This article argues that the most important transnational dialogues influencing domestic movements and national policy within Africa are regional discussions and regional diffusions of ideas, norms, practices and strategies. The document explores key mechanisms through which regional influences spread and are diffused. The author focuses on an arena in which these regional linkages and influences have been most visible: in encouraging women to claim political leadership positions. The article demonstrates how important continental and sub-regional influences are for domestic politics, serving as a critical conduit for changing international norms.

The advisor will work within the overall practice areas on the Portfolio, focusing on Social Development and Gender. Within the context of transition from war to peace, the advisor will pay specific attention to gender and conflict sensitivity mainstreaming and other social issues. The advisor will further lead on the issues of gender, social protection, conflicts and others in influencing the preparation of organizational and institutional enhancement.

Under the direct supervision of Head of South Sudan Office or Team Leader of the Project, the project officer supports the planning and management of project by providing and managing data inputs, providing support to coordination, monitoring and implementation and following up on recommendations.

The integration of a gender focus into sector-wide approaches for development (SWAps) presents a number of challenges and opportunities. Case studies of health SWAps in four sub-Saharan African countries suggest that the approach has raised the profile of gender in ministries, but has not yet received the support or capacity to fully integrate gender equity into policy.

International treaties and conferences now recognise the central role of women as caretakers of the natural world. Most societies and governments, however, have been slow to act when it comes to improving women's conditions. They have also neglected the link between women and the environment.

Many believe providing women with microfinance leads to economic, social and political empowerment that transforms gender relations. Others claim microfinance does not change decision-making patterns within households, so may actually reinforce existing gender imbalances.

Ennat Edson didn't think it would end this way. Last year, she was making wedding plans. Now, at just 15, she is back at her mother's cramped, dingy house, nursing a fussing baby her former fiancé refuses to acknowledge is his. Here, and in isolated villages and crumbling cities across the most destitute continent, girls younger than 14 are finding boyfriends and getting married in a bid to escape the empty bellies, numbing work and overwhelming tedium of poverty. Encouraged by their parents, many marry much older men who they hope can give them a better life. Often, they are disappointed. "Poverty is the cancer in our society," says Joyce Banda, Malawi's Minister of Gender, Child Welfare and Community Services. "More girls are marrying young - not out of choice, but because they have no choice," according to the Mail and Guardian.

During a meeting on violence against women in Kabkabiya town, North Darfur, participants cannot agree whether a person who falls pregnant after being raped should be charged with adultery. The discussion takes place during a training programme organised by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Participants include Sudanese policemen, local administrators, civil society representatives and members of the African Union police. The consensus is that, if immediately reported, the crime should not lead to any charges, but some feel she should be arrested for adultery if she fails to report the rape before giving birth.

The latest global study of women in journalism finds that women continue to be the far-second sex in breaking and making news. Monitors for the third Global Media Monitoring Project studied a full day of radio, television and newspaper content in 76 countries on a single day, Feb. 16, 2005. The study found that women continue to be underrepresented, and sometimes outright ignored, as subjects of and sources for news, regardless of the medium. There is not a single major news topic in which women outnumber men as newsmakers. "Even in stories that affect women profoundly, such as gender-based violence, it is the male voice (64 percent of news subjects) that prevails," the report released last week in London found.

Themes of this conference include:
* Gender and poverty in Africa: Emerging issues.
* Poverty as a bane of environmental degradation in Africa.
* Imperatives of environmental degradation in Africa: The role of gender.
* Poverty Alleviation Strategies in Africa: A challenge to African Leaders.

The Libyan government is arbitrarily detaining women and girls indefinitely in “social rehabilitation” facilities, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today (February 28). Officially portrayed as protective homes for women and girls “vulnerable to engaging in moral misconduct,” these facilities are de facto prisons. The 40-page report, “A Threat to Society? Arbitrary Detention of Women and Girls for ‘Social Rehabilitation'" documents numerous and serious human rights abuses that women and girls suffer in these facilities. These include violations of their rights to liberty, freedom of movement, personal dignity, privacy and due process.

