Thanks for sending me the newsletter. It has lots of interesting things in it. I was really concerned, however, when I saw the header in the newsletter that read Women/Gender. I must say that I am very tired of the word gender altogether. What it means is socially acceptable behaviour according to a person's sex. It therefore applies to both women and men. But it is never used in this way. It has now become a substitute word for women. I realise the UN and other government agencies are key misusers of the word, but is it possible not to use it in Pambazuka? Or if it is used it is used to highlight men's issues as well (although I prefer critical avoidance myself). For me it is a word of assimilation and not at all useful.

The Association of Women's Rights in Development (AWID) invites essays and case studies containing insights into feminist organizational strengthening and movement building. Selected contributions will receive an honorarium of US$1000 to be used in organizational strengthening activities. Selected contributions will also be published by AWID and highlighted at the 10th International AWID Forum on Women's Rights in Development to be held in Bangkok, Thailand on 27-30 October 2005. The call for contributions is available in Arabic, English, French, Russian and Spanish on the website. Deadline for submission is 30 April 2005.

A decade after ratifying and acceding to the famous Beijing Platform of action, women are still viewed as second class citizens throughout much of southern Africa. Gender based violence is still rampant. With the obvious feminization of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, there is an urgent need to critically analyse the current strategies for addressing gender. From April 5-7, 2005, SAfAIDS, the Southern African HIV/AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) will be hosting a regional Gender Mainstreaming Symposium in Mbabane, Swaziland. The Symposium will bring together over 120 specialists and activists in development, gender, human rights and HIV/AIDS.

Gender Links is a dynamic Southern African NGO based in Johannesburg that promotes gender equality in and through the media. GL currently hosts the secretariats for the Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) Network and its South African chapter, SAGEM. GL and its networking partners seek the services of an experienced, highly motivated and committed individual to manage and promote the growth of these networks.

The Khanya College Annual Winter School was launched in July 1999. The Winter School represents an important step in Khanya College's response to the changing political and economic environment within which social movements have to work. In many different ways Khanya College programmes seek to assist communities in the difficult task of developing their responses to globalisation and its various manifestations. The Annual Winter School provides the space for activists from various social movements to work together across different sectors and interests. This is an opportunity for activists from the different sectors to exchange views and share experiences.

A two-day workshop on Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM) for ICT Initiatives, to be held from 7 - 8 May 2005, seeks to bring participants who are interested in gender issues in ICT4D together and to provide them the opportunity to exchange experiences, insight and knowledge in gender and ICT issues. While the workshop will have a strong focus on gender evaluation, emphasis will be put in understanding basic concepts on the intersections between gender and ICTs.

More than 1,000 Muslims have demonstrated in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, against a proposed law which they say contradicts the Koran. The Domestic Relations Bill, which is due to be debated in parliament, is designed to harmonise family relations and protect the rights of women. But the Muslim community say aspects of the bill contravene Islamic law.

Several hundred Kenyan women who say they were raped by British soldiers based in the country are taking their case to the United Nations. Their lawyer Joyce Majiwa has accused the Kenyan and UK authorities of not taking adequate action to help them. The women, mostly from the Samburu and Masai tribes, are seeking millions of pounds in compensation.

This course examines the latest developments with regard to gender equality and considers the implications thereof for the women of Africa. It aims to generate informed debate and hone advocacy and research skills in order to enhance the promotion of gender equality at all levels.

Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN) is a global network of women and men professionals in agriculture and natural resource management who are committed to organizational change for gender equality and environmentally sustainable development. Initiated in Rome in March 2004, amongst its aims the organizations seeks to empower women professionals engaged in agriculture and natural resource management sectors by improving the capabilities and providing them with opportunities to share information and experiences globally. Click on the link below for more information.

The custom of paying a bride price – referred to in Swaziland as "lobola" – is a longstanding tradition in this Southern African country, which is also home to Africa’s last absolute monarchy. But, changing times and social trends are bringing the custom into question – amongst men as well as women. "Lobola is a custom completely tied to a lifestyle that no longer exists," says social worker Sunshine Kunene.

