Minorities in Independent Namibia by James Suzman considers the extent to which SWAPO’s attempts at nation-building have favoured some communities over others. In a balanced study, the author documents the constitutional and legal safeguards for minorities in Namibia, and discusses the government's human rights record. The report covers many of Namibia's ethnic minority communities and topical concerns, including: the crackdown on secessionists in Caprivi, the potential impact on the Himba of a proposed dam on the Kunene River, the extreme marginality of the San, the role of traditional authorities and leaders, and women's equality.

The Rural Women's Network of Senegal and ENDA-PRONAT are organizing a conference on "Rural Women's Access to land" - from 25-27 February 2003 in Thiès, Senegal. An online discussion is now open on the new Dimitra website http://www.fao.org/dimitra/ in preparation for this event.

The Executive Director of the National Youth Council Alex Mseka has declared that the war on HIV/Aids can only be won if the youth are sensitised on the dangers of contracting HIV. Mseka made these remarks during the official opening of the Gender and HIV/Aids awareness and capacity building workshop for NGO’s organised by Counseling of the Adolescent and Youth Organisation in Mponela.

One area in which stigma and discrimination affect women living with HIV/Aids is reproductive health. This report summarises available information concerning barriers and discrimination that women living with HIV/Aids face in exercising their full sexual and reproductive rights concerning pregnancy.

Declining numbers of women students pursuing science and technology courses in Kenya's institutions of higher learning are causing concern in this East African country. According to current Ministry of Education figures, women, who form 21.5 percent of Kenya's 45,000 university students, constitute less than 20 percent of students studying these courses.

In an effort to better understand and improve the status and quality of life of women in the Republic of Congo, the government has begun the compilation of data on violence against women country-wide.

Research conducted by the Centre for Social Research at the University of Malawi suggests that 81.5% in the ministry of Labour and Vocational Training were found to be willing to go for voluntary counseling and testing (VCT). The ministry has commended women within the ministry for taking a leading role in the fight against HIV/AIDS in their on-going HIV/AIDS Workplace Programme.

Justice came of age in spectacular fashion in New York last week when women bagged six of the top seven judicial seats on the new International Criminal Court. Intensive lobbying by a women's rights group saw female candidates dominate early rounds of voting for judges on what will be the world's first permanent war crimes court.

PROMPT, a UK based charity working in partnership with The Mifumi Project and The Nagongera Women's Guild in Tororo, Eastern Uganda, has established a pilot project with funds from Comic Relief, which is one of the first of its kind in Uganda. The purpose of the project is to promote protection for and support the needs of women experiencing domestic violence, by putting in place a number of policy, procedural and practical measures.

Women in Mali face high risks during pregnancy and childbirth, and about one in 19 die from pregnancy-related causes, the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights reported last Wednesday. A third of deaths among women aged 15-49 were due to complications resulting from pregnancy and childbirth, according to the institution.

Troubled by figures indicating that between 100 million and 130 million women suffered female genital mutilation or cutting as girls, UNICEF has called on governments to abide by commitments they made at the UN Special Session on Children and move immediately to end the disturbing phenomenon by 2010.
Related Link:
* Kenyan girls flee mutilation
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/world/africa/2736317.stm

This document - produced by UNAIDS - provides an overview of the impacts of the HIV/AIDS epidemic by gender and considers prevention and care issues, especially as they relate to women.

The Law Society of SA has welcomed the appointment of Judge Navanathem Pillay to the International Criminal Court. "Her involvement will no doubt boost the court's commitment to upholding women's rights worldwide. This is evidenced by Judge Pillay's work on the Rwanda Tribunal's bench, which proves that the presence of female judges can contribute significantly to effective prosecution of sexual violence against women," said the society.

Women with disabilities are experiencing double discrimination and have been cut out of programmes generally aimed at empowering women, the Swapo Party Women's Council says. Disabled women are also being excluded from drought relief food because they are not registered to receive food.

Kenyan women's rights groups have expressed outrage at recent incidents in which policemen have been accused of rape, and urged the authorities to take appropriate action to instil discipline within the force in order to stamp out such crimes.

If a draft protocol on the rights of women in Africa was passed in its current form by the African Union, the union would for the first time set lower standards than those already existing regionally and internationally, according to a letter sent to the African Union on behalf of Equality Now and the participants of an NGO meeting on the protocol held recently in Addis Ababa. Click on the link below to read the letter and a mark-up of the protocol showing where it falls below international standards.

Four wives of African presidents joined hundreds of women in Addis Ababa on Tuesday to call for zero tolerance to female genital mutilation. The wives of leaders from Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Mali and Guinea condemned the traditional practice as barbaric and called for international action against it.

Pula is the newsletter of the Association for Progressive Communications Africa Women (APC-Africa-Women). Pula aims to promote and profile the work and activities of women's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) initiatives in Africa and to act as a communicative tool to link women to each other and to initiatives and opportunities. To subscribe or unsubscribe email [email protected]

Touched by the prevalent poverty among rural women, a non-governmental organisation is providing micro credit facilities to women at the grassroots with the conviction that it will empower them economically. The Women Organisation For Gender Issues (WOGI) grants small loans to women who have viable business proposals. The beneficiaries of the loans are expected to repay within a 12-month period. The loan is interest free.

Barely a month in power, the new government of President Mwai Kibaki is coming under fire from certain sectors regarding the latest senior appointments. The latest voice of discontent has come from the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) - Kenya chapter, which claimed that recent political appointments were particularly unfair to women.