• Women's Rights. [AllAfrica.com] Through the voices of various African women scholars hailing from Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania, this book examines the legal and political barriers to gender equality in Africa. The chapters in this book provide an in depth analysis of the constitutions and legal systems of the three African countries.

• OMA Official Attends ANC Female Movement Launching. [AllAfrica.com] The secretary-general of the ruling party's female wing "OMA" (Angolan Women's Organisation), Luzia Inglês, leaves Friday morning for South Africa, where she will participate in the launching of the Progressive Women Movement of the African National Congress (ANC)'s female league, which will happen on 05-07 August.

• `Women in Black` Mourn at Zongo`s Grave. [AngolaPress] Around 50 women, clad in black outfits and wearing black scarves held a procession to the grave of journalist Norbert Zongo to focus public attention on the controversial death of the media practitioner. The procession was at the initiative of the "Faso Women in Black" movement, a group created on 7 August 2006 and considered close to opposition leader Herman Yaméogo`s Union for Democracy and Development.

• Female Condom Gets New Lease of Life. [Mmegi, Botswana] It has been lying in government clinics for years with just a few takers. Yes, it has finally downed on the authorities that the female condom is a flop. The reaction from government is to re-launch the sex tool with a new name and new meaning yesterday. Speaking at the occasion, Health Minister Professor Sheila Tlou said they hope that women might be enticed by the new name to use the condom more frequently.

Cameroon

• Cameroon Reach Women's ANC. [BBC] Cameroon beat Kenya 5-0 to qualify for the African Women's Championship in Nigeria. Saturday's win in Nairobi gave the west Africans a 9-0 aggregate victory. The finalists at the 2006 African Women's Championship, which Nigeria is hosting for a third time, will represent the continent at the 2007 World Cup finals in China.

• "Need for Reorganisation". [AllAfrica.com] After the spectacular performance of the female national football team in their last lap matches of the Nations Cup eliminatories, can we say your girls are good or are simply lucky to have found a weaker opponent in the Kenyans? What is certain is that Cameroon has more experience on the international scene than Kenya. We have been around for over ten years, while the Kenyans came into the scene just two years ago.

• Help and Justice for Raped, Displaced Women. [Reuters AlertNet, UK] 7 years after she was gang-raped by a dozen soldiers and had to flee her village, Masoka Furha is still trying to recover from the brutal attack that left her infected with sexually transmitted infections, in constant pain and unable to bear children. "When the soldiers came to our village, they gathered some of my family into our hut and set it on fire. Then they raped all the women."

• Federation Offers Capacity Building Training to Businesswomen. [AllAfrica.com] The Ethiopian Employers' Federation been providing training focused on capacity building to women with a view to enabling them benefit from micro and small-scale businesses, which have been expanding and creating jobs in the country. President Teshome Zewde said at a relevant workshop that currently women have mostly been engaged in micro and small-scale businesses.

• GATS as a Regulatory Framework for Foreign Investment. [Third World Network Africa] Transnational mining companies have deprived most rural women of their farms without adequate compensation or sustainable alternative sources of livelihood. The mining companies have no gender affirmative polices and without any state protection of women against transnational commercial giants, the situation of women is bound to worsen.

• Women Push for End to Violence. [AllAfrica.com] Women are pushing for the formation of a national action plan on violence against their gender. The National Commission on Gender and Development chairperson, Dr Jacinta Muteshi, on Thursday recommended the implementation of the report on laws relating to women. Muteshi said discriminatory provisions in law persist and access to justice is not assured.

• More Women in Politics Will Be Good for All. [AllAfrica.com] Many people are taking the results of the recent by-elections as a reflection of what we may expect in the coming general election. In this regard, I have heard comments that women have truly a long way to go. These elections had the largest number of women contenders compared to the past. In fact, women have been accused of shying away from even trying to vie for political positions.

