Source: GroundUp
Birth control pills freely distributed in Zimbabwe are being smuggled into and sold in South Africa.
Many Zimbabwean women prefer these pills above those from South African clinics.
The market is fuelled by the struggle women have to access health facilities.
Source: Radio France Internationale
A number of women's rights groups have filed a case against the government of Mali at the Ecowas regional court to try and force the authorities in Bamako to take action against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The initiative could set a legal precedent and have wider implications on the continent.
The legal filing, confirmed by RFI on Monday, at the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) Court of Justice in Abuja, Nigeria, is challenging the Malian government's failure to enact laws or policy to make FGM illegal.
Source: Africanews
Zara Oumar is now living safely in Cameroon after escaping from Boko Haram, which held her hostage for four years in Nigeria's neighboring Sambisa forest.
Her two young sons are a product of rape by the militants.
“They told my dad they want to pick me up and take me and threatened they would kill us all including him. When my father accepted, they also took other girls in the village by force and that's how we ended up in this bush in which I didn't know anyone," she told Africanews.
Source: Daily News
ACTIVISTS have urged the government to step up the fight against Gender Based Violence (GBV), especially in the Lake Zone where the problem is now becoming serious.
It is reported that some families in Lake Zone have come up with the malpractice of abandoning their female children in thick forests after becoming pregnant before undergoing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a practice which is also banned in the country.
Source: Front Page Africa
Monrovia — Liberia is expected to host a 5-day decolonized ECOWAS Meeting. The expected meeting will take place in Monrovia from the 13-17 of April 2021 with specific focus on ECOWAS women.
The theme of the expected meeting is "Empowerment of Women in the ECOWAS Region" and will be held at the Ministerial Complex in Congo Town.
Source: World Economic Forum
Childcare is a challenge for working mothers the world over. In developed nations, it’s often the cost that is a barrier to women rejoining the workforce. But in other parts of the world, childcare for working mothers is virtually non-existent.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Joint submission on promoting and protecting the human rights of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325 by Humanity & Inclusion, Human Rights Watch, International Disability Alliance, Women Enabled International and the Women's Refugee Commission.
Source: Daily Monitor
The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development has opposed the move by Ministry of Finance to transfer the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme (UWEP) to Local Government, saying it is harmful to women empowerment.
Mr Frank Mugabi, the ministry's communications officer, said the programme has been performing well under Gender.
Source: This Day
The music landscape in Africa is still male-dominated and competitive for female artists. Only a handful have been able to mark their footprints in the industry. Such artists include South African singer-songwriter and poet Busiswa Gqulu. The artist was in the country recently to promote her new reality TV series 'Her Majesty: Busiswa' showing on BET Africa.
Source: NEW FRAME
*Trigger Warning: graphic descriptions of sexual, verbal and physical violence.
Faced with regular violent attacks and little hope of relocation to a safer place, LGBTQIA+ residents of the Kakuma Refugee Camp feel abandoned by the UNHCR.
Making her way back from the clinic in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Miremba Okello* knew there was trouble brewing when she heard the young men taunting: "Shoga, shoga."
Source: Afrik21
The United States of America is again funding access to electricity in Africa. The United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has decided to fund feasibility studies for a solar mini-grid project by Sosai Renewable Energies Company. The Sabon Gari (Nigeria) based company wants to provide electricity to 200,000 women farmers in Kaduna, Kogi, and Plateau states.
Source: Cameroon Tribune
A roundtable conference on the theme 'what opportunities for women in the forestry-wood sector' took place at the Institut Francais in Douala on Friday March 26.
Panelists were drawn from the French Development Agency, the Centre for international cooperation and agronomic research for development, CIRAD, the Ministry of Women Empowerment and the Family, the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife as well as the coordinator of the Network of Training Institutions in Forestry and environment in central Africa, RIFFAEC.
Source: allAfrica
The Ministry of Women, Children and Youth said that it has envisioned to capitalize on the forthcoming General Elections to enhance women's participation in political decision making and boost their contribution in the democratic process.
Women Affairs Mainstreaming and Ensuring Benefit Director with the Ministry Tesfanesh Tefera told The Ethiopian Herald that they have partnered with political parties, women associations, media and other key actors to boost women's involvement in politics.
Source: Times of Zambia
It is worrying that despite efforts by various stakeholders to curb the escalating numbers of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and child trafficking, the vice continues to affect our society.
Child trafficking, one of the worst forms of GBV is often preceded and caused by the inferior position of women and girls in families, communities and societies around the world, Zambia in particular.
In countries where poverty rates are high and gender inequality is pervasive, GBV can lead to the abuse and isolation of women and girls as well as increase their vulnerability of being trafficked.
There is need therefore to continue joining hands with the Government to find a lasting solution aimed at putting to halt the vices affecting our country.
Source: Africa Renewal
Dr. Rokiatou Babio is one of the few women in Benin spearheading a medical team on the COVID-19 frontline. She narrates her gut-wrenching experience on that dark day, a month after taking office.
Source: ReliefWeb
“It is always the innocent who suffer”
Source: African Arguments
The South Sudan crisis since 2013 has caused untold suffering to South Sudanese women. They have experienced displacement, loss of family members and gross human rights violations, including sexual assault and rape.
Women have often been targeted by armed forces and paramilitary groups. According to UN reports, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, INGO reports and humanitarian workers, women and girls are sometimes targeted because of their ethnic affiliation to the leaders and members of the fighting forces, or as a humiliation tactic when they are present in 'enemy' territory.
Source: Global Citizen
Women and girls in Namibia will no longer be charged a luxury tax rate of 15% of value-added tax (VAT) on sanitary products.
The Namibian government eliminated VAT on sanitary products — also known as the “tampon tax” — on March 17. The announcement follows a motion set in place by the deputy minister of information and communication technology, Emma Theofelus, on March 3. The exemption will take effect in the 2022/2023 financial year, according to Finance Minister Iipumbu Shiimi.
Source: MarketScreener
Inherent gender inequality and unequal internet connectivity are some of the reasons women and girls in Africa remain under-represented in the fields of science and technology, according to panelists at the African Girls Can Code Initiative (AGCCI) side event at the 53rd session of the Economic Commission for African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Addis Ababa.
Source: New Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe aims to take advantage of the forthcoming Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) through prioritising women's economic empowerment in order to achieve economic growth.