Source: Mail&Guardian
The significance of 2015 continently and globally in the drive for women’s empowerment and the achievement of gender equality provides a useful backdrop to assess efforts to use mainstreaming as a tool to bring gender into the equation within peacekeeping and peace and security frameworks in Africa.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nation’s (UN’s) Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, aimed at achieving greater equality and
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
It took less than a minute for a panel of judges in Senegal to sentence seven men to six months in prison for homosexuality last week, but campaigners say the harm to the African nation's anti-HIV efforts could last much longer.
Senegal, a Muslim country regarded as a pillar of democracy in turbulent West Africa, is one of about 30 African states with anti-homosexuality laws. Yet the country of
Source: Accord
Women's Month in South Africa gives us an opportunity to reflect on the efforts globally, and on the continent, to advance women's empowerment and gender equality. These efforts have borne fruit and are accelerating. In Africa the initiatives have reached Head of State level, driven by statistics such as the fact that women produce more than 80% of food in Africa but own only approximately 1% of productive lands. To advance their efforts, earlier this year the leaders of
Source: AWOKO
Hundreds of women from all works of life representing various groups in the fight against sexual violence joined "power women 232", last Thursday converged at Lumley Beach to remember the late Hannah Bockarie who was brutally murdered and left on the beach.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Yolanda Ngunda has every reason to smile now she holds a title deed recognising her as sole owner of a disputed plot of rugged farmland in Tanzania's remote southern highlands.
For the past decade, the 51-year-old widow, who lives in Ilalasimba village in the rural district of Iringa, was embroiled in a family feud as her brothers-in-law
Source: EurekAlert!
African women in polygamous marriages or with alcoholic husbands have a significantly higher risk of being physically abused by their husbands than women in monogamous marriages or women whose husbands don't abuse alcohol, new research shows.
Source: Zambia Daily Mail
A Swedish delegation of members of Parliament (MP) says Zambia is a role model for democracy and women’s rights in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region.
Source: South African Government News Agency
Women empowerment and gender equality are key to sustainable economic development and transformation, says Trade and Industry (dti) Minister Rob Davies.
Speaking at a Women's Day celebration on Friday, the Minister said that women must be fully incorporated into the development strategies and decision
When she was just 14 years-old, Florence Abbo found herself trapped in an abusive marriage with no way out other than death. She was forced to work on her husband’s farm under the hot sun every day from dawn till dusk.
THE Southern African Development Community (SADC) is working on a Model Law on Child Marriage, which seeks to prevent, prohibit and respond to all forms of the vice which is prevalent in Tanzania and other member countries of the regional grouping.
President Paul Kagame has said Africa's security organs must do more to hold perpetrators of Gender Based Violence (GBV) to account since it is in line with their rightful responsibility.
Source: UN Sierra Leone
The UN Country Team (UNCT) in Sierra Leone is shocked by the report that an 18-year-old girl, Hannah Bockarie, was brutally raped and murdered on 13 August 2015 at Lumley Beach, Freetown. The UNCT condemns this horrendous act in the strongest terms and it calls on the Sierra Leone Government to conduct a prompt, thorough and independent investigation into the girl's death and to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice.
Source: Open Democracy
It has been a couple of months since the last outbreak of xenophobic attacks targeting African foreign nationals occurred in South Africa. This latest attack, like the one that occurred in May 2008, resulted in many deaths and left thousands displaced as they fled from the violent attacks. The brutality attracted a
Source: New Kerala
The Security Council on Thursday turned its attention to the need to develop effective, affordable and accountable security institutions, with senior United Nations officials representing peacekeeping, development and conflict-related sexual violence outlining concrete steps to lay the foundations for rule of law, peace and sustainable development.
Source: Inter Press Service
Recognition of the indispensable role played by women in defeating apartheid was the focus of countless speeches, film showings and even fashion shows as the country paused this week for National Women’s Day, a public holiday.
Source: Inter Press Service
After years of a protracted battle against Uganda's "bride price" practice, the country's Supreme Court this week ruled that husbands can no longer demand that it be returned in the event of dissolution of a customary marriage but has stopped short of declaring the practice itself unconstitutional.
Source: The Global Observatory
August 3, the Nigerian army reported it had freed as many as 178 captives from the clutches of Boko Haram. This was the second mass liberation of the group's hostages in as many weeks—a cause for celebration for new Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, whose election platform included a firm commitment to ending
Source: Mining Global
At last week’s Women in Mining Conference in Johannesburg, Mineral Resources Minister Advocate Ngoako Ramatlhodi addressed occupational challenges faced by women in the mining industry, including safety and security, and encouraged the industry to advance women’s rights and equal participation in the economy.
Source: Foreign Policy
About three years ago while traveling in Pakistan, I met with a prominent female civil society activist who described how some women in northwest Pakistan were supporting militants by donating their most precious gold and jewelry and endorsing their sons' radicalization.
Source: Ghana Web
The Lordina Foundation, together with its partners, on Monday organized a health screening exercise for women groups in selected communities in Accra in line with the advocacy and reproductive health service delivery campaign.