Equality Now, an international human rights organisation that works to protect and promote the rights of women and girls around the world, on Wednesday released its 2011 Annual Report, calling on the global community to “remain vigilant in the face of backlash on women’s rights emanating from escalating fundamentalism.” According to the organisation’s Global Director, Yasmeen Hassan, the backlash on women’s rights often manifests as calls for cultural relativism.
A rash of recent rape cases has sparked local criticism of the weakness of the justice system in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where inadequate resources and simple incompetence mean survivors of sexual violence hold little hope of obtaining justice.
Six women from three remote and far flung villages in Mtwara and Lindi districts in Southern Tanzania have helped to bring a new way of life to their communities after training as solar engineers.
The United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice today called on the new Tunisian Government to take all necessary steps to safeguard the country's achievements in equality, non-discrimination and women's human rights, in accordance with its international human rights obligations.
Women human rights defenders (WHRDs) who promote the rights; health and safety of sexual workers are being persecuted, harassed and arrested. Although sexual work is illegal in Uganda, providing services and support for sex workers is not.
Women representation in parliaments in Africa is unlikely to increase as per the international requirements, former Ugandan minister for ethics and integrity Miria Matembe said on Wednesday.
Elections stakeholders ended a two-day workshop in Yaounde on August 14.
Source: Leadership
The National Council for Gender-based Violence in South Africa, which will lead and monitor the implementation of a 365 Days Plan of Action against gender-based violence for Children and People with Disabilities, will be launched on Saturday.
Source: IOL News
Most South African women are killed by their husbands, boyfriends or same sex partners, a Medical Research Council (MRC) study has found.
Source: Al Jazeera
The deadline set by the international community for Somalia's transitional government is Monday.
Disagreements about who should be among the 275 members of the next parliament, however, are threatening to delay the political process and destabilise the
Source: The Herald
THE constitution-making process in Zimbabwe has been one of the most publicized issue in Zimbabwe's media in the past year with the Constitution Select Committee (Copac)'s numerous "leaked" and semi-drafts having occupied front pages of most print media for a while now.
Source: The Star
The Government established the Women enterprise Fund in 2007 to promote Gender equality and Women Empowerment. The Fund has been able to provide affordable credit to more than 500 000 women across the country, who would not otherwise have accessed credit to the tune of Sh 2.4 billion.
Source: Nigerian Tribune
Regional Editor (News), Olawale Rasheed, reports the recently concluded African First Ladies Peace Mission in Abuja, affirming that Dame Patience Jonathan has re-emerged as the First Lady of first ladies on the African continent.
Source: Ghana News Agency
Ghana is reviewing its National Gender Policy with the goal of building a society devoid of discrimination and harnessing of potential of women and men as citizens regardless of their social groups or circumstances.
Source: Cameroon Tribune
Elections stakeholders ended a two-day workshop in Yaounde on August 14.
Source: capital FM
The Kenyan chapter of the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) has asked the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to lower the nomination fees for women in all elective posts.
Affirming the importance of women's access to safe and legal abortion, the Rwandan government has lifted its reservation to Article 14(2)(c) of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights of Women in Africa (also known as the Maputo Protocol). The Maputo Protocol is the only international treaty that explicitly guarantees the right to legal abortion.
Governments are urged to act with due diligence to prevent and investigate violence against women and girls, prosecute perpetrators and provide protection and redress to victims.
When in January 2008, staff from the International Community of Women living with HIV (ICW) initiated a series of focus group discussions with women living with HIV in Namibia about their experiences they were far from imagining what they would uncover. Of the 230 women interviewed, most reported some form of discrimination in health services and nearly 20% stated that they had been coerced or forced into sterilization.
Source: New Era
The Outapi Magistrate's Court on Monday deferred to September 18 the case in which a police officer stands accused of raping a 16-year-old girl.