Last month the UK Department for International Development (DfID) announced that £35m would be provided to help eliminate female genital mutilation (FGM) in Africa and elsewhere. This is a clear indication that the UK is committed to ending violence against women and girls (VAWG), in line with the eradication of extreme economic inequality. This also reflects the high-level panel's aim of ensuring that wealthier countries play a direct role in benefitting
In the Hamarweyne market, Mogadishu’s largest, 24-year-old Maryama Yunis is finding success with her tiny cosmetic store. The young Somali entrepreneur has been in business for two years, selling everything from soaps and shampoos to lipsticks and eyeliners, and now she’s turning a decent profit.
The U.S. department of state issued on Friday its annual report on human rights practices, saying that Egypt's transition to democracy continued to be beset by political turmoil.
The President and founder of Femmes Afrique Solidarite (FAS) Bineta Diop has commended Rwandan women for their role in peace and security in the country as well as the region.
Source: IPP Media
The African Women's Entrepreneurship Programme (AWEP) is seeking grounds of creating conducive environment for Tanzania business women to cope with the challenges in global economy. An official from AWEP's organisation said here on Friday that the move aims to promote long-standing trade relations and business activities with the US government.
Source: Biz-Community
While there are many cases of Gender-Based Violence (GBV), most of them are not being reported which makes it difficult for government to intervene and end the scourge.This was a concern raised by Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises, Bulelani Magwanishe, during his visit to the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan, where he visited various communities as part of an Anti-Rape campaign.
Source: Daily News Egypt
The United States State Department said Egypt’s three biggest human rights problems of 2012 were threats to women’s rights, failures to prosecute perpetrators of violence against religious minorities, and threats to freedom of speech, press, and association.
Source: New Era
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare has facilitated the transfer of N$1 million to the country's 13 regional councils, earmarked for the funding of various income-generating projects aimed at alleviating poverty.
Source:Observer
Most urban areas have sex workers and Bugembe town council in Jinja is no different. But as Trevor Solomon Baleke has found out, majority of sex workers are struggling to successfully get the gospel of safe sex across to clients.
Source: Voice of America
The U.N. Working Group for Women, Peace and Security in West Africa says women are drastically under-represented in peace-building activities in the region. The U.N. working group met with representatives of 50 international aid and human rights groups to figure out how to make women's voices a priority when it comes to making and keeping the peace in the region.
Source: Nigeria Daily News
President Goodluck Jonathan has promised to give Nigerian women more than the 35 per cent affirmative action they agitated for, considering their contributions to national development and the transformation agenda.
Source: New Era
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare last year trained 122 kindergarten teachers and constructed 10 community kindergartens that are also known as Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDC).
Source: Daily Trust
First Lady Patience Jonathan has called on the National Assembly to enact a law on 35per cent participation of women in government. The president's wife who also called for a legislation that would guarantee the education of the girl child in Nigeria. Speaking in Lagos yesterday at the national conference on 100 years of the Nigerian woman, she said it was important for lawmakers to make laws that would support the growth of women in the country.
Source: UNESCO
“We are longtime partners because there are strong synergies between Intel and UNESCO, combining new ideas and innovation with our policy drive for quality education,” said Mrs Bokova after the signing at UNESCO Headquarters.
Source: UN News
Conflict-related sexual violence, horrific in itself, is also an impediment to national reconciliation and development, top United Nations officials told the Security Council at the start of a day-long debate, urging increased political and financial pressure on those who commit, command or condone sexual violence in war zones.
Source: This Day
The First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, has asked the National Assembly to pass into law legislations on affirmative action to empower the Nigerian woman with 30 per cent political participation in the leadership of the country. Mrs Jonathan made this remark in Lagos while speaking during the national conference and dinner to mark the Nigeria centenary celebration of 100 years of the Nigerian woman.
Source: Vanguard
On the scale of 'ill treatment and disrespect shown to women's rape, may well weigh the heaviest, given its gruesome nature and violation of a woman's honour. There are many other acts of physical, verbal and psychological abuse, mostly domestic perpetrated against women even in the most civilised countries and societies that are symptomatic of a serious underlying psychological problem in the manner and way women are treated.
Source: United States Department of State
U.S. Mission to the United Nations
Remarks by Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo, U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations,
At an Open Debate on Sexual Violence in Conflict
Source: UN News Service
Conflict-related sexual violence, horrific in itself, is also an impediment to national reconciliation and development, top United Nations officials told the Security Council at the start of a day-long debate, urging increased political and financial pressure on those who commit, command or condone sexual violence in war zones.
The Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, Soyata Maiga, declared Tuesday that gender-based violence has taken a criminal dimension in Northern Mali.