Source: UN News Centre
Women remain second-class citizens in too many countries, deprived of basic rights or legitimate opportunities, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, calling on universities to help in the fight to overcome discrimination and change perceptions about what women can and should do.
For the sake of Libyan society as a whole, women must play a more equal and visible role in shaping it.The international community stood united at the London conference on Libya this week - all 42 of them.
Source: Voice of America
Hunger and poverty continue to be major obstacles to the well-being of millions of women and children around the world. The Bread for the World Institute says those problems can be reversed by improving the social, economic and political status of rural women.
Source: Ezega
As we celebrated International Women’s day in March this year, one might ask the question how the status of African women has changed over the years, both on the grass roots level and on the policy level. On this question, both the United Nations and the African Union have been very vocal about the need for protection of women’s rights. However, the problem remains in implementing it.
This is another month of election in Nigeria when the question many pundits and analysts use statistics and mathematics to answer is not only the proportion of Nigerian women that exercised their voting right,
Egyptian women played a critical role in the revolutionary protests that brought down former president Hosni Mubarak last month. But as Egypt transitions toward a new government, questions are being raised about whether women will gain a stronger role in politics.
The official spearheading United Nations efforts to combat the scourge of sexual violence during war today welcomed the decision of authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to prosecute several high-ranking military officers accused of rape.
The United Nations envoy on sexual violence in conflict today underlined the role of the African leadership in combating sexual violence in the continent, and welcomed the commitment expressed by the African Union (AU) to ensure that the problem is eradicated.
Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is among national and international agencies that laid the groundwork for the 1.7 million Liberians, almost half of them women, who last month completed registration to vote in upcoming elections.
Source: UNITE
Survivors of sexual violence from across Africa took to the floor 28 March to speak of their personal experiences and put forward their recommendations for action at the African Union Peace and Security Council's Second Open Session on Sexual Violence, Women and Children in Armed Conflict.
Source: UN News Centre
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged world leaders to take bold decisions to tackle the AIDS epidemic, as he launched a new United Nations report that warns that recent gains, while laudable, are fragile.
Source: PlusNews Global
Media images of men in northern Kenya washing condoms for re-use have underscored the need to improve HIV communication and close gaps in the supply of condoms in rural areas.
Source: UNAIDS
The elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa has come a step closer with the endorsement of a new regional framework following a three-day consultation in Nairobi, Kenya earlier this month.
United Nations human rights officials are providing technical and logistical support to military justice authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the rape trial of General Jerôme Kakwavu, the highest ranking national army officer to be prosecuted for such crimes.
Source: United Nations News Centre
With the post-electoral deadlock in Côte d’Ivoire now entering its fifth month and the crisis showing no signs of abating, the Security Council today demanded an immediate end to the violence against civilians and decided to impose targeted sanctions against former president Laurent Gbagbo, his wife and three associates.
"Women in Zimbabwe are largely seen as a huge demographic to be exploited by politicians who seek our support," says Ntombikayise Mswela. "But when we take to the streets to demand respect and our rights from the same government we are thrown into prison.
Source: AllAfrica
The Namibia National Women's Organisation (Nanawo) has expressed serious concern over the Libyan situation and condemned attacks on Libya by "some European and American selfish economic expansion forces".
Source: The Inquirer
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been recognized for demonstrating outstanding achievements in implementing the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA).
Source: Human Rights Watch
The Libyan government should immediately release Eman al-‘Obeidy, the Libyan woman who accused government forces of raping her last week in Tripoli, and allow her family and international media to confirm independently that she is free and safe, Human Rights Watch today.
As a Libyan woman makes a desperate, dramatic plea for help in a Tripoli hotel, Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller witnesses how Gaddafi's forces deal with dissent.