Source: IRIN
Women's groups in the Somali town of Galkayo are lobbying the authorities in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland to enact a law banning female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), saying the practice was becoming widespread. Activists say FGM/C causes serious health problems to the women and is against their religion.
Four political parties in Sierra Leone, the All People Congress APC, the Sierra Leone Peoples Party SLPP, the Peoples Movement for Democratic Change PMDC and the National Democratic Alliance NDA have called on for the participation of more women, youths and the disabled in the 2012 general elections.
Source: IPS
On the grubby edge of Old Fadama, Accra’s infamous illegal slum settlement, 67-year-old Mariana Sayitou sits under a parasol and tends to her livelihood – selling several dozen kola nuts and a few piles of bagged beans to passers-by.
Last month women worldwide were delighted to hear that three women from the global south were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman were honored for their nonviolent struggles for justice in Liberia and Yemen, and for the right of women to fully participate in peacemaking.
Testimony from Tamara C. Wittes Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and Deputy Special Coordinator for Middle East Transitions
iKNOW Politics, an online network dedicated to the advancement of women in politics around the world, has come to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Some 200 Tunisian women demonstrated Wednesday in downtown Tunis in defense of their rights, following the election victory of an Islamist party.
Source: Zambian Watchdog
UN resident coordinator in Zambia Kanni Wignaraja says no country can attain higher levels of human development where many of its women citizens lag behind, cannot fully participate in the economic or political life of the country on equal terms or feel disempowered.
Egyptian political parties must deliver 10 key human rights reforms to deliver the new Egypt promised by the “25 January Revolution”, Amnesty International said today.
Fartun Abdi Hashi, 22, arrived in the central Somali town of Galkayo in 2001 with her parents after fleeing violence in southern Somalia.
While gender equality ratios have improved in 85 percent of countries over the past six years, economic participation and political empowerment for women has failed to match the steady progress of health and education, says a new report by the World Economic Forum.
Reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that over half a million women die in pregnancy or childbirth every year and a 1.4 million barely survive life-threatening complications in developing countries.
UNAMID in collaboration with the North Darfur Committee on Women organized today an open day session on the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security in Saraf Umra, North Darfur. The purpose of the activity was to discuss the progress made in the State with regards to women's issues.
The deliberate attempt to discredit women's rights by associating them with the ex- first lady Suzanne Mubarak is a key challenge for women's rights activists in Egypt, so too is the battle not to surrender to the prophets of doom and gloom, Hoda Elsadda tells Deniz Kandiyoti.
The events of the past 10 months highlight the enormous power of young people in changing the world, the Deputy Secretary-General has said, calling on this segment of society to help shape a better future.
Hajiya Zainab Maina, Minister Women Affairs and Social Development, on Monday in Abuja appealed for support from the World Bank to restructure the operations of women's micro credit schemes in the country.
African women meeting in Kigali have condemned what they termed lack of political commitment by most governments to ensure the development of women on the continent.
The United States introduced in the UN General Assembly on Tuesday a draft resolution entitled Women and Political Participation.
Source: Reuters
Women are almost on par with men around the world in health and education, but they still lag in economic and political participation and opportunities, according to a World Economic Forum report released on Tuesday.
Source: IRIN
After dropping out of school in the sixth grade to help her mother, Fartun Abdi Hashi, 22, was given a second chance at earning an income with a sanitary pads project.