PeaceWomen- International News Index

Africa: Strengthening Women's Activism in Post-Conflict Africa
February 8, 2010 – (allAfrica) ABANTU for Development with support from the Global Fund for Women (GFW) and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is organizing a four-day methodology workshop under the theme "Strengthening Women's Activism in Post-Conflict Africa" in Accra for international and locally based researchers and activists from Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ghana. The purpose is to design action-oriented women's rights tools for undertaking researches in the sub-region.

UNICEF seeks $1.2 billion to aid women and children caught in crises
February 4, 2010 – (UN News Centre) The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today launched an appeal for $1.2 billion to help provide life-saving emergency support to women and children impacted by the most severe humanitarian crises around the world, including the Haitian earthquake.

US lawmakers target global violence against women
February 4, 2010 - (AFP) US lawmakers introduced landmark legislation Thursday to make combatting violence against women and girls worldwide -- notably in places like Haiti and Afghanistan -- central to US foreign policy.

UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict named
February 4, 2010 – (Seattle Women’s Issues Examiner) In 2008, the United Nations unanimously adopted Resolution 1820 which calls for the, “immediate and complete cessation by all parties to armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence against civilians”. Acknowledging that sexual violence is most often targeted at women and girls, the UN pledged to promote gender equality as a main component of their future peacebuilding endeavors.

Breastfeeding During War Helps Lower Infant Mortality
February 4, 2010 - (Women's E-News) Exclusive breastfeeding can decrease the risk of two of the deadliest war-related health threats children face, a recent study shows. Breastfeeding's greatest impact on declining wartime deaths has been in sub-Saharan Africa, though more work is needed.

RIGHTS: EU Faults U.N. for Slowdown in Gender Empowerment
February 4, 2010 - (IPS) Against the backdrop of continued widespread gender discrimination worldwide, the European Union (EU) has urged Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to "urgently" speed up the creation of the proposed new U.N. agency for women.

Getting women a seat at the peace table
February 4, 2010 - (UN Radio) Nearly ten years after the adoption by the UN Security Council of its groundbreaking resolution on Women, Peace and Security, known as resolution 1325, women are still not sufficiently represented in peace negotiations.

"My Plight is Not Unique"
February 4, 2010 – (AWID) What conceptions of gender underlie military policy towards sexual violence? Is the specific form the violence takes determined by the type of warfare? To what extent is sexual violence in wartime different to that in peacetime? And what does a closer examination of homosexual violence add to our understanding? A roundtable discussion organized by the Hamburg Institute of Social Research.

Peacebuilding office teams up with UN entities to combat sexual violence in conflict
February 3, 2010 – (UN News Centre) The United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office has joined forces with a network of over a dozen other UN entities to prevent sexual violence in armed conflict and respond effectively to the needs of survivors.

New U.N. Envoy to Crack Down on Sexual Violence
February 2, 2010 - (IPS) When the Security Council adopted resolution 1325 back in October 2000, it was a historic event: for the first time the U.N.'s most powerful political body dealt with a gender-related issue, explicitly linking women to peace and security.

Role of Women in Peace Building
January 31, 2010 – (C-Span) Jacqueline O'Neal talked about the role women play in peace building and security efforts in Muslim countries. She talked about the conference on Afghanistan in London earlier in the week and what role she expects women to play in peace building. She also responded to telephone calls and electronic communications. C-SPAN Radio's Bobbi Jackson previewed topics for Sunday morning shows at the end of the program.

Organization Helps Women Victims of War
January 31, 2010 – (suite101) Women for Women International is an organization dedicated to helping the female victims of war. It also sees women as key to helping nations recover from war.

UN CHIEF LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN IN AFRICA TO ERADICATE MALE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
January 30, 2010 – (UN News) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on the support of African leaders to give new impetus to his campaign to end the violence suffered by women on the continent, which he called the “unsung heroines” of development in the region.

CEDAW: designed to be used
January 27, 2010 - (Open Democracy) CEDAW is not just a wish list from which politicians in the UK can ‘pick-n-mix’ when drawing up their shopping lists of “things to do about women”. Jane Esuantsiwa Goldsmith argues that in the run up to the general election it is an instrument we can use to call our politicians to account.

Peacebuilding Commission Must Create More Structured Ties with Security Council, Tighten Links with Bretton Woods Bodies, Says New Chair of Subsidiary Entity
January 27, 2010 - (UN) The Peacebuilding Commission must create closer ties with the Bretton Woods institutions in 2010, in addition to a more structured relationship with the Security Council and streamlined working methods to better and more swiftly help post-conflict countries sustain peace and development, Peter Wittig (Germany), the newly elected Chairperson of the Commission’s Organizational Committee, said today.

EU, NATO Join Forces to Promote Women, Peace and Security
January 27, 2010 - (Turkish Weekly) Sexual violence has become a tool of modern warfare. Most victims are women of all ages, but often young girls; and the results are unwanted pregnancies, HIV infection and social stigmatization.

Q&A: "U.S. Should Invest in New U.N. Women's Agency"
January 25, 2010 - (IPS) One year after U.S. President Barack Obama's inauguration, how has his administration fared in terms of advancing an agenda for women's rights around the world? Charlotte Bunch, founding director of the Center for Global Women's Leadership at Rutgers University and a longtime feminist scholar activist, as well as a board member of the Global Fund for Women, spoke with Christine Ahn about her assessment of the U.S. president's achievements, and what remains to be done.

Women’s Rights in 2009: Some Steps Back, Some Steps Forward
January 21, 2010 - (AWID) In January, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States. He quickly revoked the global gag rule, restored funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for access the sexual and reproductive health and, in spite of Pope Benedict’s pronouncement in Africa against the use of condoms, acknowledged the need to rapidly and systematically address the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The same month, more affirmation for sexual and reproductive rights came as Bolivians approved a new constitution with a dedicated chapter to women’s rights. At the international level, in April, the UN Commission on Population and Development passed a resolution placing an unprecedented emphasis on human rights, including in regard to sexuality. The resolution made a commitment to comprehensive education on sexuality and gender equality, access to male and female condoms, reproductive health services for adolescents, and the importance of sexual and reproductive rights to HIV/AIDS.

The Unheard Truth -- Poverty and Human Rights
January 19, 2010 - (Huffington Post) October 17th was the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. However, a one-day a year acknowledgement doesn't suffice. The Unheard Truth - Poverty and Human Rights, a book by Irene Khan, advocates for awareness about what she sees as the indisputable link between the title's two components. Khan states flatly, "Poverty is the world's worst human rights crisis."

