Fiery activist persuades Gambia to ban FGM
Gambian rights activist Isatou Touray has dedicated her life to ridding her country of female genital mutilation (FGM). In return she has received death threats, been imprisoned and suffered repeated harassment.
But Touray has good news. This year, the tiny West African country is finally set to pass a law banning the brutal ritual, which causes horrific pain and long-term health and psychological problems.
Factbox – What is female genital mutilation?
LONDON (Reuters) – The United Nations passed a resolution on Thursday urging countries to ban female genital mutilation (FGM) – a practice that puts millions of girls a year at risk of serious physical and psychological problems. Below are some facts about FGM.
* An estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to FGM. In Africa alone, it is thought that three million girls may undergo FGM every year.
What is female genital mutilation?
LONDON (Reuters) – The United Nations passed a resolution on Thursday urging countries to ban female genital mutilation (FGM) – a practice that puts millions of girls a year at risk of serious physical and psychological problems. Below are some facts about FGM.
* An estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to FGM. In Africa alone, it is thought that three million girls may undergo FGM every year.
U.N. considers ban on female genital cutting
At seven years old, Khady Koita’s childhood was torn apart when she was pinned down and attacked by two women wielding a razor blade. The violence inflicted on her that day would change her life forever.
Last week the global campaign to end female genital mutilation (FGM) took a major step forward when a draft resolution on eliminating the practice was submitted to the United Nations General Assembly.
South Sudan runner bids for independent place
LONDON (Reuters) – A refugee from Sudan’s civil war who became a top distance runner after moving to the United States is fighting for last-minute permission to compete in the London Olympics as an independent athlete.
Guor Marial, 28, who was born in southern Sudan at the start of the conflict, would have liked to run the marathon for South Sudan, which became an independent country last year.
Olympics-Athletics-S.Sudan runner bids for independent place
LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) – A refugee from Sudan’s civil war
who became a top distance runner after moving to the United
States is fighting for last-minute permission to compete in the
London Olympics as an independent athlete.
Guor Marial, 28, who was born in southern Sudan at the start
of the conflict, would have liked to run the marathon for South
Sudan, which became an independent country last year.
How can contraception cut child deaths?
LONDON (TrustLaw) – It’s well known that good family planning vastly reduces the risk of women dying from pregnancy complications and helps prevent miscarriages and still births.
What is far less recognised is the effect that spacing out pregnancies has on the survival of children way beyond birth.
Aid workers praise Tunisian generosity to Libya refugees
In early 2011 Tunisians hung a handwritten banner over the main street of the market town of Tataouine reading: “Welcome to our Libyan brothers”.
Their support was just as well, as Libyans pouring across the border soon doubled the town’s population from 40,000 to 80,000.
Foreign “land grabs” risk draining Africa dry, warns report
By Emma Batha
In the James Bond film Quantum of Solace, the power-hungry villain wasn’t seeking to control supplies of gold or oil but another commodity that some argue could one day be far more precious – water.
Not so long ago it would have seemed far-fetched to suggest water might ever be worth more than oil. But as the world population continues to soar, so does the demand for water to make enough food to feed us – it takes about 1,000 litres of water to produce just 1kg of wheat and five to ten times more for 1kg of meat.
End of war doesn’t spell peace for women in West Africa
The photo shows a woman sprawled in the dirt, grimacing in pain. A man is lunging towards her. The image needs no caption – the man has obviously beaten the woman up and hurled her to the ground. His demeanour suggests her ordeal is not over.
This is the disturbing picture at the front of a new International Rescue Committee report on domestic violence. It was taken by an Ivorian woman who wanted to help highlight the severity of abuse happening in her country.
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