Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - At a meeting to review two decades of progress since the launch of the Beijing Plan of Action, women have decried the marginal gains in ensuring equal participation of women in economic activity. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Governments around the world are being urged by two UN human rights committees to prevent and eliminate harmful practices inflicted on women and girls, a UN statement said on Wednesday. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - The UN refugee agency has welcomed a new set of international guidelines, adopted Wednesday by the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, calling for countries to adopt a more gender-sensitive approach to dealing with women refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless people in order to take account of the abuses they frequently suffer. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Security Council on Tuesday stressed the need for the international community to fully endorse women’s empowerment and gender equality in ensuring global peace, security and development. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - More than 700 members of parliament from around the world are expected to discuss how they can address violence against women and girls at the UN office in Geneva this week. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Almost one quarter of girls, aged between 15 and 19 worldwide, are victims of some form of physical violence, according to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). Full text...

Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) – Uneducated young girls by far outnumber young boys to the ratio of 7 to 1 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gender, Family and Children's Affairs Minister Geneviève Inagosi said Saturday as the country marked the International Day of the Girl Child. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) – Congo's Minister for Women Promotion and Integration in Development, Catherine Embondza Lipiti has appealed to different stakeholders in the country to promote and protect the rights of girls, particularly with regard to education. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - World leaders entering the next round of negotiations on the post-2015 agenda have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the lives of adolescent girls, and in turn, the world, according to a Girl Declaration Joint Advocacy Group statement issued on Saturday by international non-governmental organisations to mark this year's International Day of the Girl Child. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - On the eve of the International Day of the Girl Child, observed 11 October, a global movement advocating for girls' and women's rights, Equality Now, has renewed the 'BringBackOurGirls' call for the rescue of 219 schoolgirls abducted six months ago by Boko Haram insurgents from a dormitory in Chibok, northern Nigeria. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Coordinator of the Girl Generation of United Kingdom and Kenya Keli Kpognon has said it is ''incredibly urgent'' for the world to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) – The rate of Tunisian women using contraceptives and involved in family planning is estimated at 62.5% of the female population in the north African country, says the managing director of the Tunisian national family and population office, Ridha Alkâata. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson have launched a global gender movement, with strong calls on men and boys worldwide to raise their voices for gender equality today and women's empowerment. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Women leaders from government ministries, security sectors and civil society organisations have begun a 19-day programme in Washington, DC, US, to explore how women can advocate for peace, promote stability and improve security conditions in their communities, a US State Department statement said. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The Chair of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), Mr. Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, says women are crucial partners in peacebuilding and must be guaranteed the safe political space, including a seat at the negotiating table to participate in all steps of post-conflict reconciliation and recovery processes. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in collaboration with the Gambia government, is assisting the West African state to eliminate harmful traditional practices. Full text...

Washington DC, US (PANA) - The US on Monday announced new assistance to advance gender equality in Africa, saying that long-term development will only be possible when women and men enjoy equal opportunity to rise to their full potential. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - New data released on Tuesday by UNICEF shows the need for urgent action to end female genital mutilation and child marriage, two practices that affect millions of girls across the globe. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The number of Ethiopian girls undergoing the retrogressive cultural practice of female circumcision and early marriages has dropped by half and authorities hope to completely diminish the trend within 10 years, senior government officials said in London on Tuesday. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Malian government will launch a national policy for the promotion and protection of children in Mali under its five-year (2015-2019) action plan which implementation will cost 27.812 billion CFA francs, PANA learnt Monday from the Malian ministry in charge of children. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) – About 73% of girls complete their primary education in urban areas in Congo, says a report by the World Bank on gender equality in education and employment in Congo made public on Wednesday in Brazzaville. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has urged the UN Security Council to take strong action to help restore the rule of law in Central African Republic (CAR) and bolster women’s participation, leadership and protection. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - A workshop aimed at building capacity of journalists on gender issues began on Tuesday in Dakar to promote the inclusion of gender dimensions in the Senegalese media. Full text...

Yaoundé, Cameroon (PANA) - Cameroon's Minister of Women's Empowerment and Family, Marie-Thérèse Abena Ondoa, has urged other ministries to be involved in the search for solutions to improve the lives of widows. Full text...

