Sub Saharan Africa

Top female and male leaders from across the continent have launched an Africa Gender Parity Group at the World Economic Forum on Africa. The group of business, government, media, academic and civil society decision-makers are collaborating on ways for companies and countries to eradicate gender inequality and better engage women in the economy.
To read the full article, please visit the All Africa's Website.

Women Right Advancement Protection Alternative (WRAPA), an NGO, has called for media collaboration to strengthen women’s participation in politics. The call was made Tuesday in Abuja by Jennifer Shipley, former Prime Minister of New Zealand.
To read the full article, please visit The Tide Online's Website.

In light of growing evidence of the central role women play in a country’s development, many African governments have implemented quotas to boost the number of women parliamentarians. The phenomenon dovetails with similar initiatives to increase access to education and health care for all women and girls.
To read the full article, please visit UNICEF's Website.

The third Gender and Media (GEM) summit ended in Johannesburg yesterday, Tuesday, 12 August 2008, with a call for the adoption of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development that includes strong provisions for achieving gender balance and sensitivity in the media. The summit took place on the eve of the annual meeting of leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), 16 - 17 August, where the protocol that has been in the making for several years is expected to be adopted.

Gender activists breathed a sigh of relief when a long-delayed gender protocol was signed at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit this weekend. The protocol calls for 50 percent representation by women at all levels of government by 2015 and further calls for member states to put in place legislative measures which guarantee that political and policy structures are gender sensitive.
To read the full article, please visit the IPS News Website.

President Yoweri Museveni has attacked Busiro East MP Susan Nakawuki (FDC) as a young and inexperienced politician who cannot effectively represent her electorate in the Parliament.
To read the full article, please visit the New Vision's Website.

Guinean women, under the auspices of the Women's Association for Change (CFC), have called for better representation in the country's political and social affairs. In a document which they plan to submit to Guinean Premier Kabinet Komara, they also called for the organisation of free and fair elections in 2009, suggesting that legislative polls be held in May and the presidential elections in December.
To read the full article, please visit Afrique en Ligne.

Mozambique believes that women's emancipation is of key importance, but it must be handled in such a way that it empowers women, rather than simply making the statistics look good, said the country's First Lady, Maria da Luz Guebuza, in Brussels on Saturday.
To read the full article, please visit All Africa's Website.

African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) said incidents of violence against women and children in armed conflicts continued unabated in many parts of Africa.
AU Commission Gender and Development Directorate presented its report at the AUPSC 122nd meeting on Tuesday under the theme Mitigating Vulnerabilities of Women and Children in Armed Conflicts.

The Directorate said it is working towards mobilizing financial support for various programs and projects for women to fight poverty and close the gender gap and thereby halt Africa women’s marginalization.