Africa

Media advisory: Conference on Women’s Leadership in the Sahel

The European Union, the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Sahel and UN Women will be convening a Conference on Women’s Leadership in the Sahel, on 9 April, in Brussels.

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Dar es Salaam meeting brings women to the table on extractive industries

A ministerial-level meeting on incorporating gender into extractive industries and natural resource management kicks off on today in Dar es Salaam, bringing together 30 participants from government, civil society, and the United Nations. The two-day meeting marks the beginning of a new partnership between Publish What You Pay and UN Women.

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Women elected to one-fifth of seats during Kenyan elections

After Kenya’s recent national elections on 4 March, an unprecedented 87 of the 416 seats in the National Assembly and Senate will be held by women. As a new Constitutional requirement to ensure one-third representation, another 52 women will be nominated by 2015.

Posted in Africa, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, Governance, Leadership and Political Participation, News, Peace and Security, Stories from the Field | Comments Off

Michelle Bachelet welcomes the appointment of Mary Robinson as Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region of Africa

The former UN High Commissioner and former President of Ireland will serve as Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region of Africa. Her appointment is an historic first and a major milestone in the progress of women’s rights and gender equality.

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Tanzanian Women bring safe drinking water to their communities

With water cooperation as the focus of this year’s World Water Day (22 March), we highlight the experience of the Kingolwira village in Tanzania, where water is scarce but women’s leadership and the community-wide construction of a small dam is now ensuring an equitable distribution of clean water.

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Malian armed and security forces gear up to better protect women and children in conflict situations

A programme run by UN Women and four other UN agencies aims to train 4,000 members of Mali’s defence and security forces and raise awareness among at least 20,000 armed forces personnel around the protection of women and children and international humanitarian law.

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Opening Remarks by John Hendra at the Side Event: “Ending Abuse of Authority for Purposes of Sexual Exploitation (Sextortion): The Experience of the Judiciary in Tanzania”

Opening Remarks by John Hendra, Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director Policy and Programme, UN Women, at the Government of Tanzania Side Event: “Ending Abuse of Authority for Purposes of Sexual Exploitation (Sextortion): The Experience of the Judiciary in Tanzania,” 12 March 2013

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Child Marriages: 39,000 Every Day – More than 140 million girls will marry between 2011 and 2020

Press release by UNICEF, UNFPA, UN Women, WHO, United Nations Foundation and civil society organization. Between 2011 and 2020, more than 140 million girls will become child brides, according to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Posted in Africa, Americas and the Caribbean, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Ending Violence against Women, Human Rights, News, Press Releases, Youth | Comments Off

In the words of Chi Yvonne Leina: How I stopped grandma from ironing my budding breasts

Cameroonian journalist and women’s rights advocate Chi Yvonne Leina is the founder and coordinator of Gender Danger, a grassroots women`s organization that is fighting to end the practice of breast ironing in Cameroon. She will be attending the upcoming CSW this year as a World Pulse correspondent, in the hopes of raising awareness and creating partnerships to help her NGO expand its work to prevent breast ironing in Cameroon. We bring you her first-hand account of the practice of breast ironing as part of UN Women’s “In the Words of…” series.

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As elections approach, school kids cast their vote against violence in Kenya

On the eve of Kenya’s Presidential elections on 4 March, schools and communities are raising awareness to prevent both electoral and domestic violence. Using theatre, art and an essay-writing competition, kids are tackling how to identify and report incidents of violence.

Posted in Africa, Education, Ending Violence against Women, Governance, Leadership and Political Participation, News, Stories from the Field, Youth | Comments Off