Ethiopia: Ethiopian Women and Safety - Why Some Switch Their Ethnic Identity When They Start Working

For many women in Ethiopia, getting their first formal job doesn't just change their income; it can change how they describe who they are in everyday public interactions. Read more »

Kenya: Two Kenyan Women Rebuild Libraries in a Quietly Powerful New Documentary

Two Kenyan women - Wanjiru Koinange and Angela Wachuka - set out in 2017 to do something both ordinary and radical: rebuild neglected libraries in Nairobi. Read more »

South Africa: South Africa Declared Gender-Based Violence a National Disaster. but How Will Frontline Workers Be Kept Safe?

Social workers are often the first to arrive at scenes of gender-based violence and femicide. They often enter unsafe homes without backup or protective equipment. As one told me: Read more »

Africa: Women's Voices At the G20 - Action Urged On Economic Empowerment, Care Work, Health, Climate Justice and Forced Labour

The G20 group of the world's 20 most powerful economies and the African and European Unions has a group dedicated to women empowerment - the Women 20 (W20). Set up in 2015 to… Read more »

Africa: African Land Policy Reforms Have Been Good for Women and Communities - but Review of 18 Countries Shows Major Gaps

Land tenure is the relationship, defined in law and customs, that people as individuals or groups have with land. It involves a bundle of rights to land, such as the right to use,… Read more »

Sudan: 'I Have to Talk About It So That the World Can Know What Happened to Women and Girls in Sudan' - Rape and Terror Sparks Mass Migration

I was in Khartoum when the conflict started. Armed soldiers of Arabs came to our house and they wanted to loot groundnuts, but my mother resisted opening the door. Immediately, one… Read more »

Africa: Men's Drinking Harms Women and Children, and the Impact Is Worst in Poorer Countries

Drinking alcohol is known to be harmful to people's health. It's also known to be harmful in other ways. Read more »

Kenya: High-Rise Living in Nairobi's Pipeline Estate Is Stressful - How Men and Women Cope

Within sight of Kenya's main international airport in Nairobi's east, Pipeline residential estate stands out like a sore thumb. Composed almost entirely of tightly packed high-rise… Read more »

South Africa: Violence Against Women and Children Is Deeply Connected. Three Ways to Break the Patterns

In South Africa, intimate partner violence is the most common form of violence against women, and it is pervasive. According to the National Gender-Based Violence Prevalence Study,… Read more »

Ghana: Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings - the First Lady Who Redefined Women's Power in Ghana.

Tributes for Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings (1948-2025) have been pouring in since her death on 23 October 2025. For many Ghanaians, her broad-ranging empowerment work as leader of… Read more »

Africa: Smartphones, Women's Rights and Coupons - New Trends That Can Boost Insurance for African Farmers

Storms, drought, floods and heatwaves are a disaster for small scale farmers in Africa, who can't all afford insurance. Yet new, technologically advanced and cheaper types of… Read more »

South Africa: Sex for Money - South African Study Reveals the Harm That 'Blessers' Can Do to Young Women

A "blesser" is typically an older, relatively wealthier man who provides a younger woman with money, gifts, school fees or lifestyle access in exchange for a relationship that… Read more »

South Africa: Black Coffee and Enhle Ruling Sends a Clear Message - Customary and White Weddings Are Equal in South Africa

South African actress and businesswoman Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa has won a victory in the Johannesburg High Court. It ruled that her customary marriage to music star Nkosinathi "Black… Read more »

South Africa: Rape Within Marriage Is Still Silenced in South Africa - Why Women Are Being Failed

Sexual violence in marriages is a very real issue in South Africa, but remains shrouded in silence and denial. It's a subject that Nyasha Karimakwenda has researched for many years… Read more »

South Africa: Rural Women Farmers in South Africa - How Global Promises Aren't Translating Into Support On the Ground

It is well documented that women small-scale farmers are hard done by in an environment where they farm without security of tenure, which inhibits their ability to raise finance… Read more »

Africa: Travel As Activism - 6 Stories of Black Women Who Refused to 'Stay Put' in Apartheid South Africa

For black people living in South Africa during apartheid, simply moving around the country was a fraught activity, let alone crossing its borders. This was especially the case for… Read more »

Africa: Who's Got the Power? Studies of Male and Female Primates Show It's Not Simple

Our understanding of female-male power relationships in animals has changed over time. Evolutionary biologists once thought that male mammals held clear-cut power over females.… Read more »

South Africa: Gender Equality Is the Goal, but How to Get There? Case Study of South Africa and Australia Shows That Context Matters

It will take an estimated 131 years for the world to achieve gender parity, defined as equal access, opportunities and outcomes for women and men across economic, political,… Read more »

South Africa: Woman-Headed Households in Rural South Africa Need Water, Sanitation and Energy to Fight Hunger - G20 Could Help

Rural homes headed by women in South Africa have many problems getting water, sanitation and energy. Electricity from the grid, flush toilets and piped water are't always… Read more »

Ghana: Mónica's Story - the Woman Shipped From Ghana to Portugal in 1556 to Stand Trial for Using Traditional Medicine

Standing before the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal in 1556, Mónica Fernandes, a woman from the coast of modern-day Ghana, was accused of casting malevolent spells and… Read more »

Africa: Breast Cancer - New Study Finds Genetic Risk in African Women

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa, it is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women. Read more »

Africa: Birth Control in Africa - Study Tracks the Use of Long-Acting Contraception in 26 Countries

Contraception, or birth control, can take a number of forms including drugs, devices, or surgery to prevent pregnancy. Methods can be long-acting or short-acting. Obasanjo… Read more »

Africa: African Women Have Less Access to the Internet Than Men - Solutions the G20 Can Champion

Across Africa, women have less access to the internet than men. In Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania only 15%-28% of women own smartphones. Tinuade Adekunbi Ojo is a feminist… Read more »

Nigeria: Women's Basketball in Nigeria Is On a Winning Streak - How to Take It Further

Nigeria's women's basketball team, D'Tigress, won a fifth consecutive title at the 2025 FIBA Women's AfroBasket Championship in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire on 3 August. The… Read more »

Africa: 33 Million Women Grow Food On Plots in Sub-Saharan Africa. Greener Farming Can Boost Their Earnings - Study

There are 33 million smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, making up 80% of the total farmer population. These farmers cultivate small plots of land of less than two hectares… Read more »