Violence and discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people has increased since the January 2010 earthquake, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and SEROvie have said in a new briefing paper. The paper, 'The Impact of the Earthquake, and Relief and Recovery Programs on Haitian LGBT People', documents anti-LGBT human rights violations that have occurred since the earthquake.

Poet and writer Khainga O’Okwemba reflects on the Kenyan activities around International Women's Day on 8 March and a ‘support women artists now’ day held at the end of March.

The late-February lifting of the state's emergency powers law hasn't helped the women who keep a weekly vigil here for relatives who disappeared in the country's 1992-2001 civil war. 'We are prevented from demonstrating, we are still under surveillance and each time we try to march police violently shove us around and flood us with vulgarities,' said Amel Boucherf. For years she and other women whose relatives disappeared during the war have convened at the same place: the headquarters of the National Advisory Commission for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights.

Zambians head to the polls sometime before October and civil society groups are working hard to ensure their voices are heard. Groups which were excluded during the 2005 elections and the National Constitutional Conference that began in 2007 are mobilising to ensure they are not excluded. Four years ago, Clotilda Mwale was among those who besieged the Zambian parliament, arguing the National Constitutional Conference would not represent of the interests of all Zambians. Along with church groups and some opposition parties, gender activists were frozen out of the process; with general elections coming up in 2011, they are determined not to let this happen again.

'The Botswana Caucus for Women in Politics has failed to realise the objectives it was intended for, but we will not give up on it just yet,' says Margaret Nasha. The BCWP is a platform established to enable women from all political parties to converge and support each other in their attempts to make their mark in a male-dominated field. When it was set up 15 years ago, its membership was initially restricted to women in parliament. Nasha, the first woman to serve as Speaker of Parliament in Botswana, explained that four years in, they realised that only women from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party were benefiting from it and they decided to open membership to any active woman member of a political party.

Despite the 'evident lack of prioritising' by the South African government on addressing issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, in accordance with the constitution, some of the country’s gays and lesbians say voting is a right that citizens should be proud of and have urged the gay community to make their mark in order to hold the leaders accountable on human rights. This, as South Africa gears for local government elections on 18 May, with some in the gay community indicating that they will not vote since, they say, government does not take hate crimes and other issues affecting LGBTI people seriously.

World renowned lesbian photographer and visual activist Zanele Muholi has once again been recognised for her work as her award winning film 'Difficult Love' is being screened in local and international film festivals. The film was commissioned by the SABC and is co-directed by Peter Goldsmid and Zanele Muholi. It was first screened last year at the Out in Africa Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The film has been described as a portrait of Muholi and her work and a highly personal take on the challenges facing Black lesbians in South Africa.

An LGBTI Rights Initiative from the Open Society Foundations will provide funding to local rights groups and regional networks in the developing world. It will also support global advocacy initiatives that advance LGBTI rights and complement efforts at the local level. Visit the website provided for more information.

Over 58 per cent of Liberian women have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM). The practice is carried out through a politically influential female secret society known as the Sande society as part of an initiation rite into womanhood by the Kpelle, Bassa, Vai, Dan (Gio), Mano, Dei and Gola ethnic groups. Challenging practices of the influential Sande society could have severe repercussions. Women from non-FGM practicing communities in Liberia may also be subjected to FGM either through marriage into practicing groups or by force. Visit the Equality Now website to take action on the issue.

More than 265 participants from ten Southern African countries will converge in Johannesburg, South Africa from 28-30 March 2011 for the second Gender Justice and Local Government Summit. The event showcases examples of local efforts to end gender violence and empower women across Southern Africa. Convened by Gender Links under the banner 365 Days of local action to end gender violence, the summit is being attended by journalists, local government authorities, municipalities, NGOs and representatives of ministries of gender and local government.

