With more than 13,000 police officers serving in peacekeeping operations — from Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region to earthquake-ravaged Haiti — the world body aimed to boost the number of women officers to 20 per cent by 2014 while strengthening training programmes to better prepare recruits to handle complex post-conflict and post-disaster situations, United Nations Police Adviser Ann-Marie Orler said at Headquarters today.

“Seven Burmese military soldiers attacked me and three of my friends,” says Chang Chang, from the Northern Kachin State of Burma. That was when her life going to school and working on the family farm was shattered.

Chang Chang is one of 12 courageous women from Burma who have come to the CSW to share their stories in front of a special International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women of Burma.

A meeting was held on Friday in Kathmandu under the banner of Global Open Day for Women and Peace in Nepal between 24 women peace activists from all parts of Nepal and UNMIN chief Karin Landgren and the Acting UN Resident Coordinator Gillian Mellsop.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Somalia (SRSG), Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, invited Somali women to share their experiences, concerns and recommendations on the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1325 in Nairobi on 9 June, on the occasion of the Global Open Day on women, peace and security.

Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, gives testimony before the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The United Nations is stepping up its efforts to boost the number of female police officers serving in its peacekeeping missions around the world, highlighting that women can play a unique role in certain areas, including responding to sexual- and gender-based violence.

The displacement of populations is one of the gravest consequences of today's armed conflicts. It affects women in a host of ways. But far from being helpless victims, women are resourceful, resilient and courageous in the face of hardship. Nadine Puechguirbal, the ICRC adviser on women and war explains.

As part of the Global Open Day for women and peace, Kosovar women peace advocates lead by Edita Tahiri, the Minister of Public Administration and the chair of the Regional Women's Lobby for Peace, Security and Justice in Southeast Europe, met on 7 June with the UN Development Coordinator, Osnat Lubrani, and heads of UN agencies in Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244).

Evelyn Kiapi interviews activist and Nobel laureate WANGARI MAATHAI. As the first Review Conference of the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court takes stock of the ICC's achievements and considers amendments to strengthen the pursuit of justice around the world, the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize is one of its strongest defenders.

Dr. Grace Kodindo speaks from the heart as well as her experience as an obstetrician in Africa as she describes the dangers women face in conflict zones, where reproductive and maternal health care is severely lacking and where rape is often used as a weapon of war.