• Women Fight Back Against Rape. [Washington Post] Karate expert Duncan Bomba yells instructions at 200 Kenyan schoolgirls watching in amazement as he ferociously attacks a colleague posing as a rapist. Fending him off, the girls draw raucous applause and laughter from their friends. In a country where activists say one woman is raped every half hour, a growing number of Kenyan women and young girls are learning to defend themselves against assault.

• Illegal Abortions Kill and Maim Women and Girls. [Voice of America ] In Kenya, abortions are illegal, but ngos say every year there are thousands of botched abortions that kill or maim women and girls. One organization – Family Health Options Kenya – says it’s time to “break the silence” about illegal abortions. Dr. Joachim Osur is assistant programs director. From Nairobi, he spoke to VOA English to Africa Service reporter Joe De Capua about illegal abortions. “The maternal deaths that are related to pregnancy are still very high. About 590 per 100,000 live births. One-third of these deaths are caused by unsafe abortions. So, for every third woman who dies from pregnancy related problems, the death is because of an unsafe abortion,” he says.

• Liberian Women Console Ellen. [AllAfrica.com] In the wake of the 26 July fire incident at the Executive Mansion, Liberian women have consoled President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and pledged to protect the nation against any form of violence. The women made the vow when a delegation led by Gender and Development Minister Vabah Gayflor, visited the Liberian leader at her temporary office at the Foreign Ministry in Monrovia on Tuesday.

• Female Teachers Use Fake Marriage Certificates. [Malawi's Daily Times, Malawi] Female teachers in Phalombe are using bogus marriage certificates to secure transfers to urban schools, District Education Manager (DEM) Enock Ali has said. Ali said in an interview Monday this has created a serious deficit of female teachers in the district. He said the teachers forge the certificates on the pretext that they were following their spouses when asking for transfers to urban areas.

• School Suspends 19 Pregnant Girls. [AllAfrica.com] The Caprivi Senior Secondary School has suspended 19 female students who are expecting babies, together with one male student who single-handedly impregnated five of the learners. The head teacher Michael Mudabeti confirmed the cases, saying these cases took place over the past seven months and that the expecting students and the young casanova have since been sent home.

• Businesswomen Meet in Ongwediva. [AllAfrica.com] Business and professional women from the Oshakati, Ondangwa Ongwediva complex are scheduled to meet the Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare next week Thursday, 10 August for the seventh Economist Businesswomen Conference. Hon. Marlene Mungunda will do the official opening and spend the rest of the day with the delegates.

• Young Beauty Scoops Miss Metropolitan. [AllAfrica.com] Metropolitan Namibia recently sponsored a beauty pageant in Kunene's capital, Opuwo. The two-day show that has become a vital annual event for the residents of the town started on Friday and ended at around midnight on Saturday. The pageant was held at the OJP Hall of Opuwo Primary School.

Nigeria

• Caf Delays Women's Championship. [BBC Sport, UK] Caf has postponed the start of the African Women's Championship (AWC), scheduled for September in Nigeria. The local organisers said the towns of Warri and Oghara in Delta State, selected to host the matches, will suffer from heavy rainfall during that month. 

• Hart Heads AWC LOC. [AllAfrica.com] The Federal Government has constituted an 18-member Local Organising Committee for the African Women Championship. In a statement, Federal Ministry of Sports and Social Development, Charles Chikezie, the LOC headed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Ambassador Thaddeus Hart, is expected to kick start work immediately to ensure they co-ordinate a hitch free organisation of the tournament.

• Female Power. [AllAfrica.com] For obvious reasons, clothes and jewelry designers the world over love to design for women who hold high government offices. First Ladies and wives of highly placed men would often depend on the whims of their husbands, unless they are Hilary Clintons whose lives do not consist entirely of supporting their husbands' work or ambitions. If a high-powered man is expected always to turn out sharply, clearly a high-powered woman is expected to even better turned out, and the majority of women who hold high government offices, no matter how serious, try to at least avoid distraction by aligning with that public expectation.

