South Africa has become a safe haven for many people fleeing from war, persecution and more recently homophobia as many African countries deplore homosexuality. Gay people from countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Burundi, to mention a few, relate their stories of facing prejudice for being gay.

Candidate lists for Algeria's May 17th parliamentary elections were due at midnight on April 1st. According to Magharebia news, many political parties included women in their lists but the country's conservative tendencies will likely preclude women from being elected.

Across Africa, the AIDS pandemic is creating chaos for hundreds of thousands of women forced to leave their land and homes when their husbands die. Campaigners say the best way to protect the growing number of these ‘AIDS Widows’ is to introduce and enforce laws which give women equal rights to inherit and own property. In Kenya, these rights continue to be denied. This article by PANOS suggests that there are signs that things might change.

An increasing number of black women want to formally own their own homes and land in the cities where they settled informally under apartheid. But the system is still stacked against them. Anna Weekes hears the incredible story of one woman’s fight to secure her own home in Cape Town.

Hundreds of thousands of women worldwide die as a result of childbirth each year. Millions more survive life-threatening conditions to tell the tale. In this PANOS report, Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda relates the stories of survival. Researchers believe maternal deaths could be cut with better understanding of the experiences of these women.

Women for Women International, a non-profit humanitarian organization, seeks submissions for the Summer 2007 issue of its bi-annual academic journal, Critical Half. The journal is intended to raise awareness and spark debate among a variety of audiences by presenting various perspectives on economic, social, and political issues as they relate to women in international development and conflict and post-conflict societies. Deadline: May 21, 2007

Kamilat Mehdi was walking home after dark with her two sisters when a man stepped out of the shadows and threw sulphuric acid in her face. The acid hit the 21-year-old's eyes, nose, mouth, forehead and chest, splashing onto the faces and backs of her sisters beside her, burning flesh wherever it touched.

Illiteracy, hunger, abuse and other challenges confronting rural women around the world will become focal issues at an international conference late next month in South Africa, a South African official said on Thursday.

As Lesotho's newly-elected legislators settle down to the task of governing, activists are expressing disappointment at the low representation of women in the country's parliament.

The Senegalese parliament has overwhelmingly voted in favour of a bill that introduced gender parity on the lists of proportional representation that political parties should present for legislative polls in the country. Initiated by President Abdoulaye Wade, the passing of the bill means increase in the number of female members of parliament in Senegal's future parliament.

More Moroccan women are living abroad than ever before. Officials in the country organized a seminar to discuss the challenges these women face and to discuss a new council to work actively in response to their unique needs.

A vacancy has arisen in one of the leading youth-based human rights non-governmental organization (NGO) for the position of Gender Programmes Officer. Deadline for applications is 5th April 2007.

Even as Africa races to adopt many of the developed world's norms for children, from universal education to limits on child labor, child sexual abuse remains stubbornly difficult to eradicate. In much of the continent, child advocates say, perpetrators are shielded by the traditionally low status of girls, a view that sexual abuse should be dealt with privately and justice systems that constitute obstacle courses for victims.

Although there are many women-headed enterprises in Africa, it is important to understand the nature of these businesses and the conditions under which they operate. To promote enterprises to reduce poverty and also improve the situation of women, policymakers must be sensitive to the impact of gender relations on women entrepreneurs.

WOMEN OF SIERRA LEONE - IT'S YOUR PARLIAMENT TOO!!!
Workshops to Get More Women Successfully Involved in the July 2007 Elections
Theme: 'Women and Men in partnership in Sierra Leone - the politics of the
future.'
Venue: British Council Freetown Sierra Leone
Date: Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 March 2007
For further information: [email][email protected] or 50/50 Group Email: [email][email protected]

The Women's Movement in Ghana has said that it is time for government and the people of Ghana to recognize and support women's struggle for full citizenship on the auspicious occasion of the 50th independence anniversary celebrations.

The African Union Commission is calling for African women in the area of Science and Technology to submit their CVs. For further information contact: [email][email protected]

Lack of progress in peace talks between Uganda's government and northern rebels has dismayed women uprooted by 20 years of war and they want to play a bigger role in the dialogue, aid workers said on Thursday.

Five years ago a group of fighters marched into Alice Bébo's village, set it on fire and gave the women and girls a choice: submit to rape or die. "I was 14 years old at the time," Bébo told IRIN. Her story is among many that illustrate the sexual violence that has taken place during Côte d'Ivoire's protracted conflict, according to an international human rights group.

New research on the rate at which HIV is spreading through the South African population has once again underlined the fact that women under the age of 30 are at much greater risk of getting the disease than young men, sending a warning to government that it needs to dramatically improve prevention campaigns aimed at this group.