A demographic survey has revealed that one of the reasons for the low women representation in the national and local governance system in the Northern Region is that husbands threaten their wives not to vote for women candidates contesting against men.
Nine out of 10 Nigerian women of child-bearing age are not using modern contraceptive methods. This is one of the startling revelations at a stakeholders’ dissemination on the Universal Access to female Condom programme aimed at increasing demand and access to female condoms in Nigeria.
Hand-dyed polished cotton — called bazin — is the mainstay of Malian fashion. The blind singers Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia extolled the fabric in a song released in 2005, “Beaux dimanches” (“Beautiful Sundays”). The song’s scintillating lyrics include the lines: “Sunday in Bamako is the wedding day / Men and women put on their best boubous / The bazins are waiting for you / This is the wedding day.”
It is rare for a head of government to be greeted with applause at the very beginning of a speech before the United Nations General Assembly. But that’s what happened last September when Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley of Bhutan took the podium and signalled his intention to talk about “happiness.” The prime minister’s seeming change of subject from the discussion of global crises immediately provoked the audience’s curiosity.
In an exclusive discussion with women’s organizations the day after he emerged as the winner of Senegal’s Presidential election on 25 March President-Elect Macky Sall outlined his vision for improving the lives of Senegalese women.
Young men and women socialise together at Tripoli University’s ‘campus B’ tarmac parking lot as they prepare to sit for examinations during this tumultuous school year.
For women, who have long been invisible during and after conflict, truth-seeking is an opportunity to have their experiences recognised and their roles understood, as survivors and agents of change.
Source: Gender Links
March is known to be human rights month in South Africa. Every year, 21 March is well marked on most South Africans' calendar, a day on which we celebrate human rights. The day is celebrated against the backdrop of a progressive Constitution that guarantees freedom of choice, equality and forbids discrimination on the basis of race, gender and sexual orientation among other things. As a woman in this South Africa, I am questioning myself about my identity and place in society.
Source: IPS
Political instability, civil strife and humanitarian crises in Africa have over the past decades reversed countless maternal health development gains on the continent, health experts warn.
Source: IPS
Martha Borete Angela's gaze sinks to the ground as she admits neither of her two children was delivered by a midwife or doctor. The 28-year-old South Sudanese woman shared this fact in front of her classmates: first-year students in a programme for midwives at the Catholic Health Training Institute in Wau, a city in the western part of the country.
Source: The New Dawn
Superintendent-designate, Etweda Cooper has promised empowering for the youths and women of Grand Bassa County, if confirmed by the Liberian Senate. Speaking during confirmation hearings at the Capitol Building on Monday, Miss Cooper said development for youths and women remain a concern in every quarter of the country and Grand Bassa is no exception.
Source: Daily Trust
Not fewer than 200 elderly women who suffer from various forms of eye diseases in Kuje were at the weekend given free eye glasses by Women in New Nigeria (WINN) to help them correct their sights.
Source: ANGOP
Ruling MPLA party's female wing (OMA) secretariat is meeting on Tuesday, in Luanda, to programme the activities for this year, ANGOP has learnt.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency
Netherlands Ambassador to Ethiopia, Hans Blanknberg said the handicrafts sector is one of the sectors that employs and benefits women more than many other economic sectors in Ethiopia.
Source: Guttmacher Institute
The first national estimates of abortion incidence in Rwanda show that one in 40 women aged 15-44 had an abortion in 2009 and that virtually all of these abortions were clandestine procedures that are highly likely to be unsafe.
Source: The Herald
Complaints by Harare Central Hospital that defaulting mothers are crippling operations by sneaking out without settling their fees are only the tip of an iceberg.
Source: The New Times
A group of 77 police officers, 70 of them women, were yesterday commissioned after completing a three-month Police basic training at Police Training School in Gishari, Rwamagana District.
Source: Times of Zambia
PUBLIC prosecutors should handle cases of abuse of woman and children diligently so that they are able to secure convictions against perpetrators.
Source: African Arguments
When the protest movement of Malian women erupted in the town of Kati on January 30, few took notice. The women were mostly "war widows" of Malian soldiers recently killed in fighting against the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA).
Tunisia’s ruling Islamist party, Ennahda, said on Monday that the country’s post-revolution constitution would not mention Islamic law as a source of legislation, signaling a forceful break with ultraconservatives who have been demanding an Islamic state.