• Nigeria Exit Women U-20. [BBC Sport] Nigeria are out of the Under-20 Women's World Championship in Russia after a 2-1 defeat to Brazil in the quarter-finals on Saturday. The South Africans needed a stoppage time strike by Adriane to settle the thrilling encounter at Moscow's Torpedo Stadium. The Nigerians, cheered on by a noisy and colourful contingent, dominated the early exchanges but failed to convert their chances.

• U.S. Ambassador Urges FAWE Girls On Studies. [AllAfrica.com] The US Ambassador Michael Arietti has urged FAWE Girls School students to be committed to their studies. Arietti, who was Wednesday, August 2, speaking at opening of a two-day workshop at the school in Gisozi Sector, Gasabo District, underscored the importance of education, saying it is a fundamental ingredient to economic development.

• Rural Women 'Being Treated Like Donkeys'. [Independent Online, South Africa] The time has come to uplift South African women from the status of "donkeys" and provide them with better roads and transport systems, says KwaZulu-Natal's Transport Minister Bheki Cele. Speaking at the start of the inaugural Gender, Transport and Development Conference, Cele said it was not uncommon to see women in rural areas acting much like beasts of burden. "The other day I was driving in the Msinga area of KZN where I saw two women carrying a massive wooden wardrobe between them. This load was so heavy that even a donkey would have complained loudly. Yet there are still people who drive past and think what 'good women' they are, because we take this sort of thing for granted.

• Female School Enrolment on the Increase. [African News Dimension, South Africa] The gap between the figures of boys and girls enrolling in school's has narrowed in the last decade.

• Women Urged to Celebrate Anti-Pass March. [Independent Online, South Africa] Following in the footsteps of her predecessors, Pretoria executive mayor Gwen Ramokgopa took to the streets of Mabopane on Tuesday, mobilising local women to join in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the anti-pass march next week. The mayor's visit to Mabopane marked the launch of the Tshwane Women's Month programme in recognition of activist Frances Baard.

• Long Way to Total Women Economic Empowerment. [SABC News, South Africa] Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the deputy president, says there is still a long way to go in the realisation of total economic empowerment of women in this country. Mlambo-Ngcuka was speaking at a seminar on the Economic Empowerment of Women under the theme "Women Inspiring Women" in Durban.

• Mbeki Reads Firms the Riot Act on Women. [Citizen, South Africa] South Africa still has a long way to go in emancipating women. This was the message from the country’s good and great during yesterday’s Women’s Day celebrations. At a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1956 women’s march on Pretoria, President Thabo Mbeki lashed out at institutions and companies not committed to gender equality.

• Women Lag Men in Homebuying. [Finance24, South Africa] One in 4 homes in South Africa are bought by women, a figure that highlights the economic disparity that still exists between the genders and undermines the ability of women to create wealth. Statistics released by MortgageSA, the country's leading bond origination company, show that the number of women being granted bonds has dropped marginally from 27% in 2004, to 26% in 2005 and 25% to date in 2006.

• Battle Not Yet Won for Women Marchers. [Mail & Guardian Online] This week, South Africa will hold a series of events commemorating the Women's March of August 9 1956, which for the first time brought thousands of female protesters to the front doors of the country's male-dominated white establishment. But for many women in South Africa, the battle continues in the face of domestic violence and sexual assault, along with HIV/Aids, poverty and lingering sexism.

• 'Women Should Act for Emancipation'. [Independent Online, South Africa] Full emancipation of women, like the struggle against passes and apartheid, requires them to take actions that are as significant as that of marching to the Union Buildings, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on Sunday. She was speaking at a conference to launch the Progressive Women's Movement of South Africa in Bloemfontein.

• Women to Re-Enact 1956 Historic March. [AllAfrica.com] It's all systems go for the commemoration of the historic 1956 anti-pass march by hundreds of women. Government's plans to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the march, which was part of a crusade to resist the imposition of pass laws on blacks, include a re-enactment to the Union Buildings in Pretoria and an exhibition depicting the struggles of women.

