DATE: October 8-17, 2001. This conference that focuses on issues relating to women of African descent will gather hundreds of scholars, activists, policy-makers and students from all continents. It will draw attention to the urgency and pertinence of a sense of history as participants engage simultaneously in stocktaking and mapping forward-looking strategies for future engagements. The conference will deal with the following themes: democracy and governance, feminist/womanist theories, war and peace, conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction, civil society, human rights and the law, health and services, arts and the humanities, education, political economy, science and technology, religion and culture.

Supermarkets now sell fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers all year round and South Africa, Kenya and Zambia are important suppliers. UK supermarkets are applying codes of conduct to the growers that supply them aiming to assure consumers that produce is grown in a socially responsible manner. Most workers in export horticulture are female - 52 percent in South African fruit, 75 percent in Kenyan flowers, and 65 percent in Zambian vegetables. Employment is casual, temporary or seasonal. Many women do not have stable or independent employment contracts, receive lower wages, and do not have the same access to training, promotion or other employment benefits as men. Discrimination is often embedded in traditional farm employment practice.

Save The Children's State of the World’s Mothers 2001 – in its unique “Mothers’ Index” first presented last year – offers critical information on the status of mothers and children around the world. With the introduction of a new “Girls’ Investment Index,” this year’s report zeroes in on the quality of girls’ and young women’s lives today, and thus provides an indication of how the next generation of mothers and children will fare. By offering critical information about the world’s two billion mothers, this report helps to focus attention on the very real needs of mothers – and their children – and to suggest actions needed to support women who are raising the world’s future generations.