PeaceWomen- Working to monitor and advocate for the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325

El fuero militar los exime: Indígenas violadas por militares: doce años de impunidad
México, 29 diciembre 2006 - (CIMAC) Mujeres indígenas violadas por militares continúan esperando justicia desde hace 12 años, porque sus demandas judiciales no ha prosperado y los delitos siguen impunes: Valentina Rosendo Cantú, Inés Fernández, Delfina Flores Aguilar, Aurelia Méndez Ramírez, las indígenas tlapanecas, las de la zona de Loxicha y las de Tlacoachixtlahuaca, Guerrero.

Gender equality in Arab world critical for progress and prosperity, UN report warns
December 7, 2006 – (UN News Centre) Women in the Arab world are still denied equality of opportunity, although their disempowerment is a critical factor crippling the Arab nations’ quest to return to the first rank of global leaders in commerce, learning and culture, according to a new United Nations-sponsored report released today.

NEWS RELEASE: UN and NGOs Commit to Eliminating Sexual Abuse by All International Agency Personnel
December 1, 2006 – (Refugees International) Refugees International applauded the United Nations today for convening the High-Level Conference on Eliminating Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN and NGO Personnel on December 4. In anticipation of this conference, which UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will address, UN agencies and more than 20 non-governmental organizations signed a statement committing themselves to take ten key steps to end sexual exploitation and abuse.

Press conference by Emergency Relief Coordinator on sexual violence
01 Dec 2006 (United Nations Department of Public information) Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, today denounced the use of rape as a weapon of war and called upon the authorities in one of the most affected countries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to ensure that rape victims - including those traumatized by fistula - no longer find themselves ostracized in their communities, as is now so often the case.

UNHCR chief condemns culture of neglect and denial about violence against women
November 24, 2006 – (UNHCR) UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres on Friday said there was a "massive" culture of neglect and denial about violence against women. "That culture of neglect and denial exists everywhere," Guterres told staff of the refugee agency during a ceremony to launch the annual 16 Days of Activism to Eliminate Violence Against Women.

UN Official Urges Greater Role for Women in Peacekeeping Efforts
November 16, 2006 – (VOA News) A U.N. official says more women should be involved in peacemaking and peacekeeping in Africa. Rachel Mayanja is the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women to the UN Secretary General.

Annan praises UN women’s panel on 60th anniversary for being ‘ahead of its time’
November 10, 2006 – (UN News Centre) The world is beginning to recognize that empowering women and girls is key to development thanks to a United Nations women’s commission that is “ahead of its time,” UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, marking the body’s 60th anniversary.

Proposed UN agency `dramatic step forward' for women
November 10, 2006 - (Toronto Star) A landmark proposal for creating a powerful new United Nations women's agency moved a giant step closer to reality yesterday, with the endorsement of a high-level panel on reforming the sprawling UN system.

East Africa: Women Activists Appeal
November 6, 2006 - (New Vision) East African governments should make special budgetary allocations for gender, women activists have said. They said women have successfully struggled for affirmative action but the women movement has lost vibrancy because there is no special funding to gender issues.

Unsafe Abortions Kill Thousands of Women
November 6, 2006 - (The Middle East Times) Some 70,000 women worldwide die from unsafe abortions each year while many more suffer serious injuries, especially in poor countries, health experts said Monday.

U.N. speaker airs plight of female victims of conflict
November 5, 2006 - (The Daily News) Pamela DeLargy, chief of the United Nations Population Fund's humanitarian response unit, spoke Friday at the fourth annual In the Company of Women luncheon at the Kravis Center. In places across the globe, including the Darfur region of western Sudan, Liberia, Lebanon and the Republic of Congo, more than a million people have been killed in recent civil conflicts while millions more have lost their homes.

Punished for Being Female
November 2, 2006 - (The New York Times) Bride burnings, honor killings, female infanticide, sex trafficking, mass rape as a weapon of war and many other hideous forms of violence against women are documented in a report released last month by the United Nations. The report, a compilation of many studies from around the world, should have been seen as the latest dispatch from that permanent world war -- the war against women all over the planet.

Norway and Sweden support UNIFEM urgent actions for women's rights in East Africa
November 1, 2006 - (UNIFEM) UNIFEM's interventions on women's rights and gender equality in Somalia and Uganda received a major boost this week with financial assistance from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Government of Norway.

International Study on Women's Security
October 30, 2006 - (University of Ulster) The University of Ulster and Queen’s University Belfast have launched a major international research project on women's security. The launch took place at the United Nations in New York, and was attended by international experts including academics, those working in key UN departments and NGOs.

Women’s issues top the agenda globally
October 29, 2006 - (The Standard) Twenty-one years ago, women gathered in Nairobi for the first UN International Women’s Conference to be held in Africa. Last week, they were back. This time to evaluate progress made over the years following the development of strategies aimed at fostering the advancement of women.

Women Journalists From Lebanon, China and U.S. Are Honored
October 27, 2006 - (Voice of America) The International Women's Media Foundation presented three Courage in Journalism Awards this week at a ceremony in New York. One went to May Chidiac, a Lebanese broadcaster who survived a bomb attack last year. Another went to Gao Yu, a Chinese journalist who was jailed for six years. And the third went to American reporter Jill Carroll who was held by kidnappers in Iraq.

Algerian Amnesty Heightens Danger to Women
October 27, 2006 - (Women's ENews) Women's activists in Algeria say a sweeping 2005 amnesty, offered to most prosecutors of Algeria's decade-long "dirty war," is making the culture more dangerous for women. Reports of domestic violence, they say, are rising.

Women under attack in Iraq, Afghanistan
October 27, 2006 - (AP) Women are facing increasing violence in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, especially when they speak out publicly to defend women's rights, a senior U.N. official told the U.N. Security Council. Noeleen Heyzer, executive director of the U.N. Development Fund for Women, called on for fresh efforts to ensure the safety of women in countries emerging from conflicts, to provide them with jobs, and ensure that they receive justice, including compensation for rape.

Security Council highlights women’s role in peace process, urges more involvement
October 26, 2006 - (UN News Centre) Highlighting the role played by women in promoting peace in countries emerging from conflict, the United Nations Security Council today stressed it was essential to promote the full participation of women in helping rebuild such societies and also encouraged more female involvement in UN peacekeeping operations.

UN gender adviser calls for more action to integrate women in peace issues
October 25, 2006 – The United Nations should do more to encourage Member States to adopt national action plans to more fully integrate women in peace and security issues, especially in countries recovering from conflict, the UN Special Adviser on Gender Issues said today.

Women working for peace support Basque process
October 24, 2006 - (eitb) It's essential for women to participate in peace negotiations to find the solution to the Basque conflict, and for this process to incorporate their experiences, interests and expectations, a statement by the women read. Women in peace processes around the world endorsed a statement applauding "the process of dialogue" that has been opened up in the Basque Country "to seek peace and the solution to the Basque conflict." The statement also considers it "essential" for women "to actively participate in peace negotiations" and "to incorporate their experiences, interests and expectations, as urged by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325.

