So the 16 Days of Action against gender-based violence (GBV) comes around again. The chance to act and protest GBV in this small window of time is a great relief when so much of the year seems to be spent analysing and campaigning from behind a desk.

Marches, protests, articles, and speeches are now the order of the day, but what of the other 349 days of the year, where I seem to find more questions?

THERE is a problem with the way the oppression of women and girls is explained which, if not challenged, will mean that gender will become a racket, an industry, without even reducing, let alone stopping, the degradation of the majority of women.

Sixteen years after Burma's military regime reached a ceasefire deal with the country's second largest rebel group, the Kachin Independence Organisation, the KIO and the 10,000 soldiers it says belong to its armed wing are preparing for war.

A soldier stands guard last month at a Kachin Independence Army outpost overlooking the Pajau plains near the rebel capital of Laiza, northern Kachin State. Photo: Mizzima/Thomas Maung Shwe

Unnoticed by many, Kazakhstan now ranks ahead of some of its EU partners according to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report for 2010. Kazakhstan is in 41st place with Slovenia in 42nd, France in 46th, Italy in 74th and Hungary in 79th.

SENATOR for Beitbridge constituency, Cde Tambudzani Mohadi, has launched the Zimbabwe Republic Police chapter of the women's network which seeks to uplift the standard of women in the police force by creating an enabling environment which will allow women officers to participate in all activities within the force.

The provincial director of Family and Woman promotion in northern Uije, Emilia Fernandes, on Tuesday here said the approval of a law on domestic violence by the National Assembly will be possible to punish offenders and guarantee protection to the victims, Angop has learnt.

A local NGO has said it would distribute 5,000 books designed to increase awareness of laws and services related to rights for women and children in a bid to improve gender equality and reduce domestic violence.

Danielle Moore and Kristen Paonessa knew they wanted to do a cubicle-free international co-op that enabled them to apply their skills, and fulfill their passion for empowering women. But they didn't know that their experience working for the Harpswell Foundation in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, would, in turn, empower them.

Across emerging Asia, women are striving for progress. More and more women in this region are gaining access to information and education, the two most crucial factors toward greater empowerment.

But at the same time, large numbers of women continue to suffer from discrimination, violence and cultural devaluation across the continent.

Despite Government efforts against human rights abuses in eastern Chad over the past two years, problems persist, including sexual and gender-based violence, recruitment of children by armed groups and jail conditions, according to a United Nations report released today.