On 11 February, 2011, the Refugee Law Project (RLP) in collaboration with the Ugandan Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights & Constitutional Law launched a revealing documentary on the realities of lesbian, gay and transgender asylum. This video captures remarks made by Professor Ben Twinomugisha, Dean of Law, Makerere University during the panel discussion after the launch. Copies of the documentary will be available in a couple of weeks. Please email [email][email protected] to book a copy.

'Donor support is absolutely necessary, but not at the expense of ignoring women at both grassroots and decision-making levels. If we can’t get it right at UN events in New York, what message is this sending to governments in Africa?' asks Lindiwe Makhunga at the African Women's Caucus during the 55th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

The future of many girls in Malawi is in jeopardy. Poverty-stricken parents are marrying their daughters off at a tender age, robbing young girls of their right to education and exposing them to gender-based violence and HIV and AIDS in a country with one of the world’s highest prevalence rates, says this article from the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service.

The Women Peacemakers Program-Africa (WPP-A) is organising a Movement building and Gender-sensitive Active Nonviolence training to build the capacities of 26 heads of organisations from conflict and post-conflict fragile states in Africa, notably Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Congo DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Madagascar. The training is to be held in Accra, Ghana from 28 March to 1 April 2011.

Egyptian women describe the spirit of Tahrir and their hope that the equality they found there will live on.

This research report from the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) describes and analyses 12 programmes and interventions from around the world that have sought to alter the sexual attitudes and behaviours of men. It is intended for use by programme managers, service providers, and researchers who are part of IPPF Member Associations and other organisations seeking to develop more effective ways of engaging men and boys and addressing their health needs. In all areas - sexuality and sexual and reproductive health, violence and healthy relationships - the interventions led to behaviour change.

Members of the gay community are taking the government to court to challenge the constitutionality of its anti-sodomy laws. In 2005 gays attempted to register their association, the Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO), with the Registrar of Societies, but their application was turned down in 2007 on the grounds that the republican Constitution does not recognise homosexuals.

This Amnesty International report shows that for many women living in informal settlements, poverty is both a consequence and a cause of violence. Many women who suffer physical, sexual or psychological violence lose income as a result and their productive capacity is impaired. Violence against women also impoverishes their families, communities and societies.

The African Women’s Journal - the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) signature publication - will focus on the first priority theme of the African Women’s Decade (2010-2020): Health, Maternal Mortality and HIV&AIDS.

Egyptian women, just like men, took up the call to ‘hope’ represented by Tahrir Square. In this article, they describe the spirit of Tahrir – the camaraderie and equality they experienced – and their hope that the model of democracy established there will be carried forward as Egyptians shape a new political and social landscape.

The creation of a new department of anthropology, linguistics and gender studies at the University of Cape Town poses a number of disquieting challenges for the political and intellectual project of the African Gender Institute.

The annual meetings of Commonwealth women's ministers and officials began on Saturday 19 February in New York, with an assessment of the progress and challenges in implementing the Commonwealth's 10 year Plan of Action for Gender Equality. At the meeting, it was decided that regional groupings would play a bigger role in monitoring the Plan of Action. Dr Sylvia Anie, Director responsible for Gender at the Secretariat said: 'The formation of regional groups is an important development. Their observations will feed into the general monitoring of the Plan and the groups will hold their first meeting before June.'

'The institutions and organisations below have signed this statement in disapproval of the criteria and formation of the Constitutional Committee, whereby the committee does not include a single female expert. Advancing with a committee like this, triggers fears and suspicions with regards to the future of Egypt and the transitional phase.'

'We the undersigned condemn in the strongest possible terms the murder of Mr David Kato, the Ugandan gay rights campaigner. We wish to state emphatically that homosexuality is neither a sin nor a social or cultural construct. It is a biological given. Homosexuals are human beings like everybody else. Scientific research has been helpful in clearing the fog of ignorance entrenched by some religious texts in regards to homosexuality. Our opinions of homosexuality must change for the better, just as our opinion of slavery has changed, even though it was endorsed by those same religious texts. All violence against gays and people deemed to be gay in Africa must cease forthwith.'

When disaster strikes as it has recently in Southern Africa, everyone is affected. Last week the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned that during the next two or three months parts of Southern Africa will likely experience some of the worst flooding seen in more than 20 years. But for women, the impact can be far greater, and have longer-lasting consequences. Natural disasters are often considered a ‘gender neutral’ topic – that is, something which affects everyone equally. However, according to Indian author and activist Ammu Joseph, ‘every issue has a different impact on different sections of the population, this includes women.’

Graca Machel, president of the Foundation for Community Development of South Africa has said the most important revolution that African women have to get involved in is the economic one. Machel also said women have to be agents and builders of peace in their respective countries.

While aesthetic standards are slowly shifting and some women refuse the destructive practice of forcing weight gain, traditionally in Mauritania a plump figure on a woman signifies wealth and well-being. For generations families force-fed their daughters litres of cow’s or camel’s milk daily in part to improve their marriage prospects. But in recent years, despite health warnings, some girls and women are voluntarily turning to other methods, like taking cortisone products - including one designed to make cattle gain weight; appetite-inducing syrups; and psychotropic medicines.

Carol Gor, 36, thought her chances of obtaining a secondary education ended 11 years ago when her parents, who rely on fishing along Lake Victoria, failed to raise the fees. She stayed at home for a few years, got pregnant and was soon married. But in 2009, Gor sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) alongside her second-eldest son. Her oldest son was completing secondary school then. She has since joined an NGO-sponsored, girls-only secondary school in Muhuru Bay, where students are on full scholarship.

Women writers are coming into their own in African contemporary literature, dominating the shortlist - with nine out of 12 - for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2011 for best book and best first book from Africa. According to South Africa-based editor and writer Helen Moffet, a new generation of African women writers is dabbling in a gamut of subjects like chick lit for the educated working women, thrillers, crime, humour, women's issues and social realities.

On Sunday, 13 February - just 48 hours after the resignation of Hosni Mubarak as president of Egypt in response to 18 days of street demonstrations - physician, novelist and former political prisoner Nawal El Saadawi welcomed 12 other women's rights activists into her Cairo apartment. They joined to celebrate and look forward and backward. 'We need to guarantee that there is no abortion of the revolution,' she told Women's eNews, adding that she had already been in touch with women and men as to how to proceed in this new Egypt. 'I have confidence in the revolution. I am optimistic by nature. I believe in the collective power of women and men.'