A Swazi police officer has been suspended after she blurted out while in a spiritual trance that she wished for Africa's last absolute monarchy to end, a church official said on Wednesday.
Source: OSISA
Botswana has been lauded as a true 'shining example of democracy in Africa', but when it comes to empowering women in politics the country is like most other African states. In fact it's even worse – with little improvement since independence in 1965.
Source: Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Hundreds of demonstrators calling for women to be allowed to wear the Muslim veil in class clashed with students at a university outside Tunis on Tuesday for the second day running.
About 40 women, somewhere in the world, die in pregnancy every hour, 343 thousand a year by current (admittedly rough) estimates. It's a tragic reality but one we can do something about. We know the causes well and meaningful action can reduce mortality (and lifelong injury to mother and child) swiftly and dramatically.
Source: UN News Centre
World leaders must invest more in voluntary family planning programmes, a senior United Nations official said today, stressing such programmes not only save and improve the lives of women and children, but also reduce poverty and empower people.
In combating violence against women, several South Sudanese towns began “16 days of activism” over the past few days to help eradicate and raise awareness of the crime.
Involving women in decision-making and resource management is a basic necessity for any effective plan to address the multi- layered and life-threatening consequences of climate change, says the head of UN Women.
If the international community can successfully raise billions of dollars to fight deadly diseases, why not a similar fund to promote education, asks Gordon Brown, former British prime minister.
Source: The Citizen
Tanzania joined other countries around the world to launch the annual campaign to highlight issues around violence against women last Friday. The 16-day campaign is usually a series of annual events to raise public awareness on the vice as well as exhort policymakers to improve their respective countries' status as far as the legal regime is concerned to improve the lives of females.
Source: IPS
Although there has been considerable progress towards reducing maternal and infant mortality, millions of women and children in Africa are still in need of better health services, food and sanitation.
The Arab Spring seemed to herald a new era of emancipation for women in the Arab world. But Islamists are on the rise in Tunisia and Egypt, and there are worrying reports of sexual assaults on demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Many women in the region fear a rollback of what rights they had under the dictators.
The Speaker of Parliament, Joyce Bamford Addo, has asked political parties to adopt the quota system to rectify imbalances in women’s representation in politics.
Some campaigners fear the further marginalisation of women in political life. Preliminary reports from the first day of Egypt’s historic parliamentary elections suggest that women voters have turned out in high numbers to make their voices heard.
As ACFODE celebrates her 26th birthday this month, and as the country prepares for the 16 Days of Activism Campaign
Against Gender Based Violence (GBV), ACFODE wishes to express concern over the high levels of violence against
women in Uganda, and to emphasize that such acts are a violation of their human rights, peaceful existence in homes, communities and in the nation.
Source: The Herald
WOMEN for Peace in partnership with Zimbabwe Young Women Network have joined the world in commemorating 16 days of activism as part of the global campaign against gender-based violence.
Source: Time of Zambia
SPEAKER of the National Assembly, Patrick Matibini, has called on Members of Parliament (MPs) to help combat gender-based violence in Zambia.
The United Nations observed the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25, 2011, but while statements about the event mentioned several specific forms of violence against women, the UN failed to mention violence against women in the form of coerced abortions.
Source: The New Times
Women from Mururu sector in Rusizi District planted more than 700 trees as part of activities to mark the just concluded national tree-planting drive.
Source: The New Times
Care International, Rwanda, a humanitarian organization fighting global poverty will reward Gender based Violence (GBV) activists for their efforts to eliminate the vice.
Source: The New Times
Members of the women's federation of the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) in Gasabo have vowed to fight against Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the district.