Kenya will host the 12th edition of the Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting (WAMM) in 2019. This was announced at the conclusion of the 11th WAMM held in Apia, Samoa and attended by ministers, senior government officials, civil society members and development partner agencies from across the world. Gender Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki described it as an honour for Kenya to be selected to host the high level meeting. “The Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers’ Meeting speaks to the priorities of the Commonwealth and also to the global agenda for sustainable and inclusive development. Some of the key focus areas include gender equality and women’s rights in the period of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” she said. “Deliberations from this meeting also contribute to the recently established Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Women’s Forum.” First held in 1985 and every three years thereafter, the meetings discuss issues around gender…

By: Hewater Liu The women’s federation in the Jinghu District of Wuhu, a city in east China’s Anhui Province, has in recent weeks held various activities, in cooperation with local government departments, social service centers and other organizations, to help impoverished children living nearby. Twenty children learned about safety education and self-protection, as well as other topics such as the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, during a gathering on August 5. Furthermore, staff members from Jinghu Women’s Federation, local entrepreneurs and volunteers distributed learning materials and publications connected with water safety to children at an event held at Fang Village on August 31. At the same time, Ma Benxuan and Zhu Cuihua, two representatives of local inspirational families, spoke with local teenagers about their stories, aiming to inspire them to follow family education closely and observe traditional Chinese virtues in their…

Jeans for Refugees (JFR), a global initiative to raise funds for refugees worldwide, has chosen H.H. Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of H.H. the Ruler of Sharjah, Chairperson of NAMA Women Advancement Establishment, and the Eminent Advocate for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as the project’s patron, in recognition of her efforts in making the world a better and more secure place for refugees. Internationally-acclaimed fashion designer and artist Johny Dar launched JFR as a global artistic collaboration dedicated to helping refugees. With A-list stars that include Ryan Gosling, Victoria Beckham, Benicio Del Toro, Sir Elton John, Claudia Schiffer, Eva Longoria, Kate Moss, Pink, Rachel McAdams, Sharon Stone and many others, the JFR initiative has inspired 100 international celebrities to donate a pair of jeans in solidarity with refugees. The garments will be redesigned by Dar and then auctioned, with the proceeds from the…

A news anchor on a state-run TV station in Guyana who said she was removed from her position because she is pregnant is being reinstated thanks to the prime minister of the South American country. Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo directed the National Communications Network late Wednesday to put Natasha Smith back on the air and told the CEO to apologize to her. “I am in no doubt that the removal of Ms. Smith was due to her state of pregnancy, and that the act is an attack on her as a woman and as a professional journalist,” Nagamootoo, whose Cabinet duties include responsibility for the government communications, said in a statement. Smith said camera operators were initially directed to hide her pregnancy from viewers. She said later she was told by supervisors that she was being removed from her news-reading duties at the direction of CEO Lennox Cornette. The…