WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY INTERNATIONAL NEWS ARCHIVE : 2007

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Africa: Media Experts Call for Gender Balance in News Reporting
December 11, 2007 – (AllAfrica) Media activists from around Africa have called on the continent's news outlets to exercise gender balance in their reporting.

UN General Assembly: U.S. Anti-Rape Resolution Adopted by Consensus
On November 15, the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus the resolution "Eliminating rape and other forms of sexual violence in all their manifestations, including in conflict and related situations." Consensus was reached after weeks of negotiations, in a process lauded by the African group as "a model of intergovernmental negotiations." The intense lobbying efforts in capitals and in New York were pivotal to this successful outcome, and USUN expresses its appreciation to all the embassies and department officials who worked so diligently to bring this about. At the time of adoption, the resolution had 83 co-sponsors.

Hidden Stories Start Gender Violence Campaign
November 27, 2007 - Domestic violence in the Russian Federation; sex slavery in India; self-immolation in Central Asian republics; gender-based violence and HIV, and 'compensation' marriages are the five underreported stories compiled by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, for 2007.

Ban Ki-moon pledges system-wide UN campaign to fight violence against women
November 25 2007- (UN News Centre) Denouncing violence against women as “one of the most heinous, systematic and prevalent human rights abuses in the world,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has vowed to lead a campaign against the scourge.

Greater efforts needed to achieve gender balance within UN system – Migiro
November 14, 2007 – (UN News Centre) Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro today called for greater efforts to achieve gender balance within the United Nations system, stating that statistics show an “unacceptable” lack of progress in this area despite the measures taken so far.

NDP Calls for Aid to Women and Girls in Crisis - $10 million needed as first step
November 8, 2007 - (UNDP) Conditions of women in crisis have reached a critical point said UNDP today. The organization’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery called for 10 million USD to help women and girls in crisis for the next two years.

Africa: Involve Women in Conflict Resolution, Says UN Report on Gender Violence
November 6, 2007 – (AllAfrica) Armed conflicts, sexual violence against women is often used as a weapon of war, both to dishonour the woman and the enemy, says a new report on armed conflict that was released in Nairobi last week.

UN chief: violence against women surges
October 24 , 2007 - (AP) The U.N. secretary-general warned that violence against women has reached "hideous" levels in some countries trying to recover from conflict, and the U.N. Security Council demanded an end to impunity for rape and other sexual abuse.

Security Council calls for boost to women’s role in peace and security
October 23, 2007 – (UN News) Recognizing the recent progress towards including women in the search for peace, justice and reconciliation, the Security Council today urged countries and the United Nations system to enhance female participation in decision-making and to take specific steps to protect women and girls from gender-based violence during conflicts.

Senior UN officials call on Member States to address rape as a weapon of war
October 22, 2007 – (UN News) On the eve of a Security Council debate on the role of women in peace and security, two senior United Nations officials have stressed the need to combat gender-based violence and to ensure that violations of women’s rights, including the use of rape as a weapon of war, are viewed as a security issue.

Women’s empowerment key to achieving UN’s goals, says Ban Ki-moon
October 3, 2007 – (UN News) Stressing that the empowerment of women is vital to achieving peace and security, improved living standards and respect for human rights, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has underscored the need to support the work of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Finland’s President supports creation of new UN agency on gender issues
September 26, 2007 – (UN News) The President of Finland today backed the creation of a new United Nations agency to deal with gender issues and urged greater involvement of women in peacemaking and peacekeeping.

Jordan: Government pledges to amend discriminatory laws
August 12, 2007 - (Jordan Times) Women activists on Saturday said the government had promised to work on amending all laws that discriminate against women within the next two years.

Pakistan: Looking to Women to Preserve the Peace
August 14, 2007 - (Inter Press Service Agency) ''The idea is to ensure that a May 12 never happens again,'' said Nasir Aslam Zahid, former judge and one of the members of the Women's Commission for Peace (WCP) formed in time for Tuesday when Pakistan celebrates its 60th year of independence.

KENYA: More Women in Parliament, Hopefully - By Way of the Constitution
August 9, 2007 - (IPS) Kenya's parliament will soon debate a constitutional amendment bill to improve female representation in the legislature by creating 50 special seats for women. At present, only some eight percent of parliamentary posts in the East African country are occupied by women.

