Created on July 2, 2010, UN Women is the result of years of advocacy by civil society. The new entity combines the mandates of the four existing UN structures for women into one new, higher level UN organization with both policy and operational functions.

After more than two decades of war, people in northern Uganda are trying to put their lives back together. The conflict took a particularly devastating toll on women with disabilities, who face on‐going insecurity and limited access to services. Some of the women were born with disabilities. Others lost limbs, eyesight or hearing during the war. Some women told stories of being left behind, unable to run when the rebels came.

The UN-INSTRAW (as part of UN-WOMEN) Gender, Peace and Security programme is pleased to announce the launch of the new gender training for peacekeepers map. The interactive map provides a global overview of pre-deployment and in-mission gender training from relevant training officials.

It's an honor to speak today on the topic of peace missions and gender equality. I want to begin by congratulating the OSCE and particularly the Gender Section of the Office of the Secretary General for organizing this series to raise the awareness of delegates of participating States and OSCE staff members on the key role of women in conflict prevention, drawing on experiences from around the world.

The new President of ICJW, Sharon Gustafson, has urged Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appoint at least one woman to any team involved in talks with the Palestinian Authority.

The Taliban care, if the rest of the world does not. For years they have been assiduously attempting to undermine the education of Afghan children, and girls in particular. So far this year alone, 60 schools have been burned or otherwise destroyed in Afghanistan, largely by insurgents, according to the Afghan Ministry of Education.

United Nations, August 2010 - Worldwide, violence against women and girls devastates and impairs their ability to participate in the rebuilding or development of their countries.

This has been the case in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, as well as other war-torn nations.

Transcript (pdf):

As the earthquake-ravaged country of Haiti works through its long recovery process, stories of empowerment and inspiration continue to emerge.

Emmy Award-winning producer and host Tawnya Rush recently traveled to Port au Prince to better understand the people and places of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, finding stories that add a different perspective to life in Haiti.

The Center for Media Studies & Peace Building (CEMESP) has concluded a three-week Computer Literacy and Internet Journalism Workshop for female journalists in Liberia. The training provided word processing and presentation skills, as well as use of blogging and social networking platforms.

Here are photos taken by Women, War & Peace Field Producer Leslie Knott as she was shooting in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.