COVID-19: How more access to the internet can reduce existing barriers for women’s rights in Africa
Posted: 4 May, 2020 Filed under: Nelly Warega, Tomiwa Ilori | Tags: Access to Information, access to information online, Africa, civil society organisations, coronavirus, COVID-19, CSOs, digital platforms, digital skills, domestic violence, health services, inequalities, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, internet access, Kenya, Lagos State Government Health Service Commission, lockdown, mainstream media, maternal health, maternal mortality, Mozambique, Nigeria, pandemic, PPE, PPEs, smart phones, South Africa, Uganda, women's rights Leave a comment
Authors: Nelly Warega* and Tomiwa Ilori**
*Legal Advisor, Women’s Link Worldwide
**Doctoral researcher, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
On 17 April 2020, a Twitter user tweeted about a hospital in Lagos that demanded personal protective equipment (PPE) from a woman seeking to give birth at the facility. The incident, according to the user happened at the General Hospital, Ikorodu, under the Lagos State Government Health Service Commission. The PPEs have become important for health workers given the surge in transmission COVID-19 across the world. However, despite the rising demand and scarcity of PPEs, a conversation on the propriety of placing the burden of procurement of PPEs on expectant mothers is vital.
Digital solutions for African elections in the time of COVID-19
Posted: 22 April, 2020 Filed under: Marystella Auma Simiyu | Tags: 2020 African election calendar, African Charter, African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Article 25, coronavirus, COVID-19, e-voting, ECOWAS, election, Election Management Body, emergency powers, Estonia, fair elections, free and fair elections, Guinea, human rights, ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Mali, mitigation measures, postpone, PPE, public emergency, referendum, social distancing measures, South Korea, voters, voting, World Health Organisation Leave a comment
Author: Marystella Auma Simiyu
Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
According to the 2020 African election calendar, at least 23 countries had scheduled a presidential, legislative and/or local election. As of 20 April 2020, 10 of these countries including South Africa, Tunisia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, The Gambia, Cameroon, Libya, Ethiopia, Kenya and Ghana had been forced to postpone these elections and other electioneering activities due to the risk and uncertainty posed by the COVID-19 pandemic that has upended ordinary socio-economic and political activities.
AfricLaw 