Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenya has earmarked $125,000 for the newly formed National Commission for Gender and Development, mandated to address existing gender disparities in the country, Sports and Culture Minister Ochilo Ayacko said here Wednesday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Gambian-born Jainaba Johm, an official of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR), has reminded women rights activists that the struggle for justice was "continuous", requiring advocates not to relent in the process. Full text...

Conakry- Guinea (PANA) -- The US government has offered scholarships worth $850,000 to 6,000 female students in primary schools in Guinea for the academic year 2004-2005, the state- owned radio announced here Saturday. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Ten women leaders from the Mano River Basin countries and Cote d'Ivoire will next week take part in a training for trainers workshop here being part of the UNDP initiative to empower women with enhanced skills in conflict analysis and peace building. Full text...

New York- UN (PANA) -- Sudan and DR Congo have been listed among 17 countries worldwide to benefit from $1 million in grants announced Tuesday by the UN Trust Fund to Eliminate Violence Against Women. Full text...

Monrovia- Liberia (PANA) -- Elizabeth Hoff, a radio journalist has become the first female to head the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) since its founding 40 years ago. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- A 15-year-old girl in northern Uganda has reported her mother to police in Gulu town for trying to get her to marry a man against her wish, the official New Vision reported Friday. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- Tunisian women have won an unprecedented share of seats in the new Tunisian Chamber of Deputies, taking 22. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- The Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) has targeted some 3,000 expectant mothers in internally displaced persons camps in northern Uganda with delivery kits worth $34,442. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Cape Town musician and long distance swimmer Carina Bruwer has returned to South Africa after becoming the first person to swim around both the southern and northern tips of Africa. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Promotion of gender equality in Africa was Thursday given a new thrust after ministers responsible for gender affairs agreed to pursue key actions to accelerate the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Implementation of the Dakar and Beijing platforms for action to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women got under scrutiny here Wednesday at a ministerial conference seeking the regional consensus on priority gender issues. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Women from seven countries in the Eastern Africa and the Great Lake region have resolved to create a women's network as their instrument for conflict resolution. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- Morocco has set up a centre for Information, Documentation and Studies on Women (Cmidef), which was inaugurated here last Sunday. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- Delegates to the ongoing women's regional meeting that started Thursday in Kigali as part of the preparation for the upcoming international conference on the Great Lakes have hailed the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize awarded environmentalist and human rights activist Wangari Maathai of Kenya. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- A delegation of Congolese women is in Kigali, Rwanda participating in the 7-9 October women's regional meeting being held as part of the international conference on peace, security, democracy and development in the Great Lakes. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Despite achievements and progress made in advancing gender equality over the last ten years in Africa, the majority of the women on the continent are still denied access to productive and critical resources, a prominent Egyptian woman activist said here Friday. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- There is need for African nations to mentor and empower young women to take over leadership from the older generation of women leaders, according to participants of the NGO Forum at the ongoing African Regional Conference assessing the 10 years since the Beijing UN Conference on Women. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Women from the core countries of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, or IC/GLR, began a three-day meeting Thursday in Kinshasa, DR Congo, to forge recommendations to regional leaders who hold their first in Tanzania in November. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The non-governmental organisation Aide- Federation said here Wednesday it was alarmed by the mass influx of Cameroonian females into France who eventually end up in prostitution networks. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) secretariat has created an office on gender and civil society organisations as a direct response to recommendations from different stakeholders and experts, according to a NEPAD document here. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Ten years since the adoption of the historical Beijing platform on women's rights, challenges remain for African women and girls to see their hopes materialise. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- In a bid to facilitate an effective monitoring mechanism on gender equality, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is introducing the African Gender and Development Index, (AGDI). Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- Gender ministers of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) ended a two-day confab here Saturday with the adoption of a common gender policy document for the organisation. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- A senior member of the Legislative Assembly of South Africa's Gauteng province, Lindiwe Maseko, has been elected chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) for the next three years, the foreign affairs department in Pretoria confirmed Thursday. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- Tunisia's governing and parliamentary majority party, RCD allocated at least 25% slots on its legislative candidates list to women. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Cabinet ministers responsible for gender in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Thursday convened in Kigali, Rwanda to discuss and endorse a five-year action plan for the trading bloc, COMESA spokesperson Mweusi Karake said. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- African women rights activists have expressed the strong belief that full ratification of the African Union (AU) Protocol on the Rights of Women will ensure the future development of the continent. Full text...

