Women are critical to peace building and conflict resolution. While war affects everyone, women are especially affected.

The U.S. envoy to the United Nations told the Security Council on Thursday that troops loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi were increasingly engaging in sexual violence and some had been issued the impotency drug Viagra, diplomats said.

Senior officials from South Sudan's governing party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), on Thursday, called on traditional leaders to abhor violence and support traditional norms and values which advocates peace and reconciliation.

They say the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. As women and mothers, we like to believe it but in reality, much still needs to be done to ensure that women everywhere can actually enjoy the rights they are entitled to. We live in a country where despite all the rhetoric; women still tend to be regarded as objects worthy of crude remarks ; where political representation of women is low enough to warrant concern.

Investments in young people, women's empowerment and reproductive health, including family planning, are critical to boosting least developed countries' productive capacity and speeding their escape from poverty, according to a new report by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.

The Island newspaper continues to publish leaks from the report produced by the Panel appointed by the UN Secretary General to look into post-war accountability in Sri Lanka. Groundviews has covered in detail the Executive Summary and Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the leaks.

The Island published today Part 5, which focusses on the conditions faced by IDPs in the aftermath of the violent denouement of the war in the Vanni.

For Tunis resident Amel, her country's January revolution brought her personal freedom after two decades living in a repressive police state.

But as a woman, she is fearful Tunisia's yet uncertain future could bring something else -- an Islamist resurgence and what that could mean to her rights.

When police in Kenya's coastal tourist city of Mombasa conduct night raids, it is not unusual for a large number of sex workers arrested to be under 18.

The government faces a struggle to end a trade that many young girls see as a fast way out of poverty and into a more glamorous life.

Asian countries, including India [ Images ], need to address the growing gender inequality in the labour market by increasing quality employment options for women, the Asian Development Bank [ Get Quote ] and the International Labour Organization said on Friday.

The report, titled Women and Labour Markets in Asia: Rebalancing for Gender Equality, noted that although Asia's economic growth of 6.2 per cent in 2000-2007 exceeded the

Narrating her life and struggle, Ghulam Sughra, a recipient of International Women of Courage Award, on Tuesday told students that education was a must for women to bring in better changes in their own and others' lives.