Amnesty International has called on the Egyptian authorities to investigate serious allegations of torture, including forced ‘virginity tests’, inflicted by the army on women protesters arrested in Tahrir Square earlier this month. After army officers violently cleared the square of protesters on 9 March, at least 18 women were held in military detention. Amnesty International has been told by women protesters that they were beaten, given electric shocks, subjected to strip searches while being photographed by male soldiers, then forced to submit to ‘virginity checks’ and threatened with prostitution charges.

'Women farmers have a wealth of knowledge about agriculture and biodiversity and significant contributions to make to debates about food security, food sovereignty and the right to food,' says this paper from Isis International entitled 'Women - Right to Food, Food Security, Food Sovereignty'. 'More than ever, organising women farmers has become an important strategy towards a clearer understanding of the issues, enhanced knowledge and capacities, and stronger solidarity. Many of these tasks begin with making men understand women by providing gender-sensitivity among husbands, leaders of farmers’ organisations, and other members of the communities.'

Hundreds of women from several West African nations converged at the ECOWAS Commission headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria, Wednesday, to demand immediate action from West African leaders holding their summit here 23-24 March. Wearing white T-shirts with the inscription 'West African women demand peace in Cote d'Ivoire', they chanted slogans backing their demand and carried placards seeking urgent action in the West African nation that is now in the throes of post-election crisis that is threatening to push the country into war.

The Nigerian woman with a famous last name is now 64 and could be home with her grandchildren, but she is here instead, at a dilapidated police barracks urging officers' wives to take a stand. 'This is time to say enough is enough,' said Yemisi Ransome-Kuti, a cousin of the late Fela Kuti, the iconic Nigerian musician, and a longtime activist for democracy and women's rights. Ransome-Kuti has now decided to take her struggle to the campaign trail by running for senate under an opposition party banner in the economic capital Lagos.

The Commission for Gender Equality says the Employment Equity Act needs to be reviewed. The call came after it emerged that black women had not significantly progressed in occupying positions of executive management in the corporate sector. The latest Women in Leadership Census 2011, which the Businesswomen’s Association (BWA) presented on Thursday (24 March), showed the percentage of female executive managers had increased, but the number of black women appointed had decreased. The census focuses on JSE-listed companies, state-owned enterprises and government departments.

Despite their long stay in western countries where homosexuality is accepted, African people living in Canada have not really accepted the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community and still share the same prejudices with the large majority of those living on the African continent, according to Honoré Noumabeu, a Cameroonian born film director. Une Vie Interdite/The Forbidden Life produced by Noumabeu is a documentary that looks look at how homosexuality and transgender are perceived within Québec’s African community.

Uncertainty and speculation mounts about the future of the pending Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill which was discussed in parliament on 22 March with some suggesting it might be dropped and its author insisting it will be passed. 'I am very, very confident that if it [the Bill] comes to the house it will be passed, the chair person of the liberal affairs committee has assured us that it is going to be the next on the agenda. He is going to work on it and we are very confident that it will pass,' said David Bahati, the author of Uganda’s Anti Homosexuality Bill in a recent interview with Carolyn Dunn of Radio Canada.

The bicycle has become a symbol of hope for hundreds of women who have been trained in repairing one of life’s favorite transport modes. More than two hundred women from around the Bwindi National Park, in the country’s southwest, have been taking part in a two-week course on bicycle repair, organised by the group Ride 4 a Woman. The idea of the workshop is simple: to help disadvantaged women gain new, marketable skills and at the same time promote an environmentally-friendly form of travel, namely, cycling.

Free Gender is a black lesbian organisation based in the Khayelitsha township of Cape Town. Their blog contains news about LGBTI issues and events.

On 3 March 2011, hundreds of women gathered to protest peacefully in Cote d’Ivoire to end the political stalemate and the worsening security situation. The Ivorian women took to the streets of Abidjan to put pressure on their leaders to end the stalemate and allow peace to prevail. Seven unarmed women protestors were killed in the process by forces loyal to former president Laurent Koudou Gbagbo.