African Politics Needs More Women
October 20, 2006 - (The Namibian) African political parties must stop paying lip service to women's representation in their top echelons, Namibia's Deputy Prime Minister Libertina Amathila told a meeting in Windhoek yesterday. Politicians, researchers and other policy makers from the continent started meeting in the Namibian capital to discuss ways in which they can strengthen political parties on the continent.

Woman wins Bahrain parliament seat for first time
October 17, 2006 - (Agence France-Presse) A woman won a seat in Bahrain’s Parliament for the first time as registration for Nov. 25 elections ended late yesterday without a contest in her constituency, an official said.

Risk Of Domestic Violence Against Women
October 17, 2006 - (Peace Journalism) Domestic violence against women or children is a more insidious threat than any other form of violence. Nobody wants to be faced with violence in their home or by their family.

Southern Africa: Women Activists Struggle Against Patriarchy
October 16, 2006 - (All Africa) Women rights activists from Southern Africa emerged as determined as ever to continue with the struggle against patriarchy during a three-day conference held in Johannesburg last week. Participants noted that patriarchy is at the core of women's subordination and must be challenged in both the public and private spheres.

A need 'to decommission mindsets, not hardware'
October 13, 2006 - (SAPA - AP) Women in post-conflict societies should play a bigger role in revitalising their countries and governments must take action to ensure their participation in peacebuilding activities, researchers of a new study said. Research conducted in the aftermath of three recent conflicts analysed the recognition and role of women in peace processes as well as the security of women in South Africa, Northern Ireland and Lebanon who attempt to return to everyday life.

South Africa to Hold World Congress for Rural Women
October 12, 2006 - (BuaNews) Cabinet has welcomed the opportunity for South Africa to host the 4th World Congress on Rural Women. Addressing the media on Wednesday in Cape Town, government spokesperson James Maseko said the congress would go a long way towards advancing the cause of rural women, particularly in the developing world.

Africa: Violence Against Women Inherently Linked to HIV, Advocate Says
October 11, 2006 - (All Africa) In August, the Global Aids Alliance released a report, Zero Tolerance, that outlines the impact of violence against women and girls on the fight against HIV/Aids. AllAfrica's Margaret McElligott spoke to Communications Director David Bryden about his perspective on this week's UN reports on violence against women and children, and the role of the UN system in defeating HIV/Aids.

UN officials urge global backing for Annan’s report on violence against women
October 10, 2006 – (UN News Centre) Painting a grim picture of the extent of violence against women in all parts of the world, senior United Nations officials today urged everyone to fully support Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s recent in-depth study on the problem, which lays out legislative and other recommendations to combat the scourge.

Women Make Progress in UN Peace and Security
October 10, 2006 - (Scoop Media) Significant progress has been made to include more women in peace and security efforts throughout the United Nations system but “much more can and should be done at all levels,” both at Headquarters and in the field, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report to the Security Council.

Violence Against Women Officially Declared a Human Rights Violation
October, 9 2006 - (Feminist Daily News Wire) The United Nations released a report late last week officially classifying violence against women as a human rights violation, increasing pressure on states in the UN to intensify and improve systems in place for handling violence against women.

UNFPA Calls on Leaders to End Violence Against Women - Fund Welcomes Landmark Report by UN Secretary-General
October 9, 2006 - (UNFPA) Violence against women is a serious human rights violation and an affront to women’s freedom at large, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, said today. Widespread impunity not only encourages further abuses and suffering, it also sends the signal that male violence against women is acceptable or normal, said UNFPA Executive Director, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, welcoming a new in-depth report released today by the United Nations Secretary-General.

Annan calls for more political will to combat scourge of violence against women
October 9, 2006 – (UN News Centre) Condemning widespread global violence against women as a human rights violation, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for more political will and financial resources to fight the scourge, warning that as long as such acts continue there will be no real progress towards equality, development and peace.

Partners pose highest risk to women of violence - WHO
October 6, 2006 - (Reuters) Women are more likely to suffer physical and sexual violence from their husbands or partners than other people and the violence is more severe in rural areas, according to research being published on Friday. The World Health Organization report analyzed the extent of violence against 24,000 women in countries in Asia, Africa, South America and Europe.

Liberia: Ellen to Address Seminar On 'Women in Parliament'
September 27, 2006 – (The NEWS) On the occasion of the launch of its handbook "Women in Parliament - Beyond Numbers", the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) in collaboration with the Government of Liberia will tomorrow host a one-day seminar at the Monrovia City Hall on the above topic.

Chavez's Embrace of Iran Leader Insults Women
September 27, 2006 – (Women's Enews) Hugo Chavez, one of the key figures in the left populist movements spreading throughout Latin America, has publicly lauded and embraced Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Moments like this show just how little women's lives matter in the world of nationalist politics.

Women condemn Molo clashes
September 24, 2006 – (Sunday Times) Women from the Great Lakes region attending the on going Isis-Women’s International Cross Cultural Exchange (WICCE) which is being held in Nairobi, have condemned renewed tribal clashes in Molo that have claimed four lives and left several injured.

Rice Networks with Women Leaders as U.N. Meets
September 23, 2006 - (The New York Times) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gathered other influential women political leaders on Saturday to promote the empowerment of their gender.

LATIN AMERICA: Women Lawmakers Find Strength in Unity
September 23, 2006 - (IPS) More and more women legislators in Latin America are setting aside their differences and coming together around the cause of women’s rights, in women’s caucuses. The last to have done so are female congresswomen in Colombia and Peru, who say they realised there is strength in unity.

From dawn to dusk, the daily struggle of Africa's women
September 21, 2006 - (The Independent) Women work two-thirds of Africa's working hours, and produce 70 per cent of its food, yet earn only 10 per cent of its income, and own less than 1 per cent of its property. They work three hours a day longer than the average British woman does on professional and domestic work combined.

Give women their rights - and raise a continent
September 21, 2006 - (The independent) What's black and white and (RED) all over? We live in a world of increasing sophistication and interconnectedness in which the issues of international politics can seem dauntingly complex. It is as well then sometimes to remind ourselves - as we do today with this second (RED) edition of The Independent where half of the revenue the newspaper makes today will be donated to the Global Fund to fight Aids - that there are some stark simplicities too. And that when it comes to Africa some things are, all too literally, black and white - as the scale of global inequality dramatically reveals.

UN Human Rights Council hears of violence against women
September 20, 2006 - (UN News Centre) A United Nations expert on violence against women today highlighted the problems faced by women in Russia, Iran, Mexico, Afghanistan and Sudan’s Darfur region.

Sirleaf urges new operating structures for UN
September 20, 2006 - (The African Media Network) Liberia's President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is urging member countries of the United nations not to operate on the structures designed sixty-one years ago when the organization was founded.

Muslim leaders to discuss gender equality
September 18, 2006 - (Inquirer) Does Islam consider men and women as equals? What does the Qur’an say about abortion, polygamy, forced and arranged marriages and women’s rights? At least 50 Muslim religious leaders, Sharia judges and lawyers, women’s rights activists, members of the academe and local officials from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will come together for a three-day dialogue starting Tuesday to discuss religious beliefs and cultural practices that affect the role of men and women in Muslim society.

Africa: Women Leaders Meet in Maputo
September 17, 2006 - (Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique) "Women are born to live and not to die", declared Mozambique's former first lady, Graca Machel on Saturday.