• Women Explore Measures to Combat Human Trafficking. [AllAfrica.com] Women attending Parliament have been urged to sensitise members of their communities about the dangers of human trafficking. "Since human trafficking is a crime that mostly affects women and children, it is of crucial importance that us as women should seek to understand it better so that we are able to identify it whenever we came across it," said National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete.

• North West to Crown Female Farmer of the Year. [AllAfrica.com] All routes in the North West will, on Friday night, lead to Hedgehog Nest in Rustenburg, where this year's Best Female Farmer in the province will be crowned. The annual award ceremony was introduced seven years ago as an initiative to empower and reward SA women, who diligently used agriculture to address social challenges in their communities.

• Musina Female Farmer is Vhembe's Top Exporter. [Zoutnet, South Africa] Song and dance were the order of the day when hundreds of women congregated to congratulate their fellow female farmer, Livhuwani Mulaudzi, after she was declared the top exporter in Vhembe.  The 36-year-old mother of three beat Ms Maria Wilson from Levubu at the Vhembe District Municipality Female Farmer of the Year Competition.

• Dept to Host Conference On Women, Environment. [AllAfrica.com] The Environmental Affairs and Tourism Department is hosting a conference in Mpumalanga this weekend to discuss the role of women in environmental management and tourism. Under the theme "Empowering Women for Environmental Action" the three-day conference starting on Sunday in White River will discuss among other things pollution and health, food security as well as water and sanitation.

• National Directory of Women Entrepreneurs Launched. [AllAfrica.com] Women's Month Celebrations received a boost when the Department of Trade and Industry launched a national database of women entrepreneurs to be made available to government and the private sector for procurement opportunities. A draft strategic framework on gender and women's economic empowerment states that women want to acquire at least 30% of government tenders.

• Outstanding Female Achievers Receive Recognition. [SABC News, South Africa] Asnath Mahapa, the first African woman pilot to fly South African Airways (SAA) planes, says the youth, specifically women, should not shun away from tapping into what was in the past termed "a man's industry." Mashapa says if you're passionate enough, you will succeed. 

• Slim BEE Pickings for Women Under Fire. [AllAfrica.com] The "miserable" level of women's involvement in black empowerment deals was an indictment of big business and black businessmen, Deputy President Phumzile MlamboNgcuka said. SA's transformation would not be complete until women and men had equal participation in the economy.

• Act on the Issues that Affect Women First. [The Herald Eastern Cape] Beneath this country‘s layer of state of the art Constitution and Bill of Rights swirls a mass of conservative sentiment that cuts across race. Still the gender activists and others who think it‘s the right thing to do fly the kite of South Africa‘s first woman president when the succession debate is on the go. But as the Jacob Zuma rape trial showed, many men and women are simply not ready for that leap of faith.

• Celebrating the True Strength of Women. [Independent Online, South Africa] When Nambitha Mpumlwana, an actress in the Oscar award-winning film Tsotsi, delivered her speech on the role of women at the weekend, the silence in the audience was deafening. The actress, who also acts in The LAB on SABC3, was amongst a list of speakers who were critical of Women's Day being treated as just another public holiday by many South Africans.

• Women Unite to Launch Progressive Movement. [AllAfrica.com] Hundreds of women across the country are meeting in Bloemfontein in the Free State to launch a network through which they can participate towards this country's development. The launch of the Progressive Women's Movement forms part of the year-long activities to commemorate the march thousands of South African women took to the Union Buildings in 1956, against pass laws.

• Female Contractors Rewarded. [City Vision, South Africa] It was a night when barriers were broken down and long-held prejudices were found to have no foundation. It was also a night where women showed that with the right support, they can achieve anything. Public Works Minister Thoko Didiza, Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool and Western Cape Transport and Public Works Minister Marius Fransman delivered a serious message at The Women in Construction awards dinner, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. And their verbal support for women in construction was backed up with the financial support to make equality a reality in a traditionally male preserve.

