Girls' education in Afghanistan, one of the biggest gains for women since the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban, is at risk because of insecurity, lack of funds and equipment and poor teacher-training, aid groups said on Thursday.

Women's education was banned under the government of the hardline Islamist group, now leading a growing insurgency, with only an estimated 5,000 girls in school.

Among the most prevalent Western stereotypes about Muslim countries are those concerning Muslim women: doe-eyed, veiled, and submissive, exotically silent, gauzy inhabitants of imagined harems, closeted behind rigid gender roles. So where were these women in Tunisia and Egypt?

Nearly seven years ago, the soldiers who killed Halya Lagunesse's husband gang-raped the Haitian woman and her then-17-year-old daughter.

Last March, she learned that her 5-year-old granddaughter, who was conceived in the attack on her daughter, had been raped also. The attacker gave the child about 50 cents to go and buy rice. On her way back, he dragged her into a cemetery.

A key police officer in the minister of internal affairs of the government of south Sudan denied Friday allegations of rape of female police recruits and physical abuse during a year-long police training period in Juba.

The National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW) is striving to ensure women's participation in all domains, disclosed the head of Information and Campaign in the Union, Ms. Dehab Suleiman.

She told ERINA the union has been carrying out various campaigns and trainings to enhance women's participation in political, economic and other sectors, and that the endeavors have enabled to become self-supporting, particularly in remote areas.

Many Somali women have lost their husbands and eldest sons, who either died in the country's conflict or simply left home to emigrate to another country. Women often find themselves alone with several children and relatives to look after - and traditionally, women are not typically the breadwinners of the family.

Luminaries from the worlds of politics, entertainment, business, the media, music and film are joining the United Nations today as it celebrates the birth of a powerful new agency giving voice to women and girls worldwide.

1325. It's a combination of digits that might not mean much to the majority of the world's population, but these four numbers are a crucial tool in the global struggle for gender equality.

Introduced in October 2000, 1325 is the first United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at fighting gender-based violence in conflict, and increasing the number of women at the decision making tables of peace and security.

The United Nations today voiced alarm over the plight of Somali civilians caught up in the fighting pitting forces of the country's transitional government, who are backed by African Union peacekeepers, against insurgents of the Al-Shabaab armed group.

Where women have gained a political voice around the world, there have been tangible gains for democracy, including greater responsiveness to citizen needs, increased cooperation across party and ethnic lines, and more sustainable peace.