By Patrick Egwu When a cluster of villages in Senegal publicly announced their decision to end the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in 2008, many thought it was just a theoretical gesture. Today, the country stands as an example of how to eradicate genital cutting. In 2008, to the admiration of global health observers, more than 5 000 communities in Senegal publicly declared that they were abandoning female genital mutilation (FGM), an age-old practice in that West African country. Since then, awareness has grown and a critical mass has been building, spreading through the very ties of family and ethnicity that used to entrench it. Thousands of villages have joined the movement, including more than 2,000 communities last year. In many ethnic groups across the continent, the practice, once seen as an immutable part of a girl’s life, is ebbing, though nowhere at the pace or with…

By: Fiachra GIBBONS Japan and China have more of the world’s best restaurants than anywhere else, according to the La Liste ranking, which will be published next week. Although the French-based list will declare Guy Savoy’s flagship Paris riverside restaurant the best in the world for the second year running — and French cooking dominates the top 100 — the big trend is the climb of Chinese haute cuisine. “The rise and rise of China is the big story,” said JorgZipprick, who crunched the numbers for the “guide of guides”, which was set up as a “more scientific and reliable” rival three years ago to the British-based 50 Best Restaurants. Japan still tops the country table with 138 restaurants in the top 1,000 of the French classification — which aggregates reviews from guides, newspapers, and websites including TripAdvisor — but China is closing the gap fast with 123. “Up…

The European commission is pushing for a quota for women on company boards to address the slow progress to gender equality in the senior ranks of publicly listed businesses. Under the proposals, companies whose non-executive directors are more than 60% male would be required to prioritise women when candidates of equal merit were being considered for a post. Previous attempts by the EU’s executive to set a 40% goal for women in the top ranks of listed companies have been blocked by Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden overs fears that Brussels was overreaching into domestic affairs. Hungary and Poland have opposed the move on ideological grounds. The result of the impasse has been slow progress to greater diversity at the top of companies. Women made up 29% of recruits to UK boards in 2016, down from 32.1% in 2014 and 31.6% in 2012, according to research by the recruiter Egon…

South Korea is set to unveil new measures aimed at increasing the number of women in high-ranking public sector posts, as part of efforts to bolster a workforce that’s projected to start shrinking this year.

The country needs more women to work but the combination of excessive work hours and household responsibilities is discouraging them, said Chung Hyun-back, South Korea’s new minister of gender equality, in an interview with Bloomberg. The government was to roll out a five-year plan Tuesday that will be more binding than its predecessor, which had set the 2017 ratio target for female public officials in senior positions at 15 percent, she said.

Flourish Africa, a self-help and women empowerment platform founded by Mrs. Folorunso Alakija, Executive Vice Chair of Famfa Oil and designed to encourage women from all walks of life to achieve their fullest potential is set to launch its inaugural conference on the 25th of November, 2017, from 9 am to 5 pm in Lagos Nigeria. Through inspirational keynote addresses and enlightening panel conversations, the conference will draw from the experience of specially invited female audiences to learn the secrets of how to live a balanced life in order to help them thrive. Delivering the keynote address is First Bank’s Chairman, Ibukun Awosika who will be joined by an impressive list of accomplished women across various sectors including Mrs. Olasola Momoh, Vice Chairman of Channels Media Group and Senator Daisy Danjuma, Vice Chairman of Sapetro. Other speakers include Mrs. Chioma Afe, Head Corporate Communications Diamond Bank, Patricia Obozuwa, Chief Communications…