UN says number of women circumcised aged between infancy and adolescence rose by 30m to 230m since 2016
The practice, incorrectly believed to control women’s sexuality, can cause serious bleeding and even death. Girls are subjected to the procedure at ages ranging from infancy to adolescence. Long term, it can lead to urinary tract infections, menstrual problems, pain, decreased sexual satisfaction and childbirth complications, as well as depression, low self-esteem and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Why schoolchildren are favourite fodder for abductors in northern Nigeria as region’s security crisis deepens
The kidnappings take place in the country’s troubled northern region, where relentless violence by insurgent Islamic militant organisations and by bandit groups with no particular ideology have crumbled communities and killed thousands of people.
Russia changes Wagner mercenaries’ name to Africa Corps as Putin targets firmer grip on African politics, economies
Russia’s move to create the Africa Corps can be analysed from two possibly overlapping perspectives. First, by controlling Africa Corps, Moscow could be trying to avoid past mistakes. Wagner’s autonomy and power led to a supremacy battle between Prigozhin and senior Russian defence officials, which boiled over in an unsuccessful insurrection that saw Wagner soldiers marching on Moscow in June 2023. Second, aligning Africa Corps’ operations with Russia’s foreign policy, security interests and international commitments could be part of the country’s long-term military strategy in Africa.
How technology is changing West African coast from piracy hub and illegal fishing paradise to safe haven
Since the Yaoundé Code of Conduct was signed in 2013, there has been some progress. As we found in a new study, tech-driven tools have been playing a vital role in addressing security threats at sea in west and central African countries.
Gunmen suspected to be herders abduct 290 students in latest raid on schools in Nigeria’s Kaduna State
Authorities had said earlier that more than 100 students were taken hostage in the attack. Sani Abdullahi, the headteacher, however, told Kaduna Governor Uba Sani when he visited the town that the total number of those missing after a headcount was 287.
Once mighty Sudan Armed Forces have made military and political errors, raising prospects of breakup of Sudan
The Sudan Armed Forces should be thought of as a complex institution. They are not just an amalgamation of caricaturised generals preoccupied with furthering their personal interests or ethnic agendas.
The institution itself is older than independent Sudan and has always guarded its autonomy from the state and society.
Senegal elects President Sall’s successor on March 24, ending uncertainty that had shrouded the West Africa nation
Prime Minister Amadou Ba, an election frontrunner who has been endorsed by the outgoing president, was replaced by Sidiki Kaba who was the interior minister.
Over 70 children in Mozambique missing, feared kidnapped by IS-linked group following renewed attacks
The UN’s migration agency said nearly 100,000 people were displaced between early February and early March after Islamic State Mozambique fighters launched a new offensive from their heartland in coastal central Cabo Delgado into the south. More than 61,000 of those displaced were children, it said.
Sudan at war: Doctors Without Borders say Sudan is ‘a death sentence for millions in desperate need’
In Sudan’s capital, hundreds of thousands of people face a daily struggle to find food as communal kitchens they depend on are threatened by dwindling supplies and a communications blackout across much of the country in recent weeks. In Darfur, some areas haven’t received any aid since the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary, went to war almost a year ago.
Legislature: Women worldwide registered ‘slow and mixed’ progress towards equal representation
Rwanda once again led the world ranking with women accounting for 61.3 per cent of seats in the Chamber of Deputies, followed by Cuba and Nicaragua with 55.7 per cent and 53.9 per cent, respectively.
