Gaborone- Botswana (PANA) -- The number of women in Botswana's cabinet rose to five Thursday when President Festus Mogae named Pelonomi Venson new minister of Works, Transport and Communication, replacing David Magang who resigned recently. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- The Zambia National Women's Lobby Group (ZNWLG) has appealed to opposition political parties to seriously consider women in their nomination of candidates for this year's local council, parliamentary and possibly presidential elections. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- A four-day meeting of the African Committee on Women and Development opened here Monday calling on African governments to give special attention to gender issues in preparation of poverty reduction strategies. Full text...

Algiers- Algeria (PANA) -- Violence against women in Algeria is unabated despite the country's socio-political development and a significant improvement in their status, advocates of women's rights have lamented. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Women from various countries have set up in Saly Portudal (seaside resort 70 km from Dakar) a women economists network, under the initiative of the Regional Bureau for French-speaking Africa and the Maghreb of the UN Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- The assistant secretary-general of the Inter-parliamentary Union, Christine Pinat, has enjoined MPs from some 15 Parliaments from French-, Portuguese- and Arabic-speaking countries in Africa to beef up their capacities for better involvement in the elaboration of national budgets. Full text...

Port Louis- Mauritius (PANA) -- A study on the feminisation of poverty in Mauritius, released Wednesday revealed that female-headed households earn significantly less than those headed by men. Full text...

Blantyre- Malawi (PANA) -- Thanks to 'radio clubs' set up with financial assistance from donor agencies including UNESCO, USAID and Panos, women across Malawi have found a new vent on the country's air waves, to voice their concerns. Full text...

Luanda- Angola (PANA) -- Women MPs from Central Africa begin meeting Monday in Luanda, to discuss possibilities of setting up a regional network among them. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- UNICEF's Deputy Country Representative Roger Wright, Friday urged Nigeria to pass into law the Bill on child rights, to create the necessary legal environment for the development and protection of children in the country. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- A young Maasai girl was Thursday rescued from a two-month forced marriage ordeal and taken to a boarding school where she will pursue education. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Opposition Agenda for Zambia (AZ) Thursday unveiled its party manifesto with a strict focus on human resource development and education for all, the Zambia News Agency reported. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- Tanzania's media women have teamed up with a host of local and foreign NGOs to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- The Namibian Women's Manifesto Network is demanding equal representation of men and women in all government elective positions. Full text...

Tambacounda- Senegal (PANA) -- Senegalese nationals, who are against Female genital mutilation (FGM) should spread the message to their compatriots living in France, a French woman activist, Emmanuelle Barbaras said in Tamabacounda, eastern Senegal at the weekend. Full text...

Malem Niani- Senegal (PANA) -- Some 101 villages in the Malem Niani rural community of Senegal's Tambacounda region on Saturday declared their abandonment of female genital mutilation (FGM). Full text...

Tambacounda- Senegal (PANA) -- Senegal, where at least one million women and girls are affected by female genital mutilation (FGM), according to corroborating sources, has just drafted a national plan for the eradication of FGM nationwide by 2005. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- The Namibian Women's Manifesto Network (NWMN) Thursday launched a pamphlet as part of its campaign to press for a 50/50 women and men representation in government, the Namibia News Agency (NAMPA) reported. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- Activists and experts from the southern African region are in Windhoek for a two-day seminar under the auspices of the Namibia National Association of Women in Business and the Foundation of Women's Forum in Sweden, to develop more accurate methods for evaluating empowerment projects. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- Women from about ten villages in the region of Kayes (about 500 km west of Bamako) last weekend decided to stop the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), health officials affirmed Wednesday. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- The illiteracy rate among rural women in DR Congo ranges between 22 and 85 percent, compared to 5 and 25 percent for men, Social and Family Welfare minister Jeanne Ebamba Boboto affirmed in Kinshasa, on the occasion of the International Rural Women's Day celebrated 15 October. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- Colleen Lowe Morna has resigned as chief executive officer of the Commission on Gender Equality (CGE) as part of an amicable agreement both parties declared to be a "victory for gender equality. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- Health authorities in Tanzania have identified gender inequality and creeping poverty as prime causes for the high rate of HIV/AIDS cases among women in the country. Full text...

