Gambian plain clothes police have arrested 400 prostitutes in bars, hotels and nightclubs over the past few days, police in the West African tourist destination said on Wednesday.

A Sharia court in Katsina will meet today to consider the appeal of a 30-year-old woman condemned to die by stoning for adultery, a woman's rights groups said.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), recently facilitated a media mission to Kaduna and Bauchi states, regarded as educationally disadvantaged. As the world celebrates children, Andrew Ahiante, who was part of the mission, writes on the gains of sending girls to school.

Most people in East and Central Africa feel that their political leaders are driven by selfish interest rather than national vision, a British Council survey has revealed. Women leaders were found to be less corrupt.

Just back from Angola, Soraya Keshavjee, a professional counsellor, reviews the situation in the country. She calls on the international community to revisit the situation in Angola because of the women of the country.

Following is the set of discussion messages that will be used during the online conference on information access for rural women, June 3-21: WEEK 1: Information Access for Rural Women, WEEK 2: Challenges/Difficulties of setting up and maintaining rural information centres, and WEEK 3: Best practices/Lessons learned and Recommendations.

In observance of the International Day of Action for Women's Health, Ipas calls on political leaders, policymakers, health care providers and others to take action against one of the most serious, most neglected and most preventable global threats to women's wellbeing: lack of access to safe abortion-related care.

"Women's work" like fetching food, tending crops, searching for firewood and carrying water is considered "invisible work" according to recent studies.

The campaign on women's health issues, particularly maternal deaths, was made during the 5th International Women's Health Meeting in Costa Rica in May 1987. The date marked the high point of the campaign and women's organisations all over the world have since then conducted different activities to highlight topical issues chosen annually.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance announced plans for a three-day protest against Western Cape premier Peter Marais, who has come under fire for his views on homosexuals.

A union representing the rights of self employed women hosted its first Mpumalanga conference this week. The objective of the union was primarily to build unity and self-empowerment amongst women whose work was not officially recognised in the formal sector.

A union representing the
rights of self employed women
hosted its first Mpumalanga
conference this week.The
objective of the union was primarily to build unity and self-empowerment amongst women whose work was not officially recognised in the formal sector.

South African women held a conference to assess conditions after the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR), which was held in Durban from 31 August to 7 September, last year. They also assessed preparations for the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)to be held in Johannesburg from 26 August to 4 September.

Isis International-Manila is coming out with the second issue for 2002 of its magazine, Women in Action, with the theme, "Women and Communication."

Barely two months after the discharge and acquittal of Safiya Mohammed by a Sharia Court of Appeal in Sokoto, another case involving a housewife, Rabi Bello, from Gawon Nama area in Wamakko Local Government Area of Sokoto State who was dragged before the Upper Area Court in Sokoto for abortion has now become a centre of attraction.

The Uganda Women Parliamentary Association and the Coalition on the Domestic Relations Bill have agreed to lobby President Yoweri Museveni and the First Lady to support them on the Bill. The decision was reached at a meeting chaired by UWOPA chairperson, Loice Bwambale, at Parliament Buildings in Kampala.

At least 580 million women in the world are illiterate, a top researcher has said. Edith Adera, the Team Leader of the Acacia Initiative at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), said that the figure represented 65 per cent of illiterate people in the world.

An eight-man rapist gang, which specialised in raping young girls, has been arraigned before a Sharia court in Bauchi, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has reported.

The Free State health department says it is currently extending the programme to prevent HIV transmission from mother to child at the existing research sites.

In 2002, 2003 and 2004, the Gender and Water Alliance will publish three annual reports on gender and water. The first report will address gender aspects in water policies and legal and institutional frameworks. You can join in this activity by analysing one or more of your country's (or any other country's) official documents on the roles, duties and rights of women, or women and men. The period of participation is extended to 1 June, 2002.