International Day of Peace

1. EDITORIAL
Sam Cook

This edition of the 1325 PeaceWomen E-News offers an opportunity to reflect on some of the linkages between women, peace and security. Certainly some of these links are recognized in Resolution 1325 and we are proud to contribute to efforts across the globe to raise awareness of women, peace and security issues and their interplay through our 1325 Translation Initiative (Item 8) – we now have on our webiste 95 local -language translations of 1325. These translations facilitate access to Resolution 1325 as a tool for those most affected. The existence of so many translations only serves to heighten our awareness of the importance of issues of conflict and of peace and security for women around the world. The stories in our News section (Item 2) are reflective of the many common issues and links that can be made and these are carried through in other sections. Our Gender and Peacekeeping Update (Item 7) this month recognizes the crucial link between gender equality and effective peacekeeping and we feature the valuable gender training resources put together by INSTRAW. The threads connecting women, peace and security were also explored in this year's Women PeaceMaker's Conference hosted by the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice. For those of us unable to attend, the staff at the institute developed a blog – which is our Feature Initiative (Item 6).

As these various contributions show, recognizing, as 1325 does, the need for women's participation and recognizing the particular protection needs of women are first steps. As we think about the imperative of women's participation, we have to go beyond thinking about simply increasing the numbers of women in militaries. As we consider the impact of war and its particular impact on women, we also have to go beyond this to thinking about peace as being “more than the absence of war.” As noted in our 2008 International Day of Peace Statement (Item 3), “WILPF believes that the concepts of safety and security must shift so that they include the full enjoyment of all human rights for all away from military and national security concepts.”

The high-level general debate at the start of the 63rd Session of the General Assembly was certainly an opportunity for governments to show their commitment to these notions. The PeaceWomen and Reaching Critical Will Projects of WILPF's UN office monitored this debate and produced gender and disarmament indices of the statements made (Item 5). With much of the start of the GA session being concerned with the mid-point review of the Millennium Development Goals and the current food (and financial) crises, it was not unreasonable to expect some mention of women and gender concerns. Discussion of the feminization of poverty, maternal mortality or of the crucial link between MDG 3 – gender equality and women's empowerment – and the attainment of all other MDGs would have seemed fitting topics to be mentioned. It was sobering then to see that fewer than a quarter of the UN's 192 Member States made any mention at all of women or gender issues (interestingly many of the governments represented by female heads of state or ministers were in the group that did mention such issues). Of those that did mention women or gender equality, few made more than cursory statements. Fewer still noted, as Zambia did, support for the assertion that “women's empowerment and gender equality are drivers for reducing poverty, building food security and reducing maternal mortality.” There were, however, several very powerful statements and moments of appreciation of the need for tangible commitments to be made. As Norway noted, in linking development and the current financial crisis, “[t]here is something fundamentally wrong when money seems to be abundant, but funds for investment in people seem so short in supply.” Taking this consideration of what investing in peace and development really requires, WILPF's Peace Day Statement notes the need for a paradigm shift in resource allocation and “calls on all governments to allocate one day of their military expenditures – USD 3 668 493 151 – towards addressing a real security threat, such as catastrophic climate change.” Imagine the difference one day's worth of global military expenditure could make to the work being done around the world for gender equality and women's empowerment. Looking at these figures, in comparison, the 1 billion dollars per year budget that the women's movement is demanding for a new women's entity at the UN seems pitiful.

Another critical aspect of making commitments real is through ensuring that individuals, governments and systems are held accountable. This edition's Feature Resource (Item 4) – the UNIFEM Progress of the World's Women Report “Who Answers to Women? Gender and Accountability” – addresses this very problem. Along with concrete examples and data, the report provides recommendations that must be taken seriously if governments are to have any credibility in claiming to care about gender equality. A lack of an accountability framework for implementation is a problem that is all too real in relation to Resolution 1325. One of the few mechanisms utilized is the now standard practice of holding an Open Debate on women, peace and security in the Security Council each October. China, as president of the Council for October, will host this debate on 29 October 2008. The debate itself is not per se an effective accountability mechanism. It has the potential to allow governments to ask probing and real questions. It has the potential to work as a forum to raise real implementation challenges and to suggest solutions. It has the potential to provide a space to “call out” non-performance. It has the potential to be a platform for further progress. But for this to be the case we all have to push for governments to actually use the opportunity and, when all is said, to make sure that it is done. As a small contribution to this effort, the PeaceWomen Project will once again monitor the debate and index all statements made according to several priority themes and advocacy calls. This and other related resources will appear in the next edition of the E-News.

