Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Leaders of a Kenyan women group have petitioned parliament to impose death sentences on rapists. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- The 2000 Regional Human Development Report for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has acknowledged some progress in efforts at empowering women within the sub region. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- The National Women's Lobby Group (NWLG) has called on political parties in the country to support women vying for decision making positions in line with the Southern African Development Community's (SADC) 30 percent requirement. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- The Zambia National Women's Lobby Group, a gender advocacy non-governmental organisation, has begun a project which targets corruption because effects of the scourge are more severe on women and children than men. Full text...

Windhoek- Namibia (PANA) -- The Women's Action for Development (WAD) Executive Director, Veronica de Klerk, said Wednesday that women need to equip themselves with the necessary skills and knowledge to perform erstwhile "men only" jobs. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- A Johannesburg High Court Monday reinstated the embattled Chief Executive of South Africa's Commission on Gender Equality (CGE), and ordered her employers to pay her outstanding salaries and legal costs. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Observers have warned that unless women's specific needs were addressed, efforts towards their post-war rehabilitation in Somalia and Rwanda are unlikely to make any meaningful impact. Full text...

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- A four-woman team of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) arrived in Kigali Saturday to assess the impact of the armed conflict on women and their role in peace-building and conflict resolution. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- A Kenyan Women's organisation has hinted of immediate plans to launch a countrywide sensitisation campaign against child abuse in the country. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- A UNESCO director in the division of higher education, Komlavi Francisco Seddoh, Wednesday urged African governments to invest in women's higher education if they hoped to tap women's potential in complimenting on going efforts to achieve rapid development. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- UNESCO Higher Education director Komlavi Francisco Seddoh has urged African governments to invest in women's higher education with a view to making the best of women's potential in the drive for rapid development. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- Five years after the Zambian government recognised the need to remove impediments to girls' education, observers maintain those hurdles were still alive and standing in the way of the intended progress. Full text...

Monrovia- Liberia (PANA) -- Liberian education minister, Dr. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- At least 500 gender activists from eastern and central Africa are to attend the Annual Gender Studies Conference (AGSC) in Dar es Salaam from 10-13 September. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Ethiopian women staged a rally in Addis Ababa Wednesday during which they called for the introduction of capital punishment against rapists and other people engaged in sexual harassment. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- The African National Congress Women's League on Wednesday mobilised hundreds of community members and women in support of a march called by the Ministers Fraternal in the Southern Cape town of George. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Cyprienne Zinsou, a victim of child trafficking has finally re-united with her parents in Benin after 23 years. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Lithemba Resources, a new company led by black women aimed at the minerals and energy sector, has been launched in Johannesburg. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- A Briton suspected of paedophilia has been arrested by the Ethiopian police in Addis Ababa. Full text...

Blantyre- Malawi (PANA) -- A 34-year-old Malawi woman now faces murder charges after allegedly pouring hot water on her housemaid, who later died in hospital. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- In a move to focus on the multiplicity of violence against women, the World Court of Women Against Racism would convene in Durban side-by-side with the forthcoming World conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- Thirty-year-old Amina (not her real name) has a deep scar on her mind which she would have to live with for the rest of her life. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) is supporting Namibia's Legal Assistance Centre to raise awareness on violence against women. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- The International Labour Organisation (ILO), has approved the launching of a project to improve the situation of women and children facing poverty and unacceptable working conditions in Tanzania. Full text...

Dar es Salaam- Tanzania (PANA) -- The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has approved the launching of a project to improve the situation of women and children caught up in the web of poverty and hard working conditions in Tanzania. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- Notwithstanding extensive mobilisation among gender activists, discrimination against women remains manifest in Togo, and takes several forms. Full text...

Praia- Cape Verde (PANA) -- Cape Verdian women become victims of their own silence when it comes to dealing with domestic and sexual violence. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- South Africa's accountancy profession has undergone some welcome changes with more and more women joining the prestigious ranks of chartered accountants. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Millions of South Africans Thursday commemorated the 1956 march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria by 20,000 women protesting against the pass laws of the then apartheid era. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- About 90 percent of primary school girls in the southern Kenyan districts of Kisii and Gucha have been subjected to female genital mutilation, according to a study by a local NGO. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- About 1 000 delegates to a national Gender Summit in South Africa resolved Wednesday to lobby for commitment to the quest for equality as the four-day gathering wound up. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Entrepreneur Debby Reader, owner and managing director of a communications agency known as Tin Can, has won the Gauteng Regional Business Achiever 2001 award. Full text...

Brazzaville- Congo (PANA) -- A survey conducted in February and April in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire notes that only 15 per cent of women in Congo were registered members of political parties, even though 97 per cent professed interest in politics. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- Allegations of "irregularities" linking the chief executive of South Africa's Commission on Gender Equality, are threatening to undermine an ongoing Gender Summit, which was opened by the country's first lady Zabele Mbeki Sunday. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- The historic summit on gender equality that began Sunday in Johannesburg under the auspices of the South African Commission on Gender Equality is expected to be the most significant gender-related event in the country since 1994. Full text...

Cotonou- Benin (PANA) -- Benin State Radio is organising a two-week programme beginning Monday to promote women issues through specific broadcasts focusing on the role of women, the Director, Diogo Palu, said. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Twenty-six women from 16 English-speaking African countries Friday began a six-month training course on Information Technology, sponsored by the World Bank. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- In a move to take upstage in development on the continent, women's associations in Senegal have called for the involvement of the women of Africa in the implementation of the new African Initiative. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Internationally accliamed singer Miriam Makeba has been named South Africa's woman of the year 2001, while Natalie du Toit, a disabled swimmer, was named the foremost sportswoman. Full text...

Bujumbura- Burundi (PANA) -- A National Rally for Burundian Women was created in Bujumbura Tuesday during celebrations marking the Pan African Women's Day. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- The president of Femme 2000 - a Paris-based Cote d'Ivoire women's NGO - Maggie Delly Kouko Tuesday identified xenophobia as detriment to African unity, and urged authorities in Abidjan to quell it from permeating the society. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- Representatives of various stakeholders, including the government, NGOs, the civil society, the media and faith-based communities, have agreed on a new campaign for greater involvement of men in promoting the dignity and rights of women. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- The South African Parliament Thursday convened a two-day conference on "Enhancing the Participation of Women in the Law Making Process". Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The Mauritanian government, in collaboration with the United Nations, has decided to make primary education compulsory in the country in a bid to improve education for girls. Full text...

Brazzaville- Congo (PANA) -- At least 280 women were raped in southern Congo's Dolisie during the armed conflict involving government forces and rebels between January and October 1999, says a study by the Congolese Reproductive Health Service. Full text...

Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- A new study shows that the population of males is 1. Full text...

NAIROBI- Kenya (PANA) -- An organisation set up by male students at Kenya's Moi University in Eldoret, 432 km west of the capital Nairobi, has been denied registration because its name is offensive. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- Women, who constitute 52 percent of the population in the Democratic Republic of Congo have complained of being side-lined in the forthcoming national dialogue. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- A workshop highlighting national and international instruments against the trafficking and exploitation of women and children is afoot in Bamako, Mali at the behest of the African Coalition against the Traficking of Women (ACTW). Full text...

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- An international seminar focussing essentially on "Gender, population and development in Africa", entered its second day Wednesday in Abidjan with an aim to specify the role of women and their integration in society. Full text...