Latvian plays gender card in UN race
September 16, 2006 (The Bangkok Post) The first European, Latvian president Vaira Vike-Freiberga confirmed Saturday that she intends to stand for the post of UN secretary-general - a job never before held by a woman.

Fighting poverty, UN reform to top General Assembly agenda, says new president
September 12, 2006 – (UN News Centre) As the General Assembly opened its 61st session today, the body’s new president promised to focus on alleviating extreme poverty and advancing the process of UN reform undertaken during the previous session. Sheikha Haya is the first female General Assembly President since 1969 and the first Muslim woman to hold the post.

Time for a Woman at the UN
September 12, 2006 - (Alternet) Kofi Annan says the world is ready for a female secretary general. So why are there only men on the short list of candidates to succeed him?

Migrant women are big money senders to home country : UN
September 6, 2006 - (ANTARA News) Women constitute half of the estimated 190 million international migrants worldwide and are responsible for the largest amount of remittances, the UN Population Fund said Wednesday. Women migrants sent home a total of 232 billion dollars in 2005, of which 167 billion dollars went to developing countries. Remittances and foreign direct investments are the main sources of economic development in many developing countries.

EU must take initiative on Mideast peace, says Finnish President
September 5, 2006 – (Deutsche Presse Agentur) Finnish President Tarja Halonen on Tuesday set out an agenda for stronger European Union efforts to end the Middle East conflict and said Israeli and Palestinian women should be encouraged to work for peace in the region.

Central Africa: Humanitarian Issues Key to Restoring Peace, UN Official Says
September 5, 2006 – (IRIN) Lasting solutions are needed for the humanitarian problems of gender-based violence, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), a senior United Nations (UN) official said on Tuesday. This would help restore peace and stability to the region, Ibrahima Fall, the Special Representative for the UN Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region, said in Nairobi, Kenya, at the opening of a three-day regional conference on peace and security.

CRPF women team to maintain peace in Liberia
September 4, 2006 – (IANS) They have proved themselves in anti-insurgency and crowd control operations in troubled areas of India, and now a section of women personnel of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will show their skills in Liberia to assist in UN operations — a move that has already won praise from the world body.

Gender Goes Wiki: UN-INSTRAW Creates a new Interactive e-Tool to Promote Trainings
August 28, 2006 – (UN Press Release) As a groundbreaking initiative, the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW) launches today the first-ever Gender “Wiki”, an online tool facilitating and increasing the exchange of knowledge-sharing on capacity-building activities and resources worldwide.

Juarez Killings Escalate As Investigation Stalls
August 22, 2006 – (WUNRN) Like the families of hundreds of murdered and missing women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, Cipriana Jurado is infuriated. More than 400 young women have been raped and murdered since 1993, their bodies left in the desert in the border region south of El Paso, Texas.

A Ghastly Disease Feeds Off a Ghastlier Oppression
August 25, 2006 - (IPS) Gender inequality has become the main driver of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, especially in Africa, where 70 percent of those infected are women. A new powerful international agency for women is needed to turn this situation around and address the growing problem of violence against girls and women, experts and advocates say.

Injustice lingers in Tunisia for women
August 23, 2006 – (The Boston Globe) In a country praised as a standard-bearer of women's rights in the Muslim world, Basma Hammami says the women in her family have been victims of lingering injustice. Her maternal grandfather, a wealthy landowner, left his entire estate to his only son at the expense of six daughters. He did not want the land going to heirs who would not carry on the family name, the 33-year-old Hammami said.

Anti-Poverty Efforts Face Child Marriage Hurdle
August 22, 2006 - (Womensenews) Rebeca, who lives in Bangladesh, was forced to leave school at 14 when her parents arranged for her to marry a 39-year-old man. Her family was poor and the man had agreed to waive the dowry requirement. He ended up infecting Rebeca with a sexually transmitted disease, and at 20, she has already undergone surgery twice for uterine ulcers. Rebeca's story was one of many compiled by the International Center for Research on Women in Washington, which is running an international campaign against child marriage.

Battle of the sexes
August 21, 2006 – (Mail&Gaurdian) As Zambia moves closer to the presidential and parliamentary general elections on September 28, the country’s political terrain is still rough for women like Forum for Democracy and Development president Edith Nawakwi to win the number one spot.

Women Matter - In All of the Millennium Goals
August 21, 2006 - (IPS) In order to advance towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), gender equality cannot merely be limited to a number of specific objectives, but must be the lens through which all the targets are viewed, say experts and representatives of women's movements in Argentina.

More Women, Please
August 19, 2006 - (IPS) The annual summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) wrapped up Friday with a call to speed up the process of increasing women's representation at all levels of government in the 14-nation body.

Women's Advocates Push Men to Recognize Paternity
August 14, 2006 - (Womens Enews) Single mothers in Morocco suffer severe legal and social stigma. To offset those disadvantages, a longtime advocate is pushing to use the country's new DNA paternity law to help women identify the fathers.

Election highlights
August 10, 2006 - (Chicago tribune) Navajo pioneer: For the first time, a woman has been chosen as one of two candidates facing off for the presidency of the Navajo Nation, whose 27,000-square-mile reservation spans the northeast corner of Arizona and adjoining areas of New Mexico and Utah. Lynda Lovejoy captured 22 percent, putting her into a runoff against President Joe Shirley Jr., who won 28 percent.

Women MPs can do better in marginalised places
August 4, 2006 - (Kenya Times) Going by the way the people of Marsabit District in Northern, Kenya, voted during the just concluded by-election, the future of women leaders among the pastoral communities looks decidedly hazy as far as the political matters are concerned.

Zambian women group calls for female UN secretary general
August 3, 2006 (Xinhua) Women for Change of Zambia has said that it looks forward to a female secretary general of the United Nations, local newspaper The Post reported on Thursday. The organization's executive director Emily Sikazwe was quoted as saying that it was time for aspiring women to take over the reins of power in the United Nations.

Benin Bans Harassment
July 29, 2006 – (WeNews) The Republic of Benin's National Assembly voted July 17 to pass the country's first comprehensive sexual harassment legislation aimed at protecting girls and women in schools, workplaces and in homes, according to the Women's Rights Initiative, a program of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Kenya urged to impose tough laws to curb FGM vice against women
July 25, 2006 – (People’s Daily Online) African experts on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) opened a week-long talks in Nairobi Monday to discuss ways of combating the traditional practice of female cutting, urging Kenya to scale up the enforcement of laws to discourage the practice.

LATIN AMERICA: Progress Towards Gender Parity in Politics
July 20, 2006 - (IPS) Santiago: What factors continue to prevent women from becoming members of parliament? How well have quota laws worked in Latin America? How close is Chile to passing a law of this kind to fight the continuing under-representation of women in the legislature?

Senegal: Free Treatment for Obstetric Fistula
July 18, 2006 – (IRIN) President Abdoulaye Wade has ordered his government to allow free treatment for women suffering from obstetric fistula - often a result of early childbirth that leaves young women incontinent and sometimes shunned by their communities. In a meeting with women in the northern region of Saint-Louis earlier this month, Wade likened early marriage to rape.

