African women are 130 times more likely to die due to pregnancy or childbirth complications than women in Europe and Northern America, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA) said in a new report published on Wednesday April 17, 2024. Interwoven Lives, Threads of Hope: Ending inequalities in sexual and reproductive health and rights, […]
Ten years ago today, the world was shaken by the horrific kidnapping of over 200 schoolgirls in the town of Chibok, Borno State. This unconscionable act of evil, carried out by the Boko Haram terrorist group, sparked global outrage and a rallying cry to “Bring Back Our Girls.” A decade later, as we reflect on […]
Implement Safe Schools Plan to Protect Schools, Children (Abuja) –Ten years after the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigerian authorities have failed to put in place and sustain crucial measures to provide a secure learning environment for every child, Human Rights Watch said today. Since 2014, according to Save the Children, more than […]
Squatting on the sandy ground, a young girl is weaving grass stems into a roof. The tiny hut she is making is surrounded by tens of thousands of others like it, made hastily of sticks and leaves covered with tarps or plastic sacks. This spontaneous settlement in Adré, a Chadian border town of 12,000 inhabitants, […]
The Gambia’s ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) since 2015 is under threat. Proposed changes before parliament could permit medicalised female genital cutting and allow it for consenting adults. This potential reversal has thrust the country into the global spotlight as the latest example of the backlash against gender equality. The Gambia’s criminalisation of FGM […]
Access to formal finance remains a challenge in Nigeria Only six per cent of women in Nigeria have access to credit despite access to finance in Nigeria progressing from 56 per cent in 2023 to 64 per cent in 2024, a global non-profit group, Women’s World Banking, has said. The information was contained in the […]
The call for increased women’s participation and leadership across all spheres of public and political life in Ghana has reached a critical juncture, with the proposed Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Bill being hailed as the last viable solution to address long-standing gender disparities. At the Women in Governance National Dialogue held in Accra, the Minister […]
Femicide is regarded as “the most brutal and extreme manifestation of violence against women and girls”. A civil society organisation, DOHS Cares Foundation, on Thursday april 4, 2024, led scores of women of different ages and from different fields in a walk against femicide on the streets of Lagos. The walk also raised awareness about […]
Majority of citizens see domestic violence as a private rather than criminal matter. Key findings Gender-based violence ranks as the most important women’s-rights problem that Ugandans say their government and society must address. Half (49%) of citizens say violence against women and girls is a common occurrence in their community. More than seven in 10 […]
Older women and women with disabilities face particular risk of abuse, yet their situation is largely hidden in most global and national violence-related data, according to two new publications released today by the World Health Organization (WHO). The health agency is calling for better research across countries that will help ensure these women are counted, […]
