Source: News 24
Is South Africa still struggling with the changing role for women in our modern society?
Will the rights of the women, who participated in the struggles leading to fall of Gaddafi, be put under pressure in the new Libya? Kathryn Spellman-Poots assesses women’s status under Gadaffi and points to the perils ahead.
Source: Amnesty International
Amnesty International called on Egypt's military rulers to uphold the right to peaceful demonstration as women human rights activists staged more protests today.
Source: Say No UNiTE
Wildly popular Senegalese wrestler Omar Sakho, known as Balla Gaye 2, galvanized participants at West Africa's recent regional launch of the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. Making a surprise guest appearance at the Place du Souvenir in Dakar, he stirred a crowd already shouting with excitement. His message: "We do not need violence. Each man has a mother. I say NO to violence against women!"
Source: The New York Times
Several thousand women demanding the end of military rule marched through downtown Cairo on Tuesday evening in an extraordinary expression of anger over images of soldiers beating, stripping and kicking female demonstrators in Tahrir Square.
Source: Women News Network
A Somalian woman and her child, facing critical dangers from malnutrition, wait in line for medical aid July 2011. This malnutrition is marked by drought conditions that have caused adequate food and clean water to be at a minimum. Somalia is the country worst affected by a severe drought that has ravaged large swaths of the Horn of Africa as drought conditions left an estimated 11 million people in need of humanitarian assistance throughout the region. Image: UN/Stuart Price
Bringing rural women’s voices to the decision making table was one of the discussions throughout the recent two week Durban Climate Talks (COP17) which ended on 9 December. One of the conference goals was to bring greater insights for action with solutions for climate change.
Source: IPS
These women are not fashion models, nor are they advertising any product, yet their images look down on passersby from giant black-and-white posters in the Venezuelan capital. There are 52 of them, and they are all mothers who have lost one or more children to the criminal violence that is plaguing the country.
Source: Irin News
Nairobi — The number of reported rapes in camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, has risen sharply, creating "a climate of fear", according to a civil society source.
Legal aid clinics are playing an important role during Madagascar's current political and economic crisis, especially for poverty-hit rural women who are under-served by the country's ailing judicial system.
Thousands of women marched through Cairo on Tuesday evening to call for the end of military rule in an extraordinary expression of anger over images of soldiers beating, stripping and kicking a female demonstrator on the pavement of Tahrir Square.
The head of the United Nation entity tasked with promoting gender equality today voiced concern over reports of attacks against female protesters in Egypt who turned up to exercise their freedom of assembly and expression.
"We have to act now, we've no time to lose! Elections will be held in six months' time and otherwise, we'll be forgotten," says activist Salwa Saad Bugaighis. She's fighting for women's rights in post-Gaddafi Libya. She's hoping the Netherlands can help.
At a pre-wedding evening party in central Tripoli, a group of Libyan women sing traditional songs to the beat of a drum as they prepare to apply henna to the bride's hands and feet.
The Garissa Maternal Shelter in North Eastern Province, Kenya is the only such facility in an area with the country’s highest maternal mortality rate. At 1,000 deaths per 100,000 live births, it is almost double the country’s average.
Source: IPS
Duduzile Sibanda takes a break from preparing her long stretch of land for her maize crop in rural Mberengwa, in Zimbabwe’s Midlands province. She wipes her brow under the scorching sun and looks upwards. The sparse clouds are a cause of concern as she studies the sky and wonders aloud when the "heavens will weep."
Source: Public Agenda
2011 was not so good despite CSOs input into efforts to ensure that the rights of women were upheld, that is the vedict of women activists. Several women's right advocates have said they expect to see a change in the way government responds to women?s rights issues next year, 2012.
Source: The Guardian
Hundreds of women have taken to the streets of Cairo to protest against military rule and the brutal treatment of female protesters by Egypt's security services.
Two days after ending the war in Iraq, President Obama on Monday issued a “national action plan” aimed at giving women a bigger role in resolving conflicts around the world.
Source: Bulawayo24
Women in Bulawayo are angry at the manner in which the B-Metro covers issues pertaining to their victimisation and are planning to stage a demonstration against the weekly tabloid, Msasa Project regional manager, Mrs Lindile Ndebele, told journalists last week.
The drought and famine in the Horn of Africa continues, with the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) recently confirming that the famine in the Middle Shabelle, as well as among internally displaced populations in Afgoye and the Somali capital of Mogadishu, will continue through the end of the year.