EL SALVADOR: After Storms, Women Lead Village Reconstruction

Hurricane Ida left behind a trail of destruction when it slammed into El Salvador last November. In the town of Monte San Juan, women's groups are spearheading the reconstruction effort with the help of a programme that keeps their families fed. The project has helped women like Carmen Perez become community leaders.

AUSTRALIA: It's Been a Long, Hard Road for Australian Women

It has been a long road to the top for Australia's women. The election of Julia Gillard as Prime Minister yesterday comes 50 years after Sirimavo Bandaranaike became Sri Lanka's and the world's first female leader, and three decades after Margaret Thatcher won power in the United Kingdom. It is also 13 years since Jenny Shipley became New Zealand's first female Prime Minister.

DRC: Kabila Calls for 'Moral Revolution in DR Congo'

President Joseph Kabila called Wednesday for a "moral revolution" in the Democratic Republic of Congo at ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of the war-torn country's independence from Belgium.

Congolese should put an end to "attacks on human life and dignity" and in particular the widespread rape that has become a feature of the guerrilla conflicts racking the vast nation, he said.

DRC: Finding Life After Rape

Twenty-two thousand, three hundred and eighty-one: the number of cases of sexual violence treated in a decade at the Panzi Hospital in the Congolese town Bukavu. And that is just a fraction of the number of survivors in this one eastern province. The number of women and girls who have survived rape and sexual assault here in this province of South Kivu in the war-wracked east of the Democratic Republic of Congo runs into tens of thousands.

AFGHANISTAN: Women in Herat and Paktya Call for Stronger Role in Peace and Reconciliation

Sahadat Karimi walks to the stage, past the sofas where officials are seated, and retrieves a large colorful parcel from the hands of Herat's director of the Department of Women Affairs (DWA). She pauses, briefly smiles to the cameras, and returns to her seat. The ceremony lasted for just a few seconds but the religion teacher is proud to be acknowledged by her community.

NIGERIA: Ohaji Women Protest in Owerri

Thousands of placards-carrying and aggrieved women from Ohaji Local council in Imo State, staged a peaceful protest at the premises of Imo State House of Assembly at the weekend, pleading with the lawmakers and state government to immediately intervene and save their lives from what they called “forceful occupation of their farmlands by herdsmen” using them as grazing grounds for their cattle.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: How the UAE Condones Sexual Violence

In the United Arab Emirates, a country that prides itself on modernity and its willingness to advance women's rights, the criminal court in Abu Dhabi has sentenced an 18-year-old Emirati woman to a year in prison for illicit sex after she reported that six men had gang-raped her.

PHILIPPINES: Aquino Urged to Tap More Women on Peace Panel

Women have been proven to be better equipped than men in handling the more emotional aspects of peace negotiations, said the outgoing head of Malacañang's peace office.

FIJI: Fiji Hosts Workshop on Gender Equality in Political Governance

Twenty-two fully accredited and active BRIDGE facilitators from the Pacific are in Nadi, Fiji for a 10-day workshop organized by the United Nations Development Fund for Women's (UNIFEM Pacific Regional Office) Gender Equality in Political Governance (GEPG) Programme.

PACIFIC: Pacific Women Continue to Face Challenges

Women in the Pacific continue to face adverse challenges despite national and regional commitments to addressing gender inequality.

In a statement marking International Women's Day today, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Tuiloma Neroni Slade says: "International Women's Day this year marks a critical time for women's rights and gender equality in the Pacific region. "

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