On Tuesday, October 28 2017, Jenny Durkan officially became Seattle’s 56th mayor and the first woman to hold the office in almost a hundred years.

The Emerald City welcomed Durkan, who is also its first openly lesbian mayor, with inauguration ceremonies held in five locations spread across Seattle. Durkan made her first stop at Seattle’s Ethiopian Community Center where she was officially sworn in to office by Judge Richard Jones.

Bertha Knight Landes, the last female to hold the mayoral seat in Seattle more than 90 years ago, served on Seattle’s City Council and was then elected as mayor in 1926.

Source: LIB

In recent years, many people have shifted from traditional careers to remote work and coworking spaces began springing up in cities around the world. However, many of these spaces have predominantly catered to men, home to ping pong tables and a bro culture, where women have felt socially isolated, been subjected to sexual harassment or otherwise experienced the impact of workplace sexism.

In response to this, Girly.ng, a female, millennial lifestyle brand, has launched a women-only coworking space with a mission to enable women of different backgrounds and professions to come together for mutual support, relationship-building, and wellness.

(Photo: Girly.ng)

Girly.ng comprises of an e-commerce marketplace for social media thrift sellers, an online community connecting women and now the first all-girl co-working space in Nigeria.

Girly.ng is trying to position itself as the affordable coworking space where entrepreneurial women can create and collaborate in a professional environment suited to meeting the unique needs of female entrepreneurs – by connecting them to other business experts, access to educational workshops, mentorship and visibility within the business community.

The space, located in Yaba, Lagos, is yet to go live with their rates, but signing up early with the community will get entrepreneurs on the waiting list to enjoy a 20% discount on offered services. The workspace will be fully open to the general (female) public in January.

When women create and design spaces for themselves, they are able to address the barriers and challenges that have hindered their progress in traditional office environments.

Culled from konbini.com

Featured image credit: shutterstock

With the way everything in the world has been going – especially politics and race relations, we may as well be back 1917, or 1817. To validate that point, a recent CNN report aired footage that showed African migrants being sold off as farmworkers at auctions in Libya, in 2017. Humans are actually being traded for as little as $400 (N144,000).

(Photo: CNN)

Libya is the last stopping point in Africa before migrants begin the dangerous journey through the Mediterranean to Europe, and hundreds of thousands of Africans have attempted to travel to Europe in recent years, resulting in thousands of drowning deaths and a countless number of them being sold into slavery. The International Organization for Migration estimates there are currently between 700,000 and a million migrants stuck in Libya.

“Rwanda, like the rest of the world, was horrified by the images of the tragedy currently unfolding in Libya, where African men, women and children who were on the road to exile, have been held and turned into slaves. Given Rwanda’s political philosophy and our own history, we cannot remain silent when human beings are being mistreated and auctioned off like cattle.

The Government and people of Rwanda stand in solidarity with our African brothers and sisters still held in captivity. Rwanda may not be able to welcome everyone but our door is wide open. We are ready to work closely with the African Union, the private sector, as well as other friends and partners to ensure that we can provide minimum comfort to those in need.”

(Photo: NYTimes)

In 1994, Rwanda went through a civil war that left 800,000 Rwandans dead and many more maimed, putting Rwanda at the center of one of the largest refugee crises of the 20th century, and 2 million Rwandans fled the nation to neighbouring countries during that time. So it is incredible that a more stable Rwanda is now standing up for these migrants.

Libyan officials have condemned the practice of slave trading but said that they required more support from the international community. Libya has opened an investigation into the slave markets, and the probe is being overseen by the government’s Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency.

The United Nations held an emergency session Wednesday, calling the practice a “crime against humanity,” and last week hundreds of protesters demonstrated near the Libyan Embassy in Paris.

(Photo: France24)

Culled from konbini.com

source: pulse.ng

Star actress and filmmaker Stephanie Linus will be attending the 8th Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in India where she is expected to speak alongside Ms Ivanka Trump, Advisor to the US President; Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other prominent dignitaries.