House Of Representatives Approves Measure Calling For Apology From Japan To Surviving 'Comfort Women'
August 2, 2007 – (V-Day) V-Day and the Korean Council for Women Drafted into Military Sexual Slavery by Japan proclaim a new victory for the 'comfort women' survivors in their struggle for justice.

Rape and post-conflict justice
August 02, 2007 - (The Star) The lengthy prison terms for war crimes and crimes against humanity handed down by the Special Court for Sierra Leone last month have been greeted with widespread praise. Two senior members of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council were sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment and another to 45 years for atrocities, including rape, committed during the country's civil war.

Moroccan group voices women's demands in upcoming elections
August 1, 2007 - (Pambazuka News) In the lead-up to Morocco's September elections, a new project has begun to educate and organise women to press forward with their agendas. The Social Movement for Equality and Citizenship's "Responsible Citizen Project" reiterates the common demands put forth by women, to compel voters to action.

HYBRID DARFUR FORCE WILL HELP PROTECT LIVES OF WOMEN, SAYS UN INSTITUTE CHIEF
August 1, 2007 – (UN News) The newly authorized hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur can serve as a major step towards saving the lives of vulnerable women and girls in the violence-wracked Sudanese region, the head of a UN women’s institute said today.

Women still face obstacles, says UN
July 25, 2007 – (The Middle East Times) On the 25th anniversary of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, UN officials say that significant improvements have been made, but there is still work to be done.

Record number of women elected to Turkish parliament
July 24, 2007 – (The Middle East Times) A record number of women, about double the current 24, won seats in Turkey's parliament in general elections, but they still face an uphill struggle to have a say in politics, activists said Tuesday.

Women Push Onto Continent's Agenda
July 23, 2007 - (AllAfrica) The status of women in many African countries is improving. "Africa is in a period of great experiment," says Ms. Anne Marie Goetz, who heads the governance, peace and security division at the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). "Things are starting to change, as countries see a window of opportunity to create ways for women to contribute their skills and talents to national development."

The Maldives Appoints First Women JudgeS
July 18, 2007 – (Feminist Daily News Wire) The president of the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, has appointed the country's first two women judges, and a third is expected to join them this week. The appointments follows recommendations by UN Special Rapporteur Leandro Despouy to end gender discrimination within the Maldives' judiciary by nominating women judges.

Africa: Conflicts in Africa Thrive On War, Wine And Women
July 16, 2007 – (AllAfrica) If Africa had the courage and capacity to arrest and try all those who have killed, raped and maimed the daughters and mothers of the continent, huge concentration camps would be required in at least 20 countries stretching from Cape Town to Cairo and Dakar to Djibouti.

Southern Africa: Parliamentarians Discuss SADC Draft Protocol On Gender
July 14, 2007 - (AllAfrica) WOMEN parliamentarians held a caucus on Thursday to discuss the Sadc draft protocol on gender and development aimed at enhancing the rights of women in the region.

Africa: Accelerating Women's Empowerment in Africa
July 13, 2007 – (AllAfrica) THE United Nations Millennium Development Goal three (MDG 3) adopted in 2000 by world leaders at the United Nations Millennium Summit focuses on promoting gender equality and women empowerment by 2015.

LOKIRIAMA WOMEN BECOME THE ARBITERS OF PEACE
July 11, 2007 - (Africa Interactive News) One of the things pastoralists are notoriously known for is the violent resource-based conflicts that have persistently sent a terrifying shock to the communities and their environments.

Female activists on mission for peace
July 8, 2007 - (The Dallas Morning News) Banning land mines, fighting exploitation of women and halting the trafficking of children are all interconnected and key elements in the ongoing struggle for world peace. Coming up with action plans to fight against these and a host of other issues is the goal for Nobel Peace Prize laureate Betty Williams and 1,000 women from 43 countries who will be in Dallas this week for the International Women's Peace Conference.

Japan's Apology Urged on 'Comfort Women'
June 26, 2007 - (Guardian Unlimited) A House committee is expected to endorse a resolution urging Japan to apologize formally for coercing thousands of women to work as sex slaves for its wartime military.

Barbados implements gender management system
June 27, 2007 - (GoogleNews) Barbados will be implementing a Gender Management System to track and evaluate how its ministries and departments achieve gender equality.

Peace Advocates Arrested At Capitola Peace Demonstration
June 26, 2007 - (Santa Cruz IMC) Peace advocates gathered on 41st Avenue in Capitola on Tuesday, June 26th to protest the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; the recent troop surge, which has resulted in greater casualities, not fewer; and the recruitment of at-risk youth by military recruiters, many of whom use lies and manipulation in order to get people to sign up.