Deepening democracy by building gender equality
January 18, 2010 - (Open Democracy) The conference on 'Women deepening democracy' held in New Delhi last week examined what can be done to tackle the gender-specific double standard encoded into the DNA of political liberalism Women have been at the forefront of democratization struggles around the world, from the Southern Cone of Latin America in the 1980s to the Eastern European transitions of the 1990s, and from the Orange and Rose revolutions, to the establishment of democracy in post-conflict countries such as Timor Leste, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nepal.

NGLS Interviews Radhika Balakrishnan, Executive Director, Center for Women’s Global Leadership
January 6, 2010 - (UNGLS) In the lead up to the 15-year Review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action by the Commission on the Status of Women, which will take place on 1-12 March 2010 at UN Headquarters in New York, NGLS interviews Radhika Balakrishnan, Executive Director of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership and Professor in Women’s and Gender Studies.

Africa: Achieving fifty percent women in decision making by 2015
December 18, 2009 – (Pambazuka) Gender activists from East and Southern Africa have expressed shock at the backward trends in the 50/50 campaign in recent elections. The African Union (AU) has set a goal of achieving parity between women and men in decision-making by 2020, while the Southern African Development Community (SADC) target calls for 50% women in decision-making in all sectors by 2015.

UN WOMEN'S TREATY WEAKENED BY SLEW OF RESERVATIONS
December 9, 2009 - (IPS) A landmark UN treaty on women’s rights, which will be 30 years old next week, is in danger of being politically undermined by a slew of reservations by 22 countries seeking exemptions from some of the convention’s legal obligations

US Women's Issues Envoy Seeks Junta Accountability
December 5, 2009- (Irrawaddy) The US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer said on Saturday that Burma's military junta must be held accountable for human rights abuses against the country's women.

Women still suffer discrimination 30 years after global treaty banned it
December 3, 2009 – (UNNews) Thirty years after an international treaty banning discrimination against women came into force, women and girls are still suffering from the scourge, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned today.

Women and men building bridges for peace
December 2009 - (INSTRAW) “It is important to build bridges, not only to connect different government ministries or women’s organizations but also across all the sectors and areas of responsibility to connect different stakeholders in different countries to reach our goal for the full implementation of the Resolutions on women peace and security.”

UN officials urge intensified efforts to eliminate violence against women
November 25, 2009– (UN News Centre) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon led a chorus of United Nations officials today in calling on the international community to make greater efforts to tackle the global pandemic of violence against women and girls.

Getting Loud To End Violence Against Women
November 25, 2009-(Reuters) Following the chain of events that leads to something good is almost as inspirational as the good thing itself. Take the inspiring story of a group of diverse women who pulled together to bring peace to war-torn Liberia — a story that inspired the award-winning documentary, Pray The Devil Back To Hell, which was just released on DVD.

UNHCR chief reiterates commitment to prevention of sexual violence
November 25, 2009-(UNHCR) UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres stressed on Wednesday that his agency was fully committed to the prevention of sexual violence, which he said needed a personal as well as a collective response.

UN Pledges Millions to Fight Violence Against Women
November 25, 2009-(Feminist Majority) The United Nations announced Tuesday $10.5 million in new grants to bolster international efforts to end violence against women. The funds, which were announced in honor of the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women today, will assist 13 initiatives in 18 countries and territories. The UN Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women, overseen by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), will disperse the grants.

Ban launches new Network of Men Leaders to combat violence against women
November 24, 2009 - (UN News) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today marked the 10th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women by launching a Network of Men Leaders, a major new initiative bringing together current and former politicians, activists, religious and community figures to combat the global pandemic.

CEDAW: Three decades of progress on women’s rights, but major obstacles to equality persist
November 23, 2009 - (UNIFEM) In Cameroon it was used to bring justice to village women suffering rape and other physical abuse from their husbands. In Morocco it sparked legal reforms hailed as “revolutionary” in their ability to reconcile universal human rights principles and that country’s Islamic heritage. And in India it enabled sexual harassment in the workplace to be outlawed.

Governments urged to prioritize women’s rights
November 19, 2009 - (Africa News) The deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Commission for Africa, Lalla Ben Barka, has urged governments and the rest of the international community to prioritize achievements of gender equality and women' rights as these are essential in the crusade of poverty reduction and the promotion of growth.

UN report points to central role women play in efforts to fight climate change
November 18, 2009 – Climate change strikes it fiercest blow against the poorest, most vulnerable people around the world, according to a United Nations report released today, urging policymakers to heed the role of women – who make up the majority of the poor – in combating climate change.

Women Should Be More Than Window Dressing
November 18, 2009 - (IPS) Women in developing countries are among the most vulnerable to the effects of crisis - be that climate change, food price hikes, the HIV/AIDS pandemic or the global recession. It is becoming more commonplace to hear women's testimony, but are women's voices heard when it comes to deciding on solutions?

GENDER: Laws, Budgets and Pigeonholes - Interview with UNIFEM - Part 1
November 15, 2009 - (IPS) The fight for women's rights came about hand in hand with the struggle for democracy, civil rights and national liberation in different countries and periods, says Inés Alberdi, executive director of UNIFEM.

GENDER: "Truly Exciting If the U.S. Could Ratify CEDAW" - Interview with UNIFEM - Part 2
November 15, 2009 - (IPS) CEDAW or the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979. On its 30th anniversary, just seven U.N. member states continue to refuse to accept the only international instrument that comprehensively addresses women's rights within political, civil, cultural, economic and social life.

Oslo Conference on Women, Peace and Security
November 12, 2009 - (Norway Post) More than 100 experts from women’s organizations, UN agencies and government ministries from many countries meet in Oslo this week with the aim to create international standards on how to implement UN resolutions on women, peace and security.

Finally, a UN Women’s Agency with Muscle
November 11, 2009-(WMC) This fall, after years of advocacy, the UN General Assembly adopted a historic resolution to create a strong women’s agency. To be headed by an undersecretary general—the third highest-ranking UN officer, after the secretary general and his deputy—the new unit will consolidate the work of four existing bodies. If robustly implemented, the resolution promises a politically powerful, independent agency with strong leadership and increased funds to move forward on adopted goals for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

1888: STEPPING BEYOND RHETORIC
November 5, 2009 - (AWID) On September 30, 2009 the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on sexual violence in situations of armed conflict. Sam Cook, Project Director of PeaceWomen, a project of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, spoke with AWID about Resolution 1888 and its implications.

UN: 50 peacekeepers punished for sex abuses
November 5, 2009 - (AP) At least 50 peacekeepers have received punishments ranging from reduction in military rank to eight months imprisonment for committing sexual abuses on United Nations missions since 2007, the U.N. said Thursday.

A Powerful United Nations Women's Agency - Will the UN deliver?
October 27, 2009 - (AWID) After three years of debate, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on September 14th that will lead to the creation of a stronger unified women's rights and gender equality entity led by an Under Secretary General.

