Source: Heritage
Newly inducted Gender and Development Minister, Julia Duncan-Cassell, has warned men, whom she says are abusive of women and children to "refrain from such act or face the full weight of the law." She sounded the caveat last Thursday, when she formally took over from outgoing Gender and Development Minister, Varbah Gayflor, at a well attended ceremony held at the Gender and Development Ministry in Monrovia.
Source: The Monitor
Gulu Resident Judge Wilson Musene has urged magistrates to expedite sexual and gender-based violence cases before their courts.
Source: Public Agenda
Women continue to be under- represented in public offices. Government has also reneged on its assurance of appointing at least 40 percent women to public offices.
Source: International Food Policy Research Institute
Washington, D.C. — A significant new breakthrough in the measurement of women's empowerment in developing countries is launched today. The "Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index" (WEAI) is the first measure to directly capture women's empowerment and inclusion levels in the agricultural sector.
Source: Gulf News
The status of women in the Arab uprisings is to be discussed by The Doha Debates, following concerns that political Islam might impose new restrictions on them.
Source: Tanzania Daily News
THE Women's Legal Aid Centre (WLAC) Director, Ms Theodosia Muhulo has underscored the importance of joint efforts from all people in the society in fighting gender based violence, saying that without cooperation from the grassroots the problem would remain unsettled.
Source: Institute for Security Studies (Pretoria)
The African Women's Decade (2010-2020) is a bold political initiative that aims to put women at the centre of development on the continent. Launched in Nairobi, Kenya, in October 2010, with roots traceable to the UN First World Conference on Women, held in Mexico city in 1975, this initiative aims to create conditions under which the participation of all African women in the continent's socio-economic development can be guaranteed.
Agriculture currently provides a livelihood for roughly 1.3 billion smallholder farmers and landless workers, of which nearly half – close to 560 million – are women.
Source: Daily Nation
Cameroonian women have called on the government to respect national and international conventions it signed by ensuring parity between men and women in appointments to top positions and elective offices.
Source: The Monitor
The International Women's Day may be that special time set aside to commemorate the strides women have made and go back to the drawing board and plan the future of this gender, however every day is a celebration of womanhood. The pride, success and determination ingrained in the being of every woman. Some women shared why they feel blessed to be who they are.
Source: New Times
Over 2,000 women have benefited from the ongoing mass cervical cancer screening campaign organised by Partners in Health (PIH), a US-based organisation.
Source: Nairobi Star
Women MPs will launch a mentorship programme to encourage youthful women vie for political positions. Thorough the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association, the female legislators are seeking to identify young women whom they will teach how to achieve the objective through civic education.
Source: the Monitor
On February 6, Dominick Lotolim and a friend bravely stood in front of the crowd flashing a big placard advocating for zero tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation.
The action that is being taken by the Security Council to deal with sexual violence in conflict sends a message to perpetrators and potential perpetrators that the world is watching.
The 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will open on 27 February at United Nations headquarters, focused on the theme of empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, sustainable development and current challenges. The Commission will agree on urgent actions needed to make a real difference in the lives of millions of rural women. These recommendations will also provide input into other policy forums, such as the Rio+20 Conference in June 2012.
Source: AWID
Militarism, conflict and violence are on the rise and have a range of gender-specific impacts. Increased spending on defense, arms and security often means that spending on social services is being cut. In the context of militarism and conflict violence against women also increases and attacks on women’s human rights defenders are growing and are increasingly normalized.
The South Sudan Women Empowerment Network in partnership with the UN women and NPA yesterday organized a workshop set to end today.
As women across the MENA (Middle-East and North Africa) region experienced victory and discouraging setbacks with political participation and human rights for all in Egypt and Tunisia women activist leaders look back to reflect on what has gone wrong and what has gone right for the women who have pushed so very hard for change.
The African Women's Decade (2010-2020) is a bold political initiative that aims to put women at the centre of development on the continent. Launched in Nairobi, Kenya, in October 2010, with roots traceable to the UN First World Conference on Women, held in Mexico city in 1975, this initiative aims to create conditions under which the participation of all African women in the continent's socio-economic development can be guaranteed.
When the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) held its inaugural meeting in London back in 1946, the U.S. delegate, Eleanor Roosevelt, read an open letter to "the women of the world" calling on governments to encourage women everywhere to participate in national and international affairs.