"At the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing, governments committed to remedy some of the ways in which macro-economic policies impact women negatively and disproportionately. But 10 years later, violations of women’s economic rights have only worsened: policymakers have expanded deregulation of manufacturing and investment, boosting profits at the expense of poor women and their families; the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement is a calamity for working people and the environment has become the model for trade agreements worldwide; and privatization has shifted more of the burden for meeting people’s basic needs from governments to women in the household. Nevertheless, women’s economic justice advocates continue to formulate and demand alternative policies that are key to guaranteeing women’s economic rights as outlined in the Beijing Platform for Action." Read the rest of this position paper at MADRE, Demanding Human Rights for Women and Families around the World.

The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa adopted in July 2003 in Maputo will enter into force thirty days (30) after the deposit of the 15th instrument of ratification. To March 8th, only ten (10) countries have ratified and 37 have signed it. Five precious ratifications are still missing before countries that accessed to it are obliged to implement the principles of the Protocol into their laws. In West Africa, three (3) States members of the African Union have ratified and 14 out of the 16 countries of the sub region have signed.

African women made history in 2003 through the adoption of a protocol that specifically protects women’s human rights and breaks new ground in international law. But before the protocol has the force of law, fifteen governments must ratify it. As of early March 2005, ten countries had ratified the Protocol (Comoros, Djibouti, Libya, Lesotho, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Senegal). By writing to African governments to urge ratification, you can help promote desperately needed women’s rights in Africa. Read this Human Rights Watch feature on the Protocol by visiting their website.

A woman is gang-raped by six soldiers, in front of her husband and children, while their companion assaults her 3-year-old daughter. A 13-year-old girl dies, vomiting blood, two days after being brutally raped by a group of militants. A United Nation's peacekeeper trades a desperate woman two eggs for sex. The stories are horrifying and endless and come from a new report by Human Rights Watch, evidence of the ongoing tragedy in a forgotten corner of Africa.

A decade after a landmark United Nations conference resolved to tackle violence against women head on, not enough has been done to put an end to this scourge, say female legislators from East Africa. The members of parliament (MPs) made the claim Tuesday, during a video conference with their counterparts in the United Kingdom, held to commemorate International Women's Day. Legislators from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda said political leaders in their countries had largely relegated violence against women - and other issues related to gender equality - to the back seat of policy-making and resource allocation over the past ten years.

Women play a key role in securing food throughout Africa, yet local customs and legal institutions often discriminate against women, denying them access to land, resources, education and public services. Healthcare is also an issue, particularly HIV/AIDS. Women have to care for themselves and for sick relatives, leaving less time to find or produce food. Research shows that increasing the rights of women also increases food productivity, but the gap between men and women still exists in many countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Increasing girls' access to education and improving women’s health are two important targets set by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). But the simple inclusion of gender in the MDGs should not lead to the assumption that gender issues are now central to development policy and that inequalities will be adequately addressed. Changes in institutional practices, greater monetary investments and creating more opportunities for women - are all needed to make these goals a reality.

In eastern Congo's conflict, government troops and rebel fighters have raped tens of thousands of women and girls, but fewer than a dozen perpetrators have been prosecuted by a judicial system in dire need of reform, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on the eve of International Women's Day. The 52-page report, "Seeking Justice: Prosecution of Sexual Violence in the Congo War," documents how the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken insufficient steps to prosecute those responsible for wartime rape. Human Rights Watch called on the Congolese government and international donors, including the European Union, to take urgent steps to reform Congo's justice system.

On International Women's Day, the Global Campaign for Education released a new report slamming world leaders for their failure to achieve the first and most critical of all the Millennium Development Goals - getting equal numbers of girls as boys into school by 2005. A majority of developing countries are set to miss the target, and new research cited in the report shows that an extra 1 million child deaths will occur this year alone because of failure to close the education gap facing girls.

Unacceptably slow progress on girls' education is perpetuating hunger, poverty and ill health, charged the campaign group. "This is the first of the Millennium goals to be missed," said GCE coordinator Anne Jellema, "and it is being swept under the carpet. The credibility of all the other Millennium goals will be seriously undermined unless the international community agrees fresh action and new resources to guarantee a basic education to every girl."