After nearly three decades of staggering progress for gender equality in the workplace, the classroom and in households, nothing significant has happened since the mid-1990s, says Stanford Sociology Professor Paula England.

A United Nations envoy this weekend urged the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) authorities to immediately investigate reports of dozens of rapes occurring on new year's day in the country's troubled eastern province of South Kivu.

Security Council

2010 Round-up

Total Number of Public Meetings for Year Rises As 15-Nation Organ Adopts 59 Resolutions, Issues 29 Presidential Statements

“Civil society can and should monitor and evaluate the implementation of the resolution on the national level as well as the consistency with which the Security Council applies the language of 1325 in country or conflict-specific Council Resolutions. ” This was the statement made by former UN Under-Secretary General Ambassador Anwarul K.

Riyadh al-Ashqar, spokesman of the P.A. ministry of prisoners and ex-prisoners in Gaza City, commented on the sever treatment against Palestine women held captive in Israeli jails during an open forum organized by the independent bureau for human rights in Gaza City. He added that 36 Palestinian women are detained in the Israeli Hasharon and Damoun prisons.

While some countries like Liberia can boast that they have a female President, Kenya is still grappling with allowing women room to exercise their leadership roles in Parliament and at local government level.

GUATEMALA CITY, Dec 27, 2010 (IPS) - Guatemala, it seems, is trying out a new image. As of this month, women are at the helm of the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Comptroller General's Office, winning their posts on merit, in what local activists are calling an important step in women's access to political power -- though "there is a long way to go."

PORT-AU-PRINCE/NEW YORK, Jan 6, 2011 (IPS) - Up a rubble-strewn street, turn right past a crumbled house, and 60 men and women are in the yard and parlor of the offices of the Commission of Women Victim-to-Victim (Komisyon Fanm Viktim pou Viktim, KOFAVIV) association.

After winning an International Award, Reseau des Femmes, a Women organisation, has finalised plans to expand its reach, with focus on rural women and economic empowerement, set to become a priority.

Beata Busasa, the association's national coordinator, revealed this, on Friday, during a ceremony to celebrate the award won in September.

Only a short time ago, commerce in Algeria was an almost exclusively male activity. Where once it was rare to encounter even a female sales assistant, today it is a common sight to see women-run businesses.