First Mauritian govt budget to target women
June 26, 2007 – (afrol News) Gender activists congratulate the Finance Minister of Mauritius, Rama Sithanen, for making moves in the right direction with the 2007/2008 budget. The budget makes provision to close the gender gap and challenge gender stereotypes. While Mauritius has reformed its legislation and awareness, the budgets to back them up have so far missed.

UN-sponsored meeting calls for more male facilitators in gender training
June 26, 2007 – (UN NEWS) Increasing the number of qualified male trainers in gender training for security personnel is one of the key conclusions of an online expert-group discussion hosted by the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW) and its partners in Santo Domingo.

Mujeres violadas por militares, sin recursos legales suficientes
Junio 25, 2007 (CIMAC) - México DF, Seis años de recomendaciones internacionales y nacionales de los principales organismos de defensa de derechos humanos no han valido para lograr que los militares que violan los derechos humanos, incluidos los casos de violación sexual contra mujeres, sean juzgados por la vía civil.

Women of the world unite for peace and solidarity
June 21, 2007 – (Google News) The fight against war is part of the fight for women to become “first-class citizens in every nation,” declared Marcia Campos, the Brazilian president of the Women’s International Democratic Federation.

All girl UN squad a success
June 21, 2007 - (BBC News) The world's first all-female unit of United Nations peacekeepers has been deemed a success, and has had its mission extended for another six months.

Cameroon: Network To Combat Violence On Women
June 21, 2007 – (Cameroon Tribune) The fight in combating violence against women has taken a new dimension in the North West Province. Cognizant that some traditional practices and certain laws violate women's rights, traditional and administrative authorities have resolved to stamp out practices that violate the serights in their fondoms and jurisdictioån.

Africa: U.S. Heads Public-Private Fund to Aid Refugee Women, Children
June 19, 2007 – (AllAfrica) The State Department is creating a new fund, to which private citizens and businesses can donate, to address the critical needs of refugee women and children.

Japanese MPs Deny Wartime Sexual Slavery
June 19, 2007 – (Agence France-Presse) A group of Japanese MPs have placed a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post that denies Japan's military forced up to 200,000 women into sexual slavery during World War II.

Oman: - Women in the Majlis Al Shura — A Step Forward?
June 19, 2007 – (WLUML) Approximately 50 per cent of the nation’s population is female. Then why after six sessions of Majlis elections, we still have only two females representing Omani women in the Majlis?

UAE: Ministerial panel moves toward allowing women in the judiciary
June 19, 2007 – (WLUML) The committee agreed to amend the federal law on judicial authority in order to remove gender specification, which specified ‘males only’ for such positions.

Africa: Act On Women's Agenda
June 18, 2007 – (AllAfrica) A very significant event took place in Kampala last week. Uganda hosted the Commonwealth Eighth Women Affairs Ministers Meeting in Kampala (8th WAMM).

Africa: If You Want More Development, Include Women in Decision-Making
June 15, 2007 - (Inter Press Service) The '8th Triennial Commonwealth Women's Affairs Ministers Meeting' (8WAMM) has closed with an acknowledgement that gender equality is central to democracy, peace and economic growth; it also called for greater efforts to achieve parity between men and women.

Southern Africa: Media urged to give fair and adequate coverage for women
June 14, 2007 – (Pambazuka News ) A gender minister has challenged SADC journalists to give women fair and adequate media coverage and thus contribute to the achievement of gender commitments in the region.

U.N. urged to hire more women
June 1, 2007 – (The Washington Times) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and 19 other female ministers, diplomats and lawmakers from around the world called on the United Nations yesterday to appoint more women in high-level positions, including as special envoys to trouble spots.

Women Network: Government is Responsible for Gender Equality
May 30, 2007 –(OneWorld) During last week’s debate in the Sabor (Croatian Parliament) on the report submitted by Gender Equality Ombudsperson, Karmela Caparin, an MP from the ruling HDZ (Croatian Democratic Community), said that there is more discrimination in labour and employment now, compared to previous years.

Mideast women defy regional divides to promote peace
May 29, 2007 – (Middle East Times) Some 40 women leaders, predominantly from the Middle East, recently defied regional disputes to participate in a three-day conference focusing on "Women Uniting for Peace" near the Cypriot port city of Larnaca.

