Women and Youth

African youth leaders leave US with new hope

Friday, 06 August 2010 14:48

More than 100 youth leaders from across Africa have wrapped up three days of high-profile, high-level meetings in Washington, with hopes for new action and plans to network for positive change on the Internet and at future gatherings.

(2 Votes)

Tags: Barack Obama - President - US - youth - leaders - future - development - Africa

Women's program launched in volatile northern Mali

Friday, 30 July 2010 15:19

The Manu River Women Peace Network, a West Africa-wide association that works to improve living conditions for women, is launching a program in Mali's extreme north, where conflict, hunger and drought are affecting hundreds of thousands.

(3 Votes)

Tags: woman - peace - Manu River Woman Peace Network - Mali

Niger's presidential race will include first female candidate

Thursday, 29 July 2010 14:32

In Niger, a woman will run for president for the first time in elections due in January. Niger's former minister of culture, Mariama Bayard, announced this week she is a candidate in January's presidential poll.

(2 Votes)

Tags: woman - president - candidate - junta - military - growth - development - Niger

UNICEF signs child protection pact with key rebel group in Darfur

Friday, 23 July 2010 08:05

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) signed a child protection agreement this week, which includes ending the recruitment of child soldiers, with a major rebel group in the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur.

(1 Vote)

Tags: UNICEF - JEM - child soldiers - Nils Kastberg - Radhika Coomaraswamy - Sudan

Darfur rebels, UN to sign deal to protect children

Monday, 19 July 2010 15:34

Rebels in Sudan's Darfur region and the United Nations will sign a deal this week to protect children, an independent mediation group said on Monday, in a move that appears aimed at stopping the use of child soldiers.

(1 Vote)

Tags: UNICEF - JEM - Darfur - child protection - child soldiers - Dennis McNamara - Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue - Sudan

Ghana praised for progress on women's empowerment

Friday, 16 July 2010 12:42

United Nations development chief Helen Clark has lauded the progress made by Ghana towards women's empowerment and gender equality, one of the eight social and economic objectives known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that world leaders have pledged to achieve by 2015.

(2 Votes)

Tags: Helen Clark - UNDP - Millenium Development Goals - Domestic Violence Legislation - Education - Ban Ki-moon - Farhan Haq - Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero - Paul Kagame - Ghana

New funds for orphans and vulnerable children projects in Lesotho

Tuesday, 13 July 2010 12:45

The United Nations Children's Fund has signed a cooperation agreement with two organisations in Lesotho under which it will allocate over $1.2 million to boost an integrated social protection system for orphans and other vulnerable children.

(1 Vote)

Tags: UNICEF - Government of Lesotho - European Commission - UNICEF Orphan and Vulnerable Children's Programme - Naqib Safi - Sentebale - Prince Harry - Prince Seeiso - Lesotho Child Grants programme - World Vision LEsotho - HIV prevention - education - health - Mantsenki Mphalane - Lesotho

New measures to enhance child rights in Republic of Congo

Friday, 02 July 2010 10:59

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has welcomed new measures announced by the Republic of Congo to boost child protection, calling them a major breakthrough for the Central African nation.

(3 Votes)

Tags: UNICEF - Denis Sassou Nguesso - Day of the African Child - Marianne Flack - Convention on the Rights of the Child - African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child - Republic of Congo

AU launches new campaign to fight human trafficking

Friday, 18 June 2010 11:26

The African Union (AU) has launched a new initiative to combat human trafficking on the continent.

(1 Vote)

Tags: African Union - human trafficking - AU Commission Initiative against Trafficking - Bience Gawanas - SADC - Africa

Progress for Angola's children

Friday, 18 June 2010 10:50

A national survey conducted jointly by the United Nations Children's Fund and the government of Angola shows a mixed bag of progress in health and essential services for children since Angola's long-running civil war ended in 2002.

