Championed by the Ministry of Gender and Child Welfare, the consultations brought the UN family organizations dealing in gender issues, other organizations and the South Sudan civil society women activists in the country for the validation of the document.

UNSCR number 1,325 was adopted by the council in 2000. Mr Higgins said there was a danger, unless resolutions were implemented and – in the case of 1,325, women were brought to the centre in peace-building – that though people would get a sense of wellbeing from talking about commitments, they would deliver little more than a “rhetorical glow”.

Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adam is to be Somalia's first female foreign minister in a cabinet formed by new Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon.

"After long discussions and consultations, I have named my cabinet which consists of only 10 members. Among them is a female foreign affairs minister for the first time in Somali history," the prime minister said, according to Agence France-Presse.

A conference on Peace and Justice for Kashmiri Women in Srinagar [ Images ] recently brought together representatives of more than half a dozen major women's organisations and Kashmiri academics, students, doctors, psychiatrists and human rights activists.

When we read about the dangers of humanitarian efforts, typically we hear about threats against Americans. Equally critical and often overlooked, are the attempts to violently remove passionate local leaders who challenge the establishment.

This has been a great year for women in power in Africa with the election of a second female president, the appointment of the first female head of the African Union and not one, but two female Nobel prizewinners.

On August 30, 2012 on the eve of International Disappearances Day, numerous Kashmir families took a pledge that they would fight the legal battle to prove that enforced disappearances in Kashmir have occurred over the past two decades. Women who have husbands or sons who are part of the ‘The Disappeared' have also promised they would continue to work and not shy away from bringing justice forward.

In the offices of the General Union of Palestinian Women –a bastion for older-generation prominent women politicians– two young Palestinian women listen to the discussions, feeling a little shy in the midst of such veteran advocates.

Yesterday, President Obama's campaign released three statements announcing his endorsement of state ballot initiatives to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland, Washington, and Maine. In April the President also spoke out against the measure in Minnesota, which would change the state's constitution to ban same-sex marriage, even though Minnesota already has a law against same-sex marriage.

Reproductive rights groups are partnering up for the 'Educate Congress' initiative, which will send a copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves to every congressional office. The action is designed to educate congressional representatives on how women's bodies work.