Southern Africa: Discrimination against women fuels HIV/AIDS, report
May 28, 2007 - (IRIN) Gender parity is the key in the fight against HIV/AIDS, according to a new report focussing on Swaziland and Botswana, the two countries with the world's highest prevalence rates.

Tunisia: Women's Rights Important - Leila Ben Ali
May 25, 2007 – (AllAfrica) "One can hardly speak of freedom, democracy and justice in a society where women are still suffering from exclusion, marginalization and discrimination," says Mrs Leila Ben Ali

African woman appointed HIV/AIDS Special Envoy for Africa
May 24, 2007 – (Pambazuka News) Summary: United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s appointment of activist Elizabeth Mataka as the HIV/AIDS Special Envoy for Africa is an important step for gender equality in Africa, and for addressing the impact of HIV/AIDS on women.

Women’s Role in Peace and Disarmament
May 24, 2007 – (Kangla Online) Our world is hovering at the edge of an abyss, driven there by man’s unreason. One crisis is cresting on top of another… The sinister developments in the advance of towards the brink of disaster all interact, worsened by the calamitous threat namely the arms race and militarization. These essentially ethical problems of wars, weapons, and tools of violence have existed since time immemorial, but in the present era they have been deeply aggravated and will continue to be aggravated if a halt is not called for. - Alva Myrdal

Women on frontline of religious divide, says Amnesty
May 23, 2007 – (Middle East Time) Women have become key victims of growing religious intolerance fueled by a growing clash between the West and the Muslim world, human rights group Amnesty International said Wednesday.

Yemen's new weapon in war on terrorism:women police
May 23, 2007 - (Reuters) Assault rifles in hand and Islamic headscarves tucked into their fatigues, women are Yemen's latest weapon in the fight against militant groups, recruits to a counter-terrorism force on the front lines.

Hague Court Inquiry Focuses on Rapes
May 22, 2007 – (The New York Times) The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague said Tuesday that he would investigate human rights violations committed during a brutal crackdown after a coup attempt in the Central African Republic in 2002 and 2003.

Africa: PAP Report Flags Misunderstanding of Gender Issues
May 20, 2007 - (BuaNews) A Pan African Parliament (PAP) Committee report on Gender, Family, Youth and People with Disability, highlighted misunderstanding of gender issues as a factor which holds back development.

Peace Processes Are Failing Women
May 19, 2007 – (Economic & Social Research Council) As societies emerge from conflict, men's dominance at all levels of decision-making ensures women never feel truly secure according to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Gender equality is not only about women – WIIS-Malta
May 15, 2007 – (The Malta Independent) A newly set up organisation, Women in International Security (WIIS-Malta), will push for a fairer representation of women at decision-making levels where women can actually make a difference.

SUDAN-UGANDA: Frustration over LRA's refusal to free women and children
May 09, 2007 - (IRIN) The Ugandan government on Tuesday said the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) continued to hold thousands of abducted children and women, despite repeated pleas for their release from both the state and international organisations.

Japan top court rejects WW2 sex slaves damage suit
April 27, 2007 - (Reuters) Two Chinese women who said they had been kidnapped and forced to provide sex for Japanese soldiers during World War Two lost their case for compensation at Japan's Supreme Court on Friday.

Women Put Their Mark on MidEast Peace Efforts
April 26, 2007 - (WOMENSENEWS) Women are pushing the envelope on peace activism in the Middle East, with a nearly 30-country annual bike ride for peace that was followed within a few days by the shooting of a Nobel Prize-winning Irish peace activist at a West Bank demonstration.

Africa: Pres. Johnson-Sirleaf Challenges Women of Africa
April 25, 2007 - (The Analyst) President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf seems to be troubled by the many challenges facing women of Africa compounded by the age-old history of male domination on the continent.

U.S. Authorities Fail to Protect Native American and Alaska Native Women From Shocking Rates of Rape, Reports Amnesty International
April 24, 2007- (Amnesty International) Native American and Alaska Native women in the United States suffer disproportionately high levels of rape and sexual violence, yet the federal government has created substantial barriers to accessing justice, Amnesty International (AI) asserted in a 113-page report released today. Justice Department figures indicate that American Indian and Alaska Native women are 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than women in the United States in general; more than one in three Native women will be raped in their lifetimes.

Africa: President Sirleaf Urges African Women to Collaborate
April 23, 2007 – (Liberia Government) President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has addressed the opening session of an African Democracy Forum in Monrovia, with a call on African women to take charge of their own destiny. The President observed that African women are on an irreversible course, but urged them to collaborate to confront the challenges facing women throughout the continent.