PERU - Forcibly Sterilized Women Gain Voice in Congress
July 18, 2006 – (IPS) Congressman-elect Alejandro Aguinaga, a former health minister during the Alberto Fujimori administration (1990-2000), as of Jul. 28 will have to share the legislative chamber with rural activist Hilaria Supa Huamán, who has denounced him for promoting the forced sterilisation of hundreds of thousands of Peruvian women.

Women Press U.S. Violations at U.N. Rights Review
July 17, 2006 -(WOMENSENEWS) When the U.N. Human Rights Committee in Geneva reviews U.S. compliance with a civil and political rights agreement this week, advocates will be raising women's rights violations in a critical shadow report.

New strategy aims to help victims of sexual exploitation committed
July 13, 2006 – (UN News) As part of further efforts by the United Nations to enforce its “zero tolerance” policy for sexual exploitation and abuse, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has put forward a draft strategy on assistance and support to victims of such behaviour by UN staff and related personnel, including recommendations for medical care and child maintenance.

Israel blockades Lebanon, kills 55 civilians
July 13, 2006 -(Reuters) Israel blockaded Lebanese ports and struck Beirut airport and two military airbases on Thursday, expanding reprisals that have killed 55 civilians in Lebanon since Hizbollah captured two Israeli so

Peacebuilding Commission opens: UN Reform Process rolls on: Will Women's Voice be heard?
July 10, 2006 – (IWTC Women's GlobalNet) The UN reform process moved a step forward on Friday, June 23rd, 2006 at UN Headquarters in New York, with the inaugural meeting of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), a new 31 member intergovernmental advisory committee. The role of the Commission is to facilitate collaboration and coordination among political, military, humanitarian, development and UN actors to help countries during the fragile transitional period between war and lasting peace.

Empowering Women: a World Wide Programme to Help Women Achieve
July 6, 2006 - (Ghanian Chronicle) Pathways of Women’s Empowerment is an international research consortium was launched on Monday by the University of Ghana’s Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CENGESA). The consortium aims to identify how women’s lives can be enhanced through global policy processes.

PanAfrica: Group Urges Support for Women Peacemakers
July 5, 2006 – (AllAfrica) Countries in crisis and the wider international community should do much more to support women's involvement in solving Africa's deadliest conflicts. Beyond Victimhood: Women's Peace Building in Sudan, Congo and Uganda, the latest report by International Crisis Group, assesses what women have been able to achieve in these three countries to challenge the dominance of militarised solutions.

Women’s Views on Democratic Processes
July 5, 2006 – (The Georgian Times) An International Conference called ‘Increasing Women’s Participation in Democratic Processes’, held recently in Tbilisi, has been acknowledged as an important milestone in the history of women’s work in NGOs in Georgia, as well as a great leap towards the development of democratic processes and gender equality.

A Warning to Would-Be Honor Killers
July 4, 2006 – (Spiegel) In the first case of its kind in Western Europe, a Danish court has prosecuted an entire family for the honor-killing of an 18-year-old Pakistani immigrant. Will the case set a precedent for other European countries dealing with similar incidents? Members of Ghazala Khan's immediate and extended family were involved in the plot to kill her. The ruling was as historic.

Illegal Migrations Increasing in Southeast Asia
July 4, 2006 – (ANTARA) The absence of jobs at home and the prospect of relatively well-pad work abroad are luring more and more young women from poor Southeast Asian countries to migrate illegally to rich neighboring Asian countries to work, according to a recent study conducted by the Asian Development Bank.
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Kuwaiti women optimistic despite setbacks
July 2, 2006 – (Taipei Times) Kuwaiti women view their first-ever participation in legislative polls in the oil-rich emirate as a victory despite the failure of female candidates to win any seats. "We have not won, but it was without any doubt a victory for the Kuwaiti woman. We have lost in votes, but won an experience," said Fatima al-Abdali, who ran as a candidate in Thursday's election.

World's women have an advocate: More than half the globe's people need their own UN agency: Stephen Lewis
July 1, 2006 – (Toronto Star) When Stephen Lewis visited the central Kenyan town of Thika last month, he heard a disturbing fact. Rapes of women and girls were escalating every month, and half the girls sexually assaulted were under 12. Even more startling was a new pattern; "a significant number of women aged 65 to 80 were also raped. The men who did it were confident they could have unprotected sex with them without getting AIDS," Lewis said.

Towards a Plan of Action on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society
June 30, 2006 – (EurofundingMag) The Preparatory Conference “Towards a Plan of Action on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society” which took place on 14-16 June in Rabat, Morocco, brought together 130 civil society organisations, governments, parliaments and donors' representatives of the Euromed partner countries. The objective of the conference was to review key aspects of women’s and gender issues under three major themes: women’s human rights as an essential component of democracy, women’s economic status and participation and social and cultural issues impacting upon women and gender relations in the region.

No Women Elected to New Parliament in Kuwait
June 30, 2006 -(Feminist Daily News Wire) In spite of political gains for women in 2005, Kuwaiti voters failed to elect any women to parliament in yesterday's election, though 27 of 250 candidates were women. Kuwaiti women voted in parliamentary elections yesterday for the first time after receiving the right to vote and run for office in May of 2005.

Women’s Peacebuilding in Sudan, Congo and Uganda
June 28, 2006 -(international Crisis Group) Countries in crisis and the wider international community must do much more to support women’s involvement in solving Africa’s deadliest conflicts.

Brutality still rampant despite progress in protecting civilians: UN official
June 28, 2006 – (UN News) While noting that the efforts of the Security Council and humanitarian agencies have made much of the world safer, the United Nations top humanitarian official today pled for more comprehensive action to end the massive suffering of civilians still caught up in armed conflicts.

AU Commission assures on gender declaration implementation
June 27, 2006 – (Angola Press) The first reports on the status of implementation of the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA) are to be submitted for consideration by the African Union summit in January 2007, an AU Commission official said Monday.

Gender, peace and security information just a mouse click away with new UN tool
June 26, 2006 – (UN News Center) A broad spectrum of researchers, ranging from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the media to policy makers and students worldwide, will be able to exchange data and increase collaboration on gender, peace and security issues thanks to the first-ever such dedicated online directory, launched by the United Nations this week.

The Importance of Completing Chile's Beautiful Task
June 26, 2006 -(Financial times) They came from all over Chile on election night in January: from affluent neighbourhoods, marginal areas, middle-class districts; they were students, workers, professionals, housewives; young and old; mothers, grandmothers, daughters and granddaughters. They wore across their chests the presidential sash, made by their own hands the afternoon of the electoral victory or bought from vendors on the street for less than $2. Their message was very clear: with a female elected president leading Chile for the first time, all of them felt that they were part of the government.

First Time Out, Kuwaiti Women Become a Political Force
June 24, 2006 – (New York Times) "They came, young and old, rich and poor, eager to hear the latest stump speech and even more eager to make their presence felt. Hundreds of voters gathered Saturday night in a cavernous wedding hall in a conservative suburb of Kuwait City to hear Walid al-Tabtabaei, an incumbent Islamist candidate, give one of his last speeches before the parliamentary elections on Thursday. The voters compared notes on candidates and debated their merits. One thing set them apart from the voters who attended political rallies in past elections here, though: almost all were women.