The Summit which will take place from November 28 to 30 in the city of Hyderabad is jointly organized by the United States and the Republic of India.This year’s Summit will highlight the theme Women First, Prosperity for All and will focus on supporting women entrepreneurs, solving 21st century challenges, and fostering economic growth globally.

Mrs Linus was selected as a #GES Speaker for her globally recognized works as an actress and filmmaker, and also for her humanitarian work.

credit: stargist.com

Yvonne Ebadan Ogbefua, a Nigerian woman  Instagram user has shared how she was amazingly healed by God, of Sacorma, an aggressive form of cancer which attacks the soft tissue.

According to the beautiful mother of two, who also celebrated her another year yesterday, the doctor had given her just two months to live, but after the words of  Bishop David Oyedepo came to her heart; ‘WHAT EVER MY GOD CANNOT DO,LET IT BE UNDONE’, she got her healing after she tripled her faith.

She wrote on Instagram:

“Happy birthday to me. Its my testimony. Roughly four years ago, I was diagnosed with a form of cancer that attacks the soft tissue. Its called sacorma. It started as a very small lump just by my right side in my stomach region.2

“Then the bomb came.YVONNE YOU ONLY HAVE TWO MONTHS TO LIVE. I rejected it instantly! That was not what my father said to me in Isaiah 65:20.I didn’t have to tell nobody the news.The only people who heard,were the ones in the room with me.i didn’t have to cry over it, cause it wasn’t even my portion.”

See full post below

culled from fabwoman.ng

The Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development says it is the responsibility of all citizens to work together in order to tackle the rampant occurrences of violence in the country.

The Minister, Sen. Aisha Alhassan said this at a news briefing to commemorate the 16 days of activism to end violence against women and girls in Abuja.

This year’s theme was “Together we can end gender based violence’’ and the sub theme was “Leave No One Behind’’.

According to her, both men and women are victims of violence in the society today, however the forms of violence being experienced by women and girls include acts that entail specific assault on their sexuality and such must be addressed by all.

Alhassan said the main objective of the campaign was to provide a platform to prevent violence against women as well as protect their rights.

“Violence against women and girls takes emotional and psychological forms often resulting in perpetual stereotypes and women’s subordination to men.

“Women and girls may suffer violent acts in the household and within the family which could be habituated by socio- cultural attitudes and traditions,’’ she said.

According to Alhassan, violence against women is human right issue that extremely hinders women and girls in contributing to national development.

She added that violence against women impacts and impedes progress in many areas which includes poverty eradication, combating HIV and AIDS, peace, as well as security.

The minister noted that it was crucial to improve the well-being of women and increase their freedom of action and influence.

She said 16 days of activism to end violence against women and girls in Abuja, was executed by a coalition of partners led by the ministry to fulfill the goals of the campaign.

“The ministry is presently supporting the development of multi-sectoral coordination and response mechanism at the national, state and local levels to facilitate intervention that addresses gender based violence issues under the VAPP act.

“Advocacy and capacity building had been employed as strategies to address the high prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation in the country.

The UN Secretary-General, Mr Autonio Guterres who was represented by the UN Resident Coordinator, Mr Edward Kallon said violence against women, harassment including harmful practices were major barriers to the fulfillment of human rights.

“It is time to advance our collective action to end violence against women in all regions, it takes all of us to work together in our countries and communities.

“It is time for us all to unite so that women and girls will live free from harassment, harmful practice and other forms of violence.’’

Guterres called on policy makers to invest more in women in areas of empowerment and capacity building.

The UN Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms Comfort Lamptey further appreciated the effort of the Nigeria Government in tackling violence against women and girls.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nov. 25 to Dec.10, was set aside to mark “16 days activism to end violence Against Women’’ annually.

culled from pulse.ng

culled from pulse.ng