Striving for a brighter future
April 20, 2007 - (Diario SUR Digital) In war-torn areas, millions of women are frequently left to rebuild their lives without the basic necessities for survival or a viable means to earn an income. Women for Women International (WWI), a Washington DC-based organisation, makes a difference to the lives of such women by providing financial and emotional support, specialised training and education

Defying a Clan Code of Silence on Unspeakable Crimes April 20, 2007 (The New York Times) The Abu Ghanem women are buried just inside the main gate of the old Muslim cemetery, eight in the last seven years. Amama Abu Ghanem says her daughter Hamda had been beaten by her brother and complained to the police months before she was killed.

Global Women Activists Speak Out Against War, Imperialism
April 19, 2007 (ZNet) - Condemnation of the United States' war in Iraq was rife at the 14th Congress of the Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) which concludes this Friday in Caracas. Over 1,000 delegates representing 165 organisations in 80 countries participated.

U.S: Iraqi Immigrant's NGO Reaches Women Who Suffer War's Toll
April 19, 2007 (RFE/RL) - Zainab Salbi grew up in Iraq afraid of her own thoughts. Salbi is the daughter of one of Saddam Hussein's private pilots, and her family lived in a fearful, silent environment where she was taught that the "wrong kind of thought" could lead to death or prison.

Confronting gender-based violence in Central AfrICa
April 16, 2007 – (CARE) Occasionally I realize that I've changed. The sights and stories that once would have left me unable to sleep now pass almost without comment - the suffering caused by conflict in Darfur or elsewhere in the region almost never strikes a personal chord any more; it's simply part of the job. It's a sense of detachment that serves a purpose, a way of protecting oneself.

Land clashes linked to poor leadership
April 15, 2007 - (The Standard) Clashes in the Mt Elgon region and other areas of are symptoms of a larger crisis. Dr Mutuma Ruteere, the Kenya Human Rights Institute dean, says clashes are on the rise due to poor leadership.

Attacks against Women
April 14, 2007 - (Peacejournalism) Millions of women throughout the world live in conditions of abject deprivation of, and attacks against, their fundamental human rights for no other reason than that they are women.

Reports: gov’t repression in Oaxaca continues
April 12, 2007 – (People's Weekly World Newspaper) MEXICO CITY: In the wake of a militant teachers’ strike for higher wages in the southern Mexican city of Oaxaca that began in May 2006, and a subsequent mass movement to oust Oaxaca state’s repressive and allegedly corrupt governor, both the state and federal governments continue to torture, imprison and kill members and supporters of the Oaxaca People’s Popular Assembly (APPO), according to two recent human rights reports.

Middle East Leaders Appraise Pelosi's Visit
April 10, 2007 - (WOMENSENEWS) Jerusalem: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Syria stirred praise and skepticism from a variety of female political leaders in the Middle East. Many hope her visit signals a U.S. shift toward greater dialogue and engagement in the region.

Rape as war weapon: Rwanda genocide 13 years later
April 9, 2007 – (M&C) A photography exhibition on the massacre of 800,000 Rwandans in 1994 was opened at UN headquarters Monday with human rights advocates denouncing sexual violence as a major weapon in conflicts, citing the current situation in Sudan's Darfur region.

The ancient fears stirred by women at war
April 2, 2007 – (The Independent) A woman's place, we have discovered in the last few days, certainly isn't on Iranian television, wearing a head scarf and nervously smoking a cigarette. Nor is it, it seems, in a high-speed patrol boat on the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which is where Leading Seaman Faye Turney and 14 other British sailors and marines were captured by the Iranians in late March. As far as some commentators are concerned, Turney's captivity appears to have confirmed every dire warning they have ever given about what will happen if women are allowed anywhere near the front line.

CHAD: “The janjawid rape and kill us as they want”
March 30, 2007 - (IRIN) Some 140,000 Chadians have fled their homes to squat in squalid settlements in the deserts of eastern Chad since attacks on their villages started in 2005. Human rights groups and the UN blame a complex and barely understood inter-ethnic war as well as attacks from the Sudanese janjawid militia for the violence. Chad’s government has refused a UN peacekeeping force which was proposed to provide protection for civilians and to guard the border.

Egypt: First Group of Female Judges Appointed
March 22, 2007 – (Human Rights Watch) The Egyptian government’s appointment of the country’s first group of female judges is a welcome step toward ending discrimination against women in the judiciary, Human Rights Watch said today.

