RIGHTS-CAMEROON: Report Paints Bleak Picture of Women’s Lives

"The situation of women in this country is worrisome. At home, women are beaten, girls are sexually abused, there is violence linked to the dowry and there is marital rape," says a new report about the challenges facing women in Cameroon.

POLITICS-MALAWI: Women Candidates Find the Odds Stacked Against Them

Vera Chirwa is a prominent human rights activist in Malawi, a prison rapporteur for the African Union - and someone who was imprisoned for speaking out against authoritarian rule under former head of state Hastings Kamuzu Banda. But this pedigree wasn't enough to earn her a shot at Malawi's presidency during the May elections.

POLITICS-CAMEROON: Full Steam Ahead For Electing a Woman President

With a bumper crop of elections due in Africa this year, the extent to which women have a voice in government will be coming under renewed scrutiny. This is especially true of Cameroon, where the campaign to elect a female president during polls in October is gaining momentum.

RIGHTS-ZIMBABWE: Woman In The Struggle

The demonstration was brutally put down. Police lashed out, their blows temporarily paralysing slower protesters who couldn't escape the random thrashing.

ARTS-UGANDA: Kampala Takes Its Place in the Fashion Stakes

Fashion capitals of the world: New York, London, Paris...Kampala? Well, if Santa Anzo has anything to do with this, it'll only be a matter of time.

POLITICS-SWAZILAND: A Boost for Women in Parliament

Women now comprise 30 percent of Swaziland's legislature, following King Mswati's appointments of new MPs and Senators. For a traditional nation where women are still legal minors, this accomplishment is impressive.

RIGHTS-KENYA: Women Resurrect Debate on Affirmative Action

Kenyan women are challenging a report by a state-appointed taskforce which, they say, has ignored issues that have contributed to their marginalisation.

RIGHTS-SWAZILAND: Women Candidates Vow to Promote Social Agenda If Elected

In this week's parliamentary elections, the number of women legislators increased by 150 percent in a country where women candidates had complained that it is difficult for them to be taken seriously as representatives or as authority figures because of their gender.

RIGHTS-UGANDA: Women Demand Law to Weed Out Domestic Violence

Rights campaigners in Uganda are demanding a law to protect women from domestic violence, which has been blamed for the high prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS among them.

CULTURE-MALAWI: Women Still Harassed for What They Wear

One morning Maria Lucas (not her real name) was walking across the busy Haile Selassie road that pierces into the heart of the commercial hub, Blantyre, when she was seized by a gang of unruly street vendors.

RIGHTS-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Basic Lessons for Potential Legislators

Non-government organisations seeking to have their issues better understood by potential lawmakers are instructing candidates in this week's parliamentary elections about social welfare and health matters the members of parliament (MPs) must know about once in office.

RIGHTS-AFRICA: Women Activists Win Continent’s "Nobel Prize"

Two tireless women's rights champions, Maeza Ashenafi from Ethiopia and Sara Longwe from Zambia, were awarded the 15th annual Africa Prize for Leadership, often referred to as the "Nobel Prize for Africa", in a ceremony Saturday in New York.

CULTURE-MALAWI: Property Grabbing Impoverishes Widows

The death of 48-year-old school teacher, Juma Matemba, of a heart attack, would have been just another loss in Malawi.

CULTURE-ZAMBIA: Reality Show Star Under Fire from Media, Women’s Groups

Now in the saddle of 'stardom', Cherise Makubale is finding that perhaps the 106 days she spent in the 'Big Brother Africa House' in South Africa, and the100,000-U.S.-dollar prize was easy pickings compared to the scrutiny her private life is getting now.

RIGHTS-RWANDA: Marriage by Abduction Worries Women’s Groups

Judith Kanzayire, a 29-year-old mother of three children from northern Rwanda, admits that she was the victim of 'marriage by abduction'. "What can you do? It's the tradition here. We have no choice but to accept it," she says.

POLITICS-SWAZILAND: Women Fight for a Place in the Constitution

The Swaziland branch of Women in Law in Southern Africa is concerned that guarantees of women's rights that were announced in the draft constitution, soon to be ratified by King Mswati, are not as secure as first thought.

RIGHTS-SENEGAL: Wedding Night Death Sparks Debate on Domestic Violence

Dieynaba Hamady Sow, 12, died on May 31 from haemorrhaging caused by sexual intercourse on her wedding night after she was forced to marry her 35-year-old cousin.

CULTURE-KENYA: The Last Stand Against Modernity

When prominent personalities die in Kenya, modernity and tradition clash. Most of the times, the conflict is about observing cultural rites.

POLITICS-SOMALIA: Women Vie for Presidency, Defying Patriarchal Society

The mood is joyful as a group of Somali women break into song and dance to crown Asha Abdi's decision to declare her interest in the presidency, the top job in the land.

HEALTH-AFRICA: Demands for Anti-AIDS Drugs Grow Louder

From the UN headquarters in New York to Nairobi, the conference venue for the 13th International Conference on AIDS in Africa, the focus this week fell sharply on extending access to treatment with anti-retroviral drugs.

RIGHTS-NIGERIA: Amina Lawal Escapes Death by Stoning

Amina Lawal, condemned to death by stoning in Katsina State, northern Nigeria, for adultery last year, has been set free.