AFRICA

Within this region, PeaceWomen is currently monitoring 23 countries (Angola, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Rwanda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Chad, Cote d' Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Western Sahara, Algeria) within five sub-regions.

According to the Human Development Index (HDI), Africa is home to countries with both high levels (Libya 53) and low (Zimbabwe 169) rates of human development, in addition to multiple protracted internal conflicts. According to the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI,) which measures and ranks the level of equality between genders at a country level, countries in Africa rank from 8 (Lesotho) to 133 (Chad).

Currently, there is seven United Nations peacekeeping mission in the region, United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT), African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS), United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), and the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)

For information on National Action Plans in the region for SCR 1325, please click here.

PeaceWomen focuses our updates on materials related to women, peace and security and therefore our resources should not be seen as a comprehensive source on the broader situation in these countries.

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February 9, 2012 (Shabab Libya)
LIBYA: From 0 to 40: LWPP Advocacy Effort Secures Major Representation for Women in New Libyan Assembly The Libyan Women's Platform for Peace (LWPP) welcomes the passage of a new electoral law, which guarantees women at least 40 seats on the 200-member Constituent Assembly that will draft the country's new constitution.
February 8, 2012 (New Internationalist)
ZIMBABWE: Rape at the Border: How Immigration Officials Are Abusing Women in Zimbabwe As we were growing up, we used to hear a story about Nigerian immigration that best illustrated corruption in Africa: it was said when travelling into Nigeria, you had to pay a bribe to the immigration officials even if all your papers were in order. If you neglected to pay the mandatory bribe, the official would return your passport to you and say a page was missing from your passport.
February 8, 2012 (http://www.perspectivesonglobalissues.com/archives/spring-2011-women/womens-transformations-during-c)
RWANDA/LIBERIA: Women's Transformations during Conflict: the New Political Face While women are not new to politics, women's presence and faces in politics have become increasingly more commonplace. Furthermore, women's entrance to politics is not just during times of peace, but also in times of unrest. During a change, conflict, transition or political shift more women are found entering politics, albeit through a series of factors and different representational capacities.
February 8, 2012 (IPS)
SIERRA LEONE: Sierra Leone Drafts a Development Plan for the Next 50 Years The recommendations give specific attention to women, who continue to be under represented in politics and other positions of power. These include a mandatory 30 percent representation of women in political office, a review of Sierra Leone's 1991 constitution, and the creation of an autonomous "Women's Commission" in government.
February 8, 2012 (CNN)
INTERNATIONAL: Can we End Rape as Tool of War? We first thought about starting this piece with the story of Saleha Begum, a survivor of Bangladesh's 1971 war in which, some reports say, as many as 400,000 women were raped. Begum had been tied to a banana tree and repeatedly gang raped and burned with cigarettes for months until she was shot and left for dead in a pile of women. She didn't die, though, and was able to return home, ravaged and five months pregnant. When she got home she was branded a "slut."