Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is my pleasure to meet you. This is my first press conference this year and this is the first anniversary of UN Women. As the Executive Director, I want report on our first year of operations, what we achieved, some of the challenges, and our priorities for 2012. One year ago, UN Women was just a baby. Today, we are up and running. We’ve come a long way in a short period of time and I am proud of what we have accomplished until now. More

Statement of Ms. Bachelet on UN Women One Year Anniversary Calls for global mobilization and commitment to women’s rights as political and economic changes continue worldwide New York, 2nd February — At a press conference in New York today, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet called for galvanizing greater commitment and action for women and gender equality, as political and economic upheaval threaten progress on women’s rights. More

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — Delegates who recently attended a gender summit in Addis Ababa hope the African Union Summit on Intra-African Trade that was also held there will take their recommendations into account to benefit the continent’s women. More

Mali’s President Amadou Toumani Toure has signed a new family law, an official said Friday, after it was revised due to pressure from Muslim groups to cut out sections providing for greater women’s freedoms. More

The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) today joined the fight to repeal parts of Lesotho’s discriminatory Chieftainship Act, which only allows the first-born son to succeed to chieftainship, by filing submissions in a landmark case that is due before the country’s Constitutional Court next month. More

Thirty six year old Grace Bbayu, a resident of Mvumi village in Dodoma lost her husband in 2002. All of a sudden she was widowed and thought her plight was one of the worst blows in her life. Little did she know more was yet to come. Still mourning her partner’s loss, her property was confiscated by her in-laws, leading to months of suffering which drove her to the point of despair. More

PRESS RELEASE

The two main Political Parties; the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are making frantic preparations towards the 2012 general elections by way of their Parliamentary Primaries. While the NPP has held its Parliamentary Primaries, the NDC’s Primaries comes off on Saturday, 21st January, 2012. Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF Ghana) and Partners of the We Know Politics project wish the party and contestants well. We pray for peaceful internal co-existence as well as free and fair elections. More

ANALYSIS

Last September a striking story stole the headlines of newspapers and media outlets all across Ghana. Samia Nkrumah, the daughter of the nation’s founding father, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, became the first female chairperson of a political party in the country’s history as an independent state. More

Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been sworn in as the 24th President of the Republic of Liberia, at a ceremony witnessed by distinguished personalities that included the leaders of the country’s three neighboring countries – Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Côte d’Ivoire. More

Gender equality issues rose a step higher on the international climate change agenda at the recently concluded UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa. The Durban Platform that resulted from the meeting highlights an unprecedented 11 commitments to gender equality, including in a widely heralded new agreement to create an international Green Climate Fund. More