In the heartache and confusion that accompany the flight from drought and hunger, refugees from Somalia can now turn to a source of comfort with a familiar face: fellow refugees who have been specially trained to help survivors of trauma, loss, sexual and gender-based violence. They're part of a unique CARE program that focuses on strengthening community coping mechanisms.

“The Abuja international conference on the struggle of Saharawi women for freedom is an culmination of the long held desire of WAELE to provide the much needed tangible support and solidarity towards the liberation of the Saharawi people,” said Tuesday Dr. Basirat Nahibi, president and founder of the Women Advancement for Economic and Leadership Empowerement in Africa (WAELE) speaking to the participants in the conference.

The Executive Representative of the UN Secretary General and head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) today delivered his Seventh Report on the progress of the work in Sierra Leone to the UN Security Council.

The day seems to be getting brighter in Somalia districts that bore the brunt of fanaticism under the al-Shaabab militants as former residents return to savour the new feeling of freedom.

Women in the country particularly those in Buipe in the Central Gonja District have been urged to use their natural endowments and resources to solve chieftaincy disputes to promote unity and development.

Women have also been identified as key actors in peace building and conflict resolution hence the need to give them full and equal access and participation in the peace activities and processes.

Violence against women is one of the most common abuses of human rights. Its scope includes forced marriages, rape, sexual harassment, intimidation at work and in educational institutions, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, trafficking and forced prostitution.

When the two-decade armed conflict that ravaged Acholi sub-region ended five years ago, women thought the worst was over. Together with their husbands and children, they jubilated. Little did they know that another warlord waited in their homes - domestic violence.

The speakers at a South Asian conference here on Thursday called for a collective struggle and structural reforms to end violence against women in all the countries in the region. The conference marked the shift in women's struggle against violence, where the silence against violence had been broken but redressing mechanism for survivors was yet to be evolved.

The tri-lateral women's group, consisting of Palestinian women, Israeli women and female political leaders from around the world, was founded in 2005 under the auspices of UNIFEM in New York. Its mission was to implement and strengthen U.N.

1. Facts:

Small arms:
Small Arms mean the weapons that a single and individual can carry and operate. For example revolvers, self loading pistols, rifles, carbines, assault rifles, sub machineguns, light machineguns and associated ammunitions[1]