The United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) will today commence a five-day workshop with faith-based organizations in Africa to promoting gender equality and maternal health.

The workshop, which takes place at the Taia Resort in Freetown, will bring together over 100 participants from 35 African countries.

On Saturday July 31, 2010, a 30 year-old woman was brutally murdered by a brother in-law in Ogan village, Pajule, Pader district northern Uganda. Susan Adong--who had three children, was seven months pregnant.
According to the police report, Adong was murdered because the family held her responsible for her husband's death. Adong's husband died in a prison after he was remanded over several cases of physical abuse against Adong.

In a highly anticipated meeting next week, President Obama will sit with Sudanese leaders at the United Nations to discuss the upcoming referendum on independence for the southern part of their country. The vote, scheduled for January 2011 is a pivotal test for the diplomatic community and a potentially historic moment for the war-torn African state.

Isatou Njie-Saidy, Gambian Vice-President, on Friday outlined the progress made by the West African nation towards implementing the UN Security Council resolution on women's rights saying her government has done a lot towards ensuring the full participation and representation of women in peace process.

Erica, a deaf woman who fled her rural village to Lira town, could not communicate with her nurses effectively while giving birth.

She was not aware that she was having twins and stopped pushing after the birth of the first child. “[The nurse] was very rude to me, and she didn't know sign language. She couldn't even tell me to push. She wasn't guiding me. One of my children died,” Erica told Human Rights Watch.

Attaining the United Nations anti- poverty goals, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), hinges on women's participation and empowerment, the African Progress Panel said in a new report published on Friday.

The National Conference for the Kurdish Woman is still ongoing in Dohuk with the participation of 21 Kurdish activists that represent Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran's Kurds, after its opening on Saturday, said the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Women's Union. The conference will last for six days until September 23.

In the market town of Senafe, in southern Eritrea, Fethawi Berhane has just undergone three days of painful labor and complications during child birth that resulted in the death of her baby. Despite the best efforts of a traditional birth attendant her child could not be saved. Luckily Fethawi survived amid the inhygenenic and poorly equipped medical conditions in which she had to give birth.

Armenian and Azerbaijani women from both sides of the longstanding Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between the Caucusus nations will hold a press conference in Tbilisi, Georgia, on the International Day of Peace on Tuesday.

The event, taking place with the support of the United Nations Development Fund for Women and Belgian Senator Dominic Tillman, will be held Sept. 21 in Tbilisi's Betsy Hotel at 4pm, its organizers told Trend.

This morning as global leaders meet in New York to discuss prospects for meeting the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), First Ladies from Africa will be making a case for mothers and children.