In 2011, President Obama signed Executive Order 13595, which created the National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security and tasked U.S. government agencies to expand focus on the protection of women and girls in war torn areas and incorporate women into post-conflict relief and recovery efforts. One way the Department of State is working to implement the Action Plan is through the Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative.

As many as 14 women politicians from Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, the Philippines and Timor Leste called for bigger and better female political representation and participation in Southeast Asia. The call was made during the regional Women's Leadership Forum Promoting Women's Representation in Southeast Asia held in Kuta over the weekend.

Coming from a village close to Hebron, Mayy* was 19 years old when her family threatened to kill her. She needed protection and arrived at the Mehwar Centre for the Protection and Empowerment of Women and Families.

After the ten year mark, women in Iraq are left to fend for themselves.

That women and girls are singled out during armed conflicts is well documented -- what is less well known is that once hostilities cease the undeclared war on women can continue for years on end.

Even though officially the fighting has ended, the proliferation of weapons, a culture of violence and the objectification of women continue to wreak havoc.

Sadaf Ahmadi*, 18, from the northern Afghan province of Badakshan, has arrived battered and bruised at a women's refuge centre in Faizabad. It is her fifth such visit.

Every time it is the same. Staff at the centre, run by Women for Women, an Afghan NGO, try to offer support, but every previous time local community leaders or the government courts send her back to her husband and the beatings continue.

Last week, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood issued a strongly-worded statement unabashedly rejecting the draft UN declaration calling for an end to all forms of violence against women. It claims that the declaration contravenes Egypt's "cultural specificity" and would lead to "the complete disintegration of society" if ratified. Needless to say, the statement has fuelled the anger of Egyptians, especially women.

CSW Finalizes Agreed Conclusions: Addressing the root causes of inequality and violence, or missing the point?

We, the undersigned organisations and individuals across the globe, are again concerned that the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is wavering in its commitment to advance women's human rights as demonstrated in the constant negotiation of the language in the outcome document.

Dear 
Delegate,