Activists have welcomed the Sudanese government’s move to criminalise Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The transitional government amended the criminal code in an effort to protect women and girls from the traditional practice that is considered a violation of human rights. “There is so much that women’s groups are pushing for and the criminalization of FGM...
Emanuela Paul is the Rethinking Power Program Coordinator with Beyond Borders/Depase Fwontyè yo. The programme focuses on preventing violence against women and girls, including women and girls with disabilities, in Haiti and implements a project with funding from the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women. In light of COVID-19, she explains how her...
This commentary is co-signed by Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ghana; Kamina Johnson-Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica; Kang Kyung-wha, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea; Retno Marsudi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Indonesia; Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, South Africa; Marise...
The COVID-19 pandemic is a disaster that has severely disrupted the normal functioning of populations around the world and continues to proliferate indiscriminately. Disease outbreaks like COVID-19 threaten the health of all. But women and girls are disproportionately affected. During epidemics, the very measures taken to protect populations and keep health systems afloat leave women and girls especially...
Women and girls in Africa are among the most vulnerable groups exposed to the negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Although preliminary evidence from China, Italy, and New York shows that men are at higher risk of contraction and death from the disease—more than 58 percent of COVID-19 patients were men, and they had an...
Abigail*, a young woman who lives in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare became pregnant by a much older married man when she was 14. She had left school because her mother couldn’t afford to pay for her fees, books and other school supplies. Her mother was also struggling to buy food and other basics for the family....
An international team of scientists studying lifespans of wild mammals have found that, just like humans, females tend to live significantly longer than their male counterparts. The researchers looked at the lifespans of 101 different species, from sheep to elephants, and found that females lived an average of 18% longer than males for more than...
A new approach to studying the effects of two common chemicals used in cosmetics and sunscreens found they can cause DNA damage in breast cells at surprisingly low concentrations, while the same dose did not harm cells without estrogen receptors. The research, published Jan. 15 in Environmental Health Perspectives, identifies a new mechanism by which...
Nurses and midwives are the backbone of health systems globally. Of the world’s 43.5 million healthcare professionals, more than 20 million are nurses and midwives. They play a critical role, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, as quite often they are the first and only healthcare professionals people will see. Because nurses and midwives respond to the...
African countries need to do more to upgrade the continent’s fragile health delivery systems if they are to cope with pandemics such as the coronavirus which within weeks, has infected 10,662 people in 52 countries with 533 deaths and 1174 recoveries recorded as of this writing. The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in a new...
