Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The UN labour agency warned Wednesday that gradual progress toward parity between the sexes in the workplace was expected to soon grind to a halt and could even reverse. “On average around the world, women remain much less likely to participate in the labour market than …
Read More »Catholic Church ‘an empire of misogyny’: Irish ex-president
ROME, Italy | AFP | The Catholic Church is “an empire of misogyny”, Ireland’s former president said on Wednesday ahead of a conference calling for women to be included in Church decision-making. “The Catholic Church is one of the last great bastions of misogyny. It’s an empire of misogyny,” said Mary …
Read More »#MeToo throws new spotlight on International Women’s Day
Paris, France | AFP | As the world marks International Women’s Day this week, it remains to be seen whether campaigns such as #MeToo and #Timesup can really advance the fight for women’s rights and gender equality worldwide or whether their effects will be more transitory. The #MeToo and #Timesup campaigns …
Read More »Jail for Tanzania lawmaker who defamed president Magufuli
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A Tanzanian court on Monday handed five-month jail terms to two regime opponents, including a lawmaker, for defaming President John Magufuli, their defence counsel said. Joseph Mbilinyi, a lawmaker with main opposition party Chadema in the southern town of Mbeya, was sentenced with party …
Read More »EU warns violent attacks threaten Tanzania’s democracy
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A recent spate of violent attacks in Tanzania threaten the country’s democracy, the European Union has said. “We note with concern the recent developments which threaten democratic values and the rights of Tanzanians,” the EU said in a statement Friday. The EU said it was …
Read More »Tanzania civil society decries ‘unprecedented’ violations
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | More than a hundred Tanzanian civil society groups raised their voices on Wednesday against “unprecedented” violations of human and democratic rights under the government of President John Magufuli. In a rare act of public solidarity, 105 organisations signed a statement warning of “multiple cases (of …
Read More »Nigeria releases more Boko Haram suspects
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria has freed another 51 Boko Haram suspects in the latest round of dropped cases for lack of evidence, the justice ministry said Monday. Over the course of last week, hundreds of suspected Boko Haram extremists appeared before a court at the Kainji military base …
Read More »Saudi women to start own busines without male permission
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Women in Saudi Arabia can now open their own businesses without the consent of a husband or male relative, as the kingdom pushes to expand a fast-growing private sector. The policy change, announced by the Saudi government on Thursday, also marks a major step …
Read More »South Sudan court sentences rebel spokesman to death
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan rebel spokesman James Gatdet Dak was sentenced to death by hanging for treason on Monday, a year after he was deported from Kenya despite having refugee status. “Death sentence by hanging,” Judge Ladu Armenio told Gatdet in the court in Juba, after …
Read More »Protecting girls from mutilation in rural Uganda
Amudat, Uganda | AFP | Thirty cows sealed 12-year-old Joyce’s fate. In exchange she became the third wife to a man as elderly as her father who traded her, never mind she had barely reached puberty. Joyce was sent from her home in western Kenya, across the nearby border to …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price