Food security cannot be discussed without putting it in a wider context of trade liberalization and gender equity and equality, says a conference report from Aprodev, an association of the 17 major development and humanitarian aid organisations in Europe. Households need to be addressed as units embedded in a social, economic and political environment that reinforces or challenges unjust access to and control over resources. Trade agreements are presented as gender-neutral; however trade, and economic policies are formulated within a social context that enables or disables women to gain access to and control over productive resources. Women’s realities, their key role and multiple responsibilities within the household and their communities in securing sustainable livelihoods are ignored at all levels of decision-making; this despite the fact that women are key contributors to food security, producing about 78% of food in most African countries.

The Government of Burundi and the international community should take urgent action to stop widespread sexual violence, including rape, against women in Burundi, Amnesty International urged in a new report entitled Burundi: Rape - the hidden rights abuse. The growing incidence of rape has been exacerbated by widespread discrimination against women, and its consequences aggravated by poverty, population displacement and a failing health care system. The perpetrators are largely members of the Burundian armed forces and armed political groups, as well as armed criminal gangs who not only rob but also rape.

Twelve-year old Tizalem stands against the outer wall of her parents’ hut in her village in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. She is getting ready for the neighbourhood hairdresser who will be arriving shortly to braid her hair. It is the day before Tizalem’s wedding to 24-year-old Gegahun. In Ethiopia, and in parts of East Africa, West Africa and South Asia, marriage at the age of seven or eight is not uncommon, making Tizalem older than many brides.

Women in Kenya have praised President Mwai Kibaki's promise to waive heavy taxes levied on women's sanitary towels as a move which will greatly enhance women's reproductive health and reduce the costly burden of hygiene on poor women.

Internews has launched an information technology (IT) training programme for African and Asian women working in the media and other communication sectors. The programme, which provides 430 scholarships, is intended for women in the African countries of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, and the Asian countries of Bangladesh, Mongolia, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The scholarships are reserved for "exceptional" women from low-income communities who already use IT for public benefit, who can demonstrate entrepreneurship, and who have the potential to become local role models for girls in their societies.

This work brings together as one volume a wide range of material on women and law from different geographical regions and fields of study, including gender studies, sociology, law and human rights. The book is organised around specific areas of law which impinge upon women: family law; property ownership, including access to land and inheritance systems; reproductive rights; sexual and domestic violence; employment discrimination; and the participation of women in politics. Overall the authors intend to promote the idea that although women and law is a massive subject in Africa, and there are many different cultural and legal contexts and approaches to the debate, there are common threads which relate to the majority of women across the continent.

Vera Chirwa is a prominent human rights activist in Malawi, a prison rapporteur for the African Union - and someone who was imprisoned for speaking out against authoritarian rule under former head of state Hastings Kamuzu Banda. But this pedigree wasn't enough to earn her a shot at Malawi's presidency during the May elections. Chirwa's candidacy was rejected a few days ago by the newly-formed opposition coalition, Mgwirizano, which decided on a male candidate. Republican Party leader Gwanda Chakuamba will be the coalition torch bearer in the upcoming poll.

Women’s Learning Partnership (WLP) and their partner organisation l’Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc (ADFM) have reported that on January 25, 2004, the government of Morocco adopted a new landmark Family Law supporting women’s equality and granting them new rights in marriage and divorce, among others. In April 2001, efforts to pass similar family law reforms were suspended while a Consultative Commission established by His Majesty King Mohammed VI studied the possibility of revising the Moudawana, Morocco's Civil Status Code that encompassed family law governing women's status. The continued advocacy and awareness-raising efforts of women’s rights activists, strong backing by government leaders such as Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi, and the personal public support of HM King Mohammed VI contributed to the Commission’s decision in favour of a reformed Moroccan Family Law.

New Field Foundation is seeking an experienced and qualified person to work as a short-term consultant to coordinate and implement information-gathering and presentations on women’s initiatives in West and Central Africa, in order to inform the planning, grantmaking priorities and strategies of this new foundation. The Research Consultant will work closely with New Field staff to identify and conduct interviews with key resource people, compile and analyze data, and produce reports and presentations on findings to staff and board.

