Participation

In 2008, the United Nations unanimously adopted Resolution 1820 which calls for the, “immediate and complete cessation by all parties to armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence against civilians”. Acknowledging that sexual violence is most often targeted at women and girls, the UN pledged to promote gender equality as a main component of their future peacebuilding endeavors.

ABANTU for Development with support from the Global Fund for Women (GFW) and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is organizing a four-day methodology workshop under the theme "Strengthening Women's Activism in Post-Conflict Africa" in Accra for international and locally based researchers and activists from Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ghana.

Fifteen years after the signature of the Beijing Platform for Action, women representing European governments and civil society organizations met last week in Cadiz, Spain, to assess progress made and point out new challenges on the way to gender equality. UNIFEM highlighted the need for accountability for action on commitments made by governments at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.

Women's movements have played a critical role in creating political space for female participation in politics around the world. In fact, there are more women in government today than ever before.

The Institute for Inclusive Security recently wrapped up its annual conference that brings some of the women in the organization's impressive global network together face-to-face to discuss the challenges and victories they've had as prominent leaders in their own countries. This year's participants came from Rwanda, Pakistan, Bosnia, and Lebanon.

Vital peace constituencies

February 18, 2010 – (Open Democracy) The last decade has seen much more detailed attention to the many, sometimes contradictory, roles women play in conflict situations. But women remain a vital peace constituency

A senior United Nations official today welcomed a recent landmark agreement with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) to strengthen police units in peacekeeping missions around the world, and called on Member States to contribute more women officers to those operations.

CEDAW or the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979.

On the eve of Iraq's second nationwide election, a car bomb killed at least three pilgrims and wounded more than 30 near a Shiite shrine.

Violence has dropped dramatically since the first election, and the type of candidate running for office has changed too, reports CBS News Correspondent Elizabeth Palmer.

On this International Women's Day, it is fitting that we reflect upon United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted almost ten years ago. With this resolution, the United Nations recognized that conflict disproportionately impacts civilians, and particularly women.