Africa's Women

Source: www.nytimes.com --- 19 days ago
A quarter to a third of all pregnant Women on the subcontinent are infected with hookworm, a new analysis suggests. ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 4 days ago
Related Articles Randomized Trial of a Community-based Alcohol-related HIV Risk-reduction Intervention for Men and Women in Cape Town South Africa. Ann Behav Med. 2008 Oct 4; Authors: Kalichman SC, Simbayi LC, Vermaak R, Cain D, Smith G, Mthebu J, Jooste S BACKGROUND: HIV is devastating southern Africa and alcohol use is closely related to HIV transmission risks. PURPOSE: The current study tested the efficacy of a brief single-session HIV-alcohol risk-reduction intervention for men and Women who drink at informal alcohol serving establishments (i.e., shebeens) in South Africa. METHODS: A randomized community field trial recruited men (N = 117) and Women (N = 236) through outreach and chain referrals. Participants received either: (a) 3-h theory-based behavioral HIV-alcohol risk-reduction intervention that focused on skills training for sexual negotiation and condom use or (b) 1-h HIV-alcohol information/education control group. Participants were followed up for 3 and 6 months post-intervention with 89% retention. RESULTS: The risk-reduction intervention demonstrated significantly less unprotected intercourse, alcohol use before sex, numbers of sex partners, partners met at drinking establishments and greater condom use relative to the control group. However, intervention effects were moderated by alcohol use; lighter drinkers demonstrated significantly more intervention gains than heavier drinkers in the risk-reduction condition. Inter ...

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov --- 17 hours ago
New insights into the prevalence, genetic diversity and proviral load of human T-cell leukemia viruses types 1 and 2 in pregnant Women in Gabon, equatorial central Africa. J Clin Microbiol. 2008 Sep 24; Authors: Etenna SL, Caron M, Besson G, Makuwa M, Gessain A, Mahé A, Kazanji M Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is highly endemic in areas of central Africa; mother-to-child and sexual transmission are considered to be the predominant routes. To determine the prevalence and subtypes of HTLV-1/2 in pregnant Women in Gabon, we conducted an epidemiological survey in the five main cities of the country. In 907 samples, the HTLV-1 seroprevalence was 2.1%, which is lower than that previously reported. Only one case of HTLV-2 infection was found. The HTLV-1 seroprevalence increased with age and differed between regions (p </= 0.05), with the highest prevalence (5%) in the south-eastern region. A wide range of HTLV-1 proviral loads was observed among the infected Women. The level of the proviral load was correlated with a high HTLV-1 antibody titer (p </= 0.02). Sequencing of HTLV-1 env and LTR fragments showed that all but one strain belonged to the central African subtype B; the outlier was of cosmopolitan subtype A. The new strains of subtype B exhibited wide genetic diversity, but there was no evidence of clustering of specific genomes within geographical regions of the country. Some strains were closely related to STLV-1 strain ...

Source: www.commondreams.org --- 9 days ago
Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is appalled by the Bush administration's latest move to put Women's lives in danger by withholding contraceptives, a critical family planning resource, from Women in six African countries. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is mandating that several African governments terminate a program that allows Marie Stopes International (MSI), one of the world's leading family planning organizations, to provide contraceptives in those countries. read more ...

Source: www.moreover.com --- 30 days ago
AllAfrica.com Sep 11 2008 9:46AM GMT ...

Source: www.moreover.com --- 19 days ago
European Commission Sep 23 2008 3:53PM GMT ...

Source: www.ipsnews.net --- 30 days ago
DURBAN, Sep 11 (IPS) - South African Women in business welcomed the recently-signed South African Development Community (SADC) Gender and Development Protocol, but are sceptical about its ability to truly achieve greater gender equality in business and trade. ...

