Over the past week Libya’s interim prime minister Abdel Rahim al-Keib has made numerous statements about human rights, at times announcing high priority to the protection of rights in his administration, at others hinting that some Libyan citizens (notably women) shouldn’t expect too much.
Ignoring the role that women can play in peacebuilding increases the chances of failure for sustainable peace processes, a United Nations official said today, adding that recent efforts to include them are slowly leading to progress in various countries.
Voicing concern over statements urging a boycott of Liberia's presidential run-off, the Security Council on Sunday called on all actors to work together to ensure a successful completion of the electoral process.
Source: International Diaspora Engagement Alliance
On May 17, 2011 Obiageli Ezekwesili, Vice President for the World Bank's Africa Region, addressed a packed audience of diaspora civil society dignitaries and various U.S. government officials at the Secretary's Global Diaspora Forum.
Like many Libyan women, Siham el-Zentani was consumed by family responsibilities, staying at home to care for her four teenage children. But when she saw the TV images of Libyan refugees fleeing Moammar Gaddafi’s troops this year, she announced to her husband that she had a new mission. “I want to go,” she said.
Source: The New Age
While rape is so common in South Africa that one woman is raped every 10 minutes – according to figures calculated from the latest police statistics – the Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust might have to close some of its services due to a lack of funding.
Health activist Denis Kibera has seen women bleeding to death from illegal abortions. He has seen women dying after quack doctors used crude equipment to kill their fetuses.
Source:Eurasia News
Before January 14, 2011, al-Nahda was the main opposition group in Tunisia. No one, even its most severe critics, could question the fact that it was the most persecuted group in terms of the number of political prisoners, exiles, and disappearances.
Source: IPS
For the women who participated in the political and social revolutions during the Arab Spring in 2011, there is a significant opportunity to enact real change for women's roles and relationships in the region - and also the possibility things could go the other way.
Source: allAfrica.com
A dynamic programme was re-launched today to help turn the tide against the growing shortage of young girls pursuing careers in the science and technology fields.
Philani Moyo, 27, has been embattled in a protracted dispute with her paternal relatives for the past 10 years. Her relatives want to evict her and her sisters from a house bought by her late parents.
The Libyan National Transitional Council’s first public proclamation after the murder of Colonel Muammar Ghaddafi and its installation in power — about two weeks ago — concerned the proposed annulment of several Libyan statutes, to be replaced by “Sharia law.”
A gender activist has implored government to provide strategic assistance to women as key players in economic development.
The government will establish a research and documentation centre to enhance collection of gender disaggregated data on gender-based violence in the country, Union Vice-President Dr Gharib Mohammed Bilal said here over the weekend.
Source: The Zimbabwean
The ongoing indigenization and economic empowerment drive, launched last year and the subject of much debate, is a potential avenue through which Zimbabwean women can be empowered to claim their rightful place in the economy.
Source: IRIN
Vivien Nsenga (not her real name) does not know the year of her birth, but she knows the date of her gang-rape – 3 April 2010. A petite woman, she appears to be about 19 years old.
On November 2, the Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women's Issues and the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Central Asian Affairs organized a testimony for the Senate Foreign Relations committee on the role of women in the Arab Spring.
Rising cases of a practice known as "corrective rape" whereby lesbians are raped in order to turn them straight is on the rise in South African according to a report by CNN World.
This year the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE) held its third global conference in Istanbul Turkey. The conference, titled “WISE: Muslim Women Leaders at the Frontlines of Change,” lasted just four days, from October 14 to October 17, 2011. It included panel discussions, debates, and training sessions.
Women should voice demands about their rights during the popular uprisings sweeping the Arab world to avoid being short-changed by post-revolutionary governments, Iranian Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi said.