With an estimated 40 percent of people in Africa, South America and Asia living in drylands, land degradation poses a significant threat to food security and survival. This report looks at the relationship between gender and dryland management based on an analysis of field experiences in Africa and Asia. It highlighting the roles of women and men in dryland areas for food security, land conservation/ desertification, and the conservation of biodiversity and it makes available key findings on a number of projects and programs in the regions. It also outlines different aspects to be considered for achieving sustainable and gender-sensitive dryland management.

Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) activists have announced that a successful protest was carried out on Valentines Day in Chitungwiza and five other suburban centres in Harare despite the fact that the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) refused to allow other protests to proceed and threatened to "shoot to kill" any protesters. Peaceful love marches had been planned for Bulawayo, Victoria Falls and central Harare but ZRP were fearful that the spirit of love would overcome hate, said WOZA in a press statement.

Agence France-Presse reported on 19 February 2004, that the topics on Kenya’s first national AIDS conference agenda include the proposed bills on HIV/AIDS and women's rights that are to be debated in parliament; the role of women in fighting HIV/AIDS; discrimination and stigmatization. The meeting aims to provide participants with skills to fight the disease, especially at local level.

Isis-WICCE relocated to Kampala, Uganda at the end of 1993 with an objective of tapping African women's ideas, views and problems and sharing the information with women at the international level. Since the move to Kampala, Isis-WICCE started National-and regional level programmes to facilitate the flow of information from Uganda to other parts of Africa and the rest of the world, and to contribute towards the strengthening of the Uganda and African women's movement. Isis-WICCE exists to promote Justice, and empowerment of women globally through documenting violations of women's rights and facilitating the exchange of information and skills, to strengthen women's capacities, potential, and visibility.

FEMNET'S Men against Gender Based Violence Programme is in the process of conducting a review of existing men groups in Malawi, South Africa, Kenya and Namibia. The review of male initiatives in support of gender equality is already underway in Kenya. FEMNET will document and share the experiences with other male groups in the continent to encourage formation of more men groups and in the process strengthen the Africa Network of Men for Gender Equality. FEMNET will also share the experience with national, regional and global networks, including the INSTRAW and UNIFEM networks.

Representatives of women's organisations in the Great Lakes region have recommended the formation of a regional women's network, which would ensure their effective representation at women's meeting to be held in May in Rwanda and at an international conference for the Great Lakes, planned for later in the year.

They form a single file. Some are singing, though their voices have been dwarfed by the hum of the stream. The girls, estimated around 50, are being accompanied home by three middle-aged women from a nearby river. Suddenly the procession is interrupted by irrepressible sobbing. Several teary-eyed, young women have failed their virginity tests. They are dreading the rebukes and curses, likely to follow, once their parents find out about their status. Men eager to marry virgins in this eastern border town, more than 180 kilometres from the capital Harare, must produce documented proof of their HIV-negative status as part of chief Makoni's controversial anti-AIDS campaign. His unorthodox initiative has drawn the ire of women's rights activists and health care workers, to name but a few.

"We are going to shout about bride price across Africa and we are going to say 'no' to the sale of women,” exclaimed Atuki Turner to a crowded hall at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. Turner was speaking at the opening this week of the first international conference on the tradition of bride price. The groundbreaking event was organised by Mifumi, a women's non-governmental organisation (NGO) in rural eastern Uganda. It brought together activists from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Rwanda and South Africa to discuss the effect that payment of bride price has on women. Delegates also talked about ways of eliminating this practice in Africa and elsewhere.

For the first time, Mozambique has a woman prime minister. Luisa Diogo was appointed by President Joaquim Chissano on Tuesday to replace Pascoal Mocumbi, who is leaving the government to take up a post at a new international health organisation.

More and more local governments across South Africa are privatising their waste management systems. They are doing this because of national government's push to get the private sector more involved in providing basic services, like water and waste management. Municipalities are also privatising to promote black economic empowerment. Who are the winners and who are the losers? Research conducted in Thabazimbi, Sol Plaatje and Johannesburg municipalities shows that both workers and working-class communities suffer as a result of privatisation of basic services. It also shows how, because of the gender division of labour at work and at home, and because women waste management workers employed by private companies are largely left out of collective bargaining agreements, it is women workers who suffer most.

Chemonics International, an international development consulting firm, seeks a Women's Legal Rights Advisor to help implement the USAID-funded Women's Legal Rights Initiative in the SADC region. The Women's Legal Rights Advisor will provide guidance on women's legal rights programs and activities in the region and serve as a liaison with the justice sector, government and civil society counterparts.