For the better part of 2020, East African countries have been battling to contain the spread of Covid-19 with over 46,633 cases reported across Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda as of September 6. Among them, Kenya and Rwanda account for the larger chunk with 35,103 and 4,349 cases reported in the respective...
UN Women at the UN General Assembly 2020 For immediate release Date: Thursday, September 10, 2020 Media contact: media.team@unwomen.org As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hold the world hostage, global leaders will gather at the largest annual intergovernmental meeting for the first time ever in a virtual session. The 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 75) will...
The Commonwealth and ‘NO MORE Foundation’, on Wednesday, launched a first-of-its-kind digital portal designed to help tackle increased domestic and sexual violence due to the impacts of COVID-19, The portal aims to assist governments, organisations and individuals to confront the issue by assisting the development of long-term prevention strategies and provide other modes of support....
Against the backdrop of the low number of women with access to financial empowerment, healthcare and quality education in the country, a global not-for-profit social enterprise, Centre for Health Sciences Training, Research and Development (CHESTRAD) is launching a new programme that will tackle this need. Called ‘Tariro’, a South African word for ‘hope’, the programme...
Date: Friday, September 4, 2020 Exactly 25 years after the opening of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, its significance is undimmed. In that quarter century we have seen the strength and impact of collective activism grow and have been reminded of the importance of multilateralism and partnership to find common solutions...
Patience Mkandawire, 27, grew up in Zimbabwe’s rural Nkayi District and has gone on to study IT and software engineering– now she is helping girls from Nkayi do the same and to get the education resources they need during Zimbabwe’s pandemic-induced school closures. Mkandawire says the Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the vast digital gap...
Monrovia, Liberia, The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection in collaboration with the Adolescent Girls Advisory Panel have observed this year’s National Young Women and Girls Conference. National Young Women and Girls Conference is a yearly program designed by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and its partners to afford young women...
Only 29% of women in Kenya between the ages of 15 and 49 are empowered, according to the new Kenya women’s empowerment index. The study, developed by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in partnership with the State Department for Gender, UN Women, and UNICEF, is “the first comprehensive and systematic measure” for women’s and girls’ empowerment in Kenya,...
Representatives of humanitarian organisations have called for improved welfare for internally displaced women and girls in Nigeria. The stakeholders from within and outside Nigeria emphasised the need to protect and empower internally displaced women and girls to enable them take on the challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. They made the call during a virtual...
Cecilia Mwende Maundu is a broadcast journalist based in Kenya and a specialist in gender digital safety. She is also the current Secretary General of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television, Kenyan chapter. During COVID-19, women and girls are using the internet more than ever to stay connected with the world, but they...
