Colombian and American universities, together with several non-governmental organizations released ten lessons they think should be learned from the 1999 - 2002 peace talks that ended unsuccessfully exactly ten years ago on Monday.

Sexual and gender-based violence, or SGBV, does not just affect an individual but also has the power to permeate an entire community. Often these acts are carried out during periods of conflict or post-conflict transitions when rule of law is weak and a culture of impunity reigns.

Sami Awad is wrapping up a day of training with Palestinian women leaders in Bethlehem, another step in the effort not only to empower women, but to extend the concept and practice of non-violent popular resistance.

Gender violence in conflict zones can stem from a multitude of factors – societal customs, ideologies, stress, as well as government and non-government actors participating in the conflict. As a result, Iraq has seen an increase in the rate of domestic violence during periods of recession and war.

Tens of thousands of women rallied in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi Sunday to call for improved rights and gender equality.

A growing list of U.N. Security Council Resolutions acknowledges the importance of gender in processes for peace. Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888, 1889 and 1960 note that women continue to be marginalised in peace negotiations and their potential is not fully utilised in humanitarian planning, peacekeeping operations, peace building, governance and reconstruction.

Gender violence in conflict zones can stem from a multitude of factors – societal customs, ideologies, stress, as well as government and non-government actors participating in the conflict. As a result, Iraq has seen an increase in the rate of domestic violence during periods of recession and war. Post-conflict Iraq does not represent only a society of war victims.

Women's League of Burma (WLB) calls for U Thein Sein Government to implement a nation-wide ceasefire, which was announced officially in August 2011, and urges all parties to work together towards genuine and long-lasting peace in Burma.

The National Council of Women in Solomon Islands says women in the country are not ready for police to be rearmed.
The NGO's comments follow the Prime Minister's announcement yesterday that specially trained police officers will be rearmed with weapons of non-lethal force including spray devices and rubber bullet guns.

Sexual violence is rampant in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The UN estimates that over 200,000 women and girls have been raped since 1998, but the true extent is not known. Missing from these figures are women and girls held as sex slaves or forced wives and men who are also victimized. The world has never known such extreme levels of sexual violence. Yet this crisis is largely ignored by the global community.