By Ignatius Banda

More than 70 percent of Africans – the majority of whom are women –rely on farming for survival. / Ignatius Banda/IPS

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Dec 20 (IPS) – Duduzile Sibanda takes a break from preparing her long stretch of land for her maize crop in rural Mberengwa, in Zimbabwe’s Midlands province. She wipes [...]

By Isaiah Esipisu

A pregnant woman in Kenya's North Eastern Province with one of her children. Overpopulation in the area contributes to poor maternal health. / Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

GARISSA, Kenya, Dec 19 (IPS) – The Garissa Maternal Shelter in North Eastern Province, Kenya is the only such facility in an area with the country’s highest [...]

By Sam Olukoya

In Ajegunle, a low-lying slum in Lagos, flooding is also disrupting the economic activities of women / Sam Olukoya/IPS

LAGOS, Nigeria, Dec 15 (IPS) – The women of Makoko, a low-lying slum close to the Lagos Lagoon along Nigeria’s Atlantic coast, always sleep with one eye open. Many live in fear that when [...]

Analysis by Miriam Gathigah

An internally-displaced Kenyan woman cooks in her makeshift kitchen. / Miriam Gathigah/IPS

BUSAN, South Korea, Dec 13 (IPS) – Women’s rights champions are not prepared to let the dust settle on the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness that ended in this South Korean port city on Dec. 1 with [...]

By Miriam Gathigah
BUSAN, South Korea, Dec 1 (IPS) – Gender champions have lauded the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness for providing gender equality and the empowerment of women a special session, but there is dissatisfaction with Thursday’s Busan outcome document.

Although the document alluded to gender equality, experts feel that the scope is narrow [...]

By Stephen Binda

Liberians voted in a runoff on Nov. 8 that was marred by violence and an opposition boycott. / Robbie Corey-Boulet/IPS

MONROVIA, Nov 14 (IPS) – Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s victory for a second term of office has been described as a boon for women despite the controversy surrounding an opposition boycott of [...]

By Badylon Kawanda Bakiman
KIKWIT, DR Congo, Nov 12 (IPS) – The 11 candidates contesting presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo all pledge to improve peace and security in the country – promises received with varying degrees of scepticism by Congolese voters.

"Our ambition is to provide our country with 150,000 soldiers and 200,000 police [...]

By Protus Onyango

Deputy Chief Justice of Kenya’s Supreme Court Nancy Baraza has begun overhauling the country’s judiciary. / Protus Onyango/IPS

NAIROBI, Nov 10 (IPS) – Deputy Chief Justice of Kenya’s Supreme Court Nancy Baraza, who made history as the first woman appointed to the post, has begun overhauling the country’s judiciary.

Kenya's judicial system is often [...]

By Shafi’i Mohyaddin Abokar

The Somali national women’s basketball team is in training for the Arab Games in Qatar. / Shafi’i Mohyaddin Abokar/IPS

MOGADISHU, Oct 18 (IPS) – When Al-Shabaab militants called the Somali national women’s basketball team captain, Suweys Ali Jama, and told her she had two options: to be killed or to stop [...]

By Isaiah Esipisu

New arrivals at Dadaab wait for a medical check up. / Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

DADAAB, Kenya, Oct 5 (IPS) – When Aisha Diis* and her five children fled their home in Somalia seeking aid from the famine devastating the region, she could not have known the dangers of the journey, or even fathom that [...]

By Isaiah Esipisu

Turkana Women in Kenya. Less than half of all Kenyan women give birth in a medical facility. / Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

NAIROBI, Sep 8 (IPS) – Agnes Kalunda’s doctor feared that because of her slight frame there was a high chance of her developing complications during delivery.

So he referred her to the Pumwani [...]

By Sam Olukoya

The bombing of the U.N. building in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, claimed 23 lives and wounded 81 people on Aug. 26. / Chris Ewokor/IPS

LAGOS, Sep 2 (IPS) – Security experts say that unless something is done to regulate the high level of illicit transactions and proliferation of commercial explosives in Nigeria, [...]

By Rosebell Kagumire

Ester Abeja, who was abducted by Lord’s Resistance Army says it is important for sexual violence survivors to have a face. / Rosebell Kagumire/IPS

LIRA, Uganda, Aug 12 (IPS) – Ester Abeja has experienced both physical and emotional atrocities. She was captured by Uganda's feared rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) [...]

By Ephraim Nsingo

A poster asking people to vote for Edith Nawakwi, the only woman presidential candidate. / Ephraim Nsingo/IPS

LUSAKA, Aug 12 (IPS) – Although there is a female presidential candidate contesting Zambia's Sept. 20 general elections, her prospects are not strong. And in fact, fewer women overall are likely to be elected into public [...]

Ephraim Nsingo interviews Zambia’s female presidential candidate EDITH NAWAKWI

Edith Nawakwi is the only female candidate to run for president in Zambia’s upcoming elections. / Ephraim Nsingo/IPS

LUSAKA, Aug 10 (IPS) – In Zambia’s highly patriarchal society Edith Nawakwi, 52, has broken a few records on the political scene over the last two decades. And [...]