Walk among the plastic tents in one corner of this sprawling, dust-swept desert camp packed with Syrian refugees, and a young woman in a white headscarf signals.

Egyptian female activists are looking for a better constitution and members of the Syrian opposition are concerned about the violence committed by all sides of that conflict against women.

Worsening violence against women in Tunisia is also troubling.

The long and difficult process of democratization is causing many Arab women to seek new ways to describe what their region--and the women in them--are going through.

March 8 marks the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, a celebration of the economic, political and social achievements of women past and present that is observed around the world.

The first International Women's Day was held in 1911 in Germany, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland. Then, over a million men and women attended rallies to campaign for women's rights to work, vote and hold public office.

Some horrific events over the past few months, including the shooting of a Pakistani schoolgirl and the rape and murder of a young Indian physiotherapy student, should have been an alert for the world to unite in preventing violence against women.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with partner Heartland Alliance International has been strengthening the leadership of grassroots women in Haiti to engage in and advocate for redevelopment with the vision of a country where women participate in home, public and economic life free from the threat of harassment and violence.

A senior United Nations official today welcomed the recent decision by Cambodia's genocide tribunal to annul a previous ruling that would have prevented it from trying crimes of sexual violence committed during the Khmer Rouge regime.

The Congress-led cabinet has been under intense pressure to strengthen legal protection for women following national protests over the gang rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus last December.

The 23-year-old physiotherapy student died from extensive internal injuries caused by six men who raped her as she and a friend returned from a visit to the cinema.

Women face greater odds in achieving equal political representation in the Pacific Islands than in any other region of the world, holding just 3 percent of seats in national parliaments, compared to 20 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa and 18.5 percent in South East Asia.

“Women should be beaten every day,” says Kamilla,* repeating the grim words of her deceased sister's husband. At 19, he forcibly kidnapped her sister Kulipa for marriage. “The marriage was a nightmare,” recalls Kamilla, trembling from the memory of her sister's suffering.

The practice of bride kidnapping is widespread in Kyrgyzstan and is still considered by some as a valuable tradition.

The United Nations human rights office today urged the Government of Papua New Guinea to take concrete action following reports that a 20-year-old woman accused of sorcery was burnt alive in front of a crowd, noting that this is the latest in a “growing pattern” of such attacks.