Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
It's nearly midday at the bustling Tegeta bus terminal in Tanzania's biggest city and Olivia Mbiku is busy preparing ugali - a popular maize meal - beef stew and vegetables for her customers. "I wake up early, light up the fire and rush to the market to buy meat, cooking oil, tomatoes and everything I need for the day," said the 25-year-old mother of two.
For many of Kenya’s small farmers, growing tobacco is the only thing that makes economic sense. But cultivating the crop comes with a host of dangers for them and their families.
Traditionally, women in the DRC gained shares in property through marriage, not inheritance – and today, few realize that this custom contradicts the law. In North Kivu province, one organization is spreading awareness and helping resolve inheritance disputes.
In many African countries, women who are in need of C-sections aren’t able to get them, causing some to die in labor. Researchers have found that enlisting nurses to carry out the procedure could save lives across the continent.
Bella Nshimirimana, a social worker from Burundi, was recently named Uganda’s ‘Refugee Woman of the Year.’ She spoke to Refugees Deeply about the challenges for refugees in the capital Kampala and the discrimination refugees face accessing health services.
Due to U.S. pressure, the U.N. General Assembly has voted to cut $600 million from the U.N. Peacekeeping budget. The impact on women and girls must be addressed, or the cuts could cause serious harm, say Ortrun Merkle and Diego Salama of United Nations University.
Evelyn Dolo saved a teenage girl’s life, but not out of good will alone, she admits. A traditional birth attendant for more than 15 years in the small Liberian village of Zahmboyee, Ms. Dolo was summoned one night to help the teenage girl deliver her baby. Ms. Dolo rushed the girl to the nearest hospital, about 25 miles away, where she was immediately taken into surgery.
Source: AllAfrica
International and national laws broadly recognise equal rights for all. These include the right to fair and equitable access to justice. But justice for women and girls before the courts remains elusive in many African countries.
Source: Liberian Observer
The Organization for Women and Children (ORWOCH) has concluded a one day training for female political aspirants and civil society organizations in Monrovia under the “Funding Opportunities for Women Project” with the aim of empowering participants to engage and participate in democratic processes in the build up to the 2017 presidential and representative elections.
Source: AllAfrica
Cases of informal cross-border traders using dangerous methods and routes to move their goods across the regional borders are many. As a result, those involved in informal cross-border trade, many of whom are women, live a risky life.
When Ugandan activist Lindsey Kukunda got tired of the constant sexual harassment she and other women in her country experience, she decided to do something about it. She founded a forum where Ugandan women and men come together to share stories about discrimination and harassment of women.
Until recently, South Africans faced a limit of 20 years to report sexual offenses committed against them, with the exception of rape. But on June 19, South Africa’s High Court declared the distinction between rape and other sexual offenses invalid and unconstitutional.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Women are routinely castigated in some countries for exposing their flesh to nurse. Lactating legislators were on Wednesday given a special room in Tanzania's parliament to nurse their babies in the latest development over breastfeeding in public.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Medical supplies and equipment are in short supply, and many hospitals are shut or barely functional.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Rogue churches in Kenya are delivering trafficked babies to infertile women, a Kenyan nun who rescues stolen children said, as the United States condemned government officials for complicity in the trade.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
If women had reliable contraceptives, there would be a sharp drop in the number of unwanted pregnancies.
With the rise of smartphones and social media, the problem of revenge pornography is growing across sub-Saharan Africa. But countries such as Zimbabwe have failed to introduce laws to protect victims against this destructive trend.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Ending child marriage would cut population growth and boost girls' educational achievements and earning ability.
Source: AllAfrica
Governments at all levels have been called upon to put policies in place to protect widows from external family members, obnoxious and ill-treatment, as well as set up counseling department to take care of widows' emotional and psychological state.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
When he worked as a nurse in his native South Sudan, Joseph Deng saw many women suffering in pregnancy and childbirth, inspiring him to retrain as a midwife to help cut the number of maternal deaths, one of the highest in the world.