Source: Maverick Citizen
Monday, 25 May marks Africa Day. What does that mean in practice? Our experiences as social accountability practitioners in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi and South Africa oblige us to do more than merely celebrate the shiny ideals of Pan-Africanism on this day.
Source: The Conversation
Amid global commitments to defeat, or at least minimise, the pervasive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact on the African continent remains unclear. African governments have moved quickly to mobilise resources and strengthen their emergency preparedness and response capacities.
But particular attention needs to be paid to the most vulnerable members of the population. There are ongoing discussions on pressing health issues including women’s health.
Source: DailyMonitor
Pregnant mothers in Nebbi District are giving birth from homes due to lack of transport to health centres during the lockdown, putting their lives and those of unborn babies at risk.
Source: The Guardian
Rwanda is to release 50 women who were jailed for having abortions after a personal pardon was issued by the country’s president, Paul Kagame.
Human rights activists welcomed the pending release of the women, six of whom had been given life sentences – the highest penalty available to the courts – two serving 25 years and the others terms ranging from 12 months to 20 years.
It is 7am and hundreds of children have come out on this chilly morning to queue for a plate of porridge.
With makeshift masks covering their faces, the children wait for Samantha Murozoki to start dishing up the warm food into whatever plastic tub, plate, tin cup – or even ripped-off corner of a cardboard box – is presented to her.
Source: Global Voices
#BringBackOurGirls and #ArewaMeToo reshaped political activism in Nigeria
Source: Thomson Reuters Fondation
Somalia's coronavirus lockdown has led to a huge increase in female genital mutilation (FGM), with circumcisers going door to door offering to cut girls stuck at home during the pandemic, a charity said on Monday.
Plan International said the crisis was undermining efforts to eradicate the practice in Somalia, which has the world's highest FGM rate, with about 98% of women having been cut.
Source: Africa.com
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and Standard Bank Group are calling on women fund managers across Africa to apply to join the African Women Leadership Fund initiative (AWLF), an innovative impact fund that will provide capital and expertise to successful candidates.
Source: Thomson Reuters Fondation
No more child brides? Ethiopia's efforts to end child marriages could be undermined by the new coronavirus.
Source: UNDPArabic
COVID-19 has placed unprecedented global pressure on essential health supplies, putting the most vulnerable at risk of ‘missing out’. In Sudan, this means hundreds of thousands in Khartoum’s poorest urban area, Mayo, and similar locations.
In Rwanda, Benimana Uwera Gilberthe, a scholar and pepper producer, experienced first-hand the challenges of breaking into agribusiness.
Malawi is not doing enough to enforce its laws on human trafficking, resulting in a number of cases against perpetrators being dismissed by the courts, according to a local rights group. But local officials say that this Southern African nation — one of the poorest countries in the world — just doesn’t have the financial resources to do so.
Source: BBC
Sex workers in Zambia are helping to trace people who have contracted coronavirus after a surge in new infections at the border town of Nakonde, the health minister has said.
Source: Ghana Business News
The World Health Organisation argues that maternal mortality is unacceptably high. It notes that about 295,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth in 2017. The vast majority of these deaths (94 per cent) occurred in low-resource settings, and most could have been prevented.
Source: IPS
The current coronavirus pandemic can offer insight into how to shake-up traditional methods of data collection, and might provide an opportunity to do it in more innovative ways, in turn enhancing progress towards gender equality.
Source: Women's Voice Zimbabwe
My name is Emmanuel Sam Mhanana, the Moyomusande guild first committee member in Roman Catholic Church. Men quote the bible in a wrong way.
Source: The New Humanitarian
For Nyaneng Chuol, four months pregnant, COVID-19 restrictions mean she is confined in a camp with an ex-husband whom she says is abusive, often drunk, and increasingly restless, along with thousands of South Sudanese who fled their homes during the civil war.
ZIMBABWE: Zimbabwe: Lockdown Exposing Sex Workers, Women to Sex Predators, Domestic Violence - Lobby
SEXUAL rights lobby, Katswe Sistahood says the Covid-19 induced lockdown has cut sex workers' access to medical facilities leaving them exposed to unwanted pregnancies.
Source: DailyMonitor
Health and education experts have warned of an increasing number of teenage pregnancies, stigma and mental health problems among school going learners due to ongoing coronavirus induced lockdown.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Sudan has criminalised female genital mutilation (FGM), making it punishable by three years in jail, a move campaigners said ushered in a "new era" for women's rights in the African nation.