Kate Kamunde, a well-known Kenyan LGBTI activist has for the second time been denied a visa to attend a rights training session in Canada. The visa denial has caused dismay in civil society circles with the Canadian High Commission in Nairobi coming under fire in a letter from the Canadian organisation that had invited Kamunde for the training. Kamunde, the Program Coordinator, AFRA-Kenya was scheduled to attend a key training by the Women’s Human Rights Education Institutes (WHRI) in Canada.

Not quite the role for women the Chief Justice has in mind!

The study presents findings from Dominica, Lesotho, India, Samoa and Sri Lanka. It explores the feminisation debate from a variety of perspectives that have dominated much of the discourse on the role of women teachers within expanding education systems, particularly within primary education provision. The study analyses issues through a broader lens on gender equity as it pertains not just to education, but also to employment and women's rights and empowerment more generally.

The 2011 Rafto Prize is to be awarded to Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG). Frank Mugisha, executive director of SMUG, will receive the award on behalf of the organisation. The prize is awarded to SMUG for its work to make fundamental human rights apply to everyone, and to eliminate discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

cc F S© Mike SclafaniThree women from the global south have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Nada Mustafa Ali tells us who they are, what they did to win the prize and why it is good news for women’s and peace groups.

Phyllis Hakola Jimmy lost her husband in a road accident ten years ago. With six children to look after, life was not easy for the 57-year-old widow. Hakola struggled to feed her children and pay their school fees. Then in 2006, she decided to act, reports Farm Radio Weekly. She met with three other widows. She says, 'I...told them that we cannot just stay with the children without looking for ways to make ends meet.' She asked them to help her form a widows’ group. She wanted to find a way for widows to help themselves and improve their livelihoods. For three years, the widows’ group has been able to access bank loans. Each widow manages her own income-generating activities. But the women also farm collectively. Every member repays a specified amount on pre-determined dates. In this way, each of them contributes to repaying the loan.

A decision by Kenya’s chief justice to introduce the post of female judge in Shari'ah courts is sparking a heated controversy in the African country, with Muslim scholars lashing out at the move. Kenyan Chief Justice Willy Mutunga has earlier unveiled plans to introduce a post of female magistrate in the Islamic courts. He said that the move is part of judicial reforms in the African country, a claim rejected by Muslim scholars.

A new law on child adoption in Malawi is proposing to ban gays and lesbians from adopting children. The law will also not allow individuals found to have unsound mind and former convicted criminals to adopt Malawian children. The proposals were unveiled by Malawi’s special Law Commission chairperson Judge Esmie Chombo in the capital Lilongwe.

West Africa Network for Peace building (WANEP) in partnership with Crises Management Initiative (CMI) has launched a project on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Accra. The initiative is aimed at harnessing the dynamics and socio-political impart of gender-based violence for sustainable peace processes in West Africa. The Project dubbed: 'Addressing GBV in Peace Processes in West Africa', hopes to increase the capacity of local and regional mediators in West Africa to address GBV more effectively in peace mediation processes.

Tanzania should encourage gender parity if it wants to have a competitive economy, a new World Bank report shows. In the report on women, business and the law, Tanzania is listed among 25 countries in sub-Saharan Africa with high levels of gender discrimination regarding the use of property and basic legal transactions such as signing contracts or getting a passport.

After years of living in fear of showing her ID or driving licence to anyone, a transgender Durban woman can now proudly display her documents without being embarrassed or harassed. Her physical journey to womanhood started two years ago when she began hormone treatment and since then she has developed breasts, her facial hair has diminished and her weight has gone down by almost 30kg because the increase in oestrogen has led to a decrease in muscle mass. The task of changing her gender officially was much more difficult. Home Affairs said that since she had not undergone any gender reassignment surgery, her journey to womanhood was incomplete and her details could not be changed.

The African Gender Institute (AGI) and the Women and Gender Studies programme of the University of the Western Cape will on the 11th and the 12th of October 2011, co-host Professor Sylvia Tamale. Professor Tamale will be launching the book, 'African Sexualities, A Reader' and also presenting a seminar on the politics of sexualities in African contexts. The book launch will be on the 11th of October at the Book Lounge (71 Roeland Street, Cape Town) from 17:30hrs to 20:00hrs while the seminar will be on the 12th of October at the Graduate School of Humanities Building at the University of Cape Town from 13:00hrs to 14:30hrs.

Four people were found guilty of the murder of lesbian Zoliswa Nkonyana in a judgment handed down in the Khayelitsha Magistrate's Court on Friday, SAFM reported. Magistrate Raadiya Whaten said the testimony of two witnesses led to the conclusion that Lubabalo Ntlabathi, Sicelo Mase, Luyanda Londzi and Mbulelo Damba took part in the stoning and stabbing of Nkonyana in 2006 when she was 19. Some civil society groups believe Nkonyana was murdered because of her sexuality.

The involvement of men is key to the success of the gender-equality movement, but changing long-held social structures and convincing men of the importance of equal opportunities for women will not happen overnight, experts say. 'Men giving up their superior position is akin to acting out of the normative or prescribed way and [means men can be] ridiculed for acting differently - not like men,' Maria Magezi, programme officer with the NGO, Akina Mama wa Afrika, told IRIN in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

Countries that provide better opportunities for women can raise overall productivity, make institutions more representative and advance development prospects, according to a World Bank report. Focusing on gender equality and development, the 'World Bank Development Report 2012' found that countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have made rapid progress in enhancing women’s education, longevity and lowering fertility levels. Still, there are several fundamental problems that must be addressed.

TrustAfrica has produced a video on their Enhancing Women's Dignity project, which seeks to stop gender violence and increase women’s political participation in seven French-speaking countries in Central and West Africa. The film was shot on-location in several of the project countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal and Mali, where it documents the activities of women who are leading the way to improve their socio-economic conditions and increase their political representation.

From the 18 - 20 July 2011, the first Southern African Regional Feminist Tech Exchange (FTX) was hosted in Johannesburg, South Africa, by JASS (Just Associates) Southern Africa and Women’s Net. The Feminist Tech Exchange, organised under the Building Women’s Collective Power partnership, brought nine women’s rights activists from Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe together to share and build knowledge and skills on communication and ICTs from a feminist perspective. The exchange was convened as a way to strengthen women’s collective organising power through the use of ICTs.

Over the past month, Kenya lost ‘two of its most formidable freedom fighters and justice seekers’ – feminist and political activist Wambui Otieno and environmental activist Wangari Maathai. Sokari Ekine looks at reactions to the passing away of these women across the continent, and to the execution of Troy Davis by the US State of Georgia a week ago.

The Girl Art Project is a one of a kind exhibition in Nairobi running from 18 October to 8 November, 2011 at the Godown Arts Centre. It is a joint project between two groups MWA, Minority Women in Action which advocates for LBTI women’s rights and AFRA-Kenya (Artists for Recognition and Acceptance – an organization of Lesbian Bisexual and Trans Women) through the support of UHAI-EASHRI, the East African Sexual Health and Rights Initiative. The theme of the exhibition is inspired by the female form, presence and experience.

For the third time in five years the Nigerian parliament is considering a law seeking to prohibit same sex marriage after a new bill was presented to the House. The Nigeria government has been seeking to further criminalise same-sex relations in Nigeria through the prohibition of same-sex marriage since 2006.