Mexico's Solo Women Add Suspense to Election
June 23 2006 - (WOMENSENEWS) Mexican women who have stayed home to lead households while male relatives move to jobs in the U.S. are adding suspense to a tight presidential race. Many women say they don't care about right or left, they just want jobs and less corruption.

UN-Backed Conference Calls for 'Zero Tolerance' For Sexual Violence in Conflict
June 23, 2006 – (UN News) Delegates from more than 30 countries at a United Nations-backed conference on sexual violence in conflict today endorsed a programme for action, ranging from ending impunity to developing national preventive plans, after hearing harrowing accounts of the scourge, including the rape of girls as young as one year old.

ROOT CAUSES OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN SWEDEN REMAIN: UN EXPERT
June 22, 2006 – (UN News Service) Describing the “gender equality experience” in Sweden as being a “contradictory process,” a United Nations rights expert has said that the root causes of violence against women in the country have remain unchallenged and become normalized despite an impressive amount of legislation aimed at stamping out the problem.

Rape in war 'a growing problem'
June 22, 2006 - (BBC) Rape and sexual violence in conflict appear to be worsening and very little is being done to tackle the problem, a major UN conference has heard. The conference organiser, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), wants a UN declaration and extra funding.

Post-War Peace Building Still a Boys Club
June 22, 2006 - (IPS) When the 15-member U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted its landmark "Resolution 1325" in October 2000, it conveyed a strong political message to the international community: that there can be no lasting peace in post-war rebuilding without active participation of women.

Global effort needed against rape in war zones: UN
June 21, 2006 - (Reuters) A global effort is needed to tackle rape and other sexual violence in war zones, the United Nations said on Wednesday, calling responses to a worsening problem with tens of thousands of victims "grossly inadequate." An international conference in Brussels involving participants from e than 30 countries heard horrific reports of sexual abuses in war zones worldwide.

LAUNCH OF JOINT UN–CIVIL SOCIETY PARTNERSHIP AGAINST SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT AND CRISIS SETTINGS
June 19, 2006 – (INSTRAW) United Nations organizations and civil society groups today announced a Joint Partnership to tackle sexual violence in conflict and crisis situations around the world. This Joint Partnership builds on existing initiatives and will address not only the threat that sexual violence poses to life and livelihood of survivors, but also the longer-term impact on community and national development.

Arab Women Press for Rights
June 17, 2006 – (Womensenews) Women's rights activists gathered in Morocco June 11 and called on the region's governments to adopt in full a United Nations resolution that would outlaw discrimination against women, reported the Agence-France Presse.

A message of peace...
June 16, 2006 – (Gulf Daily News) One of Bahrain's pioneers in social work and Nobel Peace Prize nominee is being featured in a book profiling 1,000 women who contributed to world peace from around the world. Children and Mother's Welfare Society (CMWS) president Shaikha Lulwa bint Muhammad Al Khalifa is among the women from 150 countries who were nominated for the Noble prize last year.

Kuwaiti Women Run for Seats in Parliament for First Time
June 16, 2006 -(Feminist Daily News Wire) Women are running for seats in Kuwait’s 50-seat parliament for the first time since the governing body was created in 1962. According to Agence France Presse (AFP), 32 of the 380 candidates are women, who were granted the right to run for office, as well as to vote, in May 2005. Women have been actively involved in other aspects of Kuwaiti public life, reports BBC, and a woman was appointed as minister after the 2005 vote.

SWAZILAND: Uproar as gender pendulum swings
June 15, 2006 (IRIN) - A group of men took to the streets in protest this week after a number of well-publicised incidents reported attacks by women, but some analysts say the real scare is the changing role of women in society. "Get a wife and hang yourself," read a placard waved by a Swazi man in his thirties at the offices of the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA).

REGION: Gender Issues In Peace And Security Policy
June 15, 2006 - (Pacific) “The attainment of peace and security in our region is as much about protecting the rights of all our people to live stable and socially safe lives, as it is about anything else," declared Forum Secretary General, Greg Urwin. "Gender issues cut across all aspects of human and political security and demands our policy attention," he added.

JORDAN: Women's conference tackles mortality rates and girl's education. Maternal mortality rates in the kingdom average around 41 per 100,000 live births.
June 14, 2006 -(IRIN) Prominent women leaders from around the world gathered in a three-day conference at the Dead Sea in Jordan earlier this week for the launch of a Global Women's Action Network to combat newborn mortality and to ensure that girls everywhere have access to education.

An Unwelcome "Gift of God"
June 13, 2006 - (IPS) Josiane Matia, making her way along a school route in the Cameroonian capital of Yaoundé, is far less carefree than other 11-year-olds. Walking slowly, she complains of th in caused by a breast band that her mother has forced her to wear for three months. "Before this breast band, my mother us he grinding stone -- heated in the fire -- to massage my chest," she told IPS. "Every night my mother examines my chest (and) massages me, sometimes with the pestle," Matia adds. All this is in a bid to reverse the d opment of the girl's breasts, to prevent her becoming the object of male attention.

Dlamini-Zuma to address women's conference
June 12, 2006 – (BuaNews) Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is to deliver a keynote address at a women's conference in Mali on issues of gender, peace and security in Africa. The Department of Foreign Affairs said the minister arrived in Mali on Sunday, leading a delegation attending the Femmes Africa Solidarite (FAS) conference.

iranian and US women call for peaceful settlement over Iran
June 8, 2006 -(AFP) Iranian and US women's organizations, led by two Nobel peace laureates, have called for a negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis and said military attacks should be ruled out. The United States has not ruled out any options, including the use of force, to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. "Military action must be taken off the table," said a joint statement from the women's groups and Nobel laureates Shirin Ebadi of Iran and Jody Williams of the United States, who met in Vienna from Tuesday to Thursday.

Impunity for sexual violence in Jamaica
June 2006 - (Amnesty International) Each year thousands of women and girls in Jamaica are sexually assaulted in their communities, their schools, their workplaces, their homes and in the street. The state is failing to effectively prevent and investigate these abuses and also to punish the perpetrators.

LESOTHO: Govt intensifies efforts to help rape survivors
June 7, 2006 - (IRIN/PLUSNEWS) The Lesotho government is to improve medical care for sexual violence survivors after rape cases reported in the first three months of this year climbed to almost the total number for 2005. According to Motselisi Mosotho, a member of the Child and Gender Protection Unit (CGPU), 484 rape cases were registered by the police in the tiny land-locked kingdom between January and March this year, compared to 501 cases in the whole of 2005.

Bahrain's first woman diplomat to lead UN assembly
June 6, 2006 - (Reuters) Bahrain's first female diplomat, Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, will be formally elected on Thursday as the next president of the UN General Assembly, UN officials said.

Regional security: Do women matter?
June 5, 2006 – (ABS-CBN) The Asia Pacific Roundtables have been going strong for 20 years now, attended by prominent individuals from government, think-tanks, academe, the media and business. This year, Malaysia Prime Minister Ahmad Badawi was the keynote speaker. Organized by the ASEAN Institute for Strategic and International Studies, it is a "track two" process that engages leaders in candid and in-depth dialogues on regional concerns. The 20th APR held last week in Kuala Lumpur focused attention on the theme "Strengthening Comprehensive and Cooperative Security in the Asia Pacific."