This UNESCO study sheds light on underlying reasons for persistent gender gaps in education in Kenya. The analysis offers an understanding of how far we have to go in achieving the Education For All (EFA) goal of eliminating gender disparities and achieving gender equality in education. From gender and historical perspectives, Fatuma Chege and Daniel N. Sifuna systematically examine all levels of education - early childhood, primary education, secondary education, adult literacy, higher education, technical and vocational education and informal sector training and employment.

Social justice advocates welcome the development of Free Open (or Libre) Source Software (FOSS) and regard it as having the potential to make a significant contribution towards bridging not only the digital divide, but also the gender divide. According to the Association for Progressive Communications, the Free Open Source movement is based on ''Open'' pillars: Open Source, Open Standards and Open Content. FOSS (or FLOSS, as it is sometimes called) gives a licence to users to access software source codes, modify them and redistribute the original or modified programs. Women, both in the North and South, stand to gain tremendously from the FOSS movement and it is hailed as having the potential to deliver appropriate information and communication technology on a grand scale to disadvantaged groups.

When they met in Gaborone last August, heads of state of the Southern African Development Community pledged to make sure that women are equally represented in all areas of decision-making in line with an African Union position. The local government elections taking place in South Africa in March are one of the first test cases for the often glaring gap between the grandstanding of leaders at regional events and what actually happens on the ground. As leader of the African National Congress (ANC) President Thabo Mbeki will not have to hang its head in shame. But other parties have some serious soul searching to do, and as head of state Mbeki will need to ask what can be done to bridge the gap between his party and all the rest.

This brief explores the reform of land tenure institutions which re-emerged in the 1990s, and asks if these reforms are any more gender sensitive than those of the past? The paper highlights that a focus of the recent reforms has been on land titling, designed to promote security of tenure and stimulate land markets. The reforms have often been driven by domestic and external neoliberal coalitions, with funding from global and regional organisations which have argued that private property rights are essential for a dynamic agricultural sector. However, democratic transitions, though often fragile, have opened up new possibilities for agrarian reform, placing inequalities in land distribution back on national agendas. The involvement of social movements, including women's movements, and their domestic and international allies has been the other hallmark of recent policy debates on land.

Internews Network is currently seeking a Resident Advisor for Gender Issues Reporting for our community radio project and production studio in Chad. The project is designed to ensure that residents of the region (both permanent and temporary) receive accurate, up-to-date information on events and activities taking place within the region. Reports will be disseminated in multiple local languages in order to reach the greatest number of people.

The purpose of this resource guide, produced by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), is to give an overview of gender sensitive interventions and initiatives directly or indirectly related to health that have been tried at macro and micro levels. Through mapping different experiences, the guide provides information on lessons learned, results achieved, and the challenges that have emerged in promoting gender and health equity. It includes information on gender-sensitive approaches, working methods, practical methodologies and tools which can be incorporated into policies and programmes. In pulling these resources together the aim of the guide is to create a practical reference mechanism for those involved in implementing programmes and policies worldwide.

Uganda's first lady Janet Museveni is running for a seat in parliament on Feb. 23. Anti-AIDS activist Beatrice Were might have supported her a few years ago. But now she blames her for restigmatizing the disease with help from U.S. funding.

This event will address in a sincere, interactive dialogue issues in education, health, economic empowerment, politics/government, spirituality, and social / cultural diversity. There will be 30 participants, including 20 women and the rest young adults (males and females). The participants will be coming from Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana and the US.

"As recently as ten days ago, I wasn't at all sure what I wanted to say in this luncheon address. Then, on February 16th, the United Nations announced the appointment of a new High-Level Panel on UN System-Wide coherence in areas of development, humanitarian assistance and environment. My uncertainty was swiftly brought to an end. The appointment of the panel was done in response to a fiat delivered by the governments of the world during the General Assembly last September. In the so-called 'Outcomes Document' of that gathering, the Secretary-General was 'invited' to launch work 'to further strengthen the management and coordination of United Nations operational activities so that they can make an even more effective contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, including proposals for more tightly-managed entities in the fields of development, humanitarian assistance and the environment.'"