Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Zambian women were on Tuesday fine-tuning preparations for Friday's international women's day, the first to be held since President Levy Mwanawasa succeeded Fredrick Chiluba following the 27 December 2001 election. Full text...

Sirte- Libya (PANA) -- Five African first ladies Saturday began a meeting at the Libyan city of Sirte, 450-km east of Tripoli, on how to advance the cause of women on the continent. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- Congo's National Development Committee, a women's NGO, on Friday launched Friday a campaign aimed at curbing the violence being perpetrated against women in the current war context. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- The media in Tanzania has reinstated its commitment to intensify the fight against AIDS that continues to ravage the east African country. Full text...

Sirte- Libya (PANA) -- The first ladies of Ghana, Senegal And Rwanda arrived Friday evening in Sirte, 450 km east of Tripoli to attend the second African Women's summit Saturday and Sunday. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Zambia First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa is considering forming a charitable organisation that would look after neglected senior citizens and deprived families, as well as children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- Bride fattening, a practice in Maure society that consisted in "force-feeding" a young girl before she reached puberty, so as to make her plump and attractive to potential suitors, has completely disappeared in Mauritania. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Twenty-six Benin women from various walks of life are to be honoured 8 March as part of celebrations marking the International Women's Day, the organisers have announced in Cotonou. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Preparations are under way in Tripoli, Libya, for a summit of African First Ladies scheduled to precede the upcoming meeting of Sahara-Sahelian Community (CEN-SAD) leaders. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Several dozens of Algerian and French women rallied throughout France under the auspices of a movement dubbed "Flames for Algeria" to protest against the civil war raging in Algeria. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- After intense lobbying for greater gender awareness and recognition, the resilience of women across the world is now under international spotlight with the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) saying it will accord them special focus this year. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Ahead of the general polls in Nigeria in 2003, a multi-sectoral forum has advocated a revolutionary transformation of women in the country. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- Three women scientists from South Africa are set to attend next month's international conference on Women in Physics, to hold in Paris, France. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- As Zambians gear up for the 2002 fiscal budget, to be unveiled by finance and national planning minister Emmanuel Kasonde next week, gender activists said they hoped they presentation would not overlook vulnerable women. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- A Bill seeking to repeal harmful and dehumanising traditional practices against women has sparked a heated debate among legislators in Nigeria's south-eastern Rivers State. Full text...

Freetown- Sierra Leone (PANA) -- Female presidential aspirant Zainab Bangura has lashed out at fellow politicians who desert their parties to join the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) ahead of the upcoming elections. Full text...

Gaborone- Botswana (PANA) -- African and US business women are meeting in Botswana to assert their role in the global economy and explore ways to remove constraints against international trade. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Twenty-six women from 16 English -speaking African countries have graduated from the Cisco Internet Networking Academy after 280 hours of training at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- Women pressure groups in Zimbabwe were up in arms Thursday with a growing practice in the country of carrying out virginity tests on young girls as part of efforts to combat HIV/AIDS. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The government of Benin has disbursed 100 million francs CFA and equipment to 263 women's groupings across the country, State Radio announced Wednesday. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- A movement referred to as "Pro- Choice" has been launched in Mauritius to campaign for women to be given the right to decide whether to abort or not. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- A local NGO has devised a pastoral scheme to lure practising women off female genital mutilation (FGM), popular among some Kenyan communities as an initiation rite into womanhood. Full text...

Freetown- Sierra Leone (PANA) -- A New York-based women and children's right NGO dubbed Witness, has launched a video documentary depicting rape as a weapon of war in Sierra Leone. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Tired of seeking visas for their non- resident husbands, Kenyan women are demanding dual citizenship, a right they insist should be entrenched in the constitution in recognition of the increasing number of children from mixed marriages. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- South African opposition parties have raised a outcry after Thursday's dropping of charges against six men arrested on suspicion of raping a nine month old baby in the Northern Cape last October. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Twenty Benin women involved in female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kalale district in north-eastern Benin undertook to give up their trade at a ceremony organised last week to present them with materials for alternative sources of income. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Zambian women will on Friday mount a big demonstration in Lusaka against police bias and the stripping of women earlier this week by unruly youths believed to belong to the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy party. Full text...

Freetown- Sierra Leone (PANA) -- British Council director in Sierra Leone Rajiv Bendre has expressed concern over the lack of opportunities for women to play their part fully in the running of the country. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- A movement grouping a dozen Protestant communities in DR Congo and dubbed 'Women, Source of Abundance' (FEBA), Thursday organised an awareness campaign on the rights of girls. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa's Department of Public Works this week handed over a construction project for 2. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- Women in Mauritius have launched a campaign for changes in matrimonial and allied laws that are biased against women in the country. Full text...

Niamey- Niger (PANA) -- Some 263 rural women's credit groups in Niger have received grants from the Zinder district poverty alleviation agency, local press reports indicated at the weekend. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The rate of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Benin stood at about 12 percent in 2001, a sociological and demographic study has revealed in Cotonou. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- With the support of Prime Minister Aneerood Jugnauth, Mauritius is ensuring that women's equality is reflected in the national budget and economic policies, according to the UN Development Programme. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Senegalese associations for the defence of women's rights are of the view that the late Leopold Sedar was at the centre of women's liberation. Full text...

Saint Denis- Reunion (PANA) -- More and more women in Reunion are seeking jobs, according to the National Institute Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), which explained the trend on a craving for independence. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Migration in West Africa, which has been the preserve of men for a long time, is now increasingly including women, Senegalese sociologist Abdou Salam Fall has said in Dakar. Full text...

Monrovia- Liberia (PANA) -- Liberian President Charles Taylor has denied rumours that he mercilessly flogged the First Lady, Jewel, now in the United States on a medical trip, press reports said Tuesday. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- Mauritius Pro-life Committee, a grouping of non-governmental and social-cultural organisations, announced Tuesday plans to launch of an awareness campaign against the legalisation of abortion. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- More than a decade since the UN placed issues concerning children on the front burner, Tanzania is faced with worsening infant and child mortality rates. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- One-time Liberian leader Ruth Perry has cautioned Congolese women against adopting a passive attitude towards the conduct of national affairs, urging them to contribute actively to the search for peace in DR Congo. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Representatives of the Mano River Union Women for Peace Network (MARWOPNET) Wednesday appealed to ECOWAS leaders to quickly resolve lingering conflicts within the three member countries of the Union. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- In the facade of the ember street lights, stands two teenage girls scantily dressed in micro-skirts and in total defiance of the cold December breeze hitting Nairobi these days. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- The Women Rights ministry in Mauritius would examine recommendations of the Task Force on women in order to promulgate acts ensuring conformity with the provisions of the Convention for the elimination of laws discriminatory against women, Prime minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth said Tuesday in Port Louis. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- Just hours after Vanessa Carreira was crowned Miss South Africa 2001, other contestants complained of favouritism and racism. Full text...

Niamey- Niger (PANA) -- Niger has set up a watchdog for the promotion of women's rights known as ONPF. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- A lobby group to address abuses and other prejudices against the boy-child has been formed in Kenya, official sources said Thursday. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- Commercial sexual exploitation of children, one of the worst forms of child abuse, is raising concern around the world, but more particularly in developing countries, a new report by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), has indicated. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- A Malian couple, that fled their country to save their grand daughter from female circumcision, obtained a refugee status in France Wednesday. Full text...