The best interests of the child are served when the mother and the father are involved in their upbringing. Changing family roles, however, are influencing the socialisation of children. Why then, is consideration of the roles that men play often absent from development programmes targeting children?

In the resource-poor environment of rural Ethiopia parents act strategically when they marry off their sons and daughters. What assets are brought to marriage? How does society endow new couples with the assets (livestock, utensils, grain, clothing and jewellery) needed to set up a farm and family? How do husbands and wives subsequently bargain in their competition to control productive assets?

In March 2001, a capacity building, training workshop was implemented by Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Forestry (MAAIF) Planning Department funded by FAO under the programme of Integrated Support to Sustainable Development and Food Security. This historic workshop generated much consciousness on gender disaggregated data (GDD) by transforming the quality of information gathering and processing. The dynamics of gender in relation to statistical information, the institution of the family in terms of division of labour, resource allocation among men and women, boys and girls, has gained particular significance.

On August 23rd, 2001, Isis-WICCE launched two research reports on Women and War. "Women's Experiences of Armed Conflict Situations in Uganda: The case of Gulu District 1986-1999" and "Medical Interventional Study of War Affected Gulu District, Uganda" are essentially two parts of the same report. The reports are available from Isis WICCE for US$5 each, and will be online by September 2001. Abstracts of the two reports are available on the Wougnet website.

Based in Kampala, Uganda, Raising Voices is a non-profit international organization that works in partnership with local organizations in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania to prevent violence against women and children. Their website includes information on programmatic tools developed by Raising Voices to strengthen violence prevention efforts at the grassroots and current efforts underway within the Region.

On Wednesday, women from Africa held a regional meeting at the Gender Commission gathering. They identified priorities in the fight against racism and racial discrimination on the continent. The women observed that colonialism is a fundamental cause of racism that exists via hierarchies. Women are systematically devalued and placed at the bottom of this hierarchy. This is manifested in racial and ethnic intolerance in armed conflict, resulting in refugees and internally displaced persons, the majority of whom are women and children.

The difficult human rights situation of women in the DRC and the need to increase women's representation in the peace process have spurred UNIFEM and the Office of the Facilitator of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue to call for the equal participation of women at the dialogue, to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 15 October.

The UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) has said it has established a board of inquiry to investigate and report on allegations of misconduct by members of the mission. The establishment of the board follows allegations appearing in Italian media that a former UNMEE peacekeeper was being investigated by the Italian military prosecutor's office over accusations of having allegedly had sex with underage girls while serving in the mission area.

Burundian women are fighting for more representation in the country's affairs. The Collectif des associations des ONGs feminines du Burundi (CAFOB) is at the forefront of this struggle. Its main goals are to fight for the participation of Burundian women in civil and political life, to circulate information on problems related to women and to defend their rights. IRIN interviewed its representative, Christine Ntarwirumugara.

Subscribe to the Womens Rights Watch Nigeria mailing list to receive alerts on women's rights in Nigeria, updates on legislative reforms and landmark judicial decisions. Join us in campaigning against violations of women's rights in Nigeria.WomensRightsWatch-Nigeria is hosted on Kabissa.

An experienced project manager is sought to provide high quality management, co-ordination and capacity building to a European Commission-funded women's health project in the Philippines.

The Centre for Public Health, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia, offers postgraduate education in women's health studies by distance education and on-line. The program adopts a social model of health framework that is suitable for all health professionals and health activists. Kindly note that this does NOT include medical obstetric or gyneacological training. Normal fees for international studens apply.

A long, lonely, lingering illness in a Spanish hospital, a once beautiful young body, wasted and emaciated by contagious diseases, a recent past that had included horrific sexual mutilation of her genital and anal areas and finally, death alone one morning and burial by strangers in an unmarked mass paupers grave on the outskirts of Barcelona. This was the fate of one of the hundreds of young Nigerian girls who have flocked to this part of Spain in the last 18 months.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights today issued a report calling on the United Nations to address discrimination based on both gender and race when it designs and implements its policies and programmes. The recommendation is one of a series contained in "Gender Dimensions of Racial Discrimination", a publication issued to coincide with the ongoing World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa.

The Tigray State (northern Ethiopia) police commission has released rape statistics for the region for this year, the pro-government Walta Information Centre reported on Wednesday. According to the statistics, 130 girls had been raped so far this year, said Walta.

Rape, sexual harassment, abuse, assault, homophobia – the list is endless. In South Africa, girls in particular are the victims of school-based violence. How can schools and their staff – part of the problem – become part of the solution?

Love, in South Africa, can be a dangerous game for girls. Boys use violence in sexual relationships to assert their masculinity. The reliance by some boys, however, on excessive control of girlfriends belies their own vulnerability. How can the ‘normality’ of sexual violence be challenged?

Male sexual aggression against girls is endemic and institutionalised in Zimbabwe. Girls are propositioned by male pupils and teachers inside the school, and by ‘sugar daddies’ outside. Money, gifts and promises of marriage tempt girls into sexual liaisons. What is the role of the peer group culture in encouraging abuse? How can the school help to change attitudes and behaviour?

Each day 1,600 women in poor countries die from pregnancy-related causes. Girls account for two thirds of children out of school, and two-thirds of illiterate adults are women. Oxfam is committed to changing this situation. Find out how in the latest issue of Links, our newsletter on gender.