WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY INTERNATIONAL NEWS
International news archive
Regional News Index

2008

Women hold key to breaking out of global food crisis, stresses Migiro
May 1, 2008 – (UN News Centre) Not only do women suffer the most from global problems, such as the current crisis arising from the surge in food prices, but they can also contribute the most to its solutions, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said today.

UN-backed TV series peels back silence surrounding worldwide sexual violence
April 17, 2008 – (UN News Centre) With one in three women worldwide suffering rape or attempted rape during her lifetime and at least one in three likely to be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused, a United Nations-backed television series starting tomorrow will seek to peel away the silence surrounding these brutalities.

IPU Report on Women's Political Representation
April 16, 2008 - (IPS) A new report by the Geneva-based Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) has shown that women are changing the priorities and sometimes the tone of legislatures around the world. But, it also highlights the slow pace at which the number of parliamentary seats held by women is increasing.

Women face bias worldwide - UN
April 5, 2008 - (BBC News) Women are discriminated against in almost every country around the world, a UN-commissioned report says. The report, which was prepared for UN Human Right Commissioner Louise Arbour, says rape within marriage has still not been made a crime in 53 nations.

Women call for greater role in conflict resolution
March 10, 2008 - (USA Today) Leading female power-brokers from around the world appealed Thursday for a larger political role for women in solving conflicts and poverty.

CAN WOMEN FIND UNIQUE WAYS OUT OF WAR?
March 8, 2008 - (The Christian Science Monitor) Women leaders from 45 nations meet in India this week to discuss their role in conflict resolution.

When will they ever learn? Women, men and peace-building
March 6, 2008 – (Open Democracy) International Women's Day is a moment to press global power-brokers to realise the aspiration of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 to allow women to take their rightful place at the heart of peace-building, says Lesley Abdela.

International Women leaders to discuss about Security and Women empowerment
March 6, 2008 - (Asiantribune.com) Sri Lanka’s former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge would be one of the 50 women leaders from all continents who will meet today in Brussels on the invitation of Ferrero-Waldner, EU-Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, to discuss about "Women: Stabilising an Insecure World."

Women's Day, a time to grieve, a time to be inspired
March 6, 2008 – (Reuters) Whether they're widows left destitute after decades of war, or victims of sexual violence and abuse, women are often disproportionately affected in times of conflict. In honour of International Women's Day on March 8, the media is reporting heavily on the soaring rates of violence against women around the globe. It's an important topic and a worrying trend, but it's important to remember the positive stories too.

Push for Creation of a Centralized UN Women’s Agency
March 6, 2008 - (Feminist Daily News Wire) The Campaign for Stronger Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) called for the creation of a centralized UN women's agency last week. The activist groups leading the campaign include Amnesty International, Center for Women's Global Leadership, International Planned Parenthood Federation, and Women's Environment and Development Organization. The campaign was launched last week during the 52nd Commission on the Status of Women, which ends on March 7.

Fund to Fight Gender Violence Puts Donors to the Test
March 6, 2008 - (IPS) The U.N. "Trust Fund to End Violence against Women" has risen significantly over the last year: from 3.5 million dollars in 2006 to over 15 million dollars in 2007. The U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which manages the Trust Fund on behalf of the U.N. system, has now set an ambitious goal: to raise about 100 million dollars a year by 2015.

New-Improved Women's Agency Vies for U.N. Priority
March 6, 2008 - (WOMENSENEWS) A United Nations panel's recommendation to bolster the worldwide promotion of women's rights is getting a renewed push by advocates gathered in New York for the U.N.'s annual Commission on the Status of Women meeting, which ends March 7, the eve of International Women's Day.

Women Out in the Cold at Peace Talks
March 3, 2008 - (IPS) As the United Nations continues its two-week long discussions on the status of women worldwide, there is one nagging fact hovering around the conference rooms in the Secretariat: peacemaking is still largely in the hands of "men in suits, puffing on cigars".

