News

17/2/2015

Afghanistan: Prominent female politician and 'brave voice' Angeza Shinwari dies after car bomb attack

Afghan officials have been paying tribute to a prominent female politician who died on Sunday following a bomb attack. Angeza Shinwari, a provincial councillor in eastern Nangarhar province, was an outspoken campaigner for women's rights.

17/2/2015

New Sudan report on mass rape in Tabit

For Immediate Release

Sudan: Mass Rape by Army in Darfur
UN, AU Should Press for Protection, International Investigation

(New York, February 11, 2015) – Sudanese army forces raped more than 200 women and girls in an organized attack on the north Darfur town of Tabit in October 2014, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) should take urgent steps to protect civilians in the town from further abuses.

16/2/2015

Indonesia lawmakers drop plan for schoolgirl virginity tests after uproar

By Alisa Tang

11th February 2015, BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Indonesian officials have dropped a plan to require female students to pass virginity tests in order to graduate from high school and apologised after sparking a public outcry, human rights campaigners said.

9/2/2015

Lebanon debates introducing civil marriage

By: Abdel Rahman Urabi Date of publication 4 February, 2015

Analysis: If Lebanese couples of mixed religious backgrounds decide to marry, then they have to fly to Cyprus to have their union recognised - but perhaps not for much longer.

6/2/2015

Tunisia: Aya Chebbi Wins Excellence in Leadership Award.

We are delighted to announce that Aya Chebbi has won this year’s Excellence in Leadership award from the African Viewpoint Journal. This was granted on 19 January 2015, and is part of their Africa Youth Awards.

2/2/2015

The triple whammy: towards the eclipse of women’s rights

DENIZ KANDIYOTI 19 January 2015

Caught in the cross-fire of political opportunism, neo-liberal triumphalism and geopolitical adventurism, feminist platforms are in retreat. Only a politics of coalition building can avert their eclipse.

29/1/2015

Saudi Arabia: ‘Dear King Salman, why I’m terrified about our Saudi future,’ by a loyal subject

Dear King Salman,

As a loyal subject of the Al Saud royal family, I congratulate you on your ascension to the throne. I join both fellow Saudis and world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, who will be here in Riyadh on Tuesday, in expressing my condolences for the recent death of King Abdullah and sending good wishes to you, our new king.

27/1/2015

Mali: WLUML networker Mariam Diallo-Drame receives government Medal of Merit

It is our great pleasure to announce that Mariam Diallo-Drame, President of the "Association Femmes Leadership et Développement Durable" (AFLED) of Mali, and WLUML networker, has just received the Medal of Merit, awarded by the Government of Mali.

26/1/2015

Egypt: update 18 dead, 52 injured on January 25 anniversary

The Health Ministry announced 18 deaths on the fourth anniversary of the January 25 revolution, 16 of which occurred in clashes between protesters and police in Matareya, Haram and Alexandria.

At least 52 were injured nationwide, including five police officers.

22/1/2015

Egypt: Press Release by the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders on the Appeal Verdict in the Case of Yara Sallam and Sanaa Seif

The Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in Africa, Ms Reine Alapini-Gansou, has been informed of the sentence handed down on appeal against human rights defenders Yara Sallam, Sanaa Seif and 21 other co-accused on Sunday, 28 December 2014, in the Arab Republic of Egypt.

The Special Rapporteur condemns the sentence which runs completely counter to the principles of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter), and other regional and international instruments duly ratified by Egypt.