Source: www.harolddoan.com --- 18 days ago
UN-BACKED FORUM FOCUSES ON DEVELOPMENT NEEDS OF Africa's Women Press Release - UN News Center Sep 22 2008 As the General Assembly meets to consider Africa's development needs, gender experts are coming together at a United Nations-backed forum spotlighting the continent's Women, who are a vital part of efforts to achieve the global anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). "For millions of African Women, hunger, violence, exclusion and discrimination are their everyday realities," the UN Development Fund for Women the lead agency for the forum - said in a news release. A recent survey by the UN Economic Commission for Africa evaluated government performance regarding their commitments to gender equality and Women's human rights. While African governments score high in terms of developing policies, they were found lacking in actual implementation. Today's forum will examine a range of issues affecting the plight of African Women, including chronic poverty, lack of access to education and health services, HIV/AIDS and their participation in decision-making processes. African Women represent the largest demographic segment affected by HIV/AIDS, constituting 58 per cent of the 25 million Africans infected by the disease. In addition, while they are the backbone of the informal economy, especially in the agricultural sector, African Women lack access to productive resources, including credit, land, and technica ...

Source: www.worldpoliticsreview.com --- 17 days ago
KAMPALA, Uganda -- Uganda has been touted as as a success story in reducing HIV infection rates, both by its government, which is eager to gain international approval, and by the Bush administration, which funds the controversial abstinence-based "ABC" campaign that now dominates HIV prevention in much of Africa. But abstinence advice is irrelevant for married Women, and experts now consider them among the most at-risk Ugandans for contracting HIV, a factor that could be contributing to Uganda's failure to curb new infections. ...

Source: www.modernghana.com --- 14 days ago
Ghana’s Black Queens have been drawn in a tough group with sworn rivals Nigeria and South Africa as contenders for the 6th Africa Women Championship slated for Equatorial Guinea from November 15 to 29. The draw, conducted in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on Saturday put the Queens in Group B alongside reigning Champions, Super Falcons of Nigeria, Ba ... ...

Source: www.sabcnews.com --- 14 days ago
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said poverty in sub-Saharan Africa had increased between 1990 and 2005, and Women and girls are most affected by bias and neglect. ...

Source: www.modernghana.com --- 14 days ago
Ghana's Black Queens have been drawn in a tough group with sworn rivals Nigeria and South Africa as contenders for the 6th Africa Women Championship slated for Equatorial Guinea from November 15 to 29. The draw, conducted in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on Saturday put the Queens in Group B alongside reigning Champions, Super Falcons ... ...

Source: allafrica.com --- 32 days ago
South Africa is leading the pack, with Women comprising 22 per cent of its National Defence Force while Botswana recently accepted the first female recruits after 20 years of pressure from gender activists. ...

Source: www.bignewsnetwork.com --- 31 days ago
National sevens rugby team Nereah Awino in action against teammate Rebecca Kerubo (right) during the national Women rugby team training session for seven-aside rugby world cup qualifiers to be held in... ...

Source: www.worldpress.org --- 6 days ago
allAfrica, Online news aggregator, Johannesburg, South Africa ...

Source: www.womensenews.org --- 8 days ago
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Source: gender.developmentgateway.org --- 9 days ago
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Source: www.siyanda.org --- 7 days ago
What are the links between HIV/AIDS and Women's property rights in Sub-Saharan Africa? Author: Strickland, R. ...

Source: www.bnvillage.co.uk --- 40 days ago
As one in nearly three black South African Women who are jobless, Sabatha Nyawo has pounded the streets of South Africa's financial capital Johannesburg for two years in search of work. "Everyday I send applications to different companies to no avail," said the 32-year-old who graduated as a librarian five years ago but has never worked in her chosen profession. The mother of two last worked as a supermarket cashier. As a black Women she falls into a group that has an unemployment rate eight times that of white men. Labour figures released Thursday from South Africa's central statistics arm showed a fractional dip overall in the unemployment rate by 0.4 percent to 23.1 percent in the second quarter of 2008. But while the number of workers rose slightly, the indicators point to employment rates that remain racially skewed in favour of whites, the minority group who ruled apartheid South Africa until 1994. While joblessness among white South Africans is just 4.6 percent, it affects 12.7 percent of Indians and 19.5 percent of mixed race or coloureds. Twenty-seven percent, or more than one in four, of black South Africans aged between 15 and 64 years old are not working - a figure that goes up to nearly one in every three for black Women. Professor Vasu Reddy said this was not surprising and explained that the roots of the problem go back to the country's discriminatory past when policies were actually aimed at suppressing the black majori ...

Source: www.magharebia.com --- 31 days ago
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