Iceland Tops Gender Equality List, US Ranks 31
October 27, 2009 - (Feminist Daily News) Iceland has the highest gender equality index of 134 countries analyzed, according to a study released by the World Economic Forum Tuesday. The US ranked 31st on the list and fell four places this year. The US ranking fell due to overall labor force participation of women falling from 70 percent to 69 percent and stagnation in the political empowerment index, while other countries have improved.

Calling for more female police, UN officer welcomes new pact with INTERPOL
October, 20 2009 – (UNNews) A senior United Nations official today welcomed a recent landmark agreement with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) to strengthen police units in peacekeeping missions around the world, and called on Member States to contribute more women officers to those operations.

A New Era for Global Women’s Rights?
October 19, 2009 - (Campus Progress) Women rescued by STOP, a group that rescues women from Delhi brothels, run a cafeteria for students at a Delhi University in New Delhi, India. In India human trafficking is estimated at 600,000 to 8000,000 people, about 80 percent of them women or girls.

The Importance of Resolution 1888 to End Violence Against Women
October 19, 2009 - (Huffington Post) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month chaired a session of the United Nations Security Council during which the 15-member Council unanimously adopted landmark resolution 1888, which aims to protect women and children from horrific violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations.

UN chief renews call for women's equality
October 13, 2009 - (AP) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marked the 15th anniversary of a "watershed" U.N. conference that called for women's equality by urging all countries Monday to renew their commitment to educate girls, end sexual violence, and provide access to modern birth control.

Ban appeals for funding to make women’s health and gender equality a reality
October 12, 2009 (UNNews) – Fifteen years after a United Nations conference on population vowed to put gender equality and reproductive rights at the centre of development, the number of maternal deaths from childbirth – “a staggering toll of more than half a million women each year” – has not changed, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned today.

Men commit wide-scale sexual crimes with impunity in conflict zones, says UN
October 12, 2009 (UNNews) - The rampant and brutal abuse of women in war zones continues unchecked, the chair of a United Nations committee said today, urging all nations to ratify the international Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

UN Security Council Says Women Essential to Peacekeeping
October 5, 2009 - (Feminist) The UN Security Council met Monday to discuss Security Council Resolution 1325 ("Women and Peace and Security") as part of a greater dialogue on women and peacemaking. The Council urged Member States to increase physical security, socio-economic conditions, education, access to health services, and justice for female citizens.

Security Council Backs Advocate for Women in War Zones
October 1, 2009 (IPS) - The U.N. Security Council Wednesday called on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to appoint a special representative to intensify efforts to end sexual violence against women and children in conflict situations.

Women's Groups Take on Laws Based on Sex
September 30, 2009 - (IPS) When a landmark U.N. conference on women adopted a "platform for action" in Beijing in 1995, member states were urged to commit themselves to revoke all existing laws in their statute books that discriminate on the basis of sex.

UN Security Council: A Victory for Women Caught in War
September 30, 2009 - (HRW) While the UN spent years debating, untold thousands of girls and women around the world have suffered ruined bodies and ruined lives. The United Nations Security Council resolution up for a vote today to create a senior coordinator to address how armed conflict affects women around the globe is a vital step toward more consistent UN action on the issue, Human Rights Watch said today.

UNAIDS welcomes creation of new women’s super-agency
September 16, 2009 – (UNNews) The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) today welcomed the creation of a new single UN body to promote women’s rights, noting that more than 60 per cent of people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are female, as are three out of four young people.

Women meet to stop global militarism
September 16, 2009 - (Pacific Daily News) On the second day of the 7th Meeting of the International Network of Women Against Militarism Conference, delegates presented reports on the steps taken by organizations in their areas to promote peace and human rights.

All-Party Groups report calls for Canadian action in the Congo
September 16, 2009 – The Chair of the Canadian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Genocide Prevention released his report on the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and called for Canadian action to end the atrocities. “Millions of lives have been lost, communities have been destroyed and civilians, particularly women, have carried the weight of the ongoing armed conflict in the DRC,” said Paul Dewar, MP and the Chair of the all-party group.

RIGHTS: U.N. Approves Long-Awaited New Women's Agency
Sep 14, 2009-(IPS) After more than three years of political foot-dragging, the 192-member General Assembly adopted a historic resolution Monday aimed at creating a new U.N. agency for women.

Promise of Resolution 1325 is a dream deferred
September 10, 2009 - (INSTRAW) The preparations for the 10th anniversary of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security are starting, but critics say there is not much to celebrate. Donald Steinberg, Deputy President for Policy of the International Crisis Group and board member of the Women's Refugee Commission, writes that “the promise of Resolution 1325 is so far largely a dream deferred.

Migiro warns that economic turmoil has exacerbated violence against women
September 9, 2009 – (UNnews) The scourge of violence against women has worsened as a result of the global financial downturn over the past year, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said today as she urged some of the world’s richest countries to lead the way in turning the many international pledges to support women and girls into concrete results.

RIGHTS: U.N. May Shelve Creation of New Women's Body
September 5, 2009 - (IPS) A coalition of over 300 international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is "outraged" that an impending decision to create a new women's entity at the United Nations is being postponed once again.

On Women's Equality Day in U.S., a Global Focus
August 26, 2009 - (OneWorld.net) Eighty-nine years after U.S. women finally won the right to vote, advocacy groups are pressing the Obama administration to promote women's equality worldwide and paying tribute to an "indefatigable" champion of women's rights, Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

Women Need Rights, Not Rescue
September 3, 2009- (Madre) With a tagline like “Saving the World’s Women,” we knew to be suspicious of the recent New York Times Magazine cover story on global women’s rights. Reading on, our suspicions were confirmed.

Africa: UN Experts Tackle 'Conspiracy of Silence' Over Sexual Violence in Wartime
August 24, 2009 — (allAfrica) Women's rights activists, senior military figures and top United Nations officials met in New York this week to discuss what the world body's former humanitarian chief Jan Egeland described as "one of the biggest conspiracies of silence in history" – the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

Taking Women's Rights Seriously
August 23, 2009 - (Huffington Post) The sustained degradation and subjugation of girls and women remains the world's most pervasive human rights violation.

AFRICA:Raising the Profile of Gender-Based Violence
August 8, 2009 - (IPS) Imagine you are a journalist; you get a tip for a story about a sexual assault on a ten-year-old girl, and pitch it to your editor.

China condemns all acts of violence against women
August 8, 2009 - (China Daily) A senior Chinese diplomat said here on Friday that China condemns all acts of violence against women in armed conflicts, including sexual violence, while urging all parties to conflicts to comply with the international humanitarian and human rights law.