Thirty-two women among Kuwait election candidates
June 4, 2006- (Reuters) - Thirty-two women will be among 402 parliamentary candidates standing for election in Kuwait on June 29, the first time in the history of the Gulf Arab state that women will be allowed to seek office.

Women in peace building (De Keyser report)
June 1, 2006 - (European Parliament) I very much welcome this debate and congratulate Ms De Keyser for her excellent report. The Commission is working hard to put the principles to which we’re committed into practice – and the European Parliament’s sustained commitment to these issues is vital to achieving that. We are fully committed to implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 of October 2000 on women, peace and security. And we’ve restated this commitment in the new Commission Communication “Roadmap on gender equality”.

Anger at Kenya's diluted rape law
June 1, 2006 - (BBC) Kenyan women's rights activists have condemned parliament for watering down a new sex crimes law. The bill was passed but key sections to outlaw marital rape and female genital mutilation were scrapped. Campaigner Anne Njogu told the BBC it was "obscene" that women found to have made false rape accusations now face the same sentences as rapists.

Central America to promote women's leadership in local politics
May 29, 2006 – (INSTRAW) Last Friday in Panama, Ministers from Central America and the United Nations Institute for the Advancement of Women signed an agreement to strengthen women's participation in decision making in local politics within the framework of a project supported by Spanish cooperation.

Women's human rights violations receive attention in West Africa
May 26, 2006 - (The Daily Triumph) In recent years, the issue of human rights of women has taken the front burner, especially in West Africa where harmful traditional practices (HTPs) have grossly violated such rights. In the traditional African society it is unheard of for a woman to say she is raped by the husband while wife battering is regarded as a normal way of correcting a wife. Not to mention harmful traditional practices such as the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), harmful and degrading widowhood rites, child marriage, denial of inheritance rights to women and girls and lack of education for the girl-child.

YEMEN: IN THE RUN-UP TO ELECTIONS , WOMEN CAMPAIGN FOR CANDIDATURE
May 25, 2006 - (IRIN) “Politicians want women as voters only,” said Rasheeda al-Hamdani, chairwoman of the National Women’s Committee, lamenting the decrease in the numbers of women nominated to run in upcoming elections to be held in September.

MOZAMBIQUE: Upholding people's rights in the midst of disaster
May 23, 2006 -(IRIN) People's rights sometimes get trampled in the rush to provide aid when disasters strike - with women and girls particularly at risk of exploitation.

CArolyn McAskie of Canada named to top-level peacebuilding support post
16 May 2006 (UN News) – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today named Carolyn McAskie of Canada as United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, a post closely aligned with the newly created Peacebuilding Commission which will aim to help post-conflict countries avoid sliding back into war.

Kenyan Activists Push New Sex-Assault Law
May 11, 2006-(Wenews) A bill in Kenya's Parliament calls for longer prison terms for rapists, but stops short of chemical castration, a punishment that some advocates sought. The bill follows strong media coverage of a wave of rape cases, but appears to be languishing.

19 Malaysian women set free in raids on alleged sex traffickers
May 11, 2006-(Guardian) Nineteen Malaysian women identified as suspected victims of sex trafficking were freed in dawn raids on five addresses across England yesterday. It was the largest coordinated police operation against trafficking since the start of a government crackdown this year.

Peacekeeping officials gain training at UN institute for women’s advancement
May 5, 2006 -(UN News) Peacekeeping officials dealing with communications and information technology in a number of hotspots across the globe today completed a five-day meeting at the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), where gender concerns were addressed as part of overall planning.

UN-sponsored Arab regional forum focuses on supporting girls’ education
May 3, 2006 -(UN News) Arab media professionals, human rights organizations, academia and United Nations agencies have begun meeting in Dubai to hammer out ways to improve girls’ access to quality education, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today, highlighting that while there have been advances in the Arab world, out of 70 million illiterates an estimated two-thirds of these are women and girls.

UN Security Council strongly condemns violence against civilians in wartime
April 28, 2006 -(UN News) The United Nations Security Council today issued a ringing condemnation of all violence committed against civilians during armed conflict, directing its strongest language at attacks on women and children, and pledged to ensure that all peace support operations employ all feasible measures to prevent the scourge.

US court clears anti-war grannies
April 28, 2006 -(BBC News) A US court has acquitted a group of 18 grandmothers of disorderly conduct for staging a rally against the Iraq war outside a military recruiting centre.

Kenyan women's anger at MP 'slur'
April 27, 2006 -(BBC news) Kenyan women's rights activists have condemned an MP who told parliament that women usually say "No" to sex, even if they mean "Yes".

Iraqi Kurdish Women Voice Hopes for Constitution
April 26, 2006- (Wenews) Civil society and women's organizations have sent her their suggestions since the summer of 2005, when the drafting process for the regional constitution began. Negotiations continue as the Iraqi government--now emerging from a four-month deadlock to select Jawad Maliki as prime minister--establishes itself in Baghdad.

Virtually no country immune from human trafficking, UNODC report shows
April 24, 2006 -(UN News Service)Virtually no country in the world is unaffected by the crime of human trafficking for sexual exploitation or forced labour, a new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shows.

UN launches new programme for girls’ education in West and Central Africa
April 17, 2006 –(UN News) The United Nations has launched a new broad based initiative in West and Central Africa to increase girls’ access to quality education in an effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of universal primary education and gender equality.

Women's Gathering Gives Peace a Chance
April 13, 2006 -(WOMENSENEWS) At an international conference in the spring of 2004, women faced the cruel realities that divide and antagonize their governments and found ways to become friends. Today they are still keeping up through e-mail.

Trafficking in Women Threatens Peace
April 9, 2006 -(Worldpress) In Asian societies, the issue of trafficking in women was addressed about a century ago. Although The International Agreement for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade, signed in Paris on May 18, 1904, was the foremost international document to deal with the issue of trafficking in women, later, one by one, other remarkable efforts were also adopted. These efforts are commendable but, unfortunately, each and every regional and international initiation cannot be dealt with properly because of a lack of space and time.

UNITED NATIONS- A proposed blueprint for a radical restructuring of the United Nations as envisaged by outgoing Secretary-General Kofi Annan has fallen short of its target in one specific area: gender empowerment.
April 7, 2006. (Inter Press Service News Agency) -As the 191 member states get ready to discuss the political nuances and economic implications of Annan's recently-released landmark report on U.N. reform, there is an increasingly vociferous demand to rectify the gender shortcoming by creating a separate U.N. agency to deal with women's issues.

Venezuela courts often victimize abused women
April 1, 2006. Seaattle Times— In the land of beauty queens, there seems to be little justice for women. In 2001, Linda Loaiza Lopez, then 18,was tied up, tortured and raped repeatedly during a four-month captivity. In the aftermath, Lopez weathered nine surgeries to repair her damaged face and body, a legal process that went through the hands of 59 judges and six prosecutors, accusations of prostitution against her and a hunger strike to force a trial of her assailant.