(1 Vote)

Tags: UNICEF - Koen Vanormelingen - Millenium Development Goals - malaria - child mortality - primary education - malnutrition - economic growth - social sector investment - Angola

Central African nations commit to halt use of child soldiers

Friday, 11 June 2010 11:08

Six countries in Central Africa have committed to end the recruitment of child soldiers, a move welcomed by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) as a step forward in giving all young people in the region a better life.

(1 Vote)

Tags: Central Africa - UNICEF - N'Djamena Declaration - child soldiers - Marzio Babille - Cameroon - Chad - Central African Republic - Niger - Nigeria - Sudan

African states push for UN ban on female circumcision

Wednesday, 05 May 2010 13:41

Lawmakers from 27 African countries gathered in Dakar this week for a two-day conference to push for a UN ban on female genital mutilation as a breach of human rights.

Tags: United Nations - Female genital mutilation - African Union - Rose Gkuba - Yetunda Teriba - Mamadou Seck - Senegal

Women voting in large numbers in Southern Sudan

Thursday, 15 April 2010 14:55

As voting continues for a third day in Sudan's first multiparty elections in 24 years, women appear to have come out in huge numbers to participate in the elections. Analysts say the women's vote may be the determining factor.

(1 Vote)

Tags: voting - elections - woman - Darfur - rights - Sudan

Nigeria places woman at head of powerful oil ministry

Wednesday, 07 April 2010 13:14

Nigeria's Acting President Goodluck Jonathan swore-in his new cabinet Tuesday, handing the powerful oil ministry to a woman for the first time and putting a Goldman Sachs banker in charge of finance.

(3 Votes)

Tags: Goodluck Jonathan - oil - ministry - woman - Goldman Sachs - Umaru Yar'Adua - Diezani Allison-Madueke - Nigeria

Mozambique: 7 suspected human traffickers arrested

Tuesday, 30 March 2010 11:25

Mozambican police say they have arrested seven people suspected of trafficking women to neighboring South Africa to work as prostitutes.

(2 Votes)

Tags: human trafficking - woman - South Africa - Mozambique

South Africa to fast-track human trafficking law

Wednesday, 17 March 2010 13:03

South Africa is to fast-track a comprehensive new law against human trafficking before the start of the soccer World Cup, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe said on Tuesday.

(2 Votes)

Tags: 2010 World Cup - Jeff Radebe - human trafficking - Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons BIll - Zambia - Mozambique - Swaziland - Tanzania - South Africa

NBA organises basketball training in Senegal

Tuesday, 16 March 2010 12:08

The U.S. National Basketball Association is organising a Basketball Without Borders workshop in Dakar for youth groups in West Africa.

(1 Vote)

Tags: NBA - basketball - Basketball Without Borders - US - Chris Bosh - Dirk Nowitzki - Dwight Howard - Senegal

Kenya: working to protect children from internet abuse

Thursday, 04 March 2010 14:54

A children's organization, the Kenyan government and Microsoft East Africa Ltd. have launched a program to warn parents about Internet hazards.

(2 Votes)

Tags: ICT - Microsoft - internet - children - youth - Kenya

Serena to build more schools in Africa

Thursday, 25 February 2010 12:10

US tennis star Serena Williams said on Wednesday she planned to help to build one new school every year in parts of Africa where education is beyond the reach of most children.

(4 Votes)

Tags: Serena Williams - tennis - US - school - education - development - Kenya - Africa

UN teaches DR Congo women to tackle rape

Monday, 15 February 2010 12:23

Five goats and some money used to be the price to forget an act of rape in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but UN staff are telling women they can now go to court.

(2 Votes)

Tags: UN - MONUC - rape - Ashraf Sebbabi - Mwitwobe - Joe-Varell Katumwa

Uganda bans female genital mutilation

Friday, 11 December 2009 12:33

Ugandan MPs have voted to outlaw female genital mutilation - also known as female circumcision. Anyone convicted of the practice, which involves cutting off a girl's clitoris, will face 10 years in jail, or a life sentence if a victim dies.