UN Security Council: Create Senior Post on Women and War
August 7, 2009 - (HRW) It has been 10 years since the Security Council acknowledged that women experience war differently than men and that this is a relevant security concern. But at all levels – national, intergovernmental, the United Nations – it’s been almost all talk and hardly any action.

Ban calls for independent inquiry into use of rape as weapon in African wars
August 7, 2009 – (UNNews) Warning that rape is being used as a weapon of war with the same efficient brutality as a gun or a grenade, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on the Security Council to set up an independent commission of inquiry into such abuses in the conflicts in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sudan.

UN peacekeeping missions urged to bolster number of women police officers
August 7, 2009- (UNNews) The ranks of female police officers serving in United Nations peacekeeping operations around the world need an urgent boost to more effectively protect and assist women against the rampant use of sexual abuse as a weapon in armed conflict, the world body’s top police advisors stressed today.

UN Security Council: Create Senior Post on Women and War
August 7, 2009 - (Alertnet) The UN Security Council should urgently establish a high-level post to fill a leadership gap relating to women and armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said today. A special representative of the secretary-general assigned to this issue would be able to push for protection against sexual violence and to promote equal participation by women in peace talks. The Security Council is to hold a discussion this morning on the issue of women, peace, and security.

Security Council expands criteria of violations against children during conflict
August 4, 2009 – (UN News Centre) The Security Council today called on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to expand his list of parties who recruit child soldiers to include those who kill, maim, rape or commit other forms of sexual violence against children in wartime.

Will the UK Government push the UN to end rape in conflict zones?
August 3, 2009 (Alertnet) CARE International is, today, calling on the UK Government to use its presidency of the United Nations Security Council to end the abomination of rape in armed conflict.

Q&A: "Changing Stereotypes of Women Is the Starting Point"
July 30, 2009 - (IPS) For the last 10 days, experts from the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) have been reviewing the status of women's rights in 11 countries.

Men against violence: Socio-economic inequality leads to gender-based violence
July 30, 2009- (Afrique en Ligne) If violence is not natural, and not ingrained in our genetic makeup then the question is, what the root of violence is (violence, which is gender based). Gary Barker has done lot of research in this area and he has an answer. He is associated with International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) as Director, Gender, Violence and Rights. He strongly advocates for the engagement of men in ending gender-based violence (GBV).

Ban calls for tough measures against sexual violence
July 28, 2009 - (afrol News) The systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon, mainly against women, is rife in armed conflicts in Africa, Asia and Europe, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned today in his latest report on the scourge, calling for states to strengthen prevention and protection measures against the crime.

Drastic shortfall in resources threatens women's safety
July 23, 2009 - (UN Foundation) The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women is a global source of support for country and local-level action to end violence against women and girls established by the General Assembly. Due to the global economic and financial crisis, the Fund is facing a dramatic shortfall in donor contributions.

UN committee discusses new forms of discrimination against women
July 21, 2009 – (UN News) The United Nations committee which monitors compliance with the international convention on eliminating discrimination against women is 30 years old this year, but as it meets this week at UN Headquarters in New York, it is considering some very modern problems.

New Policy Permits Asylum for Battered Women
July 15, 2009- (NY Times)The Obama administration has opened the way for foreign women who are victims of severe domestic beatings and sexual abuse to receive asylum in the United States. The action reverses a Bush administration stance in a protracted and passionate legal battle over the possibilities for battered women to become refugees.

Do sexual assailants in the United Nations system enjoy impunity?
July 8, 2009 - (Awid) Recent changes to the United Nations’ internal investigations processes are meant to respond to a growing number of sexual harassment complaints within the system. But will they make a difference?

UN EXPERTS TACKLE ‘CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE’ OVER SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN WARTIME
June 24, 2009 (UN News Centre) Women’s rights activists, senior military figures and top United Nations officials met in New York this week to discuss what the world body’s former humanitarian chief Jan Egeland described as “one of the biggest conspiracies of silence in history” – the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

POLITICS: Will Women Be an Afterthought at U.N. Crisis Meet?
June 23, 2009 - (IPS) A groundbreaking U.N. General Assembly conference on the global economic crisis and its impact on development, set to begin Wednesday, may sideline women's numerous concerns, civil society groups say.

Migiro urges greater efforts to end violence against women
June 19, 2009 – (UN News Centre) Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro has pledged the support of the United Nations in ending violence against women, which she said will require adopting new laws, enforcing the ones that exist and working to change the backward mindsets that contribute to this scourge.

"UN Resolution on Women, Peace and Security: Anniversary Worth Celebrating?", Donald Steinberg in Reuters: The Great Debate
June 19, 2009 - (International Crisis Group) Preparations are now starting for the 10th anniversary of the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. This groundbreaking resolution was passed unanimously in October 2000 to address abuses against women during armed conflict, including sexual violence and displacement, and to bring women more fully into conflict prevention and peacemaking.

Global: Violence against women: Mandate of special rapporteur must be strengthened
June 19, 2009 - (Pambazuka) The mandate of the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences (SRVAW) must be strengthened if the elimination of all forms of violence against women is to become a reality. This was a key recommendation from the parallel event ‘15 years of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women: gains, challenges and the way forward’ held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland on June 5, 2009, in parallel to the 11thsession of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).

Women's Groups Seek Gender Equity at U.N. Summit
June 18, 2009 - (IPS) An international coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), mostly comprised of women’s groups, is calling for a "gender equitable" response to the global financial crisis, which is to be debated at a U.N. summit of world leaders next week.

RIGHTS: Sexual Violence in War Hauled Out of the ShadowS
June 16, 2009 - (IPS) On Jun. 19, 2008, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 1820, expressly addressing the problems of sexual violence in conflict situations. One year later, three experts in the field gathered to speak at the United States Institute of Peace to evaluate the implementation of 1820 and consider how it might better prevent this widespread crime.

Rich countries, poor countries (and the W-8)
June 5, 2009 - (SocialWatch) The agenda of this year’s G-8 meeting is expected to be topped by the global crisis. In order to dramatize the need for more aid in education and health in the developing countries, OXFAM has organized the W-8: eight women leaders from developing countries, including the Philippines, were chosen as OXFAM ambassadors. The W-8 will be linking the Social Watch Philippines’ campaign and the Alternative Budget Initiative to the global campaign for more resources for essential services. (first published in ABS-CBN Interactive 06/01/2009)

Two UN agencies partner to make world’s cities safer for women
June 4, 2009 – (UN News) Two United Nations agencies have teamed up to combat violence against women and girls in the world’s cities, including by proposing measures such as improved street lighting and female-only modes of transportation.

POLITICS: U.N. Women Peacekeepers in Short Supply
June 2, 2009 - (IPS) Even as U.N. peacekeeping operations in the world’s battle zones continue to expand, women soldiers, police and civilian support staff remain a small minority – something that sorely needs to change, U.N. officials say.

International Day spotlights need for more women in UN peacekeeping
May 29, 2009 – (UN News) The United Nations is marking the annual International Day of Peacekeepers by honouring the brave troops, police and civilians who serve in some of the most difficult places around the world, and by stressing the unique role played by women and the need to deploy more of them.
This year's commemoration comes at a time when the services of UN peacekeepers are in greater demand than ever. Deployment is at a record high, with more than 113,000 peacekeepers serving in 18 operations on four continents.

Finally, a UN agency for women
May 27, 2009 - (Guardian) This autumn the UN general assembly will vote yes or no to a new "super-agency for women"; $1bn is being discussed as the starter annual budget. Just like the House of Commons, the UN has finally been shamed into reforming itself. The UN sets global standards for human rights, but has no single agency with the resources and clout to work globally to improve the lives of women. As a result, the UN system has badly and unforgivably let down the world's 3 billion-plus women.

Ban pays tribute to late women’s rights champion Helvi Sipilä
May 20, 2009 – (UN News) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today paid tribute to Helvi Sipilä of Finland, a renowned women’s rights advocate and former United Nations official, who passed away on 15 May at the age of 94

Lithuania Elects First Woman President
May 18, 2009 - (Feminist Daily News Wire) Dalia Grybauskaite was elected to be Lithuania's first woman president yesterday in an overwhelming victory. According to Agence France Presse, with 99.46 percent of votes counted, Grybauskaite held an overwhelming 69.05 percent of the vote.

UN partners with filmmakers to give voice to women suffering in silence
May 14, 2009 – (UN News) There are women around the world suffering violence or the oppression of poverty who remain silent and invisible, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today told the opening of an international documentary filmmakers’ forum aimed at bringing their stories into focus.

Iceland Retains First Woman, Gay Prime Minister
April 27, 2009 - (Feminist Daily News) Iceland formally elected Johanna Sigurdardottir, who is both the first woman and openly gay Prime Minister in the nation’s history in general elections Saturday. She is currently the only openly gay national leader in the world.

Ireland: Cross Border Women's Reconciliation Programme Launched in Donegal
April 24, 2009 - (Donegal Sunday) The Cross Border Women's Reconciliation Programme was launched in Ballyshannon last Thursday. The Donegal-based Second Chance Education Project for Women (SCEPW) and Fermanagh Women's Network (FWN) have come together in this programme to provide community-arts based education opportunities for women in both regions, allowing them to explore and share their experiences of living in a border area during the conflict.

Progress in gender and security issues requires women’s participation – Migiro
April 24, 2009 – The real measure of women’s progress in peace and security issues is not the setting up of processes but women’s participation in sustainable peace agreements and post-conflict reconstruction efforts, the United Nations’ Deputy-Secretary-General said today.

Secretary-General: empowering women promotes peace
April 17, 2009 – (UN News) Empowering women is essential to build better lives for all, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, calling for greater efforts to achieve gender equality. “We are still far from turning this understanding into universal practice,” Mr. Ban said in a video message to the “Women for Peace” dinner in New York.

Women at war face sexual violence
April 17, 2009 - (BBC) Over 206,000 US women have served in the Middle East since March 2003. In her new book, The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq, Helen Benedict examines the experience of female soldiers serving in the US military in Iraq and elsewhere.

Council of Europe - First Meeting of the Committee of Experts Responsible for Preparing a Convention to Combat All Forms of Violence Against Women
April 2, 2009 - (WUNRN) There is a clear need for a Convention to prevent and combat domestic violence and other forms of violence against women and to protect and support the victims. The Council of Europe is the first European organisation to tackle this problem head on by setting up the Ad Hoc Committee on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence which, beginning in April 2009, will start working on one or more legally binding instruments.

The United Nations, Barbie & I: Socio-political exhibit explores identity, conflict & resolution
March 25, 2009 - (The Villager) This past March, I unintentionally celebrated Women’s History Month for the very first time, and between the ‘Barbie 50th Anniversary Beauty Pageant’ I entered and a ‘socio-political’ art exhibit I went to (UN-SCR-1325 at Chelsea Art Museum), I finally made up for decades of ignorance.

BYU study links women's safety, nation's peace
March 22, 2009 - (Salt Lake Tribune) In Pakistan's scenic and once-peaceful Swat Valley, Islamic militants shut down 200 girls schools in January, leveling many with explosives. Besides foreclosing education for some 50,000 girls, such gender-targeted hostility may also undermine a nation's security and peacefulness, according to a new study led by a Brigham Young University scholar. The study, titled "Heart of the Matter," in the Harvard-published journal International Security , concludes the best predictor of societies' peacefulness is how well they safeguard the interests of women. To determine that, researchers looked at data on such factors as women's voice in government, access to victim services, crime statistics, maternal health, and laws and social mores regarding women's rights.

Obama Creates White House Women's Council
March 10, 2009 - (Washington Post) President Obama will sign an executive order tomorrow to establish a White House Council on Women and Girls, according to an administration official familiar with the move.

U.N. Official Calls for More Female Peacekeepers
March 10, 2009 - (WOMENSENEWS) The female ranks of U.N. peacekeepers are going up, but not fast enough, according to the organization's top cop in charge of peacekeeping strategy.

Minister for Foreign Affairs announces appointment of Dame Nuala O’Loan as Ireland’s Special Envoy on Women and Peace-Making
March 5, 2009 - (Government of Ireland) The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin T.D., today announced the appointment of Nuala O’Loan as Ireland’s Special Envoy on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. The announcement was made to mark International Women’s Day as an indication of the importance that Ireland attaches to the role of women in peacemaking and peacebuilding.

Women need safer access to health care in war situations
March 5, 2009 - (ICRC) In the run-up to International Women's Day, 8 March, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned that the specific health-care needs of women are often ignored or insufficiently taken into account in war situations.

African women bear brunt of global crises, warn delegates at UN conference
March 4, 2009 – (UN News Centre) The global economic, food and climate change crises have hit African women the hardest, a delegation of African and United Nations female officials attending a conference on gender equality cautioned today.

Q&A: "Time Has Come for a New U.N. Women's Agency"
March 3, 2009 - (IPS) After being blind for years to the needs and rights of women, the United Nations is finally well on its way to create a "fully-resourced" women's agency, says Stephen Lewis, the former U.N. Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Ireland: New Programme to Empower Women to Tackle Community Issues
March 2, 2009 - (Fund for Ireland) A new cross-border and cross-community programme which will develop leadership skills and empower women to bring about positive change within their local communities has been launched today by Denis Rooney CBE, Chairman of the International Fund for Ireland and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

U.N. Flunking on Gender Empowerment, Women Say
Feb 26, 2009 - (IPS) The United Nations is coming under heavy fire for the lack of vibrant leadership and the continued absence of adequate structures to advance the long-touted cause of gender empowerment worldwide.

Accountability key to meeting national gender equality goals, says UN report
February 20, 2009 - (UN News) Strengthening accountability for commitments made by governments will be vital to achieving gender equality and women’s rights, according to a new report released today by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

Exclusive: Amazon selling rape simulation game
February 18, 2009 - (AWID) A game that involves the player stalking victims and then raping them in a virtual world is being offered for sale by online retailer Amazon.com, the Belfast Telegraph's website can reveal.

GLOBAL: East Asians trafficked far and wide, says UN report
February 13, 2009 - (IRIN) East Asia is a major source of human trafficking, with victims dispersed in more than 20 countries, sometimes as far away as South Africa, a UN report has found.

Women must be included in solving global economic meltdown, UN says
February 6, 2009 – (UN News Centre) Governments must give women a key role in making decisions aimed at resolving the current global economic crisis, which is likely have a serious impact on the full realization of gender equality, a United Nations committee warned today.

Progress on gender equality will mean improvements for all in society
January 21, 2009 – (UN News Centre) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today encouraged top government officials from around the world gathered in Guatemala City to push for greater progress on gender equality, stressing that women’s empowerment is key to realizing other major international development targets.

A Structure to Match the Vision
January 14, 2009 - (Huffington Post) Watching Hillary Clinton before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee was an unalloyed joy. Smart, committed, grounded. Values I've admired ever since we first worked together in 1992 on her husband's campaign. The gains made on behalf of women by Senator Clinton in the Democratic primary will continue with her selection as Secretary of State. The woman who 13 years ago at the UN Conference on Women in Beijing declared unapologetically that "women's rights are human rights" will more than ever stand on a global platform.

International Criminal Court: Clarifying the scope of the crime of rape
January 13, 2009 - (Amnesty International) On the eve of the first hearing in the International Criminal Court (ICC) to decide whether to confirm charges of rape as a crime against humanity and as a war crime, Amnesty International hopes that the Pre-Trial Chamber will confirm in its judgments a strong definition of rape which will help ensure prosecutions for this crime which pervades so many current conflicts.

Women's Rights - what happened in 2008?
January 9, 2009 - (Women's net) This first Friday File for 2009 presents a brief summary of some key events and issues that shaped the global women’s rights landscape in 2008. Last year was a year of challenges and opportunities for women worldwide… Key events and issues in 2008 – resulting in both losses and gains for women - include: Barack Obama’s election as President of the United States (US); the severe and continued crackdown on women’s human rights defenders; Rwanda setting a new world record for female representation in Parliament; a global food crisis; a global financial crisis; UN Member States passing a resolution to establish a new UN Agency for women; and, unfortunately, increasing crackdowns on women’s freedoms due to fundamentalist forces. Below is a summary of some of these, with a focus on the overarching issues influencing our work and our lives.

Women crucial in better East-West Relations
January 5, 2009 - (CGNews-PiH/UPI) Samuel Huntington's 1993 "Clash of Civilisations" depicts a world in which fundamental cultural differences form the basis of conflict between Muslims and the West. Current events seem to bear out his warnings, as the US wages its Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism (a.k.a. the Global War on Terror or, less favourably among some, the War on Islam) and Muslim perceptions of the United States sink to new lows.

Seeking Justice for Women in Post Conflict Situations
December 15, 2008 – (UN OHCHR) The design of any post-conflict social and economic order must include women and women's rights in order to facilitate their access to justice, says an expert panel on the prosecution of sexual violence organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on 15 December.

Rape as genocide
December 3, 2008 – (IHT) 'In this society if you rape one woman, you have raped the entire tribe" - so said one observer of the mass rape occurring in Darfur. People hear the word genocide and think of six million victims of the Holocaust or an estimated 800,000 dead in Rwanda. They do not imagine that mass rape can be so well planned and targeted that it wipes out a substantial part of an ethnic group as thoroughly, though more slowly, than widespread killings.

Millions join UN in urgent call to step up and eliminate violence against women
November 25, 2008 – (UN News) More than five million individuals around the world have sent a clear and unequivocal message to their governments to take decisive action in stopping the relentless cycle of violence against women, at the conclusion of an Internet-based United Nations campaign today.

Violence against women remains widespread and largely unpunished – UN officials
November 25, 2008 – (UN News) Violence against women is the least punished crime in the world, United Nations officials said today, urging governments to end the widespread impunity and to take measures to ensure that the laws and policies that aim to protect women and girls are enforced.

Ban urges greater efforts to boost women’s role in peace and security
October 24, 2008 - (UN News Center) Countries need to take more action to increase the role of women in the search for peace and justice and enhance their input in decision-making, even though positive steps have been made in recent years, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon writes in a report made public today.

Violence against women remains endemic, UN expert reports
October 24, 2008 - (UN News Center) Women around the world continue to endure violence, abuse and discrimination and often have no recourse to justice, an independent United Nations human rights expert told the General Assembly today as she urged Member States to make greater efforts to record and publicize violations.

European Union and United Nations to push for action to effectively address violence against women
October 10, 2008 - (IRIN) From Commitment to Action conference will spotlight urgent concerns of women's security in conflict and post-conflict. Brussels/Paris — The French Presidency of the European Union and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) jointly call upon EU Member States today for urgent action on enhancing implementation and accountability for the security of women. "From Commitment to Action" — the one-day conference organized in cooperation with the European Commission — focuses on detailed practical response to systematic sexual violence faced by women in conflict and post-conflict situations.

Financial crisis must not diminish support to improve women’s lives, urges Ban
October 8, 2008 – (UNNews) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stressed the importance of continued support for the efforts of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to empower the world’s women, particularly to improve maternal health and promote gender equality, even in the midst of the economic woes countries are currently facing.

Nobel Laureates Honour Afghan recipient of International Human Rights Award
October 7, 2008 – (NobelWomensInitiative) Thankfully there are courageous women around the world who, like Anna Politkovskaya, are willing to speak truth to power. Malalai Joya—the recipient of this year’s award—is one such woman. The youngest-ever elected member of Afghanistan’s national parliament, Joya has bravely stood up for Afghanistan's citizens. Like Politkovskaya, her outspokenness has come with a high price.

Africa: World Bank, OECD Report Mixed Results Towards Gender Equality
October 5, 2008 - (AllAfrica) Women's health and education have improved substantially in most countries, but progress is lagging on improving their economic opportunities, according to a new report released today. The report was released by the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Africa: Continent's Women to Benefit From New UN Gender Equality Project
October 3, 2008 - (AllAfrica) Women in five African countries will gain new access to resources and services at the local level through gender-responsive planning, programming and budgeting under an $8 million, three-year United Nations programme announced this week.