• Women Entrepreneurs Pragmatic About Gender Disparities at Work. [The Herald Eastern Cape]  While women leaders in directorship positions grew from 10,7% last year to 11,5% this year, the ratio at executive manager level has fallen from 19,8% to 16,8%. The census also points out that while women make up 52% of the adult population they constitute only 16,8% of all executive managers and only 11,5% of all directors in the country.

• Female Interns Visiting Projects in Qatar. [Gulf Times, Qatar] A 15-member South African team of female interns has arrived in Qatar on a seven-day visit as part of a four-month-long work experience and mentoring programme. The programme, Joint Initiative for Priority and Scarce Skills Acquisition, forms part of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa which was developed under the leadership of South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka.

• Women Lead March to Fight Against Crime. [Independent Online] Women from all law enforcement agencies in the city marched to pledge support to other women in their fight against crime and abuse. Johannesburg Metro Police Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said the march would be from Beyers Naude Square to Constitution Hill in Braamfontein. "Policewomen from the Johannesburg Metro Police, the South African Police Service and provincial officers will take part."

• Hidden Violence of Discrimination. [Business Day] Women's Day was commemorated with demonstrations and speeches about the need to ensure women’s rights and equality. All too often, however, the focus remained narrowly on the undoubted problem of violence and family oppression. That approach ignores the hidden violence of discrimination that persists across the economy, denying women the independence they need to exercise their new rights.

• Residents Picket in Protest Against Women Killings. [SABC News, South Africa] Residents have joined a picket along the R55 road in protest against the increasing number of women being killed in the Centurion area. Nine women suspected of being the victims of a serial killer will be buried in a mass funeral at a local cemetery. Stephinah Morudi, a local ward councillor, says the protest is aimed at creating community awareness.

• 22 Girls, Women Raped in Mpumalanga. [SABC News, South Africa] Eleven women and eleven girls were raped in Mpumalanga over the weekend. A police spokesperson said nine minors were raped in Siyabusa and four suspects were arrested. In one incident, a 40-year-old man was caught in the act of raping a six-year-old girl.

• Women Fear Somali Regime. [Chicago Tribune] For 15 years, Somalia was ruled by clan-based strongmen, each with a private army. The capital was divided among the warlords and controlled by their AK-47-toting fighters, many of them children. Over that period of chaos, violence and war, the women of Mogadishu have risked their lives time and again--and in the process changed their country. First they became the wartime breadwinners in this male-dominated society. This spring, women stepped up again. Weary of suffering stoically, they jammed the switchboards of Mogadishu's independent radio stations with angry protests about the warlords' violence.

• Somaliland Women Challenge Islamic Roles. [MSN Money] The role of women in Somalia changed dramatically after the country's longtime dictator was overthrown in 1991, prompting the collapse of the economy and leaving scores of men unemployed. Women began earning money in large part by doing small tasks that men are too proud to perform, such as selling fruit, tailoring clothes or running beauty salons, said Shamis Barre, who works for the humanitarian group CARE International to help train Somali women in marketable skills. "The jobs we have here, they are jobs that men would not do," Barre said. "So the bulk of women, they have to work. Most families depend on women." Although Somaliland declared its independence in 1991 and has remained relatively peaceful -- unlike the violent chaos in the rest of the country -- men here still struggle to find work they will accept. Somaliland is not internationally recognized as separate from Somaliland, severely limiting any industry or government work.

• Huge Rise in Sexual Assaults on Women in Darfur Refugee Camps. [Independent, UK] Women in the war-torn region of Darfur are suffering rising levels of sexual abuse in the refugee camps that have sprung up to house the hundreds of thousands of civilians escaping spiralling violence in the region. In Darfur's largest displaced camp, Kalma, more than 200 women have been sexually assaulted in the past five weeks, according to figures released by the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

• Over 200 Sudanese Women Sexually Assaulted in Darfur Camp. [Bay Area Indymedia] The International Rescue Committee released a report this week documenting an alarming rise in instances of sexual violence in Darfur. According to the IRC, more than 200 female residents of one refugee camp have been victims of sexual assault in the past five weeks alone.

