Proscovia Alengot Oromait has become Africa's youngest Member of Paliament (MP) at the age of 19, after she won the Usuk county election with 11,059 votes. The outspoken youngster replaces her father who died earlier this year. Alengot is a member of National Resistance Movement, headed by President Yoweri Museveni. Other people who stood for the post included, Charles Ojok Oleny with 5,329 votes, Charles Okure from FDC with 2,725 votes and Cecilia Anyakoit of UPC with 554 votes.

"In Spain, thousands of African immigrant girls are facing the danger of becoming victims of female genital mutilation," the Latin American Herald Tribune reports. "Although no official figures exist for Spain, experts at Barcelona’s Autonomous University calculate that some 10,000 girls are at risk of genital mutilation, all of them originally from one of 27 countries in the world – most of them in the sub-Saharan region – where the practice is widespread."

University of Western Ontario professor Marianne Larsen has given $1 million to the university's Western Heads East program, which will provide disease-fighting probiotic yogurt to as many as 1,100 people in East Africa over the next decade. The London Free Press reports that the product "helps alleviate infections related to HIV/AIDS, and provides nourishment to many adults and children." The donation was a surprise to the program. "This was not expected, no way," Western Heads East Director Bob Gough told the LFP. "It's just wonderful."

When the girls in the Pihcintu Multicultural Children's Chorus sing about peace, the tunes have special meaning for them. Many are refugees who fled their homes in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, seeking refuge from war, persecution and famine. In their performances - and a new CD - they bring a message of hope to audiences in and around their adopted home of Portland, Maine. Director Con Fullam, who began recruiting singers from Portland schools more than six years ago, hopes the chorus will help these young people get their voices back.

Uganda has experienced steady economic growth compared to many other African nations. But the country is experiencing something of a twofold, evolving food security crisis. A remarkable partnership between one Ugandan community and a young American nurse is helping to overcome local food security problems. Like many people around the world, Ugandans are finding it increasingly difficult to afford a balanced diet. On the supply side, farmers in the north have seen harvests affected by the drought that has decimated the Horn of Africa, while crops in the east have been destroyed by torrential rains. There also is strong regional demand for those crops that Uganda does bring to market.

Women from all across Africa, some as far north as Kenya, came out to the rally at a Kawaulu-Natal University in Durban, several kilometers from the downtown convention center where the more subdued, official meetings on climate change are taking place. The women say they have felt the real impact of climate change in their communities, as shifting weather patterns have caused wells to dry up and harvests to diminish. The concerns are real, said Theresa Marwei, an activist from Zimbabwe. “I think if we can agree, all the countries that we are here, not to let the air be polluted, because we are having hunger, no water to drink, no gardens, no money to send our children to school because no rain," she said.

Libyan women want more say in running post-Al Qathafi Libya and suggest that a new government in Libya should ensure the participation of both sexes in political action giving a minimum of 40% for each, with the requirement of capability.

Last month Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first democratically elected female president in Africa, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, together with Liberian peace builder and social worker Leymah Roberta Gbowee and Yemeni activist Tawakul Karman. For the two Liberians, the Nobel Prize is an important acknowledgment of the role they play in promoting the inclusion of women in post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction.

Leaders agreed that legal rights for women are a key aspect to building a healthy, peaceful society and spurring economic growth. United Nations Assistant Secretary General for Peace Building Judy Cheng-Hopkins says post-conflict societies should use temporary affirmative action laws to kick start this growth by incorporating women into public life. "Women's role in peace building is not about women’s rights," said Cheng-Hopkins. "It’s not about women’s rights. It’s about good peace building. It’s about good, durable sustainable peace building and missing out the gender element is peace building is usually a formula for failure."