Despite adopting scores of pious resolutions on gender empowerment over the last 67 years, the 193-member General Assembly has failed to practice in its own backyard what it has vigourously preached to the outside world.

When Yam Lash was brutally raped by Khmer Rouge soldiers under a coconut tree in 1977, she was convinced she had little time left to live. Then aged about 40, she had already outlived her husband and three children, whose deaths to this day remain a mystery to her.

Participants at the Myanmar Women's Forum 2013 held from September 20 to 22 in Yangon.

Myanmar women's organizations at the Myanmar Women's Forum have demanded the government to bear responsibility and deliver justice to women who were sexually abused during civil wars.

The civil wars which are still going on have led to numerous cases of human rights violations.

The new constitution, adopted ahead of the July elections, guarantees freedoms to demonstrate and gather, said Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights on Friday.

But on Thursday baton-flailing police dispersed women activists in front of the Harare parliament building who were calling for “peace and development” and action to improve living standards for Zimbabwe's poorest.

Buenos Aires, Sep 16 (Prensa Latina) Nobel Peace laureate Rigoberta Menchu said today that after many long years of genocide during Guatemala''s armed conflict (1960-1996), the country is now in a difficult period, in which impunity still remains strong.

In an interview with Página 12 newspaper, the outstanding Mayan Guatemalan fighter said she does not believe the situation would last for only a few decades.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) also said that ratifying States should exercise due diligence in ensuring that non-State actors, such as armed groups and private security contractors, be held accountable for crimes against women.

Japan joined the Equal Futures Partnership, a U.S.-led multilateral initiative to increase political and economic participation by women, at a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Monday.

Women in Syria are being used as "weapons of war", a human rights activist has told MEPs.

Farah Hwijeh, a civil society leader supporting the participation of women in peace building in Syria, told the Human Rights Committee that rape and sexual harassment were becoming widespread since the start of the country's conflict in 2011.

The statement will be a blow to Western nations and the government of President Hamid Karzai, who want to paint a positive human rights picture ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign forces scheduled by the end of next year.