Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa says he'd like a woman to succeed him once he leaves. In the past, only two women have ever stood for president, both in 2001. Neither faired well at the polls. At the moment, many Zambians are split about having a woman president. Even though some women think it's unlikely to happen, they say the national and international dialogue sparked as a result of the President's comments, is a great thing.

The relationship between African women and Feminism is a contentious one. Embedded in this connection is the question of whether sisterhood - a mantra assuming a common oppression of all women and signifying feminist international/cross-cultural relations - describes the symbolic and functional representation of African Women. In this book, the contributors, who are aware of the global discourse on women as articulated by Western feminists, interrogate the issues raised by the (mis)representation of African women by both Black and White American feminists. The implications of the dominance of Western men and women in the production of knowledge about Africa are also explored.

The International Rescue Committee seeks a Training Consultant to work closely with the GBV Coordinator and GBV Manager, in Kailahun, Sierra Leone. The goal of the GBV Program in Sierra Leone is to build the capacity of community-based structures to respond to and prevent incidents of Gender-based Violence.

As statistics on maternal mortality ratio indicate that about 40% of women die through childbirth, the deputy Health minister Moses Dani-Baah has reiterated government's commitment and determination to improve access to health delivery among women.

The Lesotho Gender and Media Baseline Study initiated by the Media Institute of Southern Africa in collaboration with Gender Links, a South African non-governmental organisation that promotes gender equality in and through the media shows that women’s views and voices are under-represented in Lesotho’s media.

This report from the Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre and Network (ZWRCN) analyses the major Zimbabwean AIDS policies for their take on gender equity and equality. The policy documents it outlines and analyses are: the National HIV/AIDS policy, the National AIDS Council of Zimbabwe Act and the National AIDS Trust Fund.

The application of ICTs as a tool for effective enhancement of learning, teaching and education management covers the entire spectrum of education from early childhood development, primary, secondary, tertiary, basic education and further education and training. This paper produced by Women Watch however focuses on attempts at introducing ICTs in formal primary and secondary school education in Africa.

What happens to gender relations in communities that diversify into non-traditional, high-value export commodities? What are the gendered effects of new crops on household land, labour and income? How is new horticultural wealth negotiated between men and women?

Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are among the world's five worst conflict zones in which to be a woman or a child, according to a new report issued by the international NGO Save the Children, ahead of Mothers' Day to be marked on 11 May.

Ethiopia is one of the worst countries in the world to be a mother, according to a global study by the NGO, Save the Children. Only Niger and Burkina Faso are ranked worse, according to the annual 'Mothers Index' report released on Tuesday.

A women's organisation in the Republic of Congo, the Association Coeur de Mere, has called for increased sensitisation of women on prenatal care, saying the maternal and infant mortality figures in the country were "worrying".

Isis-Women’s International Cross Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE) resource centre has congratulated the Government of Uganda, the UN, the Global Advisory Committee and all those in partnership of the Bridging the Gender Digital Divide, which is a realisation of the need for a mechanism to bring about an effective growth of an Information society in Africa, including the rural and urban poor women.

In this year's Call for Action the Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) places women's rights to health as part of the larger demand for a fresh look at women's health needs within the framework of primary health care. You can access a copy of the Call for Action and sign up to be an active campaign participant by visiting the website www.wgnrr.org

There has been a whole host of petitions and letter writing campaigns about Amina Lawal, who was sentenced to stoning to death for adultery in August 2002. Many of these are inaccurate and ineffective and may even be damaging to her case and those of others in similar situations, says the organisation BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights, which is responsible for initiating and continuing to support the defences of cases like Ms. Lawal's. The organisation has requested an end to the Amina Lawal international protest letter campaigns for now. "The information currently circulated is inaccurate, and the situation in Nigeria, being volatile, will not be helped by such campaigns."

Gender Co-ordination Network vice-chairperson Emma Kaliya says it is disappointing to note that while Malawi has preached about the 30 percent inclusion of women in government by 2005, the percentage of female Ministers had dropped from 24 percent to 17 percent due to a recent cabinet reshuffle.

The Vice Chairperson for Non Governmental Organisation Gender Co-ordination Network Emma Kaliya says it is disappointing to note that while Malawi as a nation has preached about the 30 percent inclusion of women by 2005, during the recent cabinet reshuffle, the opposite has happened. Kaliya said the percentage of female Ministers has dropped from 24 percent to 17 percent due to the new appointments, which have only targeted men while most appointed female ministers have been deputised.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has welcomed a commitment by Zambia to address allegations of widespread sexual abuse of young girls. The international rights group last Thursday reported it had received a letter from the office of President Levy Mwanawasa stating that an inter-ministerial programme would be established to address the issue of sexual abuse.

It is now common, in developing countries, that the IMF and World Bank make privatization of economic enterprises a pre-condition for balance of payments support, and for development aid. This withdrawal of government ownership and control of economic enterprises is what is here meant by the term 'privatization'. This demand for the state to withdraw from economic enterprise, and to hand over to public or private companies, has even extended to public utilities such as companies concerned with water and electricity supply, telephones and banking. Women need to keep local control of these utilities if there is to be any hope of pushing for gender equity in the distribution of services. In these areas, privatization and profit are the enemies of women.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) combines civil, political, social and economic rights in one standard-setting document. Subsequent human rights treaties reflect the efforts of the international community to give these rights a legal basis at the national and international level. However, the system of treaties that has evolved since 1948 has been defined by a major chasm between those who view narrowly-defined political and civil rights as the "real" human rights and those who argue that economic, social, and cultural rights are more important. Women's Human Rights advocates are critical of this dichotomy because it goes against the principle of the indivisibility of all rights. Feminist analyses of human rights reject the mainstream hierarchy that privileges civil and political rights over economic, social and cultural rights.

Human Rights groups under the auspices of the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All are asking government to come out with strategies that will increase the enrolment of more girls in schools.