The International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics) launched its website, iknowpolitics.org, in Indonesia on Thursday to provide a forum for women to learn about politics from other countries' experiences.

Creators said the website aimed to increase the participation and effectiveness of women in political life by stimulating dialogue, creating knowledge and sharing experiences.

The Ministry of Justice has began distributing new marriage contracts to marriage officials that contain a section that includes a question about bride's age, a move that has been described by human rights organizations and officials at the ministry as part of a new drive to stop underage marriages.

"The Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Campaign today presented the President of the UN General Assembly, Dr. Ali Abdussalam Treki with its global petition and pressed for the UN to establish a strong new agency for women by July 2010. The petition, signed by 34,555 women and men from 165 countries and territories and bound with the Campaign's slogan “GEAR UP!” was handed over to Dr.

Noa Raz, a young woman waiting to board a bus, was recently attacked by a man because her arm bore the imprints of tefillin straps, which Jewish men wrap around their arms during morning prayers. "You're an abomination," the man shouted while kicking her.

The 22-year-old woman, wearing a gauzy blue dress that she had changed into after her release, spoke in a whispery voice.

Perhaps the worst part of the whole ordeal, she said, was the place where her kidnappers had chosen to imprison her. That they abducted her was terrifying. That they raped her, repeatedly, was too horrendous to absorb just yet.

SOLOMON Islands' first female to enter parliament Hilda Kari describes the introduction of women's political party as a step in the right direction for women.

Speaking during yesterday's media forum, Mrs Kari said such initiative and interest can bring women into the focus.

“Inorder for women to actively involve, they must introduce their political parties or join political parties.

“Leave the kitchen and cooking for a while, come out and involve” is a strong message to women from Solomon Islands first female Member of Parliament Hilda Kari.

With the Canadian government making maternal and child health the announced focus of this weekend's G-8 summit in Muskoka, Canada, the Obama administration has an opportunity to shape a progressive development agenda that prioritizes the advancement of women's human rights worldwide.

Five months after the earthquake, security in Haiti's refugee camps remains dire. In some camps, gangs and opportunists have hijacked the aid distribution system, charging high prices for food or demanding sex in exchange for access to aid.

Nigeria hopes to increase the number of its women participating in UN peacekeeping missions by 20 per cent in 2014, a top UN military officer, Lt.-Gen. Chikadibia Obiakor, has said.