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As always, we welcome your contributions to the newsletter's content. Contributions for the next edition should be sent to info@peacewomen.org by Thursday October 30 2008.
2. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY NEWS

UGANDA: Radio Drama Strengthens Women's Voices
October 1, 2008 - (IPS) Fifteen-year-old Taboni's parents are in a bind. Their daughter has been raped by the commandant of the squalid internally-displaced persons camp they call home, and they do not know what to do. "The idea was to put into action the United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 about women's contribution to peace-building. We resolved to make a difference through a radio drama series."

DRC: MONUC meets with Congolese women
September 30, 2008 – (MONUC) The security and socio-political situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo in general and the east in particular is a major concern for Congolese women. The Permanent Framework of Dialogue for Congolese Women (CAFCO) came in the name of Congolese women to meet MONUC, to discuss security questions and also the part which Congolese women can play in the prevention and settlement of conflict.

Sudan: Engaging religious leaders to combat violence against women
September 27, 2008 – (ReliefWeb) More than five years of armed conflict has led to a general breakdown of law and order in Darfur. Women – and girls in particular – are subjected to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) with alarming regularity. However, as the social fabric of Darfuri communities threatens to unravel, religious leaders remain a trusted source of guidance on matters linked to ethics and human behavior.

Solomon Islands: Women and peace in Bougainville
September 26, 2008 – (AWID) Bougainville - situated at the far western tip of the Solomon Islands archipelago in the Pacific - is a powerful example of how women can knit communities together and facilitate peace in the midst of armed conflict. In this article, AWID looks back at Bougainville's conflict and the role of women as catalysts for peace.

Nigeria: Niger Delta Crisis is Invitation to Anarchy - Women Group
September 26, 2008 – (AllAfrica) As Nigerians join to celebrate the World Peace Day, Mothers of Peace International Organisation has condemned the escalation and militarisation of the conflict in the Niger Delta.

ZIMBABWE: Blazing a Trail For Women Politicians
September 24, 2008 – (IPS) You could spot her easily in the evening newscasts: the only woman among the grey-suited men daily accosted by reporters as they emerged, tense and tight-lipped, from the closed-door meetings. In the recent power-sharing talks between the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) and two wings of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga was the sole woman negotiator, representing the splinter MDC faction.

ZIMBABWE: Tortured, raped and forgotten
September 23, 2008 - (IRIN) During the bitterly contested Zimbabwe elections between President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF and Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the country's rural areas became effective no-go areas. There were numerous reports of politically motivated killings and widespread rapes, allegedly by members of Zimbabwe's national army, veterans of the country's liberation war and members of the ruling party's youth militia.

Croatia: CroatiaN Wives Contend With War's After Shocks
September 14, 2008 – (WOMENSENEWS) Croatia's war ended in 1995 but soldiers who returned home with post-traumatic stress never received adequate assistance. One group of veterans' wives took it upon themselves to help form 11 centers to help families cope.

Zimbabwean Women Have Had ‘‘More Trauma'' After Independence
September 13, 2008 – (IPS) Interview with Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) National Coordinator Jenni Williams. Zimbabwean women have experienced higher levels of trauma, including violence and lack of food, after the country's independence from Britain in 1980 than before.

Bosnia: Voices of Victims Heard at Belgrade Conference
September 12, 2008 – (IWPR) Organisers hope event will encourage creation of regional commission to establish truth about war crimes in region. Bosnian war crimes victims told a Belgrade conference this month about their suffering as part of a plan to raise public awareness about atrocities committed during the 1990s Balkans conflicts.

