Elections in Kenya resulted in nearly 500 deaths and 250, 000 people are displaced in the search for safety. Amidst the violence women have been systematically raped and abused. Gang rape as a means of retaliation is on the increase and the Nairobi Women's Hospital has recorded a two-fold increase in rape cases in recent days.

The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women will receive $100,000 from the United Nations Foundation for 100,000 signatures. UNIFEM and their Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman invites you to meet the challenge.

For more information, please click HERE

The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW), Equality Now, The European Women's Lobby, and grassroots groups from around the world, all working to end trafficking in women and girls, are jointly calling on governments to use the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking (13-15 February 2008) organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as a venue to generate significant political will and commit resources to ending the

“At least one out of every three women is likely to be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Through the practice of prenatal sex selection, countless others are denied the right even to exist,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.

For more information about the campaign, please click here

The Special Rapporteur is mandated to seek and receive information on violence against women, its causes and consequences from Governments, treaty bodies, specialized agencies, other special rapporteurs responsible for various human rights questions and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, including women's organizations, and to respond effectively to such information.

Today (May 19, 2008), on International Day of the Family, Plan is launching the second report in the 'Because I am a Girl' series.

This years' report 'Girls in the Shadow of War' reveals why and how girls' rights are being violated in countries affected by armed conflict. It shows clearly what is lost when girls' voices are ignored and their capacities and skills go un-recognized and under-developed.

On May 15, the first congressional hearing on Security Council Resolution 1325 was organized by the House Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight.

This public hearing aimed at exploring women's contributions to peacebuilding and reconstruction in key conflict and post-conflict environments, specifically Afghanistan, Sudan, and Uganda.

Recently, there is a possibility that UN Radio might terminate the UN Radio program, “Women,” from the English service. This program has been around for decades and the UN has allotted it less air-time throughout the years. Women's media are constantly denied press passes to cover press conferences and events hosted by the UN.

The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children honored refugee activists from Liberia, Sri Lanka and Chechnya at its 2008 Voices of Courage Awards luncheon in early May at the Kula Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City.

The mission of IWP is to use grant-making and programmatic efforts to promote and protect the rights of women and girls in priority areas around the globe where the principles of good governance and respect for the rule of law are absent or destroyed because of conflict.