As the world marks International Women's Day, activists, politicians and diplomats have called on the government to channel its efforts of empowering women to rural areas where majority of them live in extreme poverty. The Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA) Executive Director, Ananilea Nkya, said Tanzania has made significant steps towards the liberation of women since the Beijing conference in 1995.

Going to a local pub to play pool and to relax with a couple of friends is my cup of coffee. Its always interesting to go to a place where everyone knows your face or name, well so I think. Besides, I enjoy the comfort of being in a safe environment for that matter. In the midst of all the electrifying beats and the pulsating dances, the strong stench of beer and smoke, I just enjoy being in a small corner where usually a group of men gather to play pool.

Exactly a decade after making futile attempts to engage civil society organizations and the general public on the inclusion of sexual orientation in the Constitution, GALZ made headway on the 26 of February, when in collaboration with other human rights organizations it hosted the Sexual Orientation Indaba. The event saw close to a hundred participants from various NGOs in Zimbabwe come all out to map a way forward in supporting the recognition of LGBTI people ..

KENYA: The victims of anti-gay attacks, who were arrested on suspicions of planning a homosexual wedding and being gay, say their lives are in danger since they have fingers pointed and insults thrown at them everywhere they go. Preferring to use only their first names, Yvonne, George, Nicholas, Ali, Hanza and Lameck were attacked by a mob of anti-gay Kenyans, starting what was to become an ugly crusade against homosexuals in the country.

An organization which represents the interests of sexual minorities in Zimbabwe, The Sexual Rights Centre (SRC), has taken a swipe at the President of the Chief’s Council for making a homophobic utterance that there is no place for sexual minorities in the new Constitution. Chief Fortune Charumbira is quoted in a sunday newspaper, as saying that homosexuality is “a social wrong that progressive minds should resist.”

Traditionally, both men and women, or boys and girls for that matter, fetch water. If we are to ask ourselves, is gender sensitivity about the head carrying vs hand carrying or pot vs jerry can?
A few weeks a ago, I was visiting my rural village and came across a young boy and girl coming from a well. The boy was carrying his 5 litre jerry can in his hands...

Despite arrests presently rocking the Kenyan gay community, human rights institutions recently held the first ever public lecture on sexual minority rights aiming to address the rights of gays, lesbians and bisexuals among students and members of faculties of different academic institutions in Kenya. The purpose of the public lecture was to move the conversation on sexual minority rights from acrimonious rhetoric to conscientious and reasoned discourse ...

For some years now, we have been hearing murmurings, rumors as well as shouts demanding women's rights, equality and gender awareness. Women, through demonstrations, the media and organisations dealing with the law, are demanding what they claim to be their rights. I don’t know from whom and who took their rights, and where....

As part of the constitutional reform process currently underway in Zimbabwe, GALZ has produced a 15-minute documentary on LGBTI people calling for inclusion of their rights and recognition as citizens of Zimbabwe in the new Constitution. The documentary, which is entitled Tinzweiwo (Hear our plea) is a plea to Zimbabweans who have always brushed the issues of homosexuality

We always hear of crimes of passion being committed in the heterosexual world, but rarely do we hear of such in homosexual relationships. However the reality on the ground is that there is a lot of violence that goes on in same sex relationships too. The fact that LGBTI people live secret lives, fuels domestic violence in their relationships, which is really disturbing.

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. Consisting of the 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.

Anti-gay Pastor Martin Ssempa will be spearheading a million-man march on 17 February, in support of the proposed Anti Homosexuality Bill -- an event he says will give Ugandans a chance to show how they feel about homosexuality. Ssempa maintains that homosexuality is illegal, breaks the laws of God and that it breaks the laws of nature which stipulate that a male goes with a female.

Supporters of a suspended Minister of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa are confident that her appeal against the verdict forcing her to “continue under suspension”, for marrying a female partner, will be successful. The Methodist Church only recognises marriage between heterosexuals, although homosexual marriage is recognised in South Africa.

When polygamy (a man married to more than one wife) became part of our culture, polyandry (woman married to more than one husband) was never considered. A practise that does not promote equality is a guaranteed no in my book… and I just have one question for polygamy defenders: what’s culture got to do with?