Participation

A war is raging in the eastern part of the country, once the centre stage for battles during the 10-year civil war and the place where "blood diamonds" were once mined. But this time the war is not for diamonds, but about whether a woman has the right to stand for paramount chief in the local chieftaincy election.

Activists have spent decades trying to get new laws passed to secure the rights of Ugandan women in the private sphere. As a fresh set of gender-related laws comes before parliament, activists are this time seeking to enlist male legislators as partners in advocating their passage.

Since the onset of violence in Casamance back in 1982, the Senegalese government and the Movement of Democratic Forces in the Casamance (MFDC) have not been able to negotiate a lasting peace. Periods of relative calm have been regularly punctuated by violent flare-ups that lead to fresh negotiations. In recent months, the region has once again been plunged into violent conflict.

A women's umbrella group, the Federation of Feminine Associations and NGOs for the Elections in Cote-Ivoire (FFAOECI), on Monday staged a demonstration in Abidjan in front of the headquarters of the Independent Election Committee (IEC) to press demands for adherence to the election schedule.

The head of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), Ellen Margrethe Løj, has applauded the commitment of Nigeria to involve more women in peacekeeping, saying it is an “important contribution to ensure better results on the ground, in fulfillment of Security Council Resolution 1325 on women and security.” She made the remarks at a colourful ceremony in Liberia's central city of Gbarnga at which she decorated 120 membe

The police yesterday arrested 33 women of the Inter Party Cooperation (IPC) as it foiled a planned demonstration at the Electoral Commission headquarters on Jinja Road in Kampala.

One of Senegal's leading lawyers has mediated labor strikes and defused election violence. Her name is Amsatou Sow Sidibe and Malena Amusa thinks she's a major reason why Senegal is relatively peaceful compared to neighboring Guinea.

When the Guinea massacre rocked the West Coast of Africa last September, I happened to be in the region, right next door in Senegal teaching English.

The United Nations is urging media practitioners in Liberia to play a major role in creating public awareness about gender-based violence, one of the most frequently committed serious crimes in the country, as part of a wider UN push in West Africa to increase media spotlight on sexual violence.

Brigitte Kafui Adjamagbo-Johnson, head of the opposition Democratic Convention of African Peoples party, is Togo's first female presidential candidate. But she has withdrawn from the electoral process.

African women under the aegis of Women Advancement for Economic and Leadership Empowerment (WAELE), has condemned the recent military coup in Niger Republic which ousted President Mamadou Tandja from office.