One out of two migrant is a woman. Increasingly present and increasingly visible, women who live and work away from their countries of origin send billions of dollars to their relatives - often more frequently than men. Read this interview with Ms.Ndioro Ndiaye, Deputy Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on the website

Women groups under the aegis of Women in Peace-building program (WIPNET) of the West Africa Network for Peace-building (WANEP) have called on the Federal Government to enact a law making un-approved arms importation into Nigeria a criminal offence; and to enact a bill to monitor accountability in arms transaction in government security agencies.

Abdulahai Dahir, coordinator of Somali Reunification Women’s Union (SRWU), works with displaced people in Bosasso. He tries to dissuade would-be migrants from risking the sea crossing by showing them graphic photographs of those who died attempting it. His organisation also helps distribute food to about 3,000 Ethiopians who are stranded and homeless in the port.

Despite claims that the world has entered a new era of human rights and democratic representation, minorities continue to be an endangered lot whenever dominant neighbouring peoples have expanded their territories or settlers from far away have acquired new lands by force

The Lesotho government is to improve medical care provided to sexual violence survivors after rape cases reported in the first three months of this year climbed to almost the total number for 2005.

Performing research can be challenging, especially when researchers turn to their own communities. In the - GRACE project, researchers will meet to share their findings and develop their writing skills in early June in Durban, South Africa. Organised in fourteen different teams, they “live and work” in twelve African countries and all tackle a fundamental question: How do women in Africa use information and communication technologies (ICTs) for empowerment?

In years gone by, Algerians who used the term "women's work" would probably have been referring to tasks such as weaving, the manufacture of terra cotta pots, and the production of traditional cakes. Custom in this predominantly Muslim country of North Africa ensured that women were first and foremost wives and homemakers. But, no longer.

Niger's parliament has voted down Africa's Maputo Protocol on women's rights in a setback for the accord aiming to guarantee women equality in all spheres of life and end the practice of female circumcision. The protocol, adopted by African heads of state in 2003 at a summit in Mozambique, came into force last November after being ratified by the threshold 15 nations. The government of Niger, one of the world's poorest nations, approved the protocol back in January, but lawmakers voted against it at the weekend by 42 votes to 31, with four abstentions, official media said on Monday (June 5).

The Liberian army began recruiting women into its new post-war forces yesterday (5 June), part of a move to reform the military. The army will initially have 2,000 troops, with roughly 400 of them women, an official said.

One out of two migrants is a woman. Increasingly present and increasingly visible, women who live and work away from their countries of origin send billions of dollars to their relatives - often more frequently than men. Can this money sent back to Africa, Asia and Latin America serve as a sustainable development tool for the entire population? Can migrant women become investors in their countries of origin? Ms. Ndioro Ndiaye explains how the face of migration - as well as that of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) - is becoming increasingly feminized.

UNIFEM, in collaboration with UNAIDS, has developed this gender and HIV/AIDS web portal to provide up-do-date information on the HIV/AIDS epidemic from a gender-aware perspective.

The Gender, Institutions and Development (GID) database represents a new tool for researchers and policy makers to determine and analyse obstacles to women’s economic development. It covers a total of 162 countries and comprises an array of 50 indicators on gender discrimination.

This paper examines the Ethiopian Government's emphasis on the intensification of agricultural activities in order to increase livelihood options and provide better safety nets for the poor (e.g. through food or cash-for- work programmes). The report explores the impact on child labour and child schooling of public policy interventions formulated within the PRSP, and looks at how changes are mediated through gender and rural/urban differences.

A new advocacy brief from UNESCO looks at the recruitment of women teachers, drawing on research and practice from different contexts. It highlights the importance of women teachers, and also the need for a broad gender equality perspective when developing policy and programmes for women teachers.

As the only international women’s fund in the world designed to respond on short notice, UAF collaborates with women activists in three primary contexts: peace building in situations of armed conflict, escalating violence, or politically volatile environments; potentially precedent-setting legal and legislative actions; and protection of women human rights defenders. UAF exists to enable women to mobilise and act within these brief windows of opportunity by approving emergency funding of up to $5,000 USD within 72 hours of a request.

An interview with Dr Jacinta Muteshi of Kenya's National Commission for Gender and Development, by Kathambi Kinoti.

AWID: What real impact has the United Nations and its processes had on women in Africa?

Jacinta Muteshi: The United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has delivered resources for a lot of our work. By resources I do not mean just financial resources but also technical assistance and capacity building. We need the work of UNIFEM, the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) and other such structures to continue. However they should be strengthened, their profiles raised and their resources increased.

* Click on the link provided to read the rest of the interview.

Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) on behalf of the Eastern Africa Gender Budget Network (EAGBN) is pleased to announce activities of the EAGBN to take place from 12-14 June 2006 at Colline Hotel Mukono, Uganda. The goal of the training workshop is to impart skills and techniques on how to use gender budgeting to analyze HIV/AIDS programmes.

The objective of ANAS is to improve the living conditions of art and crafts people in the Sanmatenga provide, through developing the technical, organisational and management skills of its members, and by facilitating access to credit and to markets.

A new report released in Nairobi last week indicates that the country is unlikely to meet its growth targets if it does not address glaring gender disparities and increase its attention on gender dimensions in economic development. "Kenya Gender and Economic Growth Assessment", was commissioned by the ministry of Trade and Industry and conducted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank.

The long-deferred trial of Swaziland's alleged first serial killer began this week, highlighting the issues raised at the time of the defendant's arrest in 2001: the vulnerability of women and children in the kingdom's patriarchal society.