This is a statement released by Michelle Bachelet, UN Women executive director, ahead of International Women's Day. The other blog posts in the International Women's Day 2012 blog, have all been commissioned.
President Jakaya Kikwete has said time has come for the adoption of concrete actions in the efforts to end violence against women.
A new index that would measure the degree of women's empowerment in developing countries has been launched by the Unites States Agency for International development in conjunction with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
Source: The New Dawn
Liberia's Anti-Corruption Commission Chair Cllr. Frances Johnson Addison seems preoccupied with one objective at least for now:To ensure that former Police Director Beatrice Munah Sieh Brown and others are brought to book to account for nearly US$1 million provided during her administration at the Liberia National Police to acquire uniforms for the Police.
Source: The New Times
Citing the example of some developing countries that have taken a lead in accelerating women's political participation, the United Nations has highlighted the role of quotas. Rwanda is one of the few countries in Africa that has taken positive measures to enhance the role of women in politics and leadership using the quota system.
Source: The New Times
Officials from various institutions have welcomed the "Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index" (WEAI) which was released last week.
Source: The New Times
Empowered with a needle and thread, Rwandan women, Emelienne Nyiramana and Therese Iribagiza have changed their lives.
Source: The Swazi Observer
Plans to establish the first ever Women's Bank in Swaziland are progressing well, chairperson of the Swaziland Women Economic Empowerment Trust (SWEET) Sibongile Mdluli, who is also the deputy governor at the Central Bank of Swaziland said yesterday.
Source: The Guardian - Poverty Matters Blog
Deaths in childbirth would drop further if the bank cut fees and expanded grants in its spending on reproductive health
Source: IPP Media
President Jakaya Kikwete has said time has come for the adoption of concrete actions in the efforts to end violence against women.
Source: Nairobi Star
Women in Narok county have urged the government to stop advertisement companies from using women images exposing parts of their bodies on billboards.
The right of women to participate in political life is guaranteed by several international conventions, but transforming an abstract right into a reality requires hard work on the ground, says a new study released here.
Women leaders across the 47 Kenyan counties have resolved to mobilize their counterparts in the grassroots to lobby for greater inclusion in processes that promote sustainable development in the country.
Across the Middle East, countries are witnessing parliamentary changes under newly-installed governments which have been credited as a result of the Arab Spring.
Source: All Ghana News
Ghana is to join the global community to celebrate the International Women’s Day with an art exhibition and special concert at Alliance Francaise on March 8.
Kelly Askin has just returned from South Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo where she witnessed the ongoing work of a mobile gender justice court that has been operating in the province with the support of the Open Society Foundations. Here's what she found:
"It is only when women start to organize in large numbers that we become a political force, and begin to move towards the possibility of a truly democratic society in which every human being can be brave, responsible, thinking and diligent in the struggle to live at once freely and unselfishly."
The head of the United Nations entity mandated to promote gender equality today highlighted the role of quotas to accelerate women’s political participation, adding that more hands-on measures are needed to achieve significant progress on this issue.
Opportunities from the Arab Spring to boost the low number of women in parliaments are being missed, while globally the average number of female politicians inched up half a point last year to 19.5 percent, an organization of parliaments said on Friday.
Source: Rwanda Focus
While the entire world will celebrate Women's Day next Thursday, in Rwanda it will mark the start of a month-long campaign to promote women's emancipation.