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MALAWI: Rural Communities Jointly Care for Orphans By Claire Ngozo LILONGWE - At the age of 66, village headman Kamwala of Dedza district in central Malawi is starting to feel the effects of ageing. He gets tired easily and needs frequent naps but says he cannot afford this luxury. He and his wife are caregivers to a one-year-old orphan. MORE >>
DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: Rapid Population Growth Threatens Development By Susan Anyangu-Amu NAIROBI - Margaret Atieno, a 38-year-old mother of six, says she wanted to avoid her last pregnancy. But consistent stock-outs of contraceptive devices at her health care centre in rural Siaya, western Kenya, gave her no choice but to fall pregnant once again, albeit the fact that she did not want another child. MORE >>
HEALTH-UGANDA: EU Supports Law Threatening Access to Medicines By Wambi Michael KAMPALA - The European Union (EU) is funding the drafting of Uganda’s controversial Counterfeit Goods Bill, a proposed law that has caused an outcry as it threatens access to life-saving generic medicines in this low income East African country. Some 90 percent of medicines used in Uganda’s health-care system are imported, of which about 93 percent are generics. MORE >>
RIGHTS-MALAWI: Country Not Safe for Homosexuals By Claire Ngozo LILONGWE - Malawi is quickly becoming unsafe for homosexuals as the country’s police service recently launched a campaign to hunt down and arrest prominent people who are suspected of being gay. MORE >>
POLITICS-NIGERIA : In the Shadows of Men: Women’s Political Marginalisation By Mustapha Muhammad KANO - Ten years after Nigeria returned to civil rule women still play second fiddle in the male-dominated politics of Africa’s most populous nation, women politicians and activists say. MORE >>
DEVELOPMENT-CAMEROON: Are Women the Magic Bullet for "Electoral Apathy"? By Mohamadou Houmfa YAOUNDE - A support network for women's political participation, is challenging head-on what it calls "electoral apathy", after noting a growing trend in electoral abstention. MORE >>
KENYA: Proposed Constitutional Amendment Sets Back Women’s Rights By Susan Anyangu-Amu NAIROBI - Lillian Mutuku, a 34-year-old mother of three, describes her home in Katine area, in Kenya’s Eastern province Tala, as a harsh place to live. The soil is poor, she says, the sun beats down mercilessly and vegetation is sparse. MORE >>
SOUTH AFRICA: Gender Loses Out in Basic Education Crisis By Ann Hellman CAPE TOWN - With the 15th-year review of the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women taking place at the ongoing Commission on the Status of Women in New York, South African teachers and education experts say they fear that a special focus on the advancement of girls is getting lost amidst the growing levels of poverty in the country. MORE >>
RIGHTS: Africa's Success Stories in Gender Empowerment By Thalif Deen* - IPS/TerraViva UNITED NATIONS - Whenever gender empowerment is a vibrant topic of discussion internationally, some of the countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America are invariably singled out for their success stories in politics, education, health care or civil liberties even as Africa is mostly left out of political reckoning - and wrongly so. MORE >>
KENYA: New Bill to Improve State Witness Protection, If Passed By Mary Kiio NAIROBI - Kenyans affected by the violence that erupted after the country’s disputed presidential elections in 2007 may soon be able to speak out without fear. A new bill will offer better protection to state witnesses. MORE >>
EDUCATION-TANZANIA: Pregnant Teens Forced Out of School By Arnaud Bébien DAR-ES-SALAAM - Pregnancy is the leading cause of dropouts for school girls in Tanzania. And a national law forbidding young mothers to return to school after giving birth did not make it any easier for them to continue their education. MORE >>
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African Commission on Human Rights and Peoples' Rights
Human Rights Watch HRW stands with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime and to bring offenders to justice.
South African Human Rights Commission
IDASA - Institute for Democracy in South Africa
