2010-08-13 While some senior politicians in the coalition government bury their heads in the sand, professing ignorance about incidents of violence, it is the ordinary villagers in remote areas who are facing the reality of ongoing ZANU PF sponsored political violence. After a recent attack by ZANU PF supporters in Chipinge two MDC activists, Perpetua Pedzisai and Tsvakai Muzhambi, were said to be battling for their lives at clinics in Murambi and Sasu. According to a statement released by the MDC the attacks were an attempt to bar the activists from participating in outreach meetings, taking place to try shape the content of a new constitution.

2010-08-13 Zimbabwe's government netted around $71 million from a major sell-off of rough diamonds from its controversial Chiadzwa diamond fields, the country's mining minister has said. On Wednesday, Zimbabwe resumed full-scale diamond exports by auctioning close to 1 million carats to international buyers at Harare airport.

2010-08-13 This eight-page report details the outcomes of the Parliamentarians for Women's Health project, which was spearheaded by the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) in Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, and Tanzania. The project sought to form networks between HIV-positive women, their communities, and members of parliament (MPs). Although the report states that results varied by country, researchers found that, overall, the project gave MPs a better understanding of women's barriers to HIV/AIDS treatment and care, and that networking strengthened women's ability to advocate on issues that affect them.

2010-08-13 The women who grow more than half the world's agricultural produce have gained international recognition and aid since the start of the global food crisis in 2007. Instead of being seen as a minor, vulnerable group, international aid agencies have begun keeping sex-specific data and reaching out to them as development partners, said Jeannette Gurung, director of the Washington-based Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and National Resource Management.

2010-08-13 A day after Kenyans voted to accept a new constitution, women across the country speak about their hopes and expectations.

The case of Elizabeth Chazima could stand for the story of millions of women in Kenya who have been robbed of their financial contributions to matrimonial assets. Speaking from her modest grocery store in Jericho Estate, Nairobi, Chazima recounts how in the early 1990s, her husband sold the house they had bought together without her knowledge.

2010-08-13 Despite some resistance, the fight against female genital mutilations (FGM) has recorded significant progress in Mali, with over 400 villages putting a stop to the practice. According to the directorate of the National Programme of the Fight against Excision (PNLE), the good result arose from intense advocacy and sensitization programme across the country.

2010-08-13 Have you ever walked past a car window and checked your reflection to make sure your hair looks just right? Perhaps spent an hour perfecting your make-up before you head out? Have you looked at Halle Berry's body and thought, "Ah, I wish I had that body?" I'm sure most women can relate to this constant quest to look good, but what is beauty -- just what does looking good mean today? Considering this is Women's Month in South Africa, I decided now was a good time to find out exactly what kind of woman I want to be.

2010-08-13 Kivulini was established in 1999 by six women who felt compelled to respond to the needs of women experiencing domestic violence in the city of Mwanza in Tanzania. The organisation seeks to address the root causes of domestic violence by working closely with community members and leaders to change attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate violence against women. In Swahili, Kivulini means "in the shade/shelter" and is intended to imply a safe place where women, men, and children feel supported.

2010-08-13 The Indian Ocean archipelago of Seychelles has become the latest country to ratify the pact establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is tasked with trying people accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Seychelles ratified the 1998 Rome Statute yesterday, which means it will enter into force for that country on 1 November, according to a press release issued by the court in The Hague, the Dutch city where it is headquartered

2010-08-13 On a typically busy morning in North Kivu’s capital city Goma, nobody at the bank paid much attention to Bosco Ntaganda and his bodyguards. It had been a hectic few days for the rebel commander-turned-army general, who had also attended meetings with the provincial governor and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila.

2010-08-13 Giant hydroelectric dams being built or planned in remote areas of Brazil, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Peru and Guyana will devastate tribal communities by forcing people off their land or destroying hunting and fishing grounds, according to a report by Survival International. The first global assessment of the impact of the dams on tribes suggests more than 300,000 indigenous people could be pushed towards economic ruin and, in the case of some isolated Brazilian groups, to extinction.

2010-08-13 In Senegal many women refuse to take mentally disabled children on public transport; families hide children with mental or neurological disorders, and some parents disown them outright. Such is the stigma of having a child with these widely misunderstood illnesses. "In Senegal people simply regard children with such conditions as 'abnormal', whatever the disability - mental or physical," said Ngor Ndour, a psychologist specializing in mental disorders in children.

2010-08-13 Sierra Leone's human rights body has urged the government and the special court in The Hague to "retrieve the blood diamonds" that Naomi Campbell was given by war crimes accused Charles Taylor. "We have urged both parties to contact the South African government for the diamonds to be handed over to Sierra Leone," human rights commissioner Yasmin Jusu-Sheriff told journalists.

2010-08-13 When Timothy was forced into the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) at age 11, the first thing they did was beat him. Then they took him to a military base where his tasks were to carry other soldiers’ bags, wash their clothes, collect firewood for them, and cook their food. Getting fed himself was tough for Timothy.

2010-08-13 This video records a day in the life of Bibi Aminajati Kalema at Hiari Orphanage located in Chang'ombe, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

2010-08-13 Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has been accused of going on a massive forced recruitment campaign in remote areas of central Africa. Human Rights Watch said the group had brutally abducted at least 697 adults and children over the past 18 months.

2010-08-13 An estimated 5,000 refugees troop into the country every month, according to the United Nations. Most of them find their way through the porous Kenya-Somalia border (4,000) to cap the number of foreigners seeking asylum in Kenya at 400,000. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that a contingency plan had already been put in place in case the situation in Somalia worsened.

2010-08-13 Months before Southern Sudan holds a referendum on possible secession from the north, officials have warned that feeding the influx of expected returnees will pose a problem. “A lot of people came just before the census, more came just before the elections,” said Matthew Abujin, Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC) secretary in charge of Central Equatoria. "With the referendum, we are expecting a very big number. Nobody wants to stay on the wrong side of the border.”

2010-08-13 Aid agencies are still barred from Kalma, the largest settlement for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan’s Southern Darfur State, 10 days after the government blocked the UN and NGOs from distributing food and medical aid to an estimated 82,000 IDPs. Tensions in Kalma rose on 25 July, at the conclusion of the latest round of peace talks in Doha, Qatar, with some IDPs claiming they were not fully represented. Protests inside the camp pitted the detractors, mainly the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) of Abdul Wahid Mohamed el-Nur, against supporters of the negotiations.

2010-08-13 The International Council of the World Social Forum and the African Social Forum and the Senegalese Organizing Committee launch a public consultation until September 10th to finalize the thematic axes of the centralized edition of the WSF, to be held in Dakar, Senegal, on February 06-11 2011. This methodological proposal was defined after Mumbai (Maharashtra, India), five years ago.