Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Newspapers in Kenya have taken a swipe at a marital law they consider out-dated and "presumptuous over matters of the heart," after a judge dismissed a perplexing case in which a woman sought to have her husband jailed for "fraudulently living and having sex with her. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Benin's ministry of Family, Social Welfare and Solidarity has launched a pamphlet sensitising the public against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Despite outnumbering men among the worlds' population, women constitute the bigger bulk of the poor, and have a disproportionately low access to information communication technologies (ICTs). Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Benin has issued a strong warning to practitioners of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the country to stop the practice immediately. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Women are the prime victims of violence and abuse in Nairobi and their plight is an indication of the level of insecurity in the city and in most African capitals, according to UN agencies' survey report released in the Kenyan capital Thursday. Full text...

Cairo- Egypt (PANA) -- The vitality shown by women participants in the Cairo Trade Fair unquestionably illustrates the determination of African women to henceforth occupy their rightful place in moulding the "future of Africa. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Authorities in Kenya have ordered the arrest of members of a ragtag militant sect believed to be behind a wave of threats against uncircumcised women. Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) -- Cameroon's female lawyers have set up an association named Female Lawyers, Le Messager newspaper reported Wednesday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- A Kenyan centre for human rights and democracy said Monday it would take legal action to stop the circumcision of 16 girls who last week ran away from their homes in the northern rift valley district of Marakwet. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- The South African government and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have signed an agreement mandating UNICEF to continue helping the country to improve the situation of children and women in South Africa. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The 2002-2006 five-year programme adopted by the Forum of Women Educators in Africa (FAWE) gives priority to girls' education in the continent, according to FAWE programme director Marema Dioum. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- The European Union (EU) has granted 560 million CFA francs to the regional office of Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), the EU delegate in Togo said in a statement. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- The association for progress and defence of Women's rights (APDF) in Mali are demanding political parties to ensure that at least one-third of their parliamentary and local government candidates in the forthcoming elections are women. Full text...

Gaborone- Botswana (PANA) -- The Botswana government will regulate the minimum wage payable to domestic workers, the majority of whom are women, under a revised rural development policy geared towards poverty alleviation. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- French politician Josiane Beregovoy of the Green party has urged women in Africa to play a more assertive role in the continent's democratisation, given their demographic weight. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- An ex-army officer lost his wife because she found it unbearable for her spouse's habit of demanding and having forceful sex with her. Full text...

Cairo- Egypt (PANA) -- Democracy in Egypt will take root the day Egyptians start upholding democratic practices in the family, Farkhonda Hassan, secretary-general of the National Council for Women, has said. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- Uganda's Vice President Dr. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Seven Zambian women miners have successfully won jobs as heavy-duty drivers at the Nchanga open pit, which was previously reserved for men. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- Tanzania is one of four Anglophone countries picked by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to implement its good practice interventions to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children, officials said Thursday. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The Norwegian government was actively engaged in supporting programmes for girl-child education in Africa through on-going programmes it funded for UNICEF to implement. Full text...

Libreville- Gabon (PANA) -- President Omar Bongo has urged women in Gabon to form organisations through which they can collectively enhance their status and well-being. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- On the occasion of International Women's Day commemorated at the weekend, outgoing World Food Programme (WFP) executive director Catherine Bertini reiterated the crucial role women stand to play in the global fight against hunger. Full text...

Kampala- Uganda (PANA) -- Ugandan women activists have blamed cultural and traditional inequalities for the escalating domestic violence in the country. Full text...

Conakry- Guinea (PANA) -- Guinean female computer expert, Barry Nancy Ba, has condemned early marriage still practised by her Peul ethnic group. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Senegalese Minister for Trade, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Aïcha Agne Pouye, has deplored the difficulties women encounter in obtaining bank loans in the country "Women have no access to bank credit because the financial institutions require them to provide guarantees which they cannot afford. Full text...

Algiers- Algeria (PANA) -- This Algerian woman, Djamila, 36, known as "Jimmy", has been a taxi driver in Algiers for the past five years. Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) -- Olive, in her thirties, is a single-parent teacher in one of Yaounde's High Schools. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Disturbed by reports of forced marriages, mainly within the immigrant Maghreb and African communities, the French ministry of National Education hinted on the occasion of this year's International Women's Day that it was embarking on a sensitisation campaign against the practice. Full text...

Algiers- Algeria (PANA) -- As the world marked the International Women's Day, Badra Amamra, a former freedom fighter and first woman to be elected into the Political Bureau of Algeria's National Liberation Front (FLN), has renewed her determination to improve the lot of women in the male-dominated society. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The inclusion of cultural considerations in strategies at containing the spread of HIV/AIDS, especially social biases against women, is crucial if the war against the pandemic is to be won. Full text...

Algiers- Algeria (PANA) -- Siti Rahou, 28, who is Algeria's first female football referee having played in the country's first female team, is a role model in her career. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- Togolese Workers Unions' Confederation organised a function Friday in Lome, to sensitise women in the country on their rights and protection. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenyan women are advocating for a speedy enactment of a new maternity protection law by parliament in order to protect women from discriminatory practices in the workplace. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Culture can be an obstacle to the development of women, Adelaide Fassinou Allagbada, French professor at the University Abomey-Calavi in Cotonou, said Friday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The UN Education Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in conjunction with media women groups representatives from the east African region, Friday launched a website that would act as a data base and anchor reports on HIV/AIDS. Full text...

Yaounde- Cameroon (PANA) -- Cameroon's first lady Chantal Biya Friday celebrated International Women's Day ahead of a 40,000-strong group of marchers in Yaounde, the Cameroonian capital. Full text...

Cairo- Egypt (PANA) -- On the occasion of International Women's Day, Amnesty International volunteer Wafa Attia Friday noted that rural women and others of poor descent in Egypt were yet to be sensitised to raise their voices and have a real say in society. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- Access to medication and increased funding for HIV/AIDS education and prevention measures dominated this year's commemoration of International Women's Day in Tanzania on Friday. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- A Committee of French NGOs, is organising an exhibition next week in Paris on "Women in War," an official of the Committee said Friday. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The French government has just concluded consultations with its counterparts in French-speaking Africa for the institution of a "framework law common to French-speaking African countries and relative to the key child protection principles. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- UNICEF is stepping up measures for women's empowerment in Senegal, its Representative for Senegal and Cape Verde, Ian Hopwood, said Friday in Dakar. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The US ambassador to Benin, Pamela E. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- UN Security Council Friday promised to bring women into the mainstream of conflict prevention and resolution, as well as post-conflict rehabilitation. Full text...

Gaborone- Botswana (PANA) -- Botswana's Labour and Home Affairs Minister, Thebe Mogami has condemned a recent pageant organised for girls, saying it portrayed women as sex objects. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- Women in Tanzania Friday celebrated the International Women's Day by calling on the government and international community to address the root causes of poverty, saying poverty has continued to deprive the women in the country their economic and cultural rights. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- South African Deputy Defence Minister, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge Friday called for the mobilisation of women leaders and activists to strengthen the struggle for gender equality. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Excessive reliance on legislation in reforming African traditions that suppress women could lead to undesirable effects, a Beninese lawyer based in Paris, Chantal Heunkpaten has cautioned. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- On the occasion of the International Women's Day, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan Friday drew world attention to gender issues requiring urgent attention, including high illiteracy among girls and women, and an alarming increase in the spread of HIV/AIDS among women. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Nigeria Friday joined the rest of the world in observing the International Women's Day, amid questions about the tangible achievements of women in the country. Full text...