The National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) and civil society members expressed concern over the reduced number of women's seats in local government bills enacted in Punjab and Sindh in a meeting held on Tuesday.

By the launch of the National Action Plan on United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR 1325) in Abuja Tuesday, the UN and Nigeria are working to increase the roles of women in peace, security and conflict resolution in the country.

An exile women's rights group will for the first time co-host an event in Burma when the Women's Forum (Burma/Myanmar) kicks off in Rangoon on Friday.

In February 1997, four residents of the north who were mothers of soldiers then serving in Lebanon established a protest movement called “Four Mothers.” The movement was created following a helicopter collision that killed 73 soldiers on their way to the security corridor north of the border.

Saudi Arabia has passed legislation aimed at protecting women, children and domestic staff against domestic abuse, a human rights official said on Thursday.

The protection from abuse law is the first of its kind in a country that has often been criticised for lacking legislation that protects women and domestic workers against abuse.

A priority mentioned in Australian speeches and statements to the United Nations this year – Women, Peace and Security (WPS) – is likely to feature as the key “theme” of Australia's presidency of the Security Council.

But what is the WPS agenda? What progress has been made so far, and – given our support has been stronger in rhetoric than practice – what can Australia do better?

The Women's Initiative Network for Peace (Win-Peace) has expressed serious concern at the continued imprisonment of hundreds of political prisoners including women activists in various Burmese jails and urged the reform savvy from President Thein Sein to take necessary initiative to release them at the earliest.

Rape and sexual violence pose a “constant threat” to women and children living in camps for displaced people in Somalia, Amnesty International said on Friday.

Media coverage of the Colombian peace process has focused on the politics surrounding the talks in Havana. Some have accused representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) of using stall tactics, and President Santos has signaled a willingness to adjust his self-imposed timeline, indicating that a peace agreement is unlikely to materialize before the original deadline of November 2013.

As the departure of the international security forces approaches, each day turns every bit of hope into desperation for advocates of Afghan women's rights. In 2010, soon after the United States announced the planned withdrawal of NATO and international forces at the end of 2014, Afghan women leaders communicated to SRSG Estefan de Mistura their concrete agenda for sustainable peace.