Sierra leone: NDI Awards Madeleine K. Albright Grant to 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone
September 11, 2008 – (NDI) On October 24, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) will present its third annual Madeleine K. Albright Grant to the 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone. Founded in 2000 to promote greater participation of women in politics, the 50/50 Group has grown from a handful of women meeting in borrowed space in Freetown to a nationally recognized organization actively engaged in building a new post-war Sierra Leone in which women can share equally with men in the political decisions that affect their lives.

ICC appeal for Africa war victims
September 10, 2008 – (BBC) The International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for $14m (£8m) to help the nearly two million victims of sexual violence in Africa's wars. The ICC said sex attacks against women and girls had been found to be the most widespread form of criminality.

CAMBODIA: Khmer Rouge Trials Bare Sexual Abuse
September 8, 2008 – (IPS) In a move that could break the silence around sexual violence under the Khmer Rouge, a 68 year-old transgender woman has became the first person to submit a complaint about gender-related abuse to the international tribunal during the group's brief but bloody reign.

Syria: Syrian Case Tests Tolerance on Killing Kinswomen
Sept. 8, 2008 (WOMENSENEWS) - Oasis, Syria's first shelter for battered and abused women, opened its door the first week of August.According to a 2005 study prepared by the Syrian Federation of Women, 1 in 4 Syrian women suffered domestic violence at the hands of male relatives. While that's comparable with levels around the region and the world, the country's response to the problem has so far been lagging.

Philippines: Women to GRP, MILF: stop the violence
September 7, 2008 – (Minda News) The Mothers for Peace and other women from Mindanao have banded together in calling on the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to stop the violence by declaring a ceasefire and returning to the negotiating table.

Iran: Iranian women battle the system
September 5, 2008 (BBC News) - Four more women in Iran have been sentenced to jail - six months behind bars - for campaigning for women's rights. They were accused of "spreading propaganda" against the Islamic system here - specifically for taking part in the Million Signatures Campaign for equal rights for women.

Liberia: Gender Minister Indicts Judges
September 4, 2008 – (AllAfrica) Gender and Development Minister Varbah Gayflor has accused judges of paying less attention to cases arising out of gender based violence (GBV).

Yugoslavia: Rights & Democracy joins effort to see Karadzic charged with sexual crimes
September 3, 2008 – (Rights & Democracy) The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Serge Brammertz, is expected to file shortly an amended indictment, last revised in 2000, in the case of the former leader and commander of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karadzic.

Israel: Woman FM is within reach of Israel's highest office
September 2, 2008 (USAToday) — For the first time in 40 years, a woman is within reach of becoming the prime minister of Israel, a nation traditionally dominated by macho military types and a religious establishment decidedly lukewarm about equal rights for women.

Somalia: Building bridges for women's empowerment in Somalia
September 2, 2008 – (UN-INSTRAW) Despite the clear mandate of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security to increase the representation of women at all decision-making levels, they have been all but completely excluded from the ongoing peace- and State-building processes in Somalia. The participation of both women in Somalia and Somali women from the Diaspora is crucial to the establishment of sustainable and inclusive peace and democratic governance in this war-torn and famine-affected country.

Nepal: Nepal's Culture War
September 1, 2008 – (Scoop) It took a decade for the rise in level consciousness around the country on women's rights and rights of minorities to reach Kathmandu. The national media centered in the capital were content covering the combat side of civil war and missed the social changes that came along with it.

Thailand: Women Power Anti-Gov't Protests
August 30, 2008 - (IPS) In fact this army of middle-aged women, who come dressed in yellow as a mark of loyalty to the colour identified with the country's monarch, whom the PAD claims it is defending, are not recent participants. They have been the mainstay of the PAD's street protests that began in late May, when it took over a street near a United Nations building here, and have run non-stop, round-the-clock rallies, infused with rants against the government and music.

