An Africa Regional Young Women's Leadership Institute (YWLI) yesterday, began in Accra with a call for a vibrant young women's movement to fight gender stereotypes and empower women to reach their full potential in both private and public life.

Supporting African businesswomen is key to the economic development of the continent. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said many times, "No country can thrive when half its people are left behind." And the evidence is persuasive: small and medium-sized enterprises run by women are major drivers of economic growth.

The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) has categorically denied allegations of misconduct against its peacekeepers in the country's war-stricken state of South Kordofan, and complained that the closure of airspace and restrictions on access are undermining its humanitarian operations there.

President Ellen Johnson has been awarded the 2011 African Gender Award at a ceremony held Saturday night in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, and witnessed by more than a thousand guests, including some of the most influential women on the African continent.

Seven Kachin women have been raped in separate attacks by Burmese troops in the country's north, four of whom were subsequently murdered, a rights group has told DVB.

All incidents occurred in or close to Bhamo district in Kachin state, where additional battalions of Burmese soldiers have been deployed in the past fortnight to fight the insurgent Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has denounced the rape of women and men who are, or appear to be, lesbian or gay.

Women have never acted as mere spectators to history, but far too often revolutionary change has shoved them aside, improving conditions for men, and leaving them — even those who fought in the revolutions — abandoned by the wayside. Not this time, at least not if a new wave of internet savvy women have their way.

Following a protracted period of its dormancy, the Female Journalists Association of Liberia has inducted its leadership with a call not to restrict themselves to reporting just issues of gender based violence if there should be a collective effort to change Liberia. Those inducted were Torwon S. Brown, Coordinator; Siatta S. Johnson, Vice Coordinator and Estelle Liberty, Secretary General.

Women's Opportunity Centers Are The Next Step in Helping Women Survivors of War

The Leader and Chairman of the main opposition, Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) Mr. John Oponjo Benjamin (JOB) has called on President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma to honor his promise he made to the women of Sierra Leone for their 30% quota in governance and civil service.

Mr. Benjamin made this call in his address at the delegate conference of the All Political Party Women's Association (APPWA) at the Bo City Hall in Bo.