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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)
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