Lesotho sits like pearl in a shell, surrounded by the land mass of South Africa. But this tiny kingdom of 1.8 million people boasts another jewel, which is perhaps astonishing given its size. Lesotho is ranked eighth in the world by the World Economic Forum (WEF) when it comes to bridging the gap between the sexes.

Eleven years ago, 192 countries - all the United Nations member states - agreed to step up the integration of women in international peacebuilding and security processes, a promise that has remained largely unmet. Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, international coordinator of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP), notes that by having specific provisions compelling their members to implement and report progress, regional organisations like the European Union and the African Union 'are a step ahead' of the United Nations, which lacks a regular accountability mechanism.

Forty per cent of South Africa’s 48 million people are poor, and more than half of poor people are female. Around 2.5 million households are still without any access to electricity while four million households do not use electricity for cooking. This could easily mean that 20 million people still rely on dirty, polluting fuels – most of whom are women. This is the background to an Earthlife Africa Jhb report entitled 'Second Class Citizens: Gender, energy and climate change in South Africa'.

Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) has questioned the media's priority in dealing with issues facing women, especially gender-based violence and representation of women in media. It pointed out that the epidemic of rhino poaching has been very present in media headlines and coverage - showing an increase in deaths from 133 in 2009 to 333 in 2010 - but that in the same period, 197,000 cases of crimes against women were reported to police, including murder, attempted murder, common assault, sexual offences and assault to cause grievous bodily harm.

Unable to raise bail, four human rights defenders were imprisoned for protesting at a local nursing home about the ‘unacceptably high maternal mortality rates.’ Ruth Mumbi shares her story, noting that she was jailed ‘not because I was a criminal but because I had stood my grounds for peoples and women’s right to healthcare.’

'In addition to ensuring women's participation, there will need to be a strong commitment during the transition period to protecting and promoting women's human rights by abolishing discriminatory laws and practices,' writes Nadya Khalife for about the Egyptian revolution. 'That means repealing family law provisions that discriminate against women and instead giving them equal rights in marriage, divorce, guardianship, custody and inheritance. New laws to make domestic violence and sexual harassment crimes should be adopted and enforced as well.'

'At age 18 I was told the time had come for me to go through Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). I didn’t want to. It was my mother and maternal grandmother’s idea: they’d also been responsible for the initiation of all of my female siblings. My mother cried and pleaded with me, begging me not to bring shame to my family. She told me it was not going to be hard because I was having it done in a hospital. I didn’t know it could be done in hospital; at the time this came as a shock.'

Vegetable seller Caroline Tibet recently lost about US$420 in aubergines, cassava and okra when gunfire broke out near the truck just loaded up with her goods near the town of Duékoué in western Côte d'Ivoire. 'My investment went up in smoke,' she told IRIN. That has not, however, stopped Tibet and hundreds of other women in the commercial capital Abidjan from braving gunfire, curfews and ubiquitous and often dangerous roadblocks to keep the city's central food market stocked.

Some women's rights groups have expressed their disappointment at the recent national constitutional review conference organised by the Constitution Review Commission in Accra recently. The women were stunned that all the 25 areas which formed the subject matter for the conference did not feature any gender concerns. They claimed they were at the conference in their numbers to support the cause of women but to their amazement none of the concerns raised by them were mentioned.

Rights activists are speaking out against rapes targeting lesbians in South Africa. About 25 demonstrators rallied outside Parliament on Monday while their leaders met with government representatives. Luleki Sizwe - which means guide a nation - is a small group of lesbian activists in the townships of Cape Town who also circulated an online petition calling on Justice Minister Jeff Radebe 'to address 'corrective rape'.

A recent Constitutional Court judgment rendering the Communal Land Rights Act (CLARA) unconstitutional must not be allowed to throw decentralisation policy making into disarray, says this policy brief from Sindiso Mnisi of the Law, Race and Gender Research Unit at the University of Cape Town. 'Decentralisation holds much potential for lively, participatory democratic law making and enforcement, through which rural women can gain greater power and secure more rights. However, there are many challenges in the often fraught context of decentralised law and power.'

Gender inequality remains a major barrier to human development. The 2010 Human Development Report introduced the Gender Inequality Index to meet the challenge of measuring the disadvantages faced by women around the world. The Gender Inequality Index is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: health, empowerment and the labour market. Visit the web site for a comprehensive break down of the results.

Life expectancy is just 33.5 years for Zimbabwean women – the lowest in the world; at least 18 per cent of the population lives with HIV and AIDS and of the 1,6-million Zimbabweans with HIV, 55 per cent are women. This is according to activist group Sokwanele, although no source was provided with the information.

cc HuguesHonouring the struggles of women all over the world against patriarchy and oppression in the week of the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, Horace Campbell focuses on the instrumental role of key women activists in the Egyptian protests.

The centenary year theme for International Women’s Day, ‘Equal access to Education, Training and Science and Technology: Pathway to decent work for Women’, could not have come at a better time, says FEMNET, as ‘limited access to quality education and training opportunities continues to hinder women’s equal participation in decision making, leadership and in the economy.’

Marking International Women’s Day on 8 March, Sokwanele sets out some stark statistics about life in Zimbabwe.

African countries, which have not ratified the various African Union protocols regarding gender and the rights of women, should urgently do so to preserve gender equality and equal access to education for women and girls. The Alliances for Africa, a Nigeria-based civil society organisation, said on Tuesday (08 March) that this year's 100th anniversary celebration of the International Women's Day, was also critical because it marked the start of the AU Decade of Women (2010-2020).

In Egypt, where the country begins to look toward its future, women are in danger of being sidelined again. 'Incredibly, despite decades of discrimination and inequality, women are being denied a role in the creation of a new Egypt. They are being excluded by both the caretaker government and the international community. Most recently, a new national committee formed to write the new Egyptian constitution was composed only of men. This is not acceptable,' says Widney Brown, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of Law and Policy.

As part of a statement on International Women's Day, Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) underlines the importance of women's access to education and employment.

For Moroccan women, the International Women's Day on 8 March provided an opportunity to evaluate the status of their rights. Women still suffer from discrimination and have yet to achieve much-desired equality in the workplace, officials and experts say. According to the economy and finance ministry, the level of women's employment in the civil service is 36 per cent. Women account for 14 per cent of senior employees, constituting 10 per cent of division heads and 16 per cent of department heads.