Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- President Mwai Kibaki Friday announced a radical change in the country's public service employment system when he directed the state-run employment agency, the Pubic Service Commission (PSC), to immediately start ensuring that 30 per cent of new appointments went to women. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Nearly three years since African leaders declared their common position on advancing gender equality, the continent's record in this area is largely wanting though not totally devoid of merit. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Filmmakers from around the African continent are being invited to submit their films and documentaries for a film festival devoted to ending violence against women in Africa. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenyan authorities are in the process of installing the requisite legal framework to contain gender and sexual violence in the eastern African country, a senior said here Saturday. Full text...

Douala- Cameroon (PANA) -- A World Association of Women Entrepreneurs (FCEM) delegation, led by its President Francoise Foning of Cameroon, is to visit Tunisia 12 August, at the invitation of President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali and his wife, the Association sources said here. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has saluted the Progressive Women's Movement of South Africa (PWMSA) on its launching conference being held this weekend in Bloemfontein. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Amnesty International (AI) Tuesday launched a campaign to highlight the problems faced by women in Sierra Leone in accessing the justice system. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has told South Africans that observing Woman's Month Celebrations "reminds us as a nation, of where we come from, and the road that still lies ahead of us in the struggle for women's emancipation and gender equality". Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) – For the first time in C-ameroon, two women have been appointed to head administrative subdivisions in the country. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) -- The first reports on the status of implementation of the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA) are to be submitted for consideration by the African Union summit in January 2007, an AU Commission official said Monday. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) -- Gambian Vice President Isatou Njie Saidy Monday challenged a forum of African civil society organisations on gender to come up with measures to help achieve gender equality on the continent. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) – A leading human rights act-ivist Thursday told African women to identify their responsibilities in the ongoing global struggle against all forms of discrimination, and work harder towards gender equality on the continent. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) – Gambia's Vice President Isatou Njie--Saidy Thursday called for more efforts aimed at women empowerment in Africa, arguing that "development through women means development for all". Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Alpha Omar Konare has expressed regret that while the rest of the world is making scientific and technological advancement, Africa is still deeply entrenched in traditions that negatively impact on girls, women and its societies. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenya and Germany have launch an ambitious outreach-based project to address women's reproductive health issues and gender violence in the eastern African country. Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- The forum on women's political involvement held in Nouakchott, Tuesday and Wednesday, led to the setting up of a national consultation platform for all Mauritanian women. Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- The US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) is to organise from 30 to 31 May in Nouakchott a forum on the reinforcement of women's political participation in the country's affairs. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- UNICEF and The Netherlands on Monday signed a deal here under which the latter will provide $12 million in support of education for young girls in seven regions of Ethiopia for three years. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) – The African Development Ban-k (ADB) plans to recruit more female workers under its new reform programme, according to a study commissioned by its President, Rwanda's Donald Kaberuka. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Africa needs effective leadership in all segments of society to ensure the rights and a better future of its children, former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano said here Thursday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The African Union (AU) has invited a United Nations women rights body to participate in a new inquiry panel appointed to probe allegations of sexual misconduct, including rape and child abuse by AU forces in Darfur. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) – Civil society -organisations in South Africa are to gather their members outside parliament in Cape Town Monday to protest the high level of violence against women and children in the country, organisers said Friday. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- Amina Bouayach, 42, has become the first woman to head Morocco's Human Rights Organisation (OMDH), following her election at the NGO's congress Monday. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Violence against girls in Africa will be the focus of a two-day international conference to be held here 11-12 May, the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF), the organisers of the meeting, said here on Tuesday. Full text...

Abuja- Nigeria (PANA) -- A regional workshop to develop a framework for combating violence against women in West Africa is underway at the ECOWAS Executive Secretariat in Abuja. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The Peace for Peace Global Network based in Washington, D. Full text...

Libreville- Gabon (PANA) -- Africa can not achieve better education or effective learning unless gender constraints in the continent's educational systems are seriously addressed, according to the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE). Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- Moroccan Secretary of state in charge of the family, childhood and handicapped people, Yasmina Baddou, on Friday announced the creation of a national observatory for fighting violence on women. Full text...

Bangui- Central African Republic (PANA) -- A conference of Central African women parliamentarians, RFPAC, is underway in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic (CAR). Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) – Women representing 52 Sene-galese and seven Malian villages have issued a public declaration to stop female genital mutilation (FGM) and arranged and/or early marriages, previously practised in their localities. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- The Torch of Peace, lit last November during the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against violence on women and children, has arrived in Cape Town. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) – The Dakar--based international NGO Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS) and the Geneva Peace University (UPeace), have launched training and education module which will eventually lead to a master's degree programme in Gender and Peace building. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Zambia's president Levy Mwanawasa has promised to give women in the country more decision-making positions in government and other public sectors in a drive to achieve gender parity. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- There are numerous obstacles to clear before affirming that there is gender equality in decision-making in Rwanda, the vice-president of the National human rights commission (CNDH), Déogratias Kayumba, observed here. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The Christian charity, World Vision, will continue to promote gender by placing women at the heart of its development initiatives, World Vision's national director in Senegal, Eric Toumieux said in Senegal's second city of Kaolack. Full text...

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- The UN Population Fund executive director, Thoraya A. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) – For the first time in its -history, Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, has elected a female mayor for a four-year term that is renewable twice, municipal sources confirmed here Wednesday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Women's rights and equality between the sexes are essential to the Commonwealth's overarching goals of development, democracy and human rights, Secretary-General Don McKinnon said Wednesday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- As the world commemorates the International Women's Day, senior UN officials including Secretary General Kofi Annan and UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura, Wednesday called for greater participation of women in decision-making process and access to power. Full text...

Maputo- Mozambique (PANA) -- Emphasising that gender issues are a priority for the Mozambican government in all areas of activity, President Armando Guebuza said here Tuesday that his government is convinced that its plans will only be successful if they include a gender approach. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Mali will use the commemoration of the International Women's Day (8 March) this year to press for more women to be placed in decision-making positions in the country, the ministry for family, women and children's affairs said here. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Approximately nine in 10 imprisoned women in South Africa's Gauteng province have experienced rape and domestic violence, according to an unprecedented study released here Friday. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- The UN Mission in DR Congo (MONUC) has expressed concern over the escalation of sexual violence against women in parts of the country, particularly central Maniema. Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) -- Cameroonian Women's and Family Affairs Minister Suzanne Bomback on Tuesday officially launched in Belabo, 430 km east of Yaounde, activities related to celebrations of the International Women's Day which falls on 8 March. Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- Three UN agencies -- the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNPF) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) -- Thursday launched a project aimed at strengthening the involvement of women in the decision-making process in Mauritania. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- African women still faced gender-specific violations of their human rights and reproductive rights due to continuing armed conflicts across the continent, Kenyan Assistant Gender, Sports and Culture Minister Alicen Chellaite said here on Wednesday. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- Women from seven West African countries have launched a project on "Good Governance and Women's Participation," with the holding of a workshop Thursday on ways to foster greater women's involvement and influence in decision-making at the central and local levels. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Marcel Gbaguidi, an independent candidate in the March 2006 presidential poll in Benin, has declared that curbing female marginalisation will be top priority among the pillars of his vision for an open society upon coming to power. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- Poverty amongst Ugandan girls and women has persistently increased due to gender inequality among other inadequate macroeconomic policies, a finance ministry official warned here Wednesday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Judge Rosalyn Higgins of the United Kingdom was Monday elected President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by her peers for a three-year term, a statement from The Hague-based court said Tuesday. Full text...