Namibia: Councillors Seek Ways to Empower Women
August, 28 2008 – (AllAfrica) Councillors in the Caprivi and Kavango regions recently met at Rundu to discuss ways through which women programmes could be given priority in the national budget. Councillors of both regions during the gender budgeting workshop, sponsored by Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung, said the Government should set aside funds for programmes aimed at empowering women in Namibia.

Afghanistan: Afghan inquiry into freed rapists
August 27, 2008 – (BBC News) The Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, has announced a full investigation into the case of two rapists who have been freed on a presidential pardon.

Pakistan: Taliban Violently Campaigns Against Girls' Education in Northwest Pakistan
August 27, 2008 (WorldPolitics) - The Swat valley, a picturesque region in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, was once a tourist destination. Two years ago, however, it became a Taliban haven when Maulana Fazlullah, a hardline cleric turned militant Taliban commander, launched a vicious campaign against the education of girls.

Kuwait: Debate over the headscarves of female ministers
August 27, 2008 (WLUML) - Islamic MPs are obliging Education Minister Nouriya Al-Sabeeh and Housing Minister Moudhi Al-Homoud to wear hijabs during parliamentary sessions in implementation of Islamic rules and regulations. The hijab issue had been the core of debate and controversy amongst MPs and political activists for a long time with some of them for and others against forcing the female ministers to wear the hijab.

Africa: Women Make Peace in Conflict Areas
August 25, 2008 (Public Agenda) – In war torn countries, women do not enjoy many privileges. Life is so uncertain that one does not know if "you will wake up with a roof over your head the next morning or find your family intact." This is the lot of women in Africa countries like Uganda, Eritrea, Kenya and Sudan. For most of these women, the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing and shelter have become luxuries that they can barely afford.

Rwanda: Smart Politics - Country Geared for Parliamentary Female Domination
August 23, 2008 (The New Times) – Political developments in Rwanda as she prepares for legislative elections to be held next September could have an outcome with a profound impact on gender relations on the African continent, where women have lagged behind in political decision-making processes. In fact, Rwanda's Parliament will be the first female dominated one in the world; given that Rwanda currently has the world's highest female legislative presentation beating well to do countries with huge investments in gender equality spanning over decades.

DRC: UN mission trains police on sexual violence
August 21, 2008 – (UN News Center) The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is holding training sessions for the vast African nation's police in a bid to ensure that victims and witnesses of sexual violence are better protected.

Zimbabwe: SADC Heads of State Hailed for Adopting Protocol on Gender
August 20, 2008 – (AllAfrica) GENDER activists from the Sadc region have commended Heads of State for adopting the Sadc Protocol on Gender and Development at the summit, which ended in South Africa last Sunday.The activists noted that if implemented, the protocol stands to make a difference in the lives of most women in the region.

India: Women court arrest in Jammu over Amarnath land row
August 19, 2008 - (IANS) Peace might have returned to the Kashmir valley after eight days of protests on the Amarnath land row but the issue continued to fester in Jammu with several thousand women banging on the gates of police stations here on the second day of their ‘court arrest' agitation Tuesday.

Rwanda: Women Députés More Concerned With Grassroot Issues
August 19, 2008 (Rwanda News Agency) - The high number of women Députés in the Rwandan Parliament has brought issues that affect the grassroot voter to the forefront of national policy - rendering the Députés a needed block in the House, a study by British experts says.

Uganda: Make Women Part of North Development, Government Advised
August 19, 2008 (The Monitor) – Women from different civil society organisations in Uganda have urged the government to involve people at grassroots when designing development plans for northern Uganda if they are to work out. "This is the time for us to react and act to government programmes, most times government looks at issues in a broader perspective they are now looking at guns going silent yet the problems of women are increasing and not addressed well," the Executive Director ISIS-WICCE, Ms Ruth Ojiambo Ochieng said.

Georgia: Women struggle for peace in Georgia
August 18, 2008 – (kvinna till kvinna) While Georgian President Sakhashvili and Russian leaders Putin and Medvedev accuse each other of genocide and abuses, active efforts are being made for peace in South Caucasus. Women's organisations throughout the region are collaborating over the borders to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict in South Caucasus.

