At the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 there was unanimous agreement that sustainable development cannot be realized without gender equality. Yet today, 20 years later, women still face discrimination and continue to demand equal rights, opportunity and participation. At the Rio+20 Conference in Rio de Janeiro, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet will call for robust policies and strong commitments to remove discriminatory barriers, ensure women’s central role in sustainable development, and bring real change in people’s lives.
Ifad's Kanayo Nwanze wants Rio+20 to put smallholder farmers at the centre of the agriculture debate. The draft outcome document of the Rio+20 summit mentions smallholder farmers – many of them women – in growing acknowledgment of their importance in terms of food security, with the continued threat of famine in the Sahel, and environmental sustainability, as farming accounts for at least 14% of global greenhouse emissions.
Practice, which is an extreme form of discrimination, has nothing to do with religion and must be eradicated.
Source: News Track India
The South African Police Union has condemned the appointment of new woman police commissioner Mangwashi Victoria Phiyega citing lack of police experience.
Source: EU
The European External Action Service (EEAS) is creating more visibility and support for women's involvement in peace and security by organizing two events that focus on sharing knowledge, expertise and best practices relevant to gender and human rights issues in peace negotiations and mediation and in the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions.
Source: LSE
LSE’s Simone Datzberger explores the role of women’s networks in championing the rights of women in fragile states.
Source: 7th Space
Gauteng is to beef up programmes aimed at preventing social ills such as substance abuse, violence against women, children and people with disability.
Source: Democratic Alliance
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is profoundly saddened by reports today indicating that Thapelo Makutle, recently named Miss Gay Kuruman, was murdered this past weekend as the victim of a homophobic hate crime.
Source: Zambia Daily Mail
WHILE gender issues elicit a wide array of emotions the proposal to replace 'Free men we stand' with 'Freely we stand' in the chorus of Zambia's national anthem is set to get more tongues wagging.
The annual report of the United Nations Secretary-General on children and armed conflict has been submitted to the Security Council.
The long-running spat between the African Union (AU) and International Criminal Court (ICC) over perceived bias has prompted the AU to push ahead with plans to form its own Africa-wide criminal court, but analysts believe the move could complicate, rather than enhance, international justice.
ABANTU for Development, in collaboration with Women in Broadcasting (WIB) and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) will be organizing a series of monthly press conferences starting from today June 11 to November 13, 2012 (once every month for 6 months) to highlight pertinent issues for consideration by the media and the general public on the urgent need to continue women's rights and gender equality in the Election 2012 and beyond.
As the presidential vote nears, large gangs of men have been assaulting women at the birthplace of the nation’s revolution, reports Sarah A. Topol.
WOMEN and the youth in Kakamega have asked to support the sole woman candidate aspiring for the county's governor's seat in the general election. The county United Democratic Forum interim youth leader Alex Khamasi said time is ripe for a woman governor "who will bring a difference in politics by caring for the vulnerable, the marginalised, women and children through promotion of inclusiveness".
Land relations are critical for women's right in Ghana. This is because of the centrality of land as a resource for the livelihoods of the majority of our population, food, water, fuel and medical plants.
Source: Boston.com
More than 100 women die during childbirth each week in Uganda, a heartbreaking statistic that has energized activists to go to the Supreme Court in a bid to force the government to put more resources toward maternal health care to prevent the wave of deaths.
Source: AllAfrica
Mr Bekele Geleta, Secretary General and Madame Goli Ameri, Undersecretary General, Humanitarian Values and Diplomacy, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
The need for including women in peace processes is widely acknowledged, yet, most mediation processes have nonetheless not offered enough scope to encourage the voices and representation of women. In response to this challenge, ACCORD, under its Peacemaking Unit's African Union (AU) Mediation Support Capacity Project and in collaboration with the AU Peace and Security
Source: Peace Women
Source: The New Age
The woman everyone is talking about today is Mangwashi Victoria "Riah" Phiyega who was yesterday announced as the country's newest police commissioner and the first female to take the job, closing the door on the Bheki Cele saga.