Women Leaders - Africa

Noncedo Pulana and her children in Khayelitsha Credit:  Erna Curry/IPS

SOUTH AFRICA: New, Assertive Women’s Voices in Local Elections

Noncedo Pulana lacks many things, but she is certainly not short of confidence as she prepares to stand for election as Khayelitsha ward councillor. She feels her long years as an activist in the sprawling township have prepared her to do a better job.

Local govt previously provided space to advocate for the basic needs of women like these. Credit:  Claire Ngozo/IPS

Malawi Missing Its Local Government

An hour and fifteen minutes each day: Melina Kalunga has plenty of time to measure how long it takes to resolve a legal battle over Malawi's Electoral Commission.

South Sudanese expatriate voting in Kampala, Uganda. Credit:  James Siya/IPS

SOUTH SUDAN: Women Dream of Independence

John Garang, the revered late leader of the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement, once said that women are the "the poorest of the poor and the marginalised of the marginalised". As the reality of an independent South Sudan approaches, the region's women have vowed they will not remain second class citizens.

Joyce Labosa and Millie Odhiambo, MP's at the forefront fighting for disabled women's rights Credit: Miriam Gathigah/IPS

KENYA: No Easy Path for Disabled Women with Political Dreams

"People living with disability face all sorts of discrimination. We are discriminated against at job interviews in schools. Everyday is a battle to remain positive in the face of a world that is too bent on dismissing those among us that do not meet the standard of what is normal", explains Mishi Juma, a disabled community leader from the Coast region.

Namibia Finance Minister, Saara Kuugong Credit: Brigitte Weidlich/IPS Credit: Brigitte Weidlich

POLITICS- NAMIBIA: Numbers of Women in Government Declining

Twenty years after independence, representation of women in senior government structures and in Parliament is declining in Namibia. According to the latest demographic survey results of August 2010, out of a population of around 2 million, women outnumber men 10:9. In 2001, the ratio was 94 males per 100 females.

District Councillor, Sandhya Boygah Credit: Nasseem Ackbarally

MAURITIUS: They Do Politics Differently

"I do politics every day, but partisan politics? No, thank you," says Jane Ragoo, long-time trade unionist and social worker. She believes in working to bring about change in society and improve people’s lives but has no interest in clambering onto a truck to campaign for office.

Irene Magut, a politician from Rift Valley Credit: Miriam Gathigah

POLITICS: Women Still a Parliamentary Minority in Kenya

While some countries like Liberia can boast that they have a female President, Kenya is still grappling with allowing women room to exercise their leadership roles in Parliament and at local government level.

Jennifer Massis, one of the few female voices in Kenya Credit: Miriam Gathigah

POLITICS: Women’s Representation Key to Development

Research has shown that women account for more than half of the population of any country. This is reflected in the 2010 Census results, where there are slightly more women than men in Kenya.

ZIMBABWE: Sixteen Days of Activism Not For All, Say Police

Hundreds of residents from civil society organisations marched in the streets of Bulawayo on Dec. 1 to mark the 16 days of Activism Against Violence Against Women and Girls . But sex workers and members of gay groups were barred by police from joining the demonstration.

'Male police officers forget that when they are at work they are professionals and demean women who seek their protection' Credit:  Flickr/IPS

Gender-Based Violence: ‘Zimbabwe Police Officers Forget Themselves’

Tasha Ncube* has no kind words for the police. Early last month, the 31-year-old mother of two was beaten several times by her husband over what she says were small arguments. This was the first time in a marriage that has gone for years without any such occurrence.

Malawi’s Women Pushing for a Place at the Table

No sooner had Mariness Luhanga announced her intention to contest local elections in Mzimba district in northern Malawi, than she was summoned to appear before a village court on allegations of insulting men.

Congolese Women Refuse Poverty

To see how women's associations in the Democratic Republic of Congo are helping their members improve their livelihoods, just follow the hubbub you can hear from Justine Kakesa's office: the Kikwit 2 market is bursting with merchandise made by women.

Private Linda Mensah patrols the city of Buchanan with the Ghanaian Battalion of the United Nations Mission in Liberia. Credit:

Female Factor Key to Human Rights

Gender training for peacekeeping operations "is not something you do for two weeks before you go for deployment," says Florence Butegwa, UNIFEM representative to the African Union (AU) and U.N. Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

Darfuri refugee: a national coalition is seeking to reform Sudan

SUDAN: Rape Is Not Adultery

Women in the Sudanese region of Darfur have been raped with impunity since the start of the conflict there in 2003. Now a campaign to reform the rape law is gaining momentum in the country, promoted by Alliance 149, a national coalition born in late 2009.

Gender activists in the DRC hope to make gender-based violence an election issue. Credit:  UNIFEM

DR CONGO: ‘An Opportunity to Say Never Again’

Civil society in the DRC's eastern province of South Kivu is determined that meaningful action will follow from the publication of the U.N.'s Mapping Project, a report detailing some of the most serious human rights violations by state and non-state actors in the DRC between 1993 and 2003.

Indian peacekeepers drilling in Liberia. Credit:  Christopher Herwig/UN Photo

India’s Female Peacekeepers Inspire Liberian Girls

It is break time at the Victory Chapel School in Congo Town. Children dressed in their royal blue uniforms with bright yellow and white trim fight to get under the shade of the only mango tree in the yard. It is the start of the dry season and the scorching sun will soon be almost unbearable to stand in.

BOTSWANA: Not All Women in Local Government Making a Difference

Florence Shagwa, a female councillor at the Gaborone City Council, considers her three-year business qualification worthless.

Liberian Women Find Their Voice

"Voice for the voiceless" is the slogan adorning the walls of Liberia’s first and Africa’s second radio station for women.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Ignoring Patriarchy, Female Politicians Rise

In Malawi, if both a girl and boy are born into a poor family, it will naturally be the boy in whom all the financial resources are invested.

Thembeni Madlopha-Mthethwa, the IFP mayor of Jozini, says gender is not a limiting factor when it comes to leadership. Credit: Marshall Patsanza/IPS

Q&A: “Gender Not a Limiting Factor in Politics”

In the rural KwaZulu Natal town of Jozini, Thembeni Madlopha-Mthethwa has been the town’s mayor for a decade. And in contrast to the rest of the country, which has experienced numerous civil strikes and service delivery complaints, Jozini has rarely had any such problems.

AFRICA: Customary Law Bars Women’s Access to Land

Regina Namukasa has been twice dispossessed – first when her husband died and his clan left her out when dividing up his estate, and again when she was denied a share in her father's land. But this time she's fighting back.

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