Afghanistan: The Afghan women jailed for being victims of rape
August 18, 2008 (The Independent) - Two-thirds of the women in Lashkar Gah's medieval-looking jail have been convicted of illegal sexual relations, but most are simply rape victims – mirroring the situation nationwide. The system does not distinguish between those who have been attacked and those who have chosen to run off with a man.

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3. FEATURE statement

WILPF 2008 International Day of Peace Statement
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

On 30 November 1981, the United Nations General Assembly, in resolution A/RES/36/67, declared an international day of peace. This resolution recognized that “the promotion of peace, both at an international and a national level, is among the main purposes of the United Nations, in conformity with its Charter”. Since 1915, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has worked to promote peace by non-violent means, promoting political, economic and social justice for all.

World military expenditures are estimated to have been USD 1,339 billion in 2007, or about 202 spent for every person on earth.[1] Article 26 of the UN Charter obliges the UN Security Council to “promote the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security with the least division for armaments of the world's human and economic resources”, and the Security Council has failed to meet this obligation. You get what you pay for, and when governments of the world decide to prioritize peace building through education, health care, strengthening public infrastructures, and sustainable development over the purchase of arms, then these governments will begin walking down the path towards peace and break the military spending- poverty cycle.

WILPF calls on all governments to allocate one day of their military expenditures USD 3,668,493,151 towards addressing a real security threat such as catastrophic climate change. We must have a paradigm shift in resource allocation. We can meet this challenge, but only if we are prepared to face the fact that bombs, guns, cluster bombs and landmines will not deter or remove the threat of a Tsunami, a hurricane, a flood, a virus, or a water shortage. WILPF rejects the idea that the military industry and the weapons trade bring jobs, prosperity or security. The arms trade has turned people into mercenaries and parts of our planet into cemeteries.

Misusing words such as ‘safety' and ‘protection', military security concepts and weapons profiteers develop machines that threaten and violate the human right to life and freedom. This year, 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in order that all peoples enjoy all human rights military and national security concepts that rely on weaponization and militarization must shift towards a holistic human security concept that recognizes people not profits, sustainability not strife, multilateralism not militarism.

In the name of ‘democracy', powerful actors make profits at the expense of our planet its finite resources and the rights of future generations to exist. In the name of ‘increasing women's role in peace and security', more women are militarized and sent to war zones, which is a distorted application of the UN Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. WILPF believes that the concepts of safety and security must shift so that they include the full enjoyment of all human rights for all away from military and national security concepts.

Peace is more than the absence of war. On this International Day of Peace, WILPF calls for the peoples of the world to lay down their arms and raise their voices for peace and freedom, for there cannot be one without the other.

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4. feature Resource

Progress of the World's Women 2008/2009, Who answers to women? Gender and accountability
UNIFEM, September 2008

Progress of the world's women 2008/2009 focuses on five key areas where the need to strengthen accountability to women is urgent: politics and governance, access to public services, economic opportunities, justice, and finally the distribution of international assistance for development and security. Progress of the World's Women 2008/2009 provides examples of how women are demanding accountability for action on commitments to promote gender equality and women's rights from national governments, justice and law enforcement systems, employers and service providers, as well as international institutions.

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UNIFEM Press Release – Key Findings & Recommendations:
Governments and Multilateral Organizations Must Do a Better Job of Answering to Women for Commitments Made, say new UNIFEM Report

Stronger accountability needed to move from commitments to results, including achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Women must be included in all oversight processes; gender equality must become standard against which public performance is assessed.

United Nations, New York — Ahead of a high-level meeting of world leaders on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) next week, a new report, Progress of the World's Women 2008/2009, Who Answers to Women? Gender and Accountability, released by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), reveals that much stronger accountability mechanisms for tracking progress on gender equality are needed in order to meet national and international commitments to women's rights. Accountability to women begins with increasing the number of women in decision-making positions, but it cannot stop there.