Swaziland

• First Female Train Operators Hired. [The Swazi Observer, Swaziland] In a move to address gender imbalance, for the first time in the history of the country, Swaziland Railway has recruited two female train operators. “We have recruited two females who will be working as train operators and such is a great move for the company. Under the policy we were using only men who were recognised but now we are trying to address the gender issue."

• Training Women Can Lift Output. [AllAfrica.com] Failure to train women in new techonology is to blame for the dwindling food production in Africa, an international Agricultural workshop was told yesterday. Leading scientists attending the Africa Rice Congress in Dar-es-Salaam said new farming technologies being introduced in Africa were gender blind and only benefited men, many of whom had left their rural homes for urban centres.

• Injustice Lingers for Women. [Seattle Post Intelligencer] As Tunisia celebrates the 50th anniversary this month of a revolutionary law that gave women some of the same rights as men, many women's rights advocates warn that the 1956 text needs urgent updating, especially on inheritance law. "Enormous things have been achieved, but it would be unrealistic to consider the work completed," said Sana Ben Achour, a law professor at the University of Tunis.

• Women Mentoring Programme Starts. [AllAfrica.com] Efforts to support young female entrepreneurs will gain momentum following the launch of the women-mentoring programme by the British Council, writes Daisy Nakibule. Between 120 to 150 women will have a four-day face-to-face training facilitated by professor Robert Garvey, a world renown coaching and mentoring expert.

• Sisters United to Help Female Inmates. [AllAfrica.com] Sisters United Uganda, a community-based non-governmental organisation, has launched a fundraising campain to help vulnerable women and children. Eva Adengo, a member of the organisation, said they started in April this year and their first priority is women inmates in Luzira prison. "We visited Luzira prison and saw children and their mothers suffering. We picked up the idea to fundraise and help them," she said.

• NGO to Give Female Prisoners HIV/Aids Education. [AllAfrica.com] Sisters United Uganda, a community-based nongovernmental organisation, has launched a fundraising campaign to improve conditions for female inmates in the country's largest jail. "We visited Luzira Prison and saw children and their mothers suffering. We want to conduct health promotions to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases," said Eva Adengo, one of the organisation's founding members, according to the local New Vision newspaper.

• Surrogacy Giving Hope to Childless Couples. [AllAfrica.com] Mukisa is now a proud mother of twin boys, whom she is even breastfeeding much as she did not carry them herself. A fertility clinic made this possible by using another woman, who was paid to carry the babies. Dr. Edward Tamale Ssali of Kampala Gynaecology and Fertility Centre in Bukoto, who conducted the procedure, terms this arrangement as assisted reproduction by help of a surrogate mother.

• Catholic Women's Dinner Dance Thrills Patrons. [AllAfrica.com] One might have expected the Catholic Womens' League fundraising dinner dance to be characterized by the usual drum beating traditional harmonic music famous in the church. While people might have geared for the usual and sometimes sombre church music, all affairs suddenly took a twist when Zambia's boostele music icon, Mozegator, took to the stage and unraveled his Chiunda music.

• Film Wins Unicef Children's & Human Rights Award. [AllAfrica.com] A local film directed by Tawanda Gunda-Mupengo won the Unicef Children's & Human Rights Award at the recently ended Zanzibar International Film Festival. Elsworth Benhura, the Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe (WFOZ) programme assistant, said the film was a result of the women's narrative workshops which began in 2003 designed to give women the voice and the skills to tell their stories in a story form.

• Zimbabwe Female Boxer Ready for Fighting Kenyan Featherweight. [People's Daily Online, China] Zimbabwe's first professional female boxer Monalisa Sibana's preparations for her upcoming non-title fight against Fatuma Zerica, the Kenyan featherweight champion, got a timely boost after a local bus company offered her free transportation for all international bouts.