Africa

Update: Intisar Sharif Abdallah Released Unconditionally without Further Charge

Earlier this month we issued an action alert to stop the stoning of Intisar Sharif Abdallah* in Sudan. We are pleased to share the news from our Sudanese sisters who report that as of 21 June 2012, Intisar was released unconditionally and without further charges. Please see SIHA's press release below.

We congratulate and celebrate the work and actions by Sudanese women’s rights activists and their supporters around the world. We also thank everyone in our networks who took part in this global action.

Declaration of the Senegalese Feminist Forum statement during the Reflection on the Malian Crisis Meeting

We, members of the Senegalese Feminist Forum, would like to express our full support for the Malian people and especially to the women who are woefully underrepresented in these critical moments of the country's political life.

Déclaration du Forum féministe sénégalais lors de sa rencontre de réflexion sur la crise Malienne

Dakar, le 04 mai 2012

Nous, membres du Forum féministe sénégalais, souhaitons exprimer tout son soutien au peuple malien et en particulier aux femmes qui sont malheureusement très peu représentées en ces moments critiques de la vie politique du pays.

Uganda: WLUML/VNC Statement on the Situation of LGBT Rights Activists in Uganda

WE CONDEMN RENEWED THREATS TO UGANDAN LGBT RIGHTS DEFENDERS

The Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) international solidarity network and the Violence is not our Culture (VNC) Campaign condemn the recent police raid on a workshop for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) human rights defenders in Entebbe, Uganda. This act is an outright violation of the fundamental rights and freedoms of human rights defenders, which are guaranteed under the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter, both of which the Uganda government has signed and ratified.

Uganda: WLUML/VNC Statement on the Situation of LGBT Activists in Uganda

WE CONDEMN RENEWED THREATS TO UGANDAN LGBT RIGHTS DEFENDERS

Advocacy and Capacity Building for Comprehensive Management of Gender-Based Violence in Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (ELCDA), a project of Women’s Rights and Health Project (WRAHP), Ejigbo Lagos State, Nigeria

WRAHP’s organizational goal is to achieve a just and equitable society where women and young girls enjoy sound health, equal development and maximum self actualization.

WRAHP works to attain this through six core objectives, two of which have goals that address women’s rights. These are:

Publication of a Resource Book on Sexuality in Senegal, a project with Groupe de Recherche sur les Femmes et les Lois au Sénégal (GREFELS), Senegal

In 2008, a small grant from the Sexuality, Society and Gender Program of the University of Uppsala in Sweden was recived to undertake a research on Senegalese women’s sexuality which findings would be published as a book.The research was completed an all articles drafted, but the money for printing and disseminating the book was lacking. This grant made the publication possible.

Project: Publication of a Resource Book on Sexuality in Senegal

Strengthening the capacity of muslim and muslim women in PUDAH to demand and claim their sexual rights in Karu, a project of Womankind, Nigeria

Womankind works to address issues arising from taboos around sexuality; women's limited ownership of their bodies; customary practices that constitute major human rights violations; the discriminatory nature of laws related to sexuality which lead to severe human rights violations; the discrepancies between law and practice; the conceptualization of women's bodies and sexuality as belonging to men, their families and society, and insufficient sexual and reproductive health services available to Women to claim their sexual rights in Karu and Keffi in Nasarawa State, north central Nigeria.

Campaign Against Female Genital Mutilation in Nkarasi1&2 of Ikom L.G.A of Cross River State Nigeria, Safehaven International, Nigeria

Safe haven’s organisational goal is to challenge violence anywhere we see it, with a focus on protecting women and girls. The idea for the FGM/C project originated as a result of the considerable success of high level of community support and trust through other projects executed in the community. Our organization has as one of its cardinal objectives a desire to end violence against women. We therefore see the subjection of young girls to the painful exercise of FGM without seeking their consent as violence against them which we have to fight against.

Women’s rights to agricultural land in State laws, Muslim laws and customary laws, a project with Réseau des Femmes Pour la Paix (REFEPA), Niger

REFEPA’s goal in this project was to give voice to women to assert their rights to property and inheritance in the context of State laws, Muslim laws and customary laws. The project undertook action research in two sites – Hamdallahi and Kollo Zarma – and used the following strategies to achieve the above goal: