Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Rakam Chemjong today said the ministry is formulating a new national action plan with the objective of ensuring women's proportional participation in all peace building processes during and after conflict.

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Ms. Anne Marie Goetz, the Chief Adviser on Governance, Peace and Security at the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Wednesday called for greater access to justice for women in both national and international judicial systems.

The legacy of the late Philippine President Corazon “Cory” Aquino continues with her inclusion in TIME Magazine's “The 25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century” list.

The Ministry of Gender and Development has for the first time launched the national Gender Policy in three of the fifteen counties of Liberia as pilot.

The three masked gunmen burst into Asha Muse Ali's tent at night and grabbed every item of value they could find: $85 in cash, a cell phone and a gold ring.

Then the attackers embarked on a crime that carries a severe social stigma in this conservative Muslim country: They raped Ali and her aunt.

South Africa ranks highest in the SADC region in terms of representation of women in parliament with 45 percent, and is third in the global ranking, surpassed only by Rwanda at 56 percent and Sweden 47 percent. Mozambique comes second.

An official at the National Electoral Commission (NEC) has called upon women leaders to sensitize their compatriots countrywide to compete in the upcoming local authorities' elections. The elections are scheduled to take place in February and March 2011.

With the United Nations mission in Chad and Central African Republic (CAR) wrapping up by the end of the year, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warns that the humanitarian challenges are immense and some security issues give rise to concern.

Judges today directed parties in the trial of Jean-Pierre Bemba to exercise greater caution when questioning rape victims giving testimony at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in order not to retraumatize them.