Prof. Penina Mlama, who addressed a forum of the over 250 delegates at the Arusha sixth Biennial of the Paris-based Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), said the problems of girls' education in the continent were inter-related and therefore, required a holistic rather than a piecemeal approach.

South African Gender Based Violence and Health Initiative is a partnership of 15 organizations working on gender based violence and health issues. SAGBVHI plans to host an annual conference on gender based violence and health in April 2002. Set to become an annual event, the conference will attempt to raise awareness about intersection between gender based violence and health and to find creative ways of building a violent free society.

The UN Refugee Agency's Executive Committee was told Thursday that more women should be included in the current peace talks on the central African state of Burundi.

A comprehensive new web site containing more than 5,000 items from over 400 organizations is now available for professionals working around the globe to end violence against women. The site allows the user to access policy documentation, articles and publications on the latest research, training materials and curricula, and communication materials such as videos, brochures and posters.

Please join us next week on a live radio webcast discussion with women activists and leaders from around the world concerning their reactions in the aftermath of the recent terrorist attacks in the U.S. See details on our website about how you can join in.

The West knows about Africa's leaders - Mandela, Mugabe, Moi, Obasanjo - and
their failures and achievements. But rarely does it think about the tribulations of the oppressed African woman. This is probably because women never seem to own enough, fight or kill enough to make headlines in most African countries. The setting up of the first ever women's Internet newspaper, Africanwoman, might change all this. A group of 36 women from Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Ghana have originated the project. The paper will largely constitute news and features that seek to paint the true picture of Africa through the eyes of women.

"We know that indiscriminate violence and terrorism by state and non-state actors are a global phenomenon. We are particularly aware of the human cost of terrorism and war frequently perpetrated in the name of religion or belief systems. However we regard all of these as assaults on the principle of respect for civilian life."

This new study examines the current state of gender and IT, in terms of the opportunities and obstacles women encounter. It also makes important recommendations for planners, policymakers, and educators. You can download a pdf copy of the executive summary or the full publication for free.

The purpose of the Women's Human Rights Resources Web Site is to provide reliable and diverse information on international women' human rights via the Internet. The site is developed by the Bora Laskin Law Library of University of Toronto, Canada.

ENAWA - European and North American WomenAction has a dossier devoted to messages by women's organizations and feminists, developing a culture of peace. Women's organizations are invited to send their messages, statements and petitions to the IIAV for posting on the ENAWA site.

The Ugandan Health Ministry is considering a mandate to require that all pregnant women receive nevirapine, a drug that can reduce vertical HIV transmission by up to 50%.

The Gender Advocacy Programme invites you to attend its conference: Basic Income Grant- "Changing Women's Realities". The conference is aimed at enabling participants to understand the need to introduce Basic Income Grant and how it is envisaged to work and develop and strengthen lobbying and advocacy strategies for the introduction of the Basic Income Grant.

Recent findings by the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM's independent experts' observation in war-torn countries show that traditional gender roles change in countries recovering from long periods of protracted wars.

This id21 Education initiative is part of a DFID-funded research project to raise awareness about the sexual abuse of girls in schools in southern Africa and disseminate information on the issues. Of particular concern to health specialists are the implications for HIV infection.

The African Gender Institute newsletter Vol 8, July 2001. "The broad global dynamics of militarisation - the inherently international process inexorably linked to capital accumulation and to struggles for global hegemony - will be the subject of this newsletter. For now, as the title suggests, our focus is on bringing gender to bear on our understanding of the more localised manifestations of war and militarism in Africa."

At the beginning of September 2001, the Ethiopian government suspended the
Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association(EWLA) and froze its bank accounts. EWLA was established in 1995 and has been active in defending the rights of women by providing legal services to battered, raped, abducted women and those suffering from all form's of violence. It has also done a commendable job at the level of advocacy by having revision of gender-insensitive articles in the law and by having an entirely new law such as the family law passed by the parliament. EWLA is totally non political and in fact has worked a great deal in cooperation with government agencies.

The Gender, Science and Technology Gateway is a clearinghouse of resources, information and activities in gender, science and technology for sustainable and equitable development. The goal of the Gateway is to promote women's contributions and provide resources for policy makers, agencies and NGOs seeking to benefit from the active participation of women and men in science and technology for development.

The Swazi government has come under fire for trying to enforce Umchwasho, a cultural practice encouraging young women to keep their virginity, in an effort to fight Aids.

The UN's proposed International Year of the Mountains (IYM) 2002 has presented a unique opportunity to highlight the realities of life in the mountains and put women on the mountain agenda. In this context, ICIMOD and the Mountain Forum plan to hold a global conference, 'Celebrating Mountain Women' (CMW), to launch a long-term programme for mountain women at ICIMOD. This international conference is a chance to celebrate the drive, spirit and diversity of mountain women everywhere.

Three independent experts are visiting the DRC, Rwanda and Somalia to assess the impact of armed conflict on women and women's role in peace building, the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) announced on Wednesday.