If nothing else, President Jacob Zuma’s belated apology about his out-of-wedlock child with Sonono Khoza following unprecedented outrage at the way he has demeaned the highest office in the land has shown the power of public opinion in a democracy. We have also established once and for all that the personal is political and that leaders must practice what they preach where HIV and AIDS is concerned.

ICRW is offering a post-doctoral fellowship for a social scientist with gender and population expertise at its Washington, DC office. This fellowship is geared toward early career Ph.D. professionals who would like to conduct research within an action research organization and network with a wide range of experts on gender, population and development.

Too many obstacles still stand between women and safe childbirth in Burkina Faso, with discrimination against women at the heart of the problem, Amnesty International says. Females' low social status fuels maternal deaths, with early marriage and women's lack of control over family planning major contributors, Amnesty says in a report released on 27 January.

By age 15, Annonciata Nduwimana was an accomplished fighter for Burundi's opposition Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) and knew how to kill in battle. "My father was killed, accused of sheltering rebels. We [her mother and two elder brothers] then fled to Bujumbura to seek safe haven," she said.

Join Ashoka's Changemakers, ExxonMobil, and The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) in this global Women | Tools | Technology: Building Opportunities & Economic Power challenge! Share your innovations which enable women to access and use the power of tools and technology to expand their opportunities for economic advancement. For more information, visit also ICRW's Bridging the Gender Divide in Technology.

All eyes are on the February 5 court appearance of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, where the Malawian constitutional court is expected to consider the legality of the country’s anti-gay laws and the validity of their prosecution. Meanwhile gay rights groups are appealing against the human rights violations and laws criminalising homosexuality, to be repealed in Malawi and Uganda.

A documentary reflecting the issues of ‘Being gay in Kenya’ is in the pipeline and with it, producers say they want to break the myth that gays and lesbians do not exist in the country, as believed by some members of society. Comprising of first hand experiences of gay Kenyans, the documentary reveals issues of homophobia, stereotyping and stigma in a society in which the majority feel that homosexuality is unAfrican and unbiblical.

Rights of Zimbabwean sexual minorities to HIV treatment and prevention could see light as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is currently coordinating a study that will characterise sexual minorities, their association to HIV and identify opportunities for intervention.

Uganda's controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill is likely to be changed, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem. However, he did not give details of how he thought the final bill would be different to the current proposals.

Against the backdrop of continued widespread gender discrimination worldwide, the European Union (EU) has urged Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to "urgently" speed up the creation of the proposed new U.N. agency for women.

Women human rights activists in Mauritius, under the umbrella Women in Politics (WIP), have asked political parties to field women as one-third of their candidates in the next general elections. They said one woman should be among the three candidates that each party shall field in each of the 20 constituencies of the island.

At the moment Jon Qwelane is in the middle of controversy for being appointed Ambassador to Uganda. Before focusing on the present, let us rewind to the 1980s when Qwelane was a reporter for the Star. At that time a fake priest, Ebenezer Maqina, purporting to represent the Azanian People's Organisation (Azapo), who later disowned him, repeatedly claimed attacks by United Democratic Front (UDF) supporters. He was awarded honours by cities and similar recognition.

The Second Feminist Leadership and Movement Building Institute is a week-long course designed to strengthen feminist leadership, strategies and collective power for social transformation in Africa. The Institute which will take place in Kampala, Uganda from 10 – 15 April 2010, and is the second institute convened by CREA and Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA). The first institute took place in Entebbe, Uganda in 2008.

In March 2010, the 54th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will undertake a fifteen-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly. Gender Links, the African Woman and Child Feature Service, Gender and Media Southern Africa and the Gender and Media Diversity Centre will be collaborating to produce a conference newspaper for the event.

A recent fatwa banning female genital mutilation/cutting in Mauritania will help reduce the practice only if religious leaders take the message to the people, scholars and anti-FGM/C activists say.

Gay rights groups are pleased with the third National Aids Stategic Plan by the National Aids Control Council (NACC), which caters for men who have sex with men (MSM) as most at risk populations, launched by Prime Minister Raila Odinga on 12 January 2010.

The testimonies of women who survived sexual violence during post-election conflict in 2008 should be heard, say advocates. The magnitude of the crimes committed against women because of their gender must be recorded and prosecuted to prevent such violence from occurring again.

Civil society organisations have expressed strong opposition to the imprisonment of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, a gay couple, in Malawi. More than 40 African civil society organisations have called for the immediate release of this couple, and for the repeal of discriminatory laws against same-sex relationships.

In a large market in Juba, the regional capital of Southern Sudan, young women spend long afternoons lounging on beds in sweltering iron sheet rooms, waiting for men. One girl, no more than 17, wearing a tight tee-shirt with the words "I love beer" emblazoned on it, points us in the direction of a different set of rooms, with the really young girls.

The current football fervour resulting from the Africa Cup of Nations is just a small sample of what is to come when South Africa hosts the World Cup this coming June. Young footballers across the continent are watching and cheering on their local heroes. Some of the regions’ young women players are among the fans, even though they are often left out on the pitch.