Source: Rwanda Focus
The draft law on family and persons which is under scrutiny in the parliamentary committee on political affairs and gender, has been generating a lot of debate.
One of the biggest sources of controversy was the suggestion to lower the legal marriage age from 21 years to 18 (article 166). According to MP Alfred Rwaka Kayiranga, in a survey conducted by lawmakers in 19 districts, the public spoke out against the proposal.
Source: IPS
A decade ago, less than a third of school-aged girls in Niger were in class. Today, though significant cultural and religious opposition remains, nearly two-thirds of girls are enrolled in school.
"Back in 2003, we had only 15 girls at my school, out of 150 students. Now, we have 103 girls out of a total of 175 students," said Ibrahim Sani, who has taught for 17 years in the town of Agadez, in the northern part of this West African country.
Source: This Day
As part of measures to curtail domestic violence or harmful attacks against women, Senate President, David Mark, at the weekend expressed the National Assembly's commitment to pass the Violence against Persons (prohibition) Bill into law soon.
Source: The News
"We were rejected, neglected, abandoned and stigmatized by family members, friends and love ones as a result of the pupu and pepe sickness we were suffering from; but today, our stories have changed; those who rejected us are now embracing us," these were the words of some fistula survivors who have now been reintegrated into communities.
Source: Daily Trust
Nollywood super actress, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde and Hollywood star, Halle Berry went all out to fight for a cause. The duo, along with others, did a walk to support women with breast cancer.
Source: The New Vision
MAKERERE University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP) is to carry out trials for an HIV vaccine in July.
The project executive director, Dr. Hannah Kibuuka, told journalists during a media dialogue at their offices in Kampala that the trials would involve 120 participants.
Source: The New Vision
In the late 1980s, the HIV prevalence rate was 18%. It reduced to 6.2%, but has risen again to 7.3%, which is worrying policy makers and healthcare givers.
Lutaaya has AIDS", read New Vision front page headline a day after musician Philly Bongole Lutaaya publicly announced that he had "slim."
At the international donors’ conference for Mali, taking place in Brussels today, co-chaired by the European Union and France, Malian women will present recommendations calling for greater participation by women in the conflict resolution and rebuilding of the economy.
Vital Voices Global Partnership and Women in Management, Business, and Public Service (WIMBIZ) today announced the hosting of the Supporting Public Advocacy for Regional Competitiveness (SPARC) Program and Forum in Lagos, Nigeria.
East African partner states are not doing enough to address gender issues as enshrined in the East African Customs and Common Market Protocol thus hurting cross border trade and regional integration, experts have observed.
Victoria J. married in 2009 at age 14, and became pregnant shortly after. "I started labour in the morning on a Friday .... The nurse kept checking and saying I would deliver safely. On Monday she said I was weak.
The Maasai tribe of Kenya and Tanzania has long been a beacon of traditional culture to many Africans - and for Westerners on safari through Maasai Mara, Samburu or Amboseli, a familiar face.
Source: Aswat Masriya
Chairwoman of the National Council for Women, Mervat al-Talawi, has welcomed a decision by the Ministry of Interior to establish a body allocated to combat violence against women.
Talawi expressed hopes that the decision will be enforced soon, considering it an initial step towards addressing the growing phenomenon of violence against women.
The Lagos State Government on Friday said it had just employed 70 women as truck drivers, as part of efforts to empower women in the state.
Source: The New Vision
As Uganda counts a 40% reduction in AIDS-related deaths in the past decade, the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) wants Government to levy a special tax on alcohol and cigarette to fund HIV programmes.
Source: The Standard
Villagers from Goromonzi's Yafele area have said their livelihoods are under threat following the encroachment of urban developments into their area.
The residents have formed Simukai Rural Residents Trust,
Our failure to give women in certain parts of the world the ability to decide the timing and number of their children is deeply damaging — not just for the women themselves but for societies, too. Lifting the obstacles is not something that can be tackled half-heartedly.
Source: Business Day Live
THE Johannesburg-based Southern Africa Litigation Centre branded Thursday a dark day for women in Lesotho after the mountain kingdom's Constitutional Court upheld a section of the Chieftainship Act that denied daughters the right to succeed to chieftainship.
This is in sharp contrast to South Africa's 2008 Constitutional Court ruling that recognised the right of a 66-year-old woman to become chief of her Limpopo tribe.
Source: Indiaeducationdiary.com
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smt. Krishna Tirath signed the fifth India Brazil South Africa (IBSA) Women's Forum Resolution, here today. Also signing the resolution were Mrs. Lulama Xingwana, Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities Republic of South Africa, and Mrs. Maria do Carmo Godinho Delgado, Secretary of Evaluation of Policies and Economic Autonomy of Women, on behalf of the Minister, Chief of the Secretariat of Policies for Women, Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil.
Source: The Star
WOMEN MPs have asked President Uhuru to reconsider his decision of scraping the Ministry of Gender.
Kenya Women Parliamentary Association has said changing the Gender ministry into a department will undermine issues touching on women.
"There is need to retain the ministry because eliminating will be for our gender war," Kewopa chairperson Cecily Mbarire said.