With More Women at War, Military Rethinks Vet Care
March 20, 2007 – (WOMENSENEWS) A record number of female soldiers are returning wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan. In the wake of an unfolding health care scandal, military authorities are under fire to improve care for all soldiers and address the needs of servicewomen.

Africa: Long Way to Go For Equality
March 16, 2007- (Windhoek) While the recently-ended second Spain-Africa Women's Conference recognizes progress made by most countries in empowering women, it suggests that more still needs to be done to improve their situation.

Give women a chance at peace
March 15, 2007 – (The Des Moines Register) Looking at the state of the world today, one cannot help but wonder why we are in a war against terror, a war in Iraq and a war in Afghanistan and faced with the possibility of a nuclear Iran and North Korea. Maybe it's time to give someone else a chance at the helm.

100 Black Men speak out on violence against women
March 15, 2007 - (Amsterdam News) The Rev. Jacques Andre De Graff of the One Hundred Black Men of New York, the founding chapter of the 10,000-member international organization, called on “men of goodwill” to stand up and “speak out against the obscenity of discrimination and violence against women” during a special forum during the observance of International Women’s Day at the United Nations.

"Transparent Elections": UN marks 10th anniversary of fund to end violence against women with call for action
March 15, 2007 – (RightofChoise) Senior United Nations officials marked the tenth anniversary of the creation of the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women with praise for its accomplishments and a call for more action.

UN Secretary-General Calls for Concrete Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women and Girls
Mar 14, 2007 - (UN Chronicle) "Violence against women is the most common and least punished crime in the world", according to a documentary entitled Women in an Insecure World, which opened a panel discussion on ending impunity for violence against women and girls.

Yemeni Activists Couple Contraception With Islam
March 13, 2007 - (WOMENSENEWS) Yemen has scored enormous success in reducing its maternal mortality rates and increasing the use of contraception. Advocates turned to the interpretations and assistance from religious leaders to get out the family planning message.

Women Peacekeepers Can Work With Female Victims, Set Example for Male Colleagues
March 12, 2007 – (voanews) Just one month ago the United Nations deployed its first all-women peacekeeping unit, a group of trained policewomen from India now serving in Liberia. From VOA's New York Bureau, correspondent Barbara Schoetzau reports this team is a sign of the continuing evolution of women in peacekeeping missions.

African Union: Konare deplores denial of women's rights in Africa
March 10, 2007 - (PANA) The frequent violations and denials of women's rights and fundamental freedoms continue to fuel feminisation of poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa, Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission said here Thursday.

Chilean women make notable gains under Bachelet
March 9, 2007 – (Associated Press) Santiago: One year into her mandate, Chile's first woman president has legislated the right to breast-feed in the workplace, offered greater protection against domestic violence, cracked down on alimony-dodgers and placed more women in positions of power.

UN Security Council Committed to Women's Empowerment
March 09, 2007 - (BuaNews) The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has reaffirmed its commitment to the empowerment of women and their representation in all decision-making institutions.

UN urges ban on genital mutilation, forced marriage
March 09, 2007 - (Reuters) A U.N. women's forum urged the world on Friday to ban female genital mutilation and forced marriages.The Commission on the Status of Women passed by consensus two resolutions on the the issues following two weeks of debate on ending violence and discrimination against girls. Some 6,000 women from governments and grass roots groups attended the conference.

UN must take lead in eradicating violence against women, Ban Ki-moon says
March 08, 2007 – (UN News Centre) Impunity for violence against women – for too long tolerated under the cover of cultural practices and silently condoned by Governments – must end, and the United Nations must spearhead the effort to eliminate the pandemic, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said this morning at an event commemorating International Women’s Day.

UN, EU urge end to violence on International Women's Day
March 8, 2007 - (Associated Press and Canadian Press) Men in Bangladesh vowed to fight disfiguring acid attacks, as the United Nations and European Union marked International Women's Day on Thursday with calls for an end to violence and discrimination.

NATIONAL ACTION PLAN: WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY
March 8, 2007 – (admin.ch Media Information) President of the Confederation Micheline Calmy-Rey today presented the Swiss action plan for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security on the occasion of International Women's Day. The action plan contains a catalogue of measures by units of the federal administration involved in the promotion of women.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN DESERVES DEADLY SERIOUS CONSIDERATION, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS AT SPECIAL EVENT TO OBSERVE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
March 8, 2007 – (UN Department of Public Information) Violence against women should be considered with the deadly seriousness it deserved, not just on International Women’s Day, but every day, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said this morning at a special Headquarters event in observance of the commemoration.

