The tit-for-tat kidnappings of more than 140 people have provoked fears of expanded sectarian conflict in Syria's northern Idlib Province in recent days, but one set of hostages was released in good condition on Saturday after negotiations between residents of two of the affected villages, according to a rebel commander.

Many women have been forced to leave their homes in northern Mali as they fled from the sexual violence of the rebels. They are finding it hard to move forward with their lives, with little support for themselves, and little chance of seeing the perpetrators punished.

Afghan women and girls are increasingly victims of violence with a 20 percent increase last year in the number killed or injured even though the number of civilian casualties fell for the first time in years, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Lebanese women are taking to the streets to demand that the government takes domestic violence seriously, by introducing laws to protect women from abusive partners.

Nadine Mouwad, a founder of feminist collective Nasawiya, says the prevalence of unveiled, glamorous women in Beirut can create the impression that Lebanon is more liberated from patriarchal cultural attitudes than neighboring countries.

A women's parliamentary caucus in South Sudan's border state of Warrap has called for enactment of laws which upholds and respect women's rights and protects them from domestic violence, asserting that across the country women still faced considerable challenges.

Women rights activists are preparing to share Rwanda's practices in promoting gender with the rest of the world.

The activists, from government, the UN and other civil society organisations, met in Kigali, yesterday, to discuss Rwanda's progress in promoting women's rights in order to share their story at the UN 57th Summit on the status of women in New York, US, next month.

Ten projects of civil society organizations were officially launched today in the presence of the Head of the European Union Office in Kosovo / European Union Special Representative in Kosovo Mr. Samuel �bogar, Kosovo UN Development Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Ms. Osnat Lubrani and Officer in Charge of the UN Women Project Office in Kosovo Ms. Flora Macula.

A woman has been tortured and burned alive in Papua New Guinea after being accused of using sorcery to kill a young boy, local media report.

The woman, a mother aged 20 named as Kepari Leniata, was stripped, tied up and doused in petrol by the boy's relatives in Mount Hagen in the Western Highlands, said the National newspaper.

She was then thrown onto a fire in front of hundreds of people.

Opening Statement by Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Executive Director, UN Women, 11 February 2013 in San Salvador, El Salvador

When Sudanese President Omar Bashir and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir signed a series of agreements on September 27 in Addis Ababa, they signaled their governments' commitment to peace and cooperation between their two countries. However, since that time, implementation of these agreements sadly has been lacking.