AFRICA: Children take on the fight against sexual exploitation
September 26, 2008 - (IRIN) Children should not be seen as victims of sexual exploitation, but rather the front-line fighters against it, said non-profit Save the Children Sweden at a preparatory meeting in Dakar in advance of the World Congress against sexual exploitation of children and adolescents to be held in Rio, Brazil in November 2008.

UN-INSTRAW Press Release: International Day of Peace: Gender Equality Key to Effective Peacekeeping
September 21, 2008 – (AWID) On the International Day of Peace, September 21st 2008, the UN Systems turns its attention to the role of peacekeepers in promoting and strengthening human rights. Adding its voice to multitude calling for an end to war and conflict throughout the world, UN-INSTRAW emphasizes the crucial role that gender equality plays in making peacekeeping more effective, sustainable and just.

High Commissioner’s First Speech to the Human Rights Council
September 2008 – (OHCHR) High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay opened the ninth Session of the Human Rights Council this week highlighting the importance of impartiality and adherence to the standard represented by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is “applied equally to all without political consideration.”

ICC appeal for Africa war victims
September 10, 2008 – (BBC) The International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for $14m (£8m) to help the nearly two million victims of sexual violence in Africa's wars. The ICC said sex attacks against women and girls had been found to be the most widespread form of criminality.

Africa: Time for Female Soldiers to Do More Than Secretarial Work
September 5, 2008 – (AllAfrica) The low level of participation of women in African militaries was in the limelight in August, which is celebrated in several parts of the continent as the month of heroines of the anti-colonial struggle. As of February 2008, only five per cent of soldiers in the world were female. The figure is not any better for Africa, which behoves governments to increase the ratio of women in their disciplined forces and introduce gender-sensitive policies to empower female soldiers already in service.

UN-Backed Gathering Tackles Gender Equality
August 25, 2008 - (allAfrica) A joint United Nations and African Union (AU) gathering to address gender equality and the advancement of women on the continent kicked off today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ADVISORY COMMITTEE DISCUSSES HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN
August 6, 2008 - (UN Press Release) Pierre Sob of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) gave a brief overview of the OHCHR Women's Rights and Gender Unit's seven focus areas on human rights of women: gender sensitive administration of justice; piloting an integrated gender strategy for country engagement; gender mainstreaming in the work of the Human Rights Council; responses to sexual exploitation and abuse within the UN system; mainstreaming gender and women's human rights in OHHCR and with UN system partners; mainstreaming and protecting the rights of perceived sexual minorities, trans gender and intersex persons; and health and reproductive rights.

Behind the Woman Behind the Bomb
August 2, 2008 – (The New York Times) FOUR more Iraqi women carried out suicide bombings in Iraq this week, bringing to at least 27 the number of such attacks this year in that country involving female terrorists. Anyone reading the newspapers or watching television has been treated to a flurry of popular misconceptions about the root causes of female suicide terrorism.

Human rights commissioner fought a long battle for her own rights
July 26, 2008 – (The Sydney Morning Herald) THE new United Nations high commissioner for human rights,the South African judge Navanethem Pillay, has spent a lifetime toppling barriers and exceeding expectations.

The Nobel Women’s Initiative peace mission to the Thai-Burma border, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Chad
July 24, 2008 – (Rights & Democracy) The mission, which started on July 21, will continue until August 8. The delegation’s objectives are three-fold:

* To listen to and convey messages from women’s organizations working for peace, justice and equality between women and men;

* Call attention to their courageous efforts for peace and justice;

* Promote effective resolutions to the political crisis facing Burma and the escalated conflict in Darfur.

Female soldiers raise alarm on sexual assaults
July 21, 2008 - (MSNBC) Even as women distinguish themselves in battle alongside men, they're fighting off sexual assault and harassment. It's not a new consequence of war. But the sheer number of women serving today — more than 190,000 so far in Iraq and Afghanistan — is forcing the military and Department of Veterans Affairs to more aggressively address it.

Sexual Violence: An Issue of Health
July 21, 2008 – (Aids-freeworld.org) Stephen Lewis addresses the Tides Foundation "Momentum" conference with the message: Sexual violence is a global health crisis. "It can safely be said that not a day goes by without some authoritative report from some country of hideous sexual violence directed at women. It has become a world-wide contagion. And it is a huge issue of public health: the health of the women, psychological, emotional and physical is torn asunder."

UN: New Human Rights Commissioner Should Take Bold Steps to Confront Abusers
July 18, 2008 – (HRW) Navanethem Pillay, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s presumptive nominee for the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights, should commit herself to be a voice for victims and human rights defenders worldwide, Human Rights Watch said today. An announcement of Pillay’s nomination is expected shortly, and will go to the UN General Assembly for approval.

Departing Rights Official Louise Arbour Raised Volume on Issues
July 6, 2008 - (New York Times) She has been doing a job with a mandate that many would call impossible: to safeguard human rights around the globe. Yet as Louise Arbour steps down after four years as the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, she is not entirely pessimistic.

Women at Work: Preventing Gun Violence
IANSA Women’s Network Bulletin #15, July 2008
July 2008 – (IANSA Women’s Network) In the IANSA Women’s Network’s July bulletin, there are articles focused on UNSC 1325, peacekeeping, and small arms. Such articles include Uganda using UNSC 1325 in small arms research, Argentina holding its First Regional Workshop on gender and peacekeeping where UNSC 1325 was used as point of discussion, and WILPF’s participation in the Dublin Conference on Cluster Munitions.

The Bureaucracy of Rape
June 30, 2008 - (The Nation) The Bush Administration has made much of its June 19 triumph in the Security Council in getting unanimous backing for a resolution aimed at curtailing sexual violence against women caught up in conflict. This was no small feat, given the perennial reluctance of some Council members to accept that rape and other violent abuses of women and girls are matters of peace and security.

Rape in War: Will the United Nations Walk Its Talk?
June 25, 2008 - (HRW) On June 19, 2008, the United Nations Security Council made history by declaring that rape in war is such a bad idea they plan to do something about it. That's right. After decades of reports on vicious sexual violence in conflicts across the globe, the highest decision-making body of the United Nations has decided that it is time to act. In fact, no other international actor has as much power to do something about rape in war, and as disappointing a record, as the United Nations Security Council.

UN campaign to end violence against women backed by 10 more countries
June 24, 2008 - (UN News Center) Prime ministers and foreign ministers from 10 countries have signed on to the “Say NO to Violence against Women Campaign” – a move welcomed by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which is organizing the drive.

Women Leaders Ask, "Where Is Our Money?"
June 22, 2008 (Truthout.org) - Even though seven out of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) impact on women, both donors and governments receiving aid overlook the need to make resources available for gender empowerment.

