Sub Saharan Africa

The South African Women in Dialogue (SAWID) recently met with women of Namibia to discuss ways in which the local women can organise themselves in their diversity and act together for a better future.

African Women's Development Fund (AWDF), Network for Women's Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), Abantu for Development, Women's Initiative for Self Empowerment (WISE) and Christian Mothers Association of the Catholic Church have paid a visit to Liberian refugee women at the Buduburam refugee camp.The purpose was to allow the women's rights organisations to express their continued support and solidarity with refugee women.
To read the full article, please visit the All Africa's Website.

Last year's presidential and parliamentary elections marked an important milestone in the history of Sierra Leone but according to the National Electoral Commission, out of a total number of 1321 nominees for the local council elections, women constitute just only 17 percent of that number; of the 65 nominees for mayorships and council chairpersons, only 5 percent is women.
To read the full article, please visit the All Africa's Website.

Last year, as she walked to her home, parliamentary candidate Flora Igoki Terah was attacked and tortured by a gang of five men. Terah's case is one of several case studies highlighted in Amnesty International's 2008 report on the state of the world's human rights, released on May 28.
To read the full article, please visit the IPS News Website.

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.

Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt - African women leaders on Sunday vowed to press for the deployment of more female peace-keepers to protect women in conflict and called on the African Union (AU) to appoint more female peace envoys.
To read the full article, please visit Afrique en Ligne

The director for gender issues at the United Nations Development Program says pre-and post-election violence in Africa is making it harder to increase women participation in politics. Uganda-born Winnie Byanyima told VOA there is a challenge in Africa to manage elections better and have smooth political transitions.
To read the full article, please visit the Voice of Amierca'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.