Peace Processes - News

A few years ago, our people, the people you can see around you, we began to realize what was happening,” Maudilia López told the hundreds gathered to attend the first ever People's Health Tribunal in San Miguel Ixtahuacán, Guatemala. The event was packed, even as some attendees spilled out of the entrance of the crowded room, others shuffled to find a spot.

The Women Situation Room WSR, with the theme "Peace in our Hands" will be officially launched by President Ernest Koroma on Friday September 21 by 10am at the Family Kingdom. The Women Situation Room in Sierra Leone which is supported by the UN Women as a room that would comprise mainly of non-partisan female personalities who will sit, receive and analyze information before, during and after the November 17 elections.

Since 2009, when current President Andry Rajoelina ousted then-president Marc Ravalomanana with the army's support, Madagascar has faced serious economic and social instability. In particular, women in Madagascar living under these conditions have had to pay a high price since such political and economic crises often exacerbate existing discrimination, subordination and violence against women. Hence, in addition to attempts at redressing marginalization, reconciliation remains key in resolving the political and social hurdles.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 8 2012 (IPS) - When U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the High-Level Forum on Culture of Peace later this week, he will transmit a message that underlines his political philosophy: all disputes need to be resolved by peaceful means, not through military might.

Women activists challenging the fundamental structures of their communities and calling for new terms of peaceful coexistence between the Sudanese people, are facing prosecution, sexual violence, and harsh punishment by Sudan's security service, says Nazik Kabalo.

Two U.S. government agencies, the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development, recently issued detailed implementation plans to carry forward the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. That roadmap, released last December with an executive order, aims to accelerate and institutionalize efforts to advance the participation of women in peace negotiations, conflict management and peacebuilding; help protect women from gender-based violence; and ensure equal access to relief and recovery aid in conflict zones.

JERUSALEM, Sep 6 2012 (IPS) - After filing the first-ever class-action lawsuit on the issue of gender segregation in Israel, a local religious women's rights group says it hopes to protect the rights of women in the public sphere of Israeli society. “It's a way to stop the phenomenon. Usually we just talk about (discrimination against women) and nothing happens. When people will understand that it's going to cost them a lot of money, we hope that things are going to change,” Riki Shapira, legal advisor and board member of Kolech, the first Orthodox Jewish feminist organisation in Israel tells IPS.

AFBEK, a community development organization helps the people of Mumosho, particularly women who are survivors of sexual violence or have lost family members, rebuild their lives and become economically self-sustaining.

Somaliland women's narratives have largely been absent from accounts in state and nation building in Somaliland, yet their contributions cannot be denied. Female poets, writers, artists and activists recount their experiences in shaping the peace and their political participation in Somaliland today

With peace agreements ending wars across Africa, local communities are embarking on rebuilding and revival. The course is daunting: not only to generate productive livelihoods in difficult economic times, but also to avoid new eruptions of violence. African civil organizations are well placed for such efforts, notes Chukwuemeka Eze, programme director of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), a regional civil society group headquartered in Accra, Ghana.