UNICEF reports rising trend of violence against children in strife-torn countries
June 20, 2008 - (UN News Center) The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reports that child kidnappings are on the rise in several countries affected by violence – including Haiti where more than 50 children have been abducted so far this year – and more than half of them are girls.

UN-INSTRAW welcomes the adoption of Resolution 1820 on Sexual Violence against Civilians in Conflict
June 20, 2008 - (INSTRAW) The Resolution condemns the use of rape and other forms of sexual violence in conflict situations, stating that rape can constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity, or a constitutive act with respect to genocide. UN-INSTRAW joins in the demand for an immediate and complete cessation by all parties to armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence against civilians.

U.N. Security Council says sexual violence akin to war crimes
June 20, 2008 – (Los Angeles Times) The U.N. Security Council affirmed Thursday that rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, and called for measures to combat such attacks.

UN: Finally, a Step Toward Confronting Rape in War
June 19, 2008 – (Human Rights Watch) The UN Security Council’s new resolution on sexual violence is a historic achievement for a body that has all too often ignored the plight of women and girls in conflict, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch applauds the council for setting out in the resolution a clear path to systematic information-gathering on sexual violence. Until now, the Security Council has asked for information on such violence only in selected cases.

Ban leads call for greater efforts to end ‘silent war’ of sexual violence in conflict
June 19, 2008 – (UN News Center) Noting that an increasing number of women and girls are falling victim to the “silent war” of sexual violence in conflict areas, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today led a chorus of United Nations officials in urging greater efforts to combat the scourge.

Rice to host U.N. talks on rape, Zimbabwe
June 18, 2008 - (Associated Press) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised to send a "strong message" to Zimbabwe on the importance of a transparent election when she presides over United Nations debate Thursday.

United Nations System Support to Member States on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment
June 17, 2008 – (UNIFEM) The membership of the UN General Assembly discussed a “Note on the United Nations System Support to Member States on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment” prepared by UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro, during an informal consultation held on 16 June 2008, which was co-chaired by the Permanent Representatives of Ireland and Tanzania.

Australia: $2m boost for women activists
June 15, 2008 – (The Sydney Morning Herald) A FEMALE anti-war body and Christian and Muslim groups will share in $2 million in grants to be announced today.

The Weapon of Rape
June 15, 2008 - (New York Times) The United Nations Security Council will hold a special session on sexual violence this Thursday, with Condoleezza Rice coming to New York to lead the debate. This session, sponsored by the United States and backed by a Security Council resolution calling for regular follow-up reports, just may help mass rape graduate from an unmentionable to a serious foreign policy issue.

UN Security Council Should Listen to Women Hurt by War
June 11, 2008 - (WURUN) The United Nations Security Council should effectively address sexual violence in conflict as a weapon of war and its destabilizing impact on communities, Human Rights Watch and the International Women’s Tribune Center said today.

Africa: UN Must Empower Peacekeepers to Stop Rape
June 10, 2008 – (AllAfrica) The United Nations Security Council should effectively address sexual violence in conflict as a weapon of war and its destabilizing impact on communities, Human Rights Watch and the International Women's Tribune Center said today.

Make forced marriage a crime against humanity: The UN must protect conflict zone 'bush wives'
June 9, 2008 - (CSMonitor) "Labeling forced marriage a crime against humanity has a number of important effects. It allows the international community to step in and prosecute whether or not local laws and legal authorities wish to pursue the cases. It validates the suffering of these women [...] Perhaps most important, it helps remove the stigma of "victimization" of women in conflict that has led to their systematic exclusion from peace processes and postconflict governance" deputy president of the International Crisis Group and former US Ambassador in Angola, Donald Steinberg writes in The Christian Science Monitor.

Women Bear the Brunt of Conflict
June 8, 2008 – (AllAfrica) Appalling. Inhuman. Atrocious. They are some of the words that describe the gruesome acts committed against women in times of war or conflict. Yet, even though women bear the brunt of conflict, they are often sidelined during the writing of peace accords to resolve these conflicts. But there are women in the midst of the misery who have determined to look for beauty in the ashes by engaging in peace-making activities, convinced that when the conflict is eradicated, the cases of sexual violence will dwindle.

The First Casualties in Wartime Happen to be Women
June 2, 2008 – (Daily Star) Truth is often said to be the first casualty in wartime. But if the real truth is told, it is women who are the first casualties. In conflict zones, the United Nations children's agency UNICEF recently observed, sexual violence usually spreads like an epidemic. Whether it is civil war, pogroms, or other armed conflicts, all too often women's bodies become part of the battlefield. The victims of large-scale sexual atrocities range from baby girls to old women.

UN to debate sexual violence resolution
May 30, 2008 - (Reuters) The U.N. Security Council is to debate a new resolution next month that aims to enshrine sexual violence as a security issue for the first time, senior diplomats said.

UN peacekeeping chief: More for missions
May 29, 2008 - (Washington Times) On thursday, day of the 60th anniversary of U.N. peacekeeping, Jean-Marie Guehenno pleaded with the international community to address gaps in support for peacekeeping missions. Head of UN peacekeeping Department also said that rooting out [sexual] abuse by peacekeepers would require "a cultural change" among troop contributors.

Belgian woman wages war for Al Qaeda on the Web
May 27, 2008 - (Herald Tribune) She calls herself a female holy warrior for Al Qaeda. She insists that she does not disseminate instructions on bomb-making and has no intention of taking up arms herself. Rather, she browbeats Muslim men to go and fight, and rallies women to join the cause.

united nations: More action needed to combat civilian deaths
May 27, 2008 - (Reuters) Much more needs to be done to prevent the killing and displacement of civilians in places such as Darfur, Somalia, Israel and Columbia, U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes said on Tuesday. Sexual violence is one of the most recurrent forms of violation against civilians.

Child abuse by aid workers, peacekeepers rife-study
May 27, 2008 - (Reuters) Sexual abuse of children by aid workers and peacekeepers is rife and efforts to protect young people are inadequate, said a report published on Tuesday. The study by charity Save the Children UK said there were significant levels of abuse in emergencies, much of it unreported and unless the silence ended, attempts to stamp out exploitation would "remain fundamentally flawed".

UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Recognizing Women's Vital Roles in Achieving Peace and Security
May 15, 2008 - (Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International USA) In its Resolution 1325 from October 2000, the United Nations Security Council outlined what the United Nations and its member states need to do to incorporate a gender perspective into peacekeeping operations and to promote women's full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security. As the Subcommittee considers this part of Security Council Resolution 1325, we urge attention both to women's participation and to substantive representation of women's needs and experiences on peace and security agendas.

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".

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.

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.

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)