Indonesian women are still struggling to have their voices heard as part of mediation efforts in trouble spots and conflict resolution efforts in post-conflict areas across the archipelagic nation.

According to Electronita Duan (known as Eton), last year's winner of the N-Peace Award in Indonesia, women have much to offer the peacebuilding process.

A United Nations independent expert today called on Papua New Guinea to reinforce mechanisms that protect women against violence.

Women in Pakistan have faced formidable challenges in their efforts to achieve gender equality and address gender-based violence in their country, with particular problems posed by elements among customary norms and practices.

Women representatives from the Civil Society, United Nations Women Empowerment, Associations, and Women with disabilities yesterday condemned the killings of women and the recent rape cases reported in Jonglei States during the disarmament programmes.

A group of 77 police officers, 70 of them women, were yesterday commissioned after completing a three-month Police basic training at Police Training School in Gishari, Rwamagana District.

The eighth Police basic training pass-out ceremony, held at the force's headquarters in Kacyiru, is the first to produce a larger number of women officers compared to men in any recruitment drive since the force was established about 12 years ago.

The Executive Director of Ark Foundation, Mrs. Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, has called on young women in the country to add their voices to the crusade for peace and security for the 2012 elections.

Women constitute 51% of Sierra Leone's population, yet only 16 out of 112 elected parliamentarians are women. Furthermore, even though 12 parliamentary seats are reserved for Paramount Chiefs, women hardly occupy these seats.

To gain field-based knowledge on how gender-based violence (GBV) should be taken into account in future peace processes, CMI and its partner WANEP (West Africa Network for Peacebuilding) organised consultations at the end of February in three Liberian counties (Lofa, Bong, Nimba). These workshops were attended by over ninety women who shared their stories and views on gender-based violence in peace- and wartime Liberia.

It has been close to eight months since the Republic of South Sudan became independent. The process of state and nation-building is well underway. On 7 March, South Sudan's President, Salva Kiir, issued four decrees announcing 90 ambassadors to be deployed throughout the world in various diplomatic and foreign services posts. Presidential Decree No. 18/2012, [1] No. 19/2012, [2] No. 20/2012, [3]and No.

The second Dutch National Action Plan 1325 (NAP 1325-II) kicked off on 21 February 2012. Nuffic is one of the 40 signatories of the four-year plan, which aims to improve the political position of women in conflict zones in Afghanistan, Burundi, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Sudan, the Republic of South Sudan and the MENA region.