Implementation still has a long way to go in translating commitments to women's rights into changes in women's lives. To date, women are outnumbered 4 to 1 in legislatures around the world; over 60 percent of all unpaid family workers globally are women; women still earn on average 17 percent less than men, and about one-third of women suffer gender-based violence during their lives. In some parts of the world, 1 in 10 women dies from pregnancy-related causes, even though the means for preventing maternal mortality are cost-effective and well known.

Gender gaps on this scale are symptomatic of an accountability crisis. Governments and multilateral organizations have a responsibility to do a better job of answering to women. Progress 2008/2009 points out that accountability mechanisms work for women when they can ask for explanations and information from decision makers, and, where necessary, initiate investigations or get compensation. Women must be included in oversight processes, and advancing women's rights must be a key standard against which the performance of public officials is assessed and, if necessary, sanctioned.

“If any man asks why I support better accountability to women, here's my response: because a government that answers to women will answer to you too,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“As world leaders convene to discuss the Millennium Development Goals next week, Progress 2008/2009 shows us that backing international commitments made to women with stronger accountability measures would bring us a lot closer to achieving the MDGs,” said UNIFEM Executive Director Inés Alberdi. “This report highlights the challenges that remain for gender equality to be realized in practice, but it also draws attention to the efforts of millions of women who expose discrimination, demand redress and have changed the meaning of accountability. It emphasizes the important role that multilateral organizations must play in improving their own accountability and in tracking investments in gender equality,” she added.

Progress of the World's Women 2008/2009 provides an assessment of each of the Millennium Development Goals from a gender perspective and focuses on five key areas where urgent action is required to strengthen accountability to women: politics and governance, access to public services, economic opportunities, justice, and the distribution of international assistance for development and security. In each of these areas the report details means of building state capacity — or good governance — from a women's rights perspective.

“Good governance needs women, and women need good governance,” said Anne Marie Goetz lead author of the report. “Women have a different perspective on accountability because they often experience accountability failures differently from men. This report argues that good governance needs women's engagement — just as gender equality requires states that are accountable and capable of delivering on promises of women's rights.”

Key findings and recommendations are:

- Multilateral aid and security institutions can do much more to meet their own commitments and standards on gender equality. To date, no agreed system-wide tracking mechanism exists within multilaterals such as the United Nations and the International Financial Institutions, to assess the amount of aid allocated to gender equality or women's empowerment.
- Public service delivery that responds to women's needs is the real litmus test of government accountability. Women continue to face barriers to health, education and agricultural support services. They are denied access because health clinics and schools are often too distant or costly, agricultural services are geared towards male farmers, and government services routinely target employed, literate or propertied men.
- One form of accountability failure is corruption, and women's experiences are different from those of men. In developed countries, 30 percent more women than men perceive high levels of corruption in the education system, and a gendered difference in perceptions of corruption are seen in most other parts of the world as well. Women may also experience corruption differently from men, for instance, when sexual extortion is one of the forms in which informal payments are extracted.
- Even though in the last decade the number of women parliamentarians at the national level has increased by 8 percent to a global average of 18.4 percent, developing countries will still not reach the “parity zone” of 40–60 percent until 2045. Quotas or other special measures are effective in ensuring progress: women hold an average of 19.3 percent of parliamentary seats in countries that applied some form of electoral quota, compared to 14.7 percent in countries with no quotas.
- Real improvement in women's access to justice needs gender-based changes in law enforcement and informal justice institutions. For example, the presence of an all-female women contingent in Liberia is encouraging women to engage with the police. Similar examples can be found in other post-conflict contexts, such as Timor-Leste and Kosovo.
- Women are extremely vulnerable to shifting patterns in global markets in the absence of measures that protect them, such as during the recent food crisis, for they not only assume primary responsibility for feeding their families but also contribute as much as 50–80 percent of agricultural labour in Asia and Africa. Similarly, women's employment and migration are also shaped by global trends. The “brain drain” from South to North of people with tertiary education has recently become feminized, with more professional women migrating than men. This has implications for women's economic leadership in developing countries.

