The Working Group on Gender Justice in Africa has called on the African Union (AU) to encourage member states that are yet to ratify the protocol on the rights of women in Africa to do so. In a statement made available to PANA, the Working Group said the AU should ensure that states which have ratified the protocol domesticate it and ensure its implementation. So far, 32 states have ratified the protocol: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

By selling the presidential jet and getting rid of 60 limousines driven by high-ranking officials, Joyce Banda, Malawi’s new president, is making waves. But even before trimming the fat from the state budget, Ms. Banda made headlines when she announced her intention to repeal the country’s anti-gay law shortly after her April swearing-in. If she has her way, Malawi would be one of the rare African countries to do so, reports Africa Renewal Online.

Roger Jean Claude Mbédé spent 16 months in prison with robbers, killers and other criminals. All he did was click the 'send' button on his mobile phone. The 33-year-old Cameroonian still can't believe what happened. On 28 April 2011, Mbédé was sentenced to 36 months in prison and fined 83,370 CFA francs (about 127 euros) for 'homosexual behaviour'. His lawyers immediately appealed the sentence and lodged an application for bail, which was rejected.

The Kenya representatives at the ongoing Sex Workers Freedom Festival have won accolades for their passion and for spearheading a protest against US policies that do not favor sex workers. To begin with, John Mathenge, who was heading the delegation with two other female sex workers from the Kenya Sex Workers Alliance (KESWA) and the Bar Hostess and Empowerment Programm (BHESP), was accorded the Global Youth Activist on Sex Workers Award by the Global Network of Sex Workers Project (NSWP).

South Sudan has the worst reported maternal mortality rate in the world. A 2012 report entitled Women’s Security in South Sudan: Threats in the Home by Geneva-based think-tank Small Arms Survey (SAS) says a national survey carried out in 2006 indicating 2,054 deaths per 100,000 live births may have been an underestimation.

It's a dream come true for African women, says Litha Musyimi-Ogana, the African Union's chief pointsperson on gender issues as she hails the election of the first female head of the AU Commission, saying more women in positions of power will spur the continent's resurgence. 'We are extremely elated about the election of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who has broken the glass ceiling by becoming the first elected woman head of the AU Commission. It's good news for Africa and for the African women,' Musyimi-Ogana, director, women, gender and development directorate, in the AU Commission, said.

In June, the International Rescue Committee, a US based non-governmental organisation, published a report on domestic violence in Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone, finding that abuse - including burning, battery, rape and psychological violence - is common in all three West African countries. The report stated that more than 60 per cent of women in the countries examined are survivors of violence, primarily by their intimate partners.

Over the years, the ambiguous nature of the Zimbabwe prostitution law has subjected women to arbitrary arrests and detention if found walking at night in the streets of Harare. Those accused of loitering have to pay a maximum fine of 16.50 euros. Led by prominent activists – including renowned writer and politician Tsitsi Dangarembga, herself a victim of the arrests – over one hundred women rallied at the Africa Unity Square in Harare to express their anger at the ongoing injustice.

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Google is launching a new campaign, Legalize Love, to pressurize governments into recognizing and decriminalizing homosexuality. With Legalize Love, the search giant wants to ensure its staff have 'the same inclusive experience outside of the office as they do at work', and that LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) communities can feel safe and accepted wherever they are. The campaign will focus on countries like Singapore (in which male homosexuality is illegal) and Poland (which doesn't recognize same-sex couples). Dot429 quotes Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe, Google's head of Diversity and Inclusion, explaining how this initiative will work: 'Singapore wants to be a global financial center and world leader and we can push them on the fact that being a global center and a world leader means you have to treat all people the same, irrespective of their sexual orientation.'

A Sudanese court in Khartoum state sentenced a 23-year-old woman to death by stoning for adultery, a human rights group, the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, has reported (ACJPS). Sudan is one of few countries that implements death by stoning as a punishment. Rights groups condemn this cruel method of execution because it is designed to torture the victim and increase their suffering.

Liberia has no plans to abolish Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) despite mounting demands by local and international organisations, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has said. President Sirleaf said, 'to hastily abolish the practice could spark off a serious societal crisis'. FGM is widely practised in Liberia with thousands of young girls annually initiated in traditional 'schools' known as the Sande Society in preparation for mutilation.

A Ghanaian NGO called Abantu for Development has teamed up with the country’s Department of Women to draft a political affirmative action law to open the doors for women. 'If we do not put in place special temporary measures, women will never make it into public office,' said Hilary Gbedemah, a lawyer and the rector of the Law Institute in Accra who has worked on the draft legislation.

GSec (Grey Security), a hacking crew associated with the international hacktivist collective known as Anonymous, is claiming responsibility for hacking and defacing multiple Ugandan websites, including websites belonging to the Ugandan parliament, PayUganda.com, and pepsi-cola.co.ug. The Anonymous hacktivists claim they have access to Uganda’s official Bank, official news websites, and department of defence.

‘We urge the government of Mali to mobilize the country to recover occupied national territory and to combat fundamentalism and lack of respect for the rule of law.’

Gay rights activists have opened Uganda's first clinic for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in the capital, Kampala, where it will provide testing, counselling and treatment for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. But Richard Nduhura, Uganda's Minister for Health (General Duties), told IRIN/PlusNews the clinic was unnecessary because despite the government's anti-gay stance, 'We don't discriminate and marginalize when it comes to offering health services. When people come for treatment at our health facilities, we can't ask for their sexual orientation.'

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) has started a new project 'End violence: women’s rights and safety online' based on the experience and knowledge gathered in the past years. 'What this experience has shown, and what organisations providing support services to victims of violence have indicated, is that for evidence-building to be effective, a more systematic system for documenting technology-related violations is needed. While trends show that women around the world experience similar kinds of online violence, the lack of systematised data collection and analysis weakens responses to it.'

What do the staggering billions of dollars spent on hair by black women say about them? Perhaps they should listen to some inspirational women. Meanwhile, another Nigerian wins the Caine Prize – but there are questions.

'We salute SYRIZA for its refusal to succumb to intense pressure to capitulate on its platform of repudiating the pro-austerity memorandum Greece has signed and rolling back the savage spending cuts that were a condition of a financial bailout by European bankers.'

Accomplished female leader Betty Mould Iddrisu shares her top 10 lessons about leadership on the continent and the difficulties women have to overcome to reach - and stay - on top.