Five United Nations agencies have banded together to call for urgently addressing gender-biased sex selection favouring boys, a common practice in many parts of South, East and Central Asia that they say fuels a culture of discrimination and violence.

Women have won hard-fought rights in Afghanistan since the austere rule of the Taliban was ended by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001.

But gains made in areas such as education, work and even dress code look shaky as the government plans peace talks that include negotiating with the Taliban. Below are some questions and answers about women's rights in Afghanistan today.

Afghanistan's women are among the most oppressed in the world. Under Taliban-rule, they were denied education, married off as children, and honour killings were considered a family's right.

Coalition forces have been in Afghanistan now for almost 10 years, denying the Taliban the right to govern. So how has life changed for Afghan women?

There are 2000 students at Bamiyan University and women now make up 20 percent.

South Africa has been referred to as the global capital of rape. More recently we've become the international headliner for "corrective rape", which refers to the rape of a lesbian purportedly as a means of "correcting" her sexual orientation or gender identity.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has blacklisted five member states in EAC and IGAD regions for being the gateway for trafficking in persons (TIP) en route to ‘promised land' in southern Africa and Europe.

As the violence between north and south Sudan escalates, leaders from across the continent will meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a special summit of the African Union (AU). The meeting, to be held tomorrow, will focus on Abyei.

Negotiations between Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Southern Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit will be mediated by former South-African President Thabo Mbeki.

Top United Nations officials are at loggerheads over whether rape is being used as a weapon in Libya, issuing contradictory statements and squabbling in a way that critics say is causing an unnecessary distraction as the war in the country rages on.

Young women will be given pepper spray to fight off rapists, the state minister for youth and children, Ronald Kibuule, has said.

Kibule, 28, who took office early this week, said one of his top priorities would be the protection of women against sexual crimes. "It's my role as state minister for youth and children to ensure that the people under my ministry are safe. I will do whatever it takes to protect them."

Feminists and activists criticized the absence of women in Prime Minister Najib Mikati's new Cabinet Monday.

At a time when women's issues have gained momentum in Lebanon, with the approval of several legal amendments toward women's rights, activists described the new Cabinet as a step back for gender equality.

Author: Gilbert Mercier

Original Article published by News Junkie Post, found here.