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (PANA) – The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) will on Wednesday hold a forum in London to discuss solutions to sexual violence and gender equality, on the sidelines of the world summit that began on Tuesday on sexual violence in countries in conflicts. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Hollywood actress, activist and Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ms. Angelina Jolie on Tuesday called for concerted action to end once and for all the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - World leaders must take concrete action to end sexual and gender-based violence in conflict during a landmark summit this week hosted by UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie and UK Foreign Minister William Hague, Amnesty International has said. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN has teamed up with leading businesses to advance women’s Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on Tuesday in New York said that it is time to demand action to eliminate sexual violence that harms millions of women and girls around the world. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) - The Zambia National Women’s Lobby (ZNWL) has applauded South African President Jacob Zuma’s appointment of 15 women into his 35 member cabinet. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Lawyers have confirmed to Amnesty International that an appeal has been lodged against the conviction of a pregnant Sudanese Christian woman, who has been sentenced to death for her religious choice and to 100 lashes for ‘adultery’, the global human rights watchdog said in a press statement Friday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN entity tasked with promoting gender equality (UN Women) has launched a year-long, worldwide commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the landmark Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. Full text...

Ebène, Mauritius (PANA) – A "Women, Sustainable Development and Food Security” Platform has been launched in Seychelles to support women at the level of the environment, climate change, agriculture and food security, PANA learnt Monday from official sources at the seat of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) at Ebène, in Mauritius. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - International women’s rights organisation Equality Now and partner groups Thursday called on Mozambique’s parliament to reject discriminatory provisions in the draft penal code that would foster a culture of violence and discrimination if passed as written. Full text...

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (PANA) – The Ivorian government on Wednesday decided to admit girls to the Gendarmerie from 2015-2016 academic year. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN International Labour Organisation (ILO) says about 830 million women workers still do not have adequate protection, despite progress in maternity benefits and a positive trend in supporting new fathers. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN expert committee tasked with monitoring discrimination against women on Wednesday added its voice to the chorus of condemnation of the abduction of over 200 girls from their school in north-eastern Nigeria and called for their immediate release. Full text...

Conakry, Guinea (PANA) – A forum of 24 women parliamentarians from both the ruling and opposition parties has been created in Guinea to enable them challenge the existing inequalities in Parliament and government, Dr. Zalikatou Diallo, General Secretary of the forum, told PANA here Tuesday. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The Banjul-based women rights group Gambia Committee on Harmful Traditional Practices (Gamcotrap) has raised concerns over the fate of the school girls who were abducted in Nigeria over three weeks ago. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The President of the Children's Parliament in Mali, Lala Wangara, on Wednesday called on the Malian authorities to help significantly reduce maternal, neonatal and child mortality in the country. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The Gambia has appointed its first female governor, Mrs, Aminta Sifai Hydara, who heads the West Coast Region, official sources confirmed to PANA Wednesday. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Poverty is the biggest hindrance to any effort intended to ensure equal access to justice, particularly in developing countries, Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, said Monday at a gathering of women legal luminaries from all over the world. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - A three-day National Gender Training Workshop opened in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, Tuesday with a consensus by participants that the West African sub-region would gain more if women are properly mainstreamed into governance and decision making. Full text...

Réduit, Mauritius (PANA) - Mauritian Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare Ministry on Wednesday organized a capacity-building programme to empower students of Journalism, Communications and Media Studies from the University of Mauritius on responsible reporting of Gender-Based Violence (GBV). Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) – The re-entry policy introduced by the Zambian government to allow pregnant school girls complete their education is becoming a controversial issue here as statistics of girls getting pregnant after re-entry into school is rising. Full text...

Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (PANA) - The first edition of the Days of Female Entrepreneurship of the Ivorian section of the African Women's Entrepreneurship Programme (AWEP-CI) will be held from 27-28 March in Abidjan, the Ivorian capital, PANA reported Tuesday. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) – The Nigerian government and the European Union (EU) Monday signed a 10 million Euro sponsorship agreement to promote women's engagement in peace and security in the Boko Haram enclave in Northern Nigeria. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), on Saturday welcomed the outcome of a two-week meeting in New York which put the empowerment of women and girls at its centre stage. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) - A London-based global consortium of civil society organisations will partner with the Zambian government to advocate and mobilise resources to combat child marriages. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Ms. Irina Bokova, on Monday called on governments, the private sector and civil society to scale up efforts to provide quality education for girls, stressing the transformative benefits this has for all of society. Full text...