WOMEN’S FULL PARTICIPATION IN CONFLICT PREVENTION, PEACEBUILDING NEEDED TO END USE OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE AS WEAPON, ENSURE LEGAL RIGHTS, SAY COMMISSION SPEAKERS
February 29, 2008 - (UN) Women must be allowed to participate fully in peacebuilding and conflict prevention in order to end sexual violence against women as a method of warfare and ensure women’s full legal, socio-economic and political rights after the fighting was over, several speakers told the Commission on the Status of Women this morning.

We ‘cannot wait’ to end violence against women – Secretary-General Ban
February 25, 2008 – (UN News Center) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today kicked off a multi-year global campaign bringing together the United Nations, governments and civil society to try to end violence against women, calling it an issue that “cannot wait.”

Do or Die: Learn to Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace
February 22, 2008 - (HRW) I am a failure. Not because of an early divorce, or a failure to learn Chinese. Not even because, after 15 years abroad, I sometimes sound like a foreigner when speaking my native Danish language. All of those things, while potentially uncomfortable or painful, are the consequences of choices I have made. I am a failure because I have not been able to create equality in my own relationship -- despite being defined by my business card as a "women's rights advocate."

AFRICA: First ladies fight for peace
February 18, 2008 - (IRIN) In a bid to support initiatives to restore and strengthen peace on the unrest-prone continent, wives of African heads of state or their representatives have formed a conflict-resolution group.

OSCE representative urges parliamentarians to step up fight against human trafficking
February 12, 2008 - (OSCE) The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Eva Biaudet, said today that parliamentarians have a crucial role to play in the fight against trafficking.

Rape "epidemic" in African conflict zones – UNICEF
February 12, 2008 – (Reuters) Rape and sexual violence against children and women are spreading in conflict zones in Africa like an epidemic, the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said on Tuesday.

International: Today: the International Day Against Female Genital Mutilation
February 6, 2008 - (UNFPA) Today UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, calls for stronger commitment to end female genital mutilation. We call on governments to protect the rights of women and girls.

Europe: 2008, European Year of the Intercultural Dialogue – With Women?
February 2, 2008 - (Women Living Under Muslim Laws) The Intercultural Dialogue can be a good mechanism to voice, expose & condemn those practices that violate women’s rights and silence women’s voices. Intercultural dialogue and diversity of culture should be promoted in a way that respects women’s rights.

UN Gender Equality Architecture: Strengthened in 2008?!
January 2008 - (WIDE) After a slowdown of the process within the UN to discuss UN reform and as part of it the recommendations to strengthen UN Gender Equality Architecture (GEA), new developments that may lead to final decisions made in favour of a strengthened GEA are now taking place.

Global: How did women fare in 2007?
Januay 15, 2008 - (Pambazuka News) Last year saw three female presidents come into power. In Argentina, left-leaning Cristina Fernandez was elected president, becoming the country's second ever woman to occupy its highest office. In her inaugural speech, Fernandez vowed to ensure the conclusion of the numerous human rights abuses cases arising from the dictatorship era from 1976 to 1983.

UN probes allegations of corruption, fraud
January 10, 2008 - (Reuters) A U.N. internal investigative unit has found an unexpected amount of fraud and abuse at the United Nations and is currently investigating 250 cases, including alleged sexual and financial offenses.

UNHCR Urges Women Leaders to Empower Female Refugees
January 2008 - (African Refugee Network Newsletter) A Norwegian polar explorer joined more than 50 senior businesswomen and aid workers in Geneva in mid-December to look at ways in which women leaders could help female refugees empower themselves through livelihood projects.

Dutch Action Plan 1325
January 2008 - (WPP In Action) "Resolution 1325 (2000) holds out a promise to women across the globe that their rights will be protected and that barriers to their equal participation and full involvement in the maintenance and promotion of sustainable peace will be removed. We must uphold this promise." (UN Secretary-General's 2004 report on Women, Peace and Security)