Kenya’s First Lady Margaret Kenyatta held extensive talks with Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau of Netherlands during her meeting with Princess Mabel where the two leaders focused their discussion on wide range of issues including child bride marriages, early pregnancies, gender violence, HIV/AIDS and how these issues affect the education and development of the girl child. Princess Mabel during the meeting proposed a global movement of all organizations working for women and the girl child to bring the issues affecting them to the global attention. “Let’s create a strong global movement and through collaboration with change makers mobilize resources and compare lessons in various countries”. Their discussion was also circled on the collaboration between the Princess’s ‘Girls Not Brides’ global partnership and Beyond Zero initiative. The First Lady in another session also held separate talks with Prince Harry and Sir Elton John at the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam, where the…

UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka begins an official visit to Senegal, to highlight the importance women’s economic empowerment in the agricultural sector, encourage the repeal of discriminatory laws and to promote women’s leadership and political participation across the country. As part of her stay, the Executive Director will visit Réseau des Femmes Agricultrices du Nord, a network of women farmers of the North, who produce and trade rice. The initiative is supported by AGRIFED, UN Women’s flagship programme on women’s economic empowerment through climate-resilient agriculture, which aims to empower at least of 30,000 women farmers in Senegal by 2021. Since the project started in 2017, over 10,000 women in the network have benefited from the creation of local selling points for rice distribution in Dakar and increased their sales. They have also received training in financial management and how to run and organize their businesses. Papa Abdoulaye Seck, Minister…

Wife of the Chinese President, Peng Liyuan and her husband President Xi Jinping accompanied with UNESCO Special Envoy for the Advancement of Girls’ and Women’s Education, attended a graduation ceremony for pre-school teachers in the South African capital of Pretoria on Tuesday 24th of July, 2018. The Chinese first lady was accompanied by Tshepo Motsepe, wife of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and a representative of the African Self Help Association Trust at the event. The pre-school teachers performed South African songs and dances to welcome the Chinese guests. According to the first lady, teaching is a noble profession. In the quest to help the children realize their dreams and eventually carry forward the cause of national rejuvenation and prosperity, teachers should always bear in mind the expectations and responsibilities entrusted to them by their country, maintain a high standard of professional and personal ethics, stay benevolent and never give…

In traditionally macho Brazil and in the male-dominant sports world, a female coach, Yuko Fujii was appointed head coach of the country’s renowned judo men’s team. Today, she has made history as the first female head coach of Brazilian men’s judo. The only woman to ever coach the Brazilian women’s national football team was fired after less than a year, prompting protests by players. The Brazilian Judo Confederation hopes it is playing a part in changing that. “Our selection of Yuko as head coach for the men’s team really surprised the judo world. I’m sure other federations and other sports teams in Brazil will follow the example.” “Yuko is an excellent example of the increasing recognition of women’s role in sports, especially since judo is a martial art that women have had restricted access to throughout history,” says Ney Wilson, a confederation administrator. Yuko says that she just wants…