Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - The Prime Minister of Mauritius, Navin Ramgoolam, Thursday paid tribute to women in his country for their contribution to the island's progress and economic development. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Residents of low-income and informal urban settlements suffer mostly from inadequate living conditions and limited access to services, which put a disproportionate burden on women's unpaid time and results in far-reaching consequences for their well-being, according to a new research. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Thursday called on the international community to implement measures aimed at ensuring safer migration for rural women. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Equality Now, an international lobby for women and girls' rights, Thursday expressed concern that Egyptian women’s rights were eroding in the post-revolution era and called on Egyptian authorities to support the demands of its women on International Women’s Day. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Gender equality is central to meeting the needs of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people - men and women alike - according to a new ACT Alliance report launched Thursday to mark International Women’s Day. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on Wednesday joined other senior UN officials on the eve of the International Women’s Day in highlighting the potential of rural women to improve the well-being of entire societies if given equal access to resources and set free from the discrimination and exploitation that hold them back. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – A new report, jointly published by the global media rights body, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), and WageIndicator, has called for an end to “persisting gender pay gap in journalism”, as the world celebrates this year’s “International Women's Day”, on 8 March. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for greater efforts to remove barriers that hinder women’s full participation in the economy, citing lack of access to jobs, markets, credit and property as some of the impediments. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Ms. Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), on Friday highlighted the role of quotas to accelerate women’s political participation, saying more hands-on measures are needed to achieve significant progress on this issue. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Entity for Gender and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) has said it will provide US$10.5 million in grants to organizations working to advance economic and political empowerment of women in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Central Asia. Full text...

Tunis,Tunisia (PANA) – A national survey on violence to women in Tunisia carried out in 2010 has revealed that 47.6% of women have been subjected to, at least, one form of violence in their life. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro on Tuesday called for systematic and comprehensive strategies to empower women in rural areas to maximize their potential to combat extreme poverty and hunger, and help them facilitate sustainable development in their communities. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Independent UN human rights experts on Wednesday called on Morocco to consolidate and advance the country’s achievements on women’s rights by tackling gaps in its legal framework which put women at a disadvantage, saying that, ``domestic and migrant workers are at higher risk of having their rights violated''. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The international Organization on Migration (IOM) on Friday said that while trafficking of Ugandan women to Asia has increased recently, those already rescued and brought back home are subjected to a worse practice. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday stressed the need Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - A three-day young feminist forum for Central African countries got underway in Brazzaville, Congo, Wednesday with 40 young women from Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic and Chad participating, PANA reports from here. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro on Tuesday Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Sudanese religious scholars, senior journalists and doctors held a special event here on Tuesday in a show of solidarity with the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), observed globally on 6 February. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The Executive Director of UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), Ms. Michelle Bachelet, said on Thursday that her priority this year is to enhance the economic empowerment and political participation of women. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on business leaders attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to increase their investment in women’s education and health, to ensure their well-being and encourage their participation in the world economy. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has launched a new web portal focusing on helping girls and women to access job opportunities, training and career advice in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. Full text...

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A workshop in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on the psychological and social support for battered women has called for institutional suppoty for victims of the inhumane act. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Ms. Rashida Manjoo, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, on Friday called for greater efforts to improve the plight of women in Somalia, thousands of whom remain extremely vulnerable to discrimination and violence. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro has stressed that efforts to restore peace and stability in Africa’s Great Lakes region will not come to fruition unless the scourge of sexual violence is completely eradicated and justice systems are strengthened to end impunity. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Director of international organization Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS), Bineta Diop, has urged Africans to come together to deal with the various crises that are having a negative impact on the continent. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The coordinator of the UNESCO Chair in Science Education, Prof. Samuel Mawete, has called for the involvement of Congolese women in the management of public affairs. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Margot Wallstrom, on Friday marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women with a call for solidarity with the survivors of sexual violence in conflict throughout the world. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday called for engaging all of society, especially young people, to end violence against women, a scourge that spans the globe and takes many forms, including rape, domestic violence and harassment at work. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) – Equality Now, an international non-governmental organization (NGO), working to protect the human rights of women around the world, Tuesday announced the appointment of Yasmeen Hassan as its Global Director. Full text...

Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (PANA) - The Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations for the fight against sexual violence in armed conflict, Margot Wallström, arrived in Abidjan, the Ivorian capital, Monday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro on Friday called for greater effort to raise the number of women holding senior positions at the UN, saying that the majority of them remain in the lower ranks although more women are now being hired to fill management posts. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - More than 100 Sudanese women, drawn from the three states of the region of Darfur, took part in an open-day dialogue on the role of women in peace in the embattled region, a press statement from the United nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) indicated Thursday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Security Council has urged countries to implement a landmark resolution which seeks to strengthen women’s participation in peacebuilding, Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called for the involvement of more women in conflict prevention and mediation, saying ``their participation is essential to building blocks in reinforcing democracy''. Full text...

Lomé,Togo (PANA) - A meeting on the women's access to legal and judicial services in Africa, held in Lome, Togo, has adopted an eight-year (2012-2020) Action Plan. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Ms. Gabriela Knaul has called for the integration of a gender perspective into countries’ criminal justice systems to ensure women are not "ruled out of the law. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has denounced hindrances to women entrepreneurship in developing countries in its 2011 report on the information economy launched on Wednesday in Addis Ababa. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called on the Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The president of Senegalese NGO, Association femme enfant environnement (AFEE), Seynabou Tall Wade, on Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland, received the 2011 distinction award for her role in protecting the interest of underprivileged women and children in the rural areas. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Ms. Rashida Manjoo, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, on Tuesday said that violence against women across the world continued to be pervasive and widespread and reminded member states of their obligation under international law to protect women. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has hailed Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian peace activist, and Tawakkul Karman, a pro-democracy activist from Yemen, for jointly winning the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - The Africa Progress Panel (APP) has welcomed the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni rights activist Tawakkul Karman. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - More encomiums have continued to pour in for the three women winners of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winners, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Roberta Gbowee, and Yemeni activist Tawakkul Karman. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The African Union (AU) on Friday congratulated Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Friday congratulated the three women winners of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, saying that one of them, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, was a symbol of the rise of democracy in Africa. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), on Monday kicked off a two-day meeting in Paris, France, devoted to gender inequality in classroom achievement and on women’s leadership role in education. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - A group of Mauritanian women have called for gender equality at elective offices and in senior government positions, according to their letter which was made available to PANA on Monday. Full text...

Luanda, Angola (PANA) - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Norwegian government will support gender equality and women promotion in Angola through the financial agreement signed Wednesday, in Luanda. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Newly independent South Sudan and 34 other countries were Thursday awarded grants by UN Women to fight violence against women. Full text...