Participation

Today, a full-page advertisement supporting the New Israel Fund will appear in the New York Times. Paid for by a generous donor who is launching a matching-gift campaign, the ad features a news photo of an actual billboard in Jerusalem, with a poster of a woman's face that has been clawed and defaced by ultra-Orthodox extremists.

It's the Americas' largest reunion. Happening every three years, the Summit of the Americas brings together the heads-of-state of the region to talk about pressing concerns. Over the weekend in Cartagena, Colombia, the theme will be "Connecting the Americas: Partners for Prosperity," but some of the liveliest debates are likely to focus on discussions around decriminalization of personal drug use.

Two months ago, in February 2012, a victory was won in the battle for more effective legal provisions for women in Pakistan, with the Senate approving the National Commission on the Status of Women Bill 2012. By creating an independent Secretariat for Pakistan's National Commission for Women, the law is viewed by many as strengthening the Commission's financial and administrative autonomy.

A new partnership between the EU and UN Women set up to strengthen cooperation between the two organizations on their work on empowering women and gender equality, was today signed by High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/ Vice President of the Commission Catherine Ashton and Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs, with Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Michelle Bachelet.

Young Afghans braved fears of violence to join a rare march on parliament to demand justice for the women who have been killed, beaten and abused this year – including one they said was beheaded by her own husband.

No politicians came out to meet them, underlining the group's claim that officials are not serious about tackling the suffering of women, despite a law that aims to end the abuse.

MYANMAR'S Election Commission announced last week the landslide victory of the opposition National League of Democracy (NLD) party, winning 43 out of 44 parliamentary seats (97 percent) in the by-elections of April 1.After the television announced the triumph, rapturous crowds thronged the streets yelling Aung San Suu Kyi's name.The victory will not result in more power for the NLD but it was taken seriously by supporters of Suu Kyi because it

Members and officials of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders - International Civil Society Action Network (GNWP-ICAN) and the Women Engaged in Action on 1325 (WE Act 1325) were recently here to confer with the city women leaders and city officials on the implementation of the Philippine National Action Plan on Resolution No. 1325 in the locality.

The experience of the Angolan women in politics must be utilised by other countries as they have made relevant progresses in terms of equality of rights in comparison with men.

This was said Thursday in Luanda by UNESCO director general, Irina Bokova, during a meeting with a group of women parliamentarians, as part of the agenda of her visit to Angola she started on Wednesday.

To many outsiders, Bangladesh is best known for its poverty and the natural disasters that hit it with depressing regularity.

Karachi, Pakistan - From a country where terrorism, extremism, inner strife and polarisation continue to eat at its roots, good news is reaching out globally from a perhaps unexpected source – its women. Pakistani women are fighting for more than just the empowerment of women. They are taking centre-stage in Pakistan's fight against oppression, social tyranny and extremism.