Resources for women in the military services are lagging those of men, and officials within the military system do not yet understand the unique challenges of women in uniform, the top U.S. military officer said here Nov. 4.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to several hundred participants in the U.S. Institute of Peace Women and War Conference.

Millions of women and girls bear the brunt of today's wars. They are particulary exposed to sexual violence and other injury. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the UN Security Council resolution on women, peace and security, Christine Beerli, Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, calls for better protection of women in wartime.

A two-day international conference on possibilities of peace-building and conflict-management in the South Asian region, christened 'Beyond Our Differences', culminated here Sunday.

The Gender Review Team found the IPU to be much appreciated and trusted by Parliamentarians worldwide as an organisation with a shared wealth of knowledge and experience of the realities of the role of Parliamentarians.

“While the men threw chairs and stones at each other every time they met, we women would sit down and discuss what we could do to save more people.”

Such is the experience of Suraiya Kamairuzzaman, who comes from Aceh.

Suraiya was one of a group of ordinary women from around Indonesia who have acted extraordinarily in the face of sectarian and other conflicts, contributing significantly to peace-building efforts.

On the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1325, Minority Rights Group International (MRG) reminds parties to armed conflict, and regional and international organisations, of the particular vulnerability of minority and indigenous women and girls in areas of conflict.

Sri Lanka's construction industry has launched a project to provide construction skills to people, especially war widows and youth, in the east which is recovering from the effects of conflict, officials said.

Sri Lanka Foreign Minister labeled the human rights groups as "patronizing, condescending and almost colonial", addressing the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

Minister GL Peiris made this claim denying the authenticity of photographs released by the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) showing a massacre of Tamils during the country's civil war.

When Francisca arrived at the historic Curicó Hospital - a staple in the Chilean central valley for nearly one and a half centuries - for the birth of her first child, she didn't know it would be her only one.

The world's traditional peacemakers - a title long conferred on women - may be undergoing a gradual transformation.

The growing number of female suicide bombers in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Palestine, and until recently Sri Lanka, and women combatants in Nepal and El Salvador, are challenging the long-held view that only men take up arms in war zones.