The empowerment of Africa's women is critical to the achievement of all MDGs, not just the goal of gender equality. Fortunately, awareness of the link between women's empowerment and development continues to grow.

Pakistan People's Party Women Wing Sindh Information Secretary Sharmila Farooqui on Wednesday called for raising socio-economic empowerment of women by ensuring pro-women legislation, pro-women taxation system, more political participation and lucrative education facilities.

Going by the charged reaction to the Mukhtar Mai verdict, it is clear that loopholes in the investigation mechanism and the law need to be fixed. Women victims of violence in Pakistan do not find redress whether through the courts or the country's policing and investigation apparatus.

A court in Bangladesh has sentenced 11 people to life imprisonment for gang raping a female school student during post-election violence in 2001.

A judge in the town of Sirajganj delivered the verdicts on Wednesday.

Six of those convicted were in court to hear their sentences, but five are still on the run and were convicted and sentenced in their absence.

Making sure girls and women have equal access to quality education is key to sustainable economic development, UNICEF said today, as the world celebrates Global Action Week on Education.

Last Tuesday, 61-year-old Man Maya Angbohang, was beaten black and blue by a group of local youth at her residence in Taplejung after accusations of being a witch.

Cases of violence against women on accusations of witchcraft have been reported one after another in the Nepali media recently.

The Global Summit of Women 2011 to be held here from May 5-7, will see the congregation of leading figures from various countries to chart the strategies and programmes to ensure further achievements for women in the economic field.

Senior United Nations officials today stressed the need to promote the participation of women in decision-making, noting that democracy and gender equality are interlinked and mutually reinforcing.

The Palestinian people's oppression continues primarily due to the financial, diplomatic and military support that the Zionist state receives from the USA, and secondly the acquiescence of pro-Western states in the region. After the fall of the Zionists state's long lost brother – the Apartheid state of South Africa – the Palestinian struggle remains perhaps the leading and most potent anti-imperialist struggle in the world.

Palestinian women in the West Bank and Gaza held rallies Monday to commemorate International Women's Day.

In Gaza, hundreds of women took to the streets urging Fatah and Hamas to end their rivalry.