More women needed in global peacekeeping operations: UN-backed conference
March 29, 2006 – (UN News). Describing the current low numbers of women in United Nations peacekeeping operations as “disheartening,” a United Nations-backed conference called today for their number to be doubled every year for the next few years, saying this would not only improve the efficiency of peacekeeping but also its credibilit

UN to attempt to boost the number of women in peacekeeping uniforms
March 27, 2006 –(UN News) With only trace numbers of women in uniformed posts in peacekeeping missions, the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations will hold policy meetings tomorrow and Wednesday aimed at coming up with ways to increase their participation.

Women are Africa's political hope; Liberia is not the only female success story on this war-scarred continent - women's power there is growing
March 15, 2006 -(Newsday) Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf will address a joint session of the U.S. Congress today. This historic honor, bestowed sparingly on international dignitaries, is a fitting tribute for Africa's first democratically elected female president. But Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is not an anomaly. The African political landscape is being reshaped by women, generating hope for the future of the continent and raising the bar for democracy worldwide.

Mujeres apropiándose de espacios en la gestión municipal
Marzo 15 del 2006.-ALAI Mujeres.El año 2000, las mujeres de Ancoraimes, lograron reorganizarse en el ámbito municipal de la Sub Federación de Mujeres Campesinas “Bartolina Sisa” de Ancoraimes (SFMCBSA), desde entonces vienen trabajando y participando en la Gestión Municipal, fortaleciendo su vida orgánica interna a través del desarrollo de capacidades de las dirigentas a nivel cantonal y Subcentral, y participando en espacios de decisión política y económica.

Give the U.N.'s Reins to a Woman
March 15, 2006 -(Washington Post) The United Nations is lagging. The premier world organization is still missing the point that many have grasped in countries such as Germany, Jamaica, Liberia, Chile and New Zealand: that women, too, can serve as leaders at the highest level. In the 60 years since the United Nations was founded, no woman has served as secretary general. And despite the body's stated goal of achieving gender parity within the system by the year 2000, women remain grossly underrepresented. The numbers are embarrassing: Only 16 percent of undersecretaries general are women.

Women's Commission Aims to Combat Violence Against Women in Refugee Camps
March 14, 2006 -(VOA News) The non-profit Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children has introduced a series of recommendations to significantly reduce incidents of violence against women and girls in areas of conflict.

Protests for Women's Rights Mark International Women's Day Across Asia
March 13, 2006 -(Ms. Magazine) A series of protests and rallies for women's rights occurred in several Asian countries in the days leading up to International Women's Day, March 8. Nearly 2,000 women and men protested acid attacks, of which women are the primary target, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on March 7, according to the Associated Press (AP). Monira Rahman, spokesperson for the Acid Survivor’s Foundation, told the AP that women made up 75 percent of the 268 victims of such attacks last year.

U.N. Women's Meet Targets AIDS, Armed Conflict
March 13, 2006 -(IPS) Concluding its two week annual meeting here, which continued until late on Mar. 10, the 45-member Commission on the Status of Women adopted a number of resolutions concerning women's economic, political and social rights.

Governments Urged to Include Refugee Women in Decision-Making
March 10, 2006 -(Catholic Information Service for Africa) Women refugees can contribute to the development of their communities if steps are taken to ensure their access to education and employment, a Catholic refugee organisation said.

International Women’s Day Observed With Celebrations and Denunciations
March 8, 2006- (Planetwire) -A legal settlement in Mexico, a fistula success story in Washington State, and anger at the United Nations were among the ways women’s organizations marked International Women’s Day today.First observed in 1909, the occasion led more than 240 women from 50 countries to tell U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York that they were “disappointed and frankly outraged” about his planned shakeup of UN management, which they said neglects measures to promote gender equality within the UN and worldwide.

Femicide On the Rise in Latin America
March 8, 2006.- (Americas Program, International Relations Center (IRC)-On the eve of International Women's Day 2006, a delegation of Latin American women made a historic journey to Washington, DC. Rather than celebrating the gains women have made through their many struggles, the group arrived at the headquarters of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States with an alarming message: femicide, the murder of women, is spreading.

EGYPT:ILLETERACY STILL RIFE AMONG RURAL WOMEN
March 8, 2006 - (IRIN) According to the 2005 Human Development Report (HDR) for Egypt, issued jointly by the UNDP and the Ministry of Planning and Development, 35 percent of the population cannot read or write, putting Egypt among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of illiteracy. The figure is worse for Egypt’s female population, with 45 percent of girls and women over the age of 15 years-old being illiterate.

NORWAY - WOMEN CONTRIBUTE TO CONFLICT RESOLUTION
March 8, 2006 -(Aftenposten) Women, peace and security. All statistics and experience show the same results; women are the ones that suffer most from poverty. And if women are not in majority among troops, they will be the ones to suffer the most in the wake of a conflict.

INT'L WOMEN'S DAY: Time to Rise Up, Activists Declare
March 8, 2006 -(IPS) International Women's Day is being celebrated around the world Wednesday against a backdrop of grim statistics clearly demonstrating that gender equality is a long way off.

UK MINISTERS AGREE A UK NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY
March 8, 2006 -(FCO News) UK Ministers announced on 8 March - International Women's Day - an action plan to address the disproportionate effects of conflict on women and girls. The cross-government action plan sets out how the UK will implement UN Security Resolution 1325.

Secretary-General's remarks on International Women's Day
March 8, 2006 -(UN Press Release) I am delighted to be with you on this special day for women and men everywhere. Let me thank all of you for being here, and let me extend a warm welcome to the distinguished panelists who are here to help us celebrate the occasion.

UN Needs a High-Level Women's Agency
March 8, 2006 -(United Nations Document) Excerpt from a speech by Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/Aids in Africa, on the occasion of International Women's Day. Delivered to an event hosted by the Women's Global Health Imperative, University of California, San Francisco, March 8, 2006.

UN Press release: security council on International women's day
March 8, 2006 - (United Nations) -The following statement to the press was delivered by Security Council President César Mayoral ( Argentina):On the International Day of Women, the members of the Security Council reaffirm their commitment to the continuing and full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). They recognize the significant progress that has been made in its implementation and express their willingness to continue working in order to overcome remaining obstacles that restrict its full implementation.

Editorial: It's not all about the numbers
March 8, 2006 -(IDEA News) Michelle Bachelet in Chile. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Liberia. Angela Merkel in Germany. Maria do Carmo Silveira in Sao Tome and Principe. Luisa Diogo in Mozambique. Tarja Halonen in Finland. Helen Clark in New Zealand. These presidents and prime ministers are not the first women to lead countries, but they share a trait with the world’s first democratically elected female president, Vigdis Finnbogadottir of Iceland: they were elected on their own merits.

Exercising Power for Change
March 8, 2006 -(UNIFEM Press Release) International Women’s Day 2006 is a time of celebration and reflection. We celebrate the significant progress that has been made in building a positive environment for gender equality and women’s empowerment worldwide.

WORLD MUST ENSURE WOMEN'S ADVANCES IN DECISION-MAKING ARE SUSTAINED AND IRREVERSIBLE, HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERTS SAY
March 7, 2006 -(UN Press Release) The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences,Yakin Ertürk, and the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Miloon Kothari, issued the following statement on the occasion of International Women's Day, 8 March.

