Source: The Star
The International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation is a United Nations (UN) campaign held on February 6 every year with the aim of stopping genital mutilation of girls and women. Sadly, here in Kenya, we are still talking eleven years on as our girls continue to be exposed to this horrific mutilation.
Source: New Era
WINDHOEK – Rural women are calling on government to introduce laws and policies relating to the promotion of women's political and socio-economic empowerment that are practical, sustainable and tangible.
Source: Voice of America
DAKAR — Thursday marks the U.N.-sponsored International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Despite international campaigns, the United Nations says millions of girls in Africa remain at risk. In Liberia, there is no law against it and FGM is still common practice.
Source: UN News Centre
The United Nations and the African Union (AU) affirmed their common commitment "to put an end to history's oldest and least condemned crime" by signing landmark agreement on the prevention of and response to conflict-related sexual violence in Africa, a senior UN official today said.
Source: UN News
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today pledged to root for women everywhere ahead of his departure for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, while stressing the need for the United Nations and its partners to lay the groundwork to enable all women to enjoy their rights and be empowered.
"We are at a key moment," Mr. Ban said at a photo-op with former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), ahead of their meeting at UN Headquarters.
He noted that 2015 will be crucial for the future of development and the future of women's rights. Next year marks the target date for the achievement of the global anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals, which contain specific benchmarks for gender equality.
Countries are also working toward the adoption of global development agenda beyond 2015, as well as on securing a global climate change agreement by the end of next year.
2015 also marks the 20th anniversary of the landmark Beijing World Conference on Women. The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action, adopted unanimously by 189 countries, is considered the key global policy document on gender equality, addressing critical areas such as women and poverty, violence against women and the human rights of women.
"There has been a great deal of progress since then, but too many women still face far too much discrimination and violence," said Mr. Ban, adding that the UN family looks forward to continuing to work closely with Ms. Clinton for sustainable development and opportunities for all the world's women and girls.
The UN chief is set to leave New York today for Russia, where he will attend the opening ceremony on Friday of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
The Games, he said, show the power of sport to unite people regardless of gender or sexual orientation. This year's Games will also showcase progress for women, who will be competing for the first time in the ski jump.
"You will not see me at the top of the jump," the Secretary-General said, while adding that he will be rooting for women athletes to jump high and leap far. "We have a responsibility to make a jump and [lay] the ground first so that they can jump... Let's work together to make this world better for all, including women and girls."
This week UN Women is hosting a number of events on gender equality on the margins of the current meeting of the working group tasked with preparing a proposal on the Sustainable Development Goals called for by Member States at the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The overall issues to be discussed by the group include oceans and seas, forests, biodiversity, conflict prevention, post-conflict peacebuilding and the promotion of durable peace, and rule of law and governance and promoting equality.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (second right) with from left: Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the Executive Director of UN Women, former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea Clinton. UN Photo/Evan Schneider
Source: ANSAmed
In a clinic providing psychological support for victims of torture, tucked away in a side street downtown, medical doctor and human rights defender Magda Adly spoke to ANSAmed about an Egypt back under military rule and the situation of women therein.
Source: Heritage
The United States Embassy near the Liberian capital, Monrovia, has constructed a refugee women center in Little Webbo Camp in Harper, Maryland County.
Source: Front Page Africa
Sewon Bleede, 35 a mother of two and a high school graduate sits home idly hopes that one day she will have an opportunity to continue her education. Surprisingly for Sewon in 2013 the Laymah Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa selected her as one of the recipients of academic [2013-2014] scholarship.
Source: The Herald
Government has set aside a budget for formulation of the Girls’ Empowerment Framework, a Cabinet Minister says. Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development Minister Oppah Muchinguri told The Herald that the budget would also cover implementation of the policy, though she did not say how much money had been set aside.
Source: IPS
Before sunrise, a Moroccan woman waits her turn at the pedestrian border control separating her country from the Spanish city of Melilla. Hours later she crosses over, takes up an 80-kilo bundle of merchandise and carries it back to her country, for a payment of less than six dollars.
Source: Tanzania Daily News
AT a time when activists were working to eliminate Gender based violence including abuse against girls, an odd phenomenon emerged.Some women have become so overprotective of their marriages that they were hiding abuse incidents against themselves or their own children and housemaids, thus threatening to derail achievements made in the fight against gender-based violence.
Source: BBC News Tunis
Tunisia's new constitution could usher in momentous change for women, following the adoption of a clause which guarantees gender equality in legislative assemblies and for steps to be taken to protect women against violence, a first in the Arab world.
Source: World Health Organization
Mrs Souad is 30 years old, married with 2 children, and heavily pregnant with her third. She lives in a rural village 10 km from the health facility where she is to deliver her baby, and the journey to get there takes about 45 minutes.
Source: Heritage
MONROVIA - The Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa (GPFA) has unveiled a US$3M plan for the construction of a technical institute on the Robertsfield Highway, outside Monrovia.
Source: Business Ghana
Women and adolescents from Tarkwa Nsueam in the Western Region have undergone a two-day training to empower them on their sexual and reproductive rights.
Source: The Point
The Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (Gamcotrap) has called on the Government of The Gambia to consider outlawing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) thus fulfilling its obligation as duty bearers on girls and women.
Source: The Herald
Zimbabwe is among four countries in SADC with 20 percent or more of all defence forces posts filled by women, recent research has found.The other three countries are Namibia, Seychelles and South Africa, which has the highest proportion of women in the defence sector, where they constitute 27 percent of the force .
Almost one in five young girls in sub-Saharan Africa are still forced to endure female genital mutilation (FGM), according to a UN report that paints a grim picture of the state of the world's children.
Source: The Daily Observer
The president of The Gambia Football Federation (GFF), Mustapha Kebbeh, has big dreams for football in the country. At the heart of his crusade is developing women and youth football. Kebbeh was speaking in an interview with a South African Newspaper, called the Daily Maveric.
Source: IRIN
Healthcare needs are changing in the Arab world, and chronic diseases linked to rising prosperity and aging populations are forcing health services to retool, even as the region grapples with political turmoil and uncertainty.