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(By Bonolo Makgale and Lydia Chibwe)
The month of August marked women's month in South Africa, it is important to check the progress that the country has made in terms of women’s representation in politics and governance.
Almost two decades into the 21st century, women are still not accorded a place of prominence in politics and governance, particularly in Africa. This article briefly reflects on women’s political representation at the regional level, within the African Union, and then looks critically at South Africa’s implementation of women’s rights, in particular examining whether there have been tangible and sustainable gains for women’s representation during the 2019 national and provincial elections.
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(By Prof Daniel Bradlow )
Many central banks are rethinking their approach to the environmental and social impact of their operations. This is because their decisions can affect access to housing, healthcare, education, work, to adequate food and water and the security of their pensions.
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(By Prof Daniel Bradlow)
African Union (AU) leaders will gather in Niger on 7 July for an Extraordinary Summit to discuss the African Continental Free Trade Area. They will be meeting at a critical moment for the continent. Many African countries are experiencing uneven growth and rising debt. All face an uncertain global environment and need the boost that closer and more dynamic continental trade relations could deliver.
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(By Prof Frans Viljoen)
Botswana’s High Court has ruled that private consensual sex between adults of the same sex is no longer criminal. The decision gives hope to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in African countries that still have similar laws in place. Most share a common history, with criminalisation finding its way into local law through British colonial penal codes inspired by Victorian-age morality. In total, 32 African states still criminalise same-sex acts.
Sixteen years ago, Botswana’s courts took a different view. Responding to a similar challenge, the High Court in 2003 invoked public morality to justify keeping these provisions of the Penal Code. This decision was confirmed by the Court of Appeal, which found that there was no evidence that the “approach and attitude” of the society “required a decriminalisation of those practices”. The Court did observe that the “time has not yet arrived to decriminalise homosexual practices even between consenting adult males in private”.
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(By Yolanda Booyzen)
On the 28th day of the fifth month, Menstrual Hygiene (MH) Day is observed worldwide. This date echoes the menstrual cycle, which usually occurs every 28 days, while menstruation is approximately five days long. MH Day was first observed in 2014, to raise awareness of good menstrual hygiene management and how it can help girls and women reach their full potential. According to German-based NGO WASH United, which initiated the global commemoration, the silence around menstruation and the lack of access to menstruation management products directly impacts the self-esteem, health and education of girls and women, especially in developing countries.
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(By Charles Ngwena)
Let us take a moment to reflect on the question of African identity. This is important for several reasons, not least in order to pay homage to the diversities that make up Africa against the backdrop of a colonial history which has sought to nativise Africans and treat them as if they are made from the same clay whether racially, culturally, sexually or otherwise.
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(By Satang Nabaneh)
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a widespread and pervasive human rights violation experienced by women and girls. FGM refers to all procedures “involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female organs for non-medical reasons.”[1] It is estimated that more than 200 million women and girls have been cut in thirty countries across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia where FGM is concentrated. Another estimated 3 million girls are at risk of FGM annually.[2] The World Health Organization (WHO) has also estimated that 100 to 140 million women and girls worldwide are currently living with the consequences of FGM. It is mostly carried out on young girls at some point between infancy and the age of fifteen years old. In Africa, an estimated 92 million girls from ten years of age and above have undergone FGM.[3]
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(By Prof Frans Viljoen)
Africans concerned about human rights are closely following a meeting of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights taking place in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh.
The commission – the continent’s primary continental human rights body – is meeting in the shadow of a decision it took last year that’s raised questions about its reputation. The view among activists is that it yielded to political pressure from the African Union when it took away the observer status of the Coalition of African Lesbians. It had granted the organisation the status in 2015.
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(By Thiruna Naidoo)
In 1966, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 2142 (XXI), which proclaimed 21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This day commemorates the horrific events that took place in Sharpeville, South Africa in 1960. It is also a national day commemorated annually to remind South Africans about the sacrifices that accompanied the struggle for the attainment of democracy in South Africa. On 21 March 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against the racially discriminating apartheid ‘pass laws’. This was a gross violation of human rights.
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(By Satang Nabaneh)
Around the world, 8 March is celebrated as International Women’s Day. It is a global day celebrating the achievements of women with a rallying call to action for accelerating gender parity.