Bujumbura- Burundi (PANA) -- Women account for 52 percent of Burundi's seven million inhabitants, with over 80 percent of them living in poor rural areas, Social and Women Affairs Minister Romaine Ndorimana has said. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- The African National Congress Women's League's (ANCWL) has announced that its national executive will hold an urgent meeting to discuss the participation of women in the Millennium Africa Recovery Plan and the New Africa Initiative. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Women members of parliament from the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Monday started a one-week workshop in Lusaka to work out a strategy for enabling more women to be elected to parliaments of their countries. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The participation of woman in local governance is dependent on the improvement of their daily living conditions, according to Senegalese Industry and Craft Minister, Landing Savane. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- World-renowned South African singer Miriam Makeba, on Thursday inaugurated a French-language primary school in Pretoria, named after her. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, president of the African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) Friday opens a four-day Nation Consultative Conference in Johannesburg. Full text...

Tunis- Tunisia (PANA) -- Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Thursday hailed the "excellent relations" between France and Tunisia as he appointed female lawyer Faiza Kefi ambassador to Paris, the Tunisian News Agency (TAP) reported. Full text...

Brazzaville- Congo (PANA) -- More than 60 percent of African women are illiterate, an official from the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights affirmed in Brazzaville, Wednesday. Full text...

Abuja- Nigeria (PANA) -- Nigeria would next year host a world summit on the trafficking of women and child labour, a top government official hinted Thursday. Full text...

N'djamena- Chad (PANA) -- There is a workshop underway to implement Forum Vision 2010 which calls for reduction in maternal and infant mortality in Chad, rated among the highest in the world. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The chances of an average African girl getting a reasonable school education are very slim. Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- Zimbabwean women parliamentarians Monday buried party differences and formed an all-female caucus in the House to push for greater rights. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- A study carried out by the National Pedagogic Institute (IPN) has shown that most women displaced by the war in DR Congo have little hope in the future. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- The South African Government has appointed Monhla Hlahla chief executive officer of the Airports Company of South Africa. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- Unlike the common belief that women were the main victims, a study has shown that about 20 percent of men and 15 percent of the women in DR Congo fall victim to sexual harassment at their workplace. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- A nationwide campaign is under way in the Democratic Republic of Congo to encourage couples to register their marriages. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- When 17-year old Agneta Nyangeta (not her real name) was driven into prostitution by her mother to supplement their livelihood in the city, her life became another grisly Tanzanian statistic. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- Two South African women in their mid-sixties Monday flew in a single-engine plane from the US into Lanseria airport in Johannesburg. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- Over 200 Tanzanian women are participating in a weeklong regional informal sector exhibition starting Monday in Nairobi, Kenya. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- A three-day women's conference opens in Lusaka Monday to formulate a strategy aimed at boosting their effective participation in coming Zambian elections. Full text...

Praia- Cape Verde (PANA) -- In the face of increasing cases of early pregnancies among secondary school girls in Cape Verde, the government has hinted it would take measures to curb the phenomenon. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- The sixth edition of a project initiating young Benin girls into active and professional life, began Wednesday with about 40 girls on roll. Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- The European Parliament Thursday resolved to fight female genital mutilation in Africa by including projects opposed to the practice in programmes supported by members of the European Union. Full text...

Conakry- Guinea (PANA) -- Guinean females working in the mass media are determined to dismantle male dominance of the profession, an official with a female journalists' organisation said in Conakry Wednesday. Full text...

Niamey- Niger (PANA) -- A national workshop is underway in Niamey advocating the restitution of a study on the repudiation of women. Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- The First Lady of Burkina Faso, Chantal Compaoré, is in Brussels to take part in a debate on female genital mutilation (FGM) organised by the European Parliament. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- A two-day UNESCO-sponsored women's conference to evaluate the "Women, higher education and development" project ends Tuesday in Paris, France. Full text...