Even our own country has a spotty record when it comes to equality
March 7, 2007 – (TheStar) If you are a woman on this planet, you are more likely to be poor, more likely to be a victim of violence, more likely to be voiceless and more likely to be exploited. You are less likely to have access to education, services or corridors of power.

World fails to treat rape as crime - UN agencies
March 7, 2007 - (Reuters) Rape is weapon of war and the world fails to treat it as a crime, two U.N. agencies said on Wednesday as the Security Council called for justice for women and girls who are victims of violence.

West Africa: Maintaining the Right to Youth, Education
March 7, 2007 - (IRIN) Sixty-year-old Fa Tchia sits under a baobab tree in her tiny village of Keur Omar Tounkara in central Senegal and looks into the distance as she recalls a youth and education cut short.

SECURITY COUNCIL STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN'S EQUAL PARTICIPATION, FULL INVOLVEMENT IN EFFORTS TO MAINTAIN PEACE, SECURITY
March 7, 2007 - (UN Department of Public Information) Presidential Statement Reaffirms Commitment to Resolution 1325 (2000); Says Decision-Making Role in Conflict Prevention, Resolution Must Be Increased.

Ban pledges to give women parity in UN system
March 7, 2007 - (IANS) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon pledged to strike a gender balance in the UN senior management as the world body prepares to mark International Women's Day this week.

Putting an end to violence against women
March 7, 2007 - (Gulf Daily News) UNDP programme analyst Ali Salman said existing research, data and testimonials from women and girls showed that violence against them still remained a devastating reality in all parts of the world. He said violence against women and girls was a pervasive violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality, development and peace.

Violence Against Girls in Conflict with the Law
March 6, 2007 – (Peacejournalism) Girls make up a minority of children who come in contact with justice systems, but are vulnerable to violence, particularly sexual abuse and rape, by police as well as staff in detention facilities. Girls who live or work on the street are often easy targets for police violence because they are young, often poor, ignorant of their rights, and lacking responsible adults to look out for them.

ACHIEVING GENDER EQUALITY, WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT A CONDITION FOR BUILDING HEALTHER, MORE PEACEFUL, SOCIETIES, SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
March 6, 2007 – (Secretary-General Department of Public Information) Following is the text of remarks today by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the informal General Assembly debate on gender equality and the empowerment of women: I am honoured to be with you for this debate on a crucial subject, two days before International Women’s Day.

Former sex slave demands Japan apology in WW2 row
March 02, 2007 - (Reuters) A Korean women who was abducted and kept as a sex slave by Japanese soldiers during World War Two urged Japan's government on Friday to apologise amid an escalating international row over the fate of the so-called "comfort women".

Mexico Replies to Juarez With Anti-Violence Law
March 2, 2007 - (WOMENSENEWS) Mexico has implemented sweeping national legislation aimed at stamping out widespread violence against women. Advocates see the law as a response to the scores of unsolved Juarez slayings and hope it will end an era of impunity.

Discrimination And Gender Inequity Remain High Worldwide
28 February, 2007 - (BuaNews) Discrimination and gender inequality remain high worldwide and much work still needs to be done to promote a positive impact on women's economic independence, said Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations Asha-Rose Migiro.

UN rights chief calls for action to tackle ‘plague’ of violence against women
28 February, 2007 – (UN News Center) Progress has been made already this year in protecting human rights worldwide, such as the recent adoption of a convention against enforced disappearances and other legislation, the top United Nations rights officer said today, but she stressed that more must be done in other areas, particularly to curb the “plague” of violence against women.

A Hague prosecutor focuses on her native Africa
February 25, 2007 - (International Herald Tribune) The windows of Fatou Bensouda's office high up in the International Criminal Court's headquarters in The Hague offer her a sweeping view of orderly Dutch flatlands. But her attention is turned to her native Africa, on the chaos and killing at the heart of the court's first atrocities cases.

Women, violence and empowerment: the world we live in
February 23, 2007 - (Open Democracy) The systemic, worldwide degradation of girl children makes the Commission on the Status of Women meeting at the United Nations a vital event.

