The impact of Iranian doctrines in the region is apparent throughout history. At one time Iran had a constitutional monarchy, which affected the entire region. Then it had a campaign for modernization during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi (1925-1941), the effects of which were felt throughout the region, once again. Nationalization of the oil industry in the 1950s also brought nationalism to the entire region.

Every morning in this mountain village in eastern Afghanistan, four dozen girls sneak through a square opening in a mud-baked wall, defying a Taliban edict.

The French Embassy and the UNWOMEN Arab States Sub-Regional Office signed on Wednesday an agreement to combat violence against women and enhance their human rights.

Seven children under the age of 14 were being raped in Soweto in a day. Nearly 30 children were being raped every month. More than 100 were raped over the four months before we cast our first democratic vote in April 1994, leaving then-Soweto police spokesman Joseph Ngobeni to say: “We can't go on like this.”

But we did.

Increasing numbers of Malian women are being raped by Tuareg rebels and armed groups that have swept across the north of Mali since the beginning of year, expelling all government troops from the region.

According to Corrine Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, who is currently on a mission in Mali, there have been reports of rape and sexual violence taking place in towns and villages across the region.

Mali is suffering from a threefold crisis, encompassing security issues as well as humanitarian and political concerns.

Since 17 January, the population in the north of the country has been severely affected by armed conflict. Physical insecurity has led to the exodus of more than 200,000 people, with three regions being occupied by armed groups. Food insecurity is also affecting more than three million people.

Women from across Zimbabwe have celebrated the launch of a strategic high-level women's coalition. The voluntary group will lobby to ensure that the new constitution, currently being drafted, will deliver on gender equality and empowerment for women in the country.

Alaska Natives are lining up in opposition to Lower 48 tribes over the congressional reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

They held their first summit in Kadoma last month, convened by Gender Links, the Zimbabwe Local Government Association and the Women in Politics Support Unit.

Zimbabwe has signed and ratified the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Gender and Development, committing itself to create mechanisms for ensuring women's equal participation in all areas of decision-making by 2015.

The recent election of José Maria de Vasconcelos, or Taur Matan Ruak as he is known, to the Presidency of Timor-Leste is not good news for women in that country.

Adding yet another member of the male military elite to a position of great prestige and power will not increase the political participation of women nor add to a culture of gender equity.