South Africa: Declaration of Civil Society Conference
By Mark | November 2, 2010
29th October, 2010, COSATU
Declaration of the Civil Society Conference held on 27-28 October 2010, Boksburg
The Civil Society Conference held on 27-28 October 2010 was a historic turning point in the history of South Africa. Over 300 delegates from 56 mass-based civil society organisations, with a combined membership of millions of South Africans, came together to rebuild a strong, mass democratic movement which will work with the people and the government to tackle the massive social problems with which we are confronted. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: News | No Comments »
AIDS discriminates because we discriminate
By Mark | November 2, 2010
A message from AIDS Free World
Throughout November a 520-square-foot silent video message from AIDS-Free World, is being beamed across New York’s Times Square once every hour, every day.
Watch the video here. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: News | No Comments »
New Dignity! Period. video
By Info | July 30, 2010
Imagine having to go without sanitary protection to be able to buy basic items such as food and clothes. This is the problem facing many Zimbabwean women today.
Over 90 per cent of Zimbabweans are unemployed and 80 per cent of the population live below the poverty line. Women bear an unequal burden of the crisis with a HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 21 per cent and a life expectancy of just 43 years. The economic situation in Zimbabwe means proper sanitary protection is expensive and many women resort to using unhygenic alternatives.
ACTSA’s Dignity! Period. campaign supplies much needed sanitary protection to the women of Zimbabwe working with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. View our new Dignity video to find out more:
Dignity! Period (ACTSA) on Vimeo.
Topics: News from ACTSA | No Comments »
It’s how you spend the money that saves lives
By Info | July 29, 2010
IRIN News, 28 July 2010
Members of the African Union (AU) reaffirmed at the end of their meeting on 27 July in Kampala, Uganda, that they would strive to spend 15 percent of their national budgets on health, but at the end of the day it is about how “effectively and efficiently” you spend the money, not about how much.
The promise to spend 15 percent on health was made in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2001, but health experts like Chikezie Anyanwu, Africa Advocacy Advisor to Save the Children, which works to promote children’s rights, were left wondering whether the percentages actually made a difference. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: News | No Comments »
Child deaths stubbornly high in South Africa
By Info | July 28, 2010
Plus News Global, 27 July 2010
The race to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015 is more than halfway run, but new reports say South Africa is unlikely to reduce its burden of deaths in children under five in time to cross the finish line. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: News | No Comments »
Will the UN Squander opportunity in the fight against AIDS?
By Info | July 21, 2010
On July 2, the General Assembly created UN Women, a new agency that will take on women’s issues seriously for the first time in the UN’s 65-year history. With this magnificent, historic resolution, Member States recognized the colossal failure of the UN to fulfill its commitments to women’s rights and development and decided finally to change its ways. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: News | No Comments »
UN creates single entity to promote women’s empowerment
By Info | July 6, 2010
UN News Centre, 2 July 2010
In a bid to accelerate the empowerment of women, the General Assembly today voted unanimously to create a dynamic new entity merging four United Nations offices focusing on gender equality, a move hailed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other senior officials.
“The newest member of the UN family has been born today,” Mr. Ban told the Assembly after it passed the resolution setting up the new UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, to be known as UN Women.
“This is truly a watershed day,” he declared. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: News | 1 Comment »
AIDS-Free World on the New UN Women’s Agency
By Info | July 2, 2010
Aids Free World, 2 July 2010
Today, Friday July 2nd, the UN General Assembly will approve the creation of UN Women, the long-awaited, long-debated, long overdue new international agency for women. UN Women will replace a tiny, fragmented and under-funded group of UN entities dealing with gender (UNIFEM included), with one prominent institution headed by an Under Secretary-General. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: News | 1 Comment »
Swaziland: Women’s rights take one step forward, two steps back
By Mark | June 24, 2010
IRIN, 16 June 2010
Much to the frustration of gender activists, Swaziland’s Supreme Court has reversed a February 2010 High Court ruling that allowed a married woman to register property in their own name. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: News | No Comments »
Act now to end mother-to-child transmission of HIV
By Campaigns | May 17, 2010
Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) is calling on the new Prime Minister to put the fight against mother-to-child transmission of HIV to the top of the national and international development agenda.
In 2000, governments pledged to halve rates of mother-to-child transmission by 2010. However, this target has not been met due to inaction and a shocking lack of coordination among donors, UN agencies and governments. As the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals approaches with targets on child and maternal health, ACTSA is calling for a boost in efforts to reduce mother-to-child transmission.
Topics: News from ACTSA | No Comments »