Kenya Faces Hurdles in Boosting Female Scientists
February 20, 2007 - (WOMENSENEWS) Kenya has been opening its school doors to more women and creating strategies to spur their interest in math and science. As numbers change slowly, advocates are realizing they face a stubborn foe. Fourth in a series on higher education in Africa.

Chile Kick-Starts Debate on Gender Quotas
February 16, 2007 – (WomensEnews) Chile may be notable for having a female president, but the country ranks 14th out of 18 Latin American countries in female political representation. Congressional hearings on a gender-quota bill for political parties are stirring debate.

UN MARKS 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF FUND TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN WITH CALL FOR ACTION
February 16, 2007 – (UN News) Senior United Nations officials today marked the tenth anniversary of the creation of the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women with praise for its accomplishments and a call for more action.

Female circumcision not just African issue
February 12, 2007 – (Baltimore Sun) Among social activists and feminists, combating female genital mutilation, or FGM, is an important policy goal. Sometimes called female circumcision or female genital cutting, FGM is the cutting of the clitoris of girls in order to curb their sexual desire and preserve their sexual "honor" before marriage. The practice, prevalent in some majority Muslim countries, has a tremendous cost: Many girls bleed to death or die of infection. Most are traumatized. Those who survive can suffer adverse health effects during marriage and pregnancy.

Innocent Women Have Been The Victims
February 12, 2007 – (American Cronicle) International Woman's Day is on the 8th of March. It is a time when everyone on earth has a chance to listen together to the voice of women. Conflict, war and terrorism caused women deaths since hundred years. There have been many isolated acts against women since then, but state reactions to these events were low and ineffectual.

Women and Armed Conflict; International Justice
Febuary, 8 2007 - (Human Rights Watch) In armed conflicts raging around the globe, soldiers and paramilitaries terrorize women with rape, sexual and other physical violence, and harassment. These tactics are tools of war, instruments of terror designed to hurt and punish women, wrench communities apart, and force women and girls to flee their homes.

Angela King, leading advocate for women's equality and top U.N. official on women's advancement, dies
February 6, 2007 - (The Associated Press) Angela E.V. King, a Jamaican diplomat who became a leading advocate for women's equality and the first special adviser to the U.N. secretary-general on women's advancement, has died, the U.N. said Tuesday.

Anna Politkovskaya still wages peace
February 4, 2007 – (San Francisco Chronicle) Worldwide, at least 81 journalists were killed in 2006 -- the highest annual toll in more than a decade -- and murder was the leading cause of death, according to two organizations that promote freedom of the press, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Among the murdered was Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot point blank in the head with a revolver in the elevator outside her Moscow apartment.

Violence against Algerian women hidden because of social taboos
Febuary 1 2007 – (UN News Centre) An independent United Nations human rights expert has called on Algeria to take concrete measures against the gender inequality underlying violence against women, which she called a largely hidden problem because of the North African country’s social taboos around violence.

Women come to South America's defense
Januar 31, 2007 - (The Associated Press) BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. South America's leaders are increasingly naming women as their defense ministers, putting them in charge of keeping the peace in nations still grappling with legacies of military dictatorships. The wave of female defense heads — one-third of the posts in South America are filled by women — is especially surprising in a hemisphere known for its machismo.

Ecuador says new Defense Minister to be a woman
January 27, 2007 - (Reuters) President Rafael Correa of Ecuador said on Saturday that he will name a woman to the top security job after the country's first female Defense Minister Guadalupe Larriva was killed in a helicopter crash earlier this week.

Global Experts Encourage Women as Peacekeepers
January 19, 2007 (AllAfrica.com) Experts in peace-building have called on African women to become involved with peacekeeping from the start of negotiations to end conflicts, and not to allow themselves to be excluded.

Women and Girls Must be Protected from Violence, UN Official Tells Rights Committee
January 15, 2007 – States who have signed on to the United Nations international bill of rights for women must continue to press for an end to gender-based violence, a senior UN official today told experts gathering in New York to evaluate compliance with the treaty. “Regrettably, violence against women and girls remains unabated in whatever form and manifestation, depriving them of the full enjoyment of their human rights,” said Rachel Mayanja, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, according to the text of her remarks. Ms. Mayanja was addressing the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, a panel comprising 23 international experts on women’s issues, which opened a two-week session at UN Headquarters in New York.

International Justice Failing Rape Victims
Jan 5, 2007 -(Institute for War and Peace Reporting)Despite significant strides in international law, many sexual violence crimes are going unpunished because of flawed investigations and prosecutions