Algiers- Algeria (PANA) -- A vivid intense row is brewing over the revision of the family code proposed by the Algerian government among political parties and Islamic groups campaigning against the undertaking. Full text...

Ludzidzini- Swaziland (PANA) -- A Swazi MP has criticised the draft constitution for being discriminatory against women. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The Francophonie Organisation has invited about 100 griots from ten French-speaking West African countries for a weeklong forum beginning next Monday in Ouagadougou to discuss traditional practices harmful to women's health. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- South African deputy president Jacob Zuma is pushing for women to become active in peace and security structures to inform and manage the manner in which Africa deals with conflicts. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenya will ratify the Maputo Protocol proscribing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Vice-President Moody Awori indicated Friday while opening an international conference here on the practice. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Two Maasai girls were forcefully circumcised last week in Kenya just few days ahead of the ongoing international conference on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) here, according to the international NGO, Equality Now. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- A Kenyan Cabinet Minister Wednesday underscored the need for fully involving media organizations in the fight against female Genital Mutilation (FGM) if it is to be curtailed. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Participants from 13 African countries and Germany are expected to convene here Thursday to develop a political, legal and social environment for implementing the "Maputo Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's rights on the rights of Women in Africa". Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Former female combatants in Rwanda are seeking for a role in regional peacekeeping missions in Africa whereby they could assist women caught in conflicts. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- South African President Thabo Mbeki has been bestowed with the "Good Brother Award" from Washington's "National Congress of Black Women" for his unfailing and unwavering commitment to gender equality and the emancipation of women in South Africa. Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- The powerful Women's League of Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party said at the weekend it will push for the election of one of its members as the country's vice president at the next congress in December. Full text...

Banjul- Gambia (PANA) -- Gambian vice president Isatou Njie-Saidy Thursday lamented the plight of women in Africa saying they were "amongst the poorest of the poor". Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Family Affairs, Social Protection and Solidarity minister Massyatou Latoundji Lauriano launched a "Women Rights Initiative" here Wednesday. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- As the women's month came to an end in South Africa Tuesday, the country's deputy president Jacob Zuma saluted them for the fight they had waged against injustice and racism. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- A national women's summit convenes at the Pietermaritzburg Royal show grounds Tuesday as a culmination of Women's Month celebrations in the province. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- A female Ghanaian journalist said here Wednesday that the country's women were disgusted by negative reportage in the local media and its neglect of issues concerning gender equality. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Education experts Tuesday entered the second day of deliberations on a national strategy to accelerate the girl child education in Mali. Full text...

Libreville- Gabon (PANA) -- The Gabonese capital next November host the 6th conference of women ministers and MPs from Africa, Family and Women's Affairs minister Angélique Ngoma told PANA here Wednesday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Sixty Senegalese women entrepreneurs began a management workshop here Wednesday at the behest of the National Council of Employers (CNP) and the Konrad Adenaeur Foundation. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Women delegates to the 22-month long Somali National Reconciliation Conference Tuesday accused clan leaders of bias and flouting rules governing the selection of the 275-member Transitional Parliament to be inaugurated here Thursday. Full text...

Ouagadougou- Burkina Faso (PANA) -- Police here have arrested 14 women for their alleged involvement in connection with the circumcision of 16 girls between one and 10 years of age, an official announced here Tuesday. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Eighteen-year-old Samia Sadik has, in her own right, turned an icon and inspiring pioneer of girls' education in a traditional society that until yesterday disregarded women's rights to equality and dignity in all facets. Full text...