Female genital mutilation/cutting has been illegal in Senegal since 1999. But that didn’t stop Dialyma Cisse‘s paternal grandmother from having her cut, against the wishes of the young girl and her parents. Once a social norm is established, even if it is a harmful one, it can be hard for individuals to opt out. Parents fear their daughters may be socially marginalised or face reduced marriage prospects. But in Senegal, and in many countries across Africa and the Arab States, communities are questioning the traditional ways and taking collective action in response.

Much has been aflutter on twitter about the very visible presence of women among the protests that have taken Egypt by storm over the last few weeks, but images of them have remained sparse amid the digital slideshows strung together by major media outlets, portraying mainly dense crowds of the manly. Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights activist Ghada Shahbandar claims the crowd in downtown Cairo is up to 20 per cent female. Others have put the number much higher, at 50 per cent.

This Friday, COSATU, with people from organisations and groups around Gauteng will protest outside the Egyptian embassy in Tshwane to raise their voices in support of the demands of the Egyptian people: Bread, Jobs, Education, Dignity, Democracy, Freedom of Expression. Join workers and people of Egypt and South Africa. Show your support.?

As in many African countries, women in Mozambique often give birth outside of a health facility. Factors leading to this decision include having difficult access to health services, being scared of how they will be treated at a health facility, and feeling more comfortable delivering at home. But, when complications occur at home, women and babies are much less likely to receive the appropriate, life-saving care they need. Women Deliver reports that the Mozambique’s government and partners are working to change this trend by improving health care delivery through the Model Maternities Initiative (MMI). The goal of MMI is to improve maternal and newborn health care services while providing a supportive environment in which women give birth.

A number of female Moroccan seasonal workers in Spain find themselves in a precarious legal and economic situation, a study revealed on 28 January. 'They do not speak Spanish, so they have no way of defending their rights,' said Rachid El Badouli, director of strategic studies at the Orient-Occident Foundation. According to the findings, around 90 per cent of the women are illiterate and come from large poor families. Over 23 per cent of them earn less than 35 euros per day.

The 'deafening' silence by the South African government on issues relating to homosexuality on international platforms has been highly condemned by gay rights groups at a rally spearheaded by the Lesbian and Gay Equality Project (LGEP) outside offices of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in Pretoria on 01 February 2011. Over 150 people attended the march which called for DIRCO and government as a whole to uphold and promote the South African Constitution and urge African Union member states to fight discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.

Beauty Pillow is a rare woman in Malawi - she can afford to run for office. 'I don’t have any donors but I use the little my husband sends from South Africa and from my own business—selling chitenjes (traditional garments), rice and sometimes beans,' Pillow says. Aspiring for local government is no easy task. Beyond campaigning costs and time spent, Pillow says a major challenge will still be to win her party’s favour and make it through the primaries next year.

Police in Uganda should urgently and impartially investigate the killing of the prominent human rights activist David Kato, Human Rights Watch has said. Kato had dedicated his life to fighting for the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexual, and transgender persons (LGBT) in Uganda, facing threats and risks to his personal safety. The government should ensure that members of Uganda's LGBT community have adequate protection from violence and take prompt action against all threats or hate speech likely to incite violence, discrimination, or hostility toward them, Human Rights Watch said.

Tough measures to tackle gender-based violence are more important to South African women than government distribution of free sanitary pads, argues Glenda Muzenda.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday called on President Jacob Zuma to remove controversial former columnist Jon Qwelane as South Africa's ambassador to Uganda. Qwelane had in the past 'launched many verbal assaults on gay and lesbian people', stating publicly that he 'would have disowned his own children if they were gay'.

Ugandan lesbian Brenda Namigadde has been granted a temporary last-minute reprieve, and will not be deported back to Uganda from the United Kingdom. Word came down from the High Court judge as Namigadde was being escorted to the airport this evening. Visit to send an email, tweet or Facebook post in support of Namigadde,

Abortion remains a thorny issue in Kenya today. It was one of the divisive topics that generated emotive debates during the discourse preceding the referendum to enact the new constitution. The issue of right to life and when a pregnancy should be terminated took centre stage to the point that it was tearing this country apart. However, whether it is ethical or not; moral or not, abortion remains an issue that cannot be swept under the carpet. Many women in their 40s and 50s and teenage girls who get unwanted or unplanned pregnancies die every day as they procure unsafe abortions.

Women continue to reap less benefits from employment in agriculture than men in rural areas, and the recent global financial and food crises have slowed down progress towards gender equality in farming-related labour, three United Nations agencies said in a joint report. The report – entitled 'Gender dimensions of agricultural and rural employment: Differentiated pathways out of poverty' – notes that women need access to education, training, credit, markets, technical assistance and labour protection. They also need equal, secure access to land and other assets and 'social capital', including the ability to participate equally in farmers’ organisations.

Noncedo Pulana lacks many things, but she is certainly not short of confidence as she prepares to stand for election as Khayelitsha ward councillor. She feels her long years as an activist in the sprawling township have prepared her to do a better job. Khayelitsha is reputed to be the largest township in South Africa. Created in 1985 to accommodate an influx of black labour to Cape Town, in 20 years its population grew beyond 400,000. Seventy percent of residents still live in shacks of wood and corrugated metal; one in three must walk 200 metres or more to the nearest public water point.

Millions of pregnant women still lack adequate access to insecticide-treated bednets and intermittent preventive treatment despite belligerent efforts in the past decade, a study published in the Lancet shows. The study published Wednesday in the Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal shows that Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPTp) and Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) are not being fully utilised to protect pregnant women from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The study, which reviewed national control strategies from 47 countries across Sub- Saharan Africa, showed that 23 million pregnancies in 2007 were unprotected.

South African organisation Health4Men has called on Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to publicly denounce the violent murder of the gay rights activist David Kato. Kato, an outspoken member of Sexual Minorities Uganda who spoke out against prejudice, intimidation and violence against men who have sex with men, was beaten to death on Wednesday.

The two-day Symposium will review and debate the state of the art in research, policy and practice to support ongoing and emerging research that makes difference.

On Tuesday 1 February, the Lesbian and Gay Equality Project, the Treatment Action Campaign, Section27 and various other civil society, faith-based and community organisations will stage a protest at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

Pastoralist communities in two districts of northeastern Ethiopia have outlawed female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), saying it causes serious health problems to the women and is against their culture, a local official said. The two districts are Amibara and Awash-Fentale in Afar region. 'We are very happy to declare the abandonment of this horrible act on women,' the head of women's affairs in Amibara district, Fatuma Ali, said. 'We would like to thank the elders, our community and all our partners.'

The November 2011 issue of the international journal Gender & Development, (published for Oxfam
GB by Routledge/Taylor and Francis) will focus on Citizenship. Development and feminist policymakers and practitioners, and academic researchers, are all invited to share insights from research and experience of Citizenship-focused development/humanitarian work in particular country contexts, which has direct relevance to development policy and practice.