation was the second most prevalent violations against women in Nigeria.
Source: Vanguard
No fewer than 10,000 less privileged women are to benefit from a free cervical cancer screening being organised by the wife of the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, TREM, Dr. Peace Okonkwo.
Source: New Era
A 27-year-old pregnant woman sustained serious burns to her body after her boyfriend allegedly doused her with paraffin, before setting her alight in the Havana informal settlement in Windhoek.
Source: the Star
In books, magazines and even on the Internet, there are countless photos of red-faced, weather-beaten mountain climbers often pictured straddling the summit of some mountain while grinning, almost maniacally, from ear to ear.
Source: Africa Review
Mauritius is set to launch a National Women's Council Bill to boost their empowerment and fair representation in high offices, official said.
Source: ANGOP
The Angolan Minister of Family and Women Promotion, Genoveva Lino, said on Sunday that the women meeting happening in Brasilia will empower them to improve some challenges that they face in their countries.
Source: ANGOP
The 15th congress of the International Democratic Federation of Women (IDFW), gathering over 100 women from various parts of the world, started last Sunday, in Brazil, ANGOP has learnt.
Source:Committee to Protect Journalists
Liberian journalist Mae Azango's courageous reporting on female genital mutilation, which made her the target of threats and ignited international controversy, has forced her government to finally take a public position on the dangerous ritual. For the first time, Liberian officials have declared they want to stop female genital mutilation, a traditional practice passed down for generations.
Source: Times of Zambia
THE ascendance of Mrs Joyce Banda to the high office of President of Malawi in line with the provisions of the central African nation's constitution, following the death of Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, has renewed hope for a continent steadily breaking with past practices that have long cast it in poor light.
Source: AfricaScienceNews
The international community should rally behind efforts to expand access to modern birth control options among women of child bearing age in sub-Saharan Africa. Such efforts will accerelate attainment of MDG 4 and 5 on infant and maternal health respectively,transform economies and sustain social and political stability.
Melinda Gates,the Co-chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation joined a growing army of advocates championing for universal access to contraceptives inorder to empower women in poverty stricken corners of the globe who are often denied this critical service. Speaking to a global audience through a live webcast,Melinda reiterated that family planning will be accorded significant attention within the Gates foundation core programs. The mother of three who is married to Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman and a consumate philanthropist was categorical that expanding access to familiy planning services among African women could leapfrog the continent to greater levels of prosperity.
Family planning despite the moral and religious controversies it generates can not be wished away in the 21st century. Melinda said that”a billion people use birth control without hesitation.They use it because they want the power to plan their own lives and to raise healthier,better educated and more prosperous families.” She regretted that birth control still elicits enormous opposition from the conservative sections of society. Some people think contraceptives are a code for abortion,which they are not.Some people are uncomfortable because contraceptives have to do with sex,” Melinda remarked.
She added that as a result, birth control has almost disappeared from the global health agenda.The victim of this paralysis are the people of Sub-saharan Africa and the poorest parts of South Asia. Access to modern contraceptives is still a mirage in many African countries where 60% of women who desires to avoid pregnancy are not using them due to poverty,infrastructural hiccups and social-cultural barriers. Melinda Gates observed that 66% of Germans and and 64% of Thai population use modern birth control options while a partly 10% 0f Nigerians and 2% of Chadians have access to effective family planning tools. She decried appalling stock outs of safe and affordable birth control options such as injectables in health centers across Africa.
“Women need an injection every three months,but every time they go to the clinic,the shelves are empty.This situation is common across the African continent”Melinda intoned.
Providing African women with modern contraceptives will transform societies,boost economies and reduce maternal and infant mortalities.Melinda noted that many parts of the world have reached the threshold in providing birth control pills to women of child bearing age. She stressed that because in region after region parents have again and again decided to have smaller families,there is no reoson to believe that African women have innately different desires from the rest of the women in the world. Back tracking on family planning reverses gains made on women empowerment,endangers countries` economies and is a drawback to social progress. Melinda was categorical that birth control will provide sustainable solution to high maternal and infant deaths,poverty and under-development in Africa.
She cited the case of a young businesswoman in a Nairobi slum who has settled for three children and is optimistic about her future since she can pursue her business interests without being encumbered by unmanageable number of children.“This is the same mental calculus hundreds of millions of women have gone through,and the evidence proves that these women have it exactly right.They are able to give their children more opportunities by exercising control over when they have them,” said Melinda. She revealed that the East Asian economic miracle was largely triggered by greater uptake of modern cotraceptives.
Couples in the Asian tigers gave birth to fewer children whom they provided better nutrition,quality healthcare and education. “When families in Sub-saharan Africa are given the opportunity to make these decisions,it will help spark a virtuous cycle of development in communities across the continent,” Melinda remarked. She challenged the international community to inject fresh momentum towards efforts aimed at achieving universal access to modern family planning services among women in resource constrained African nations.
Source: IPS
It would be too simplistic to think that Malawi’s problems have ended with the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. But it is an opportunity for newly appointed President Joyce Banda, who is also leader of the opposition People’s Party, to step up and offer a new and more responsive style of leadership.
Source: Open Democracy
“We are not women, we are Egyptians”. That is what a young woman in Tahrir Square said to me on 25 January 2012, celebrating a year of the Revolution, when I enquired about the group of women she was with.
Source: Open Demcracy
On the face of it, Libya’s was a very male revolution. Covering the armed rebellion in the east of the country, I came across thousands of young men firing their Kalashnikovs into the air and talking excitedly about the overthrow of Colonel Gaddafi. Their sisters, they told me, were at home. The National Transitional Council, the political body which formed itself in March 2011 to represent the rebels internationally, was composed almost entirely of men. Yet, when I returned to Libya last September to research my book Sandstorm; Libya in the Time of Revolution ↑after the fall of Colonel Gaddafi, I learnt that behind the scenes, women had been playing a crucial and largely unreported role.
Source: Tanzania Daily News
WITH a Doctor of Medicine Degree from the University of Dar es Salaam, and a PhD in Human and Environmental Studies from Kyoto University, Japan, Dr Marina Njelekela stands out as one of the most successful women in Tanzania, in terms of achievements.
Source: Daily Trust
Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina, has called on women to live up to their responsibilities of grooming their daughters, supporting them to grow and encouraging them to reach their full potentials.