A senior UN official who just returned from Mali says radical Islamists who now control about two-thirds of the country are targeting women - demanding that they cover their heads, restricting their ability to work, and compiling a list of women who are pregnant or have children but are not married which has raised fears of punishment. Ivan Simonovic, the assistant secretary-general for human rights, said the Islamists have imposed an extremist form of Islamic law known as Shariah in northern Mali.

Uganda's hard stance on homosexuality and the possible introduction of legislation that would call for the death penalty for homosexuals led to a heated debate at the Pan African Parliament (PAP) in Midrand, North of Johannesburg. The House had taken time off to pay tribute to Uganda as it celebrated 50 years of independence but as praises and congratulatory messages poured in, a remark by South African opposition MP Santosh Vinita Kalyan challenging Uganda government's hostility towards homosexuality momentarily changed the momentum of the debate.

Whereas there are various causes of a breakdown in mental health, LGBT persons have been known to suffer serious mental health breakdowns on account of their sexuality and identities and the expression of the same thereof. Several studies suggest that gay men, lesbians and bisexuals appear to have higher rates of some mental disorders compared with heterosexuals. Discrimination may help fuel these higher rates.

A moment of silence turned to violence during a gay parade in celebration of Joburg Pride Day. Joburg Pride board members arrived to the sight of One in Nine Campaign members holding a banner saying: 'Dying for Justice'. The latter evidently disrupted the parade to demand a moment of silence for LGBTI community members murdered due to their sexual preference.

Malawi's first female president, Joyce Banda, is pushing for family planning efforts in her African nation. Her new Initiative on Maternal Health and Safe Motherhood will provide better access to reproductive health services for women in Malawi, in the hopes that girls will stay in school longer instead of becoming pregnant.

A trans-woman is viciously assaulted in a hate crime, the police won’t readily help, and there’s little hope for justice. This is just one story of just one day of paying the price of being LGBTI in Uganda, reports this article on the website of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.

The majority of Kenyans have confidence in pro gay Chief Justice Dr Willy Mutunga and his team of judges in the judiciary according to a poll. The survey conducted by Infotrak Research and Consulting found out that 70 per cent of those polled have confidence in Mutunga. Mutunga’s pro-gay activism began with his writings under the pen name Cabral Pinto and has recently said that he believes the Supreme Court would decide on the issue of gay rights and same sex marriage in Kenya.

The production of a manual, 'A Community Based Guide for Monitoring Impacts of Oil and Gas Activities on the Environment', discusses the history and likely impacts of oil and gas exploration in Uganda, including the impacts of construction of access roads and infrastructure, waste disposal and decommissioning. Community leaders have used this tool to initiate environmental monitoring groups, many of which double up as savings and income generation clubs.

A Dutch 'abortion boat' has set sail for Morocco, its first trip to a Muslim country, to provide abortions to women who are exposed to grave health risks if treated domestically, its organiser said on Monday. The group says that, according to figures published by the Moroccan government, between 600 and 800 abortions take place every day in the north African kingdom, where the procedure is illegal and taboo.

After assuming the presidency following the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika, Joyce Banda said she had hoped Malawi's Parliament would support the repeal of the nation's indecency and unnatural acts laws. But she has told The Associated Press that national debate had shown a lack of public support so far for the change, reports Identity Kenya.

It has already been labelled as an "epidemic" by rights groups, but it seems in post-revolution Egypt sexual harassment has become worse rather than better. The harassment of women continues on the streets, at times escalating to mob levels, and it has now reached the point where taking steps to eradicate this social malaise has become an absolute necessity. A 2008 study by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights (ECWR) revealed shocking figures that 83 per cent of Egyptian and 98 per cent of foreign women in the country have been subjected to some form of sexual harassment.

Pan Africa ILGA, a federation of 67 LGBTI organisations in Africa, has expressed deep concern over the continued human rights violations in Cameroon, particularly towards the LGBT persons. The appeal of a Cameroonian man who was sentenced to three years imprisonment in 2011 after sending a text message, has been delayed for a further two months.

Traditionally women cannot own or inherit land in Mali, despite being primary workers on the land, so they have no control over the farms proceeds. However, they can control the income from small-scale processing of agricultural products, provided they buy the raw materials rather than taking them from the family granary. This Panos blog post explores the issues.

For Zimbabwe’s gay community, voting season is a time of dread. As political temperatures rise ahead of expected elections next year, gays and lesbians are being targeted by police in an apparent strategy to win over voters. On 11 August 2012, police raided a book launch at the headquarters of the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), an NGO based in Harare that promotes the rights of sexual minorities. The police arrested 44 people, and although none were formally charged, the incident followed a familiar pattern of harassment, beatings and threats against people who openly identify as gay.

An analysis of gendered fighter constructions in the liberation movements in Eritrea and southern Sudan (EPLF and SPLA/M), examining the question of female access to the sphere of masculine fighter constructs and the relevance of this for influence in peacetime affairs. Empirical research in both countries, in particular interviews with participants, reveals that what keeps women out of the sphere of legitimized violence is not some 'inherent peacefulness', but the exclusivist construct of the masculine fighter, which is supported by society.

Nearly 25,000 people have signed an AllOut.org petition asking the Cameroon President and Minister of Justice to reverse the decision to jail Roger Jean-Claude Mbédé for three years and to put a moratorium on the laws that sent him to jail in the first place. Roger was arrested last year for sending another man a text message that said, 'I'm very much in love w/u.' He was charged and convicted under Cameroon's law that criminalizes 'homosexual behavior' and sentenced to three years in prison.

Women farmers in Côte d’Ivoire are achieving greater autonomy and economic independence thanks to new varieties of cassava. Cassava is an important staple food in this West African country according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, second only to yams, a similar starchy tuber. Farmers in the southern and eastern parts of the country have taken up three high-yielding varieties of cassava, known as Bocou 1, 2 and 3, which are resistant to disease and pests, according to Boni N’zué, the coordinator of the Cassava Project, an initiative launched in 2008 by the country’s National Centre for Agricultural Research.

Ethics Minister Fr Simon Lokodo recently appeared before the High Court in Kampala over the closure of a gay meeting in Entebbe, but was not cross examined as earlier expected. Lokodo, along with the Attorney General, is being sued by four gay activists – Jacqueline Kasha Nabagesera, Julian Pepe Onziema, Frank Mugisha and Geoffrey Ogwaro – who accuse him of infringing on their rights when he closed their ongoing two-week meeting in February.

Jalila Khamis, a Nuba woman activist, faces charges under articles 50 and 51 of the Sudanese Criminal Act of 1991. Both articles are crimes against the state and punished by death.

An editorial published by the Ethiopian Press Agency has called on the government to implement new strategies to protect women in the country from human trafficking. 'Thousands of Ethiopian women particularity girls are leaving for abroad due to a number of pushing and pulling factors,' began the editorial published on Friday.