INT'L WOMEN'S DAY: Groups Blast U.N. on Gender Parity
March 6, 2006-(IPS) A coalition of international women's organisations -- including more than 240 women from over 50 countries -- has castigated both U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the 191 member states for paying "lip service" to the cause of gender parity in the world body.

Int'l Women's Day: Handful of Nations Rejects Politics As Usual
March 6, 2006 -(Inter Press Service) Developing countries, particularly those emerging from armed conflict -- like Rwanda, Burundi, Iraq and Liberia -- are doing a better job at integrating women in politics than are most longstanding, established Western democracies, according to the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

The spoils of war
March 3, 2006 -(Guardian) Rape in time of war is not new, but only recently has anyone tried to do anything about it. The international criminal court gives some hope. But will it ever work, asks Cherie Booth.

Portia Miller the next prime minister
March2, 2006- (The Jamaica Observer).Drop the maiden name which some married women feel they have to hold on to as a public statement of their feminist leanings and the initials of Mrs Portia Simpson Miller tell the position she was born to occupy. The election of "the darling of Jamaican politics" by delegates of the People's National Party to be their next president and as it now seems likely, prime minister, is significant for several reasons.

WOMEN MUST TAKE RIGHTFUL PLACE IN WORLD'S DECISION-MAKING,SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN MESSAGE ON INTERNATIONAL DAY
February 28, 2006 -(US Fed News Service) The United Nations Office of the Secretary General issued the text of the following statement: Following is UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's message on International Women's Day, observed 8 March: The theme of this year's International Women's Day - the role of women in decision-making - is central to the advancement of women around the world, and to the progress of humankind as a whole. As the Beijing Declaration tells us, "women's empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society, including participation in the decision-making process and access to power, are fundamental for the achievement of equality, development and peace".

ABSENCE OF WOMEN FROM LEADERSHIP POSITIONS UNDERMINES DEMOCRACY
Febrary 28, 2006-(UN Press Release) Evy Messell, Director, Bureau for Gender Equality, International Labour Organization (ILO), noted that combating gender inequalities in the world of work called for equal access to social protection. An enabling environment would be created by extending national social security systems more widely.

HEALTH-ANGOLA: THE DANGEROUS PROFESSION OF MOTHERHOOD
February, 28, 2006-(IPS/GIN). Walking into the Angolan capital's main maternity hospital, the first thing that hits any visitor is the stench: a nauseating combination of blood and excrement. After a short while, the stomach settles and the eyes adjust to the poor light in the Maternidade Lucrecia Paim; then, the true wretchedness of the gray walls and broken windows begins to sink in.

Women politicians 'making gains'
February 28, 2006.-(BBC News). A record number of women are serving in parliaments worldwide, but they only account for just over 16% of all MPs.Women have made progress in elections, but "true equality of status" is a long way off, says a report by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).IPU chief Anders Johnsson said women were "dramatically under-represented".

Jamaica to get woman prime minister for the first time
February 27, 2006. (The Scotsman). Jamaica is set to get its first woman prime minister after cabinet minister Portia Simpson Miller was elected leader of the nation's ruling political party.Mrs Simpson Miller, 60, beat three others to become leader of the People's National Party (PNP) in an emotionally charged election involving more than 3,800 party delegates.

UN Special Envoy Sympathises With Burden Carried By African Women
February 27, 2006 - (The Post) UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis has said African women carry the continent on their backs and reel under the burden of care in the face of an HIV/AIDS scourge.

A Motherly Bond: Sharing War Stories
February 26, 2006 -(New York Times) DOREES BAUM knew something had gone wrong the second the telephone rang. It was 4 in the morning in Iraq, where her son Andrew was stationed as a member of the Connecticut National Guard. He needed to talk, but he also didn't want to say too much.

COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN WILL HOLD 50TH SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS FROM FEB. 27 TO MARCH 10
February 24, 2006 -(US Fed News Service) The United Nations issued the following press release:
The Commission on the Status of Women will hold its fiftieth session from 27 February to 10 March, marking 60 years of working for gender equality, development and peace. Since its inception in 1946, the Commission on the Status of Women has been an untiring advocate for gender equality and empowerment of women across the globe. It has provided a unique space for exchange of national experience and good practice, and for bringing the voices of the women's movement to the United Nations.

Women must get involved in prevention and resolution of conflicts
Feb 23 2006- (European Parliament) Women must participate on equal terms with men in the prevention and resolution of conflicts as well as in peace-building, said MEPs and invited experts at a hearing held on Monday by the European Parliament's committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality. Various speakers called for women to be included in peace negotiations and drew attention to the differing effects of armed conflicts on women and men.

Activist preaching to 'choir' ; Evanston peaceniks invite anti-war mom to share her message
February 17, 2006 -(Chicago Tribune) Evanston has long been a whistle-stop on the tour of anti-war activism. Now, as Cindy Sheehan prepares to speak there Saturday, longtime peaceniks, their hair graying and their kids in college, are mobilizing again--this time in opposition to the Iraq war.

New Pressure Needed to Scrap Gender-Biased Laws
February 15, 2006 - (IPS) - The United Nations is studying the feasibility of appointing a special rapporteur -- a human rights expert -- who will focus specifically on national laws that discriminate against women in their home countries. "The goal of eliminating all sex discriminatory laws has so far not been achieved," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan confesses in a new report to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) scheduled to meet Feb. 27-Mar. 10. Such laws, he points out, continue to exist despite the 1979 U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and a wide-ranging Platform for Action for gender empowerment adopted at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women.

PRINCIPLE OF EQUAL CHANCES FOR WOMEN AND MEN LEGISLATED IN MOLDOVA
February 9, 2006 - (WURN) - The Moldovan parliament legislated equal chances for men and women by passing a law in this regard in the final reading on Thursday, February 9. The law guarantees the equality of genders and access of representatives of both genders to posts in the public system and private institutions in equal measure. A proposal of lawmakers to stipulate the proportion of at least 30 percent for women and 70 percent for men in electoral lists raised most of talks.

GREAT LAKES: Treat rape as crime against humanity, women urge
February 9, 2006 (IRIN) -Rape is a serious offence that should be treated as a crime against humanity, alongside genocide and war crimes, representatives of women's organisations in Africa's Great Lakes region have proposed.

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE NAMES ITS FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT
February 6, 2006 (UN) The United Nations main judicial body today turned to a British international legal expert who became its first and only female member more than a decade ago to serve as its first woman president. Rosalyn Higgins was elected president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by her peers at The Hague while Judge Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh of Jordan was elected Vice-President. Each term is for three years.

It’s time for a woman UN Secretary General
February 2, 2006 (Gender Links) In the almost 61 years of the United Nation’s (UN) existence the position of Secretary General has never been held by a woman. The irony is not lost: women’s effective participation in decision-making structures has long been a critical area of advocacy for advancing gender equality. According to the women’s rights group Equality Now, as of 30 June 2005, women occupied only 37.1 percent of professional and higher positions and only 16.2 percent of the Under-Secretaries Genera.

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