In the next 40 years, an unprecedented number of women will be in positions of power, Muslim immigration to the West will rise, and office workers will be unchained from their cubicles, a report released last week says.

The two-day Women's Conference at the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) themed “Women and the Transformation of the African Continent” closed on Saturday after tackling a number of issues impacting on African women.

The South African government claims the key to it achieving its goal of having five million of the country's residents in employment by 2014 rests heavily on tackling the issue of teenage pregnancy.

Speaking at an Independent Development Trust meeting in Plettenberg Bay in Western Cape, deputy public works minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu said that teenage pregnancy condemns many women to a life of poverty.

Two Sudanese Women's Rights Activists spoke about the challenges of civil society in Sudan, and their commitment to continue working with Sudanese women from the North and South through the upcoming referendum.

“We, the women of Darfur, have united to heal the wounds. We have built our power. It is time for the Darfurian movements to unite."

CITIZENSHIP is important as it is also an identity.

Emphasising the value of women's ctizenship, United Nations Human Rights adviser for gender and conflict Indai Sajor encouraged participants at a regional training on eliminating violence against women to expand women's citizenship, participation and leadership.

Kampala — Arua rural women largely have minimal control over land and financial independence over the fruit of their labour. So, most women find alternative means of generating income to supplement farm produce, largely under the men's control.

All Scovia Angiro, 22, had ever known was a cramped hut she was forced to live in with her widowed mom and seven siblings in northern Uganda, where insurgents terrorize the area.

"We could barely have something to eat. We would starve," she said.

The national campaign to grant women equal citizenship, allowing them to pass on their nationality to their children, gathered pace on Thursday as activists spelled out their strategy over the coming months.

A string of national demonstrations, including a protest outside Parliament, are now expected, alongside a petition calling for equal treatment of women, the National Gathering for Removing Discrimination against Women said.