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5. FEATURE EventS

Gender & Disarmament Indices-UN General Assembly 63rd Session, Generel Debate
September 23-27 & 29, 2008
PeaceWomen & Reaching Critical Will – Projects of the Women's International League for Peace & Freedom

The PeaceWomen & Reaching Critical Will teams monitored statements delivered during the General Debate of the 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly. The indices contain relevant excerpts and links to full statements.

The PeaceWomen Gender Index includes all references to gender, women, females, girls, gender equality, violence against women and women's participation.

Extracts from Gender Index:

AUSTRIA
H.E. Ms Ursula Plassnik Federal Minister for European and International Affairs

/…/ There can be no lasting peace without justice, and international justice will serve its purpose most effectively if it helps societies advance reconciliation and overcome the wounds of the past. As the often most vulnerable in our societies, women and children deserve our special attention in this context.

…..8. At the same time - and around the world - we hear appalling reports of discrimination and violence against women. How can we speak of human rights for women, as long as one out of every three women worldwide has been beaten or abused? It is the responsibility of each and every government to act on this. The United Nations must take the lead by setting clear targets and establishing a network to share best practices in combating violence against women.

9. Last year, the Women Leaders Network called on the Secretary- General to appoint more women to leadership positions in the United Nations, in particular in mediation and peace building. I am pleased that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has since entrusted a number of outstanding women both with key positions at Headquarters and in the field and I encourage him to continue this policy.

10. With regard to UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the EU policy of targeted support to women in and through peace mission could be extended to other regional organizations such as the African Union. To asses the results of resolution 1325 I propose a thorough review process on the occasion of its 10th anniversary in 2010.

CHILE
H.E. Dr. Michelle Bachelet, President of the Republic of Chile

And just as we have drastically reduced poverty, today we aim to guarantee universal access for all Chilean men and women to a social welfare system that allows them to live their lives in tranquility, and removes the fear of disease, poverty or old age, thus increasing opportunities for all, so as to advance steadily in greater equality.

It will be a force of nurses and doctors, specializing in maternal and child health, who will spread out over the fields and mountain ranges of our America, birthing babies, helping mothers and caring for sick children.

Because despite the progress made in this regard in recent years, which has increased the percentage of attended births from 78 to 89 per cent, 22,000 mothers die each year on our continent simply because they received no professional care. Despite the improvement in child mortality, 400,000 Latin American children under five years of age are still dying each year.
We want all those who practice discrimination against women to be ashamed of it.

CROATIA
H.E. Dr. Ivo Sanader, Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia
We are please by the fact that this year, the Council adopted a strong and action oriented resolution addressing the disturbing practice of sexual violence as a method of warfare.

DENMARK
H.E. Ambassador Carsten Staur, Permanent Representative of Denmark

Special focus on the empowerment of women is essential – socially, politically and economically. Increased investments in women are crucial, across all the MDGs, across all sectors. Gender equality is a basic human right – and it is smart economics too. On that basis, the Danish Government has initiated a specific Call to Action on gender equality and empowerment of women.

FINLAND
H.E. Ms. Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland

In mitigating climate change it is important to include all stakeholders, from NGOs to private enterprises, and from individual citizens to governments. We need everybody; it is necessary that also women can participate in this work. I am pleased to be a co-host together with the President of Liberia, Ms. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf the International Colloquium on Women's Empowerment in Liberia next March. This conference will explore climate change from a gender perspective. It will serve as a catalyst in addressing climate change, security, governance and leadership.

Rising food prices is a challenge with world-wide consequences. Once again the poorest and the most vulnerable – women and children – suffer the most. Food shortages lead to deterioration of the diets and can provoke social unrest. The increased food prices also provide opportunities. If developing countries are supported in the spirit of the Aid for Trade agenda, they can better take advantage of their agricultural potential, also for exporting. And we need to ensure, again, that both women and men benefit from support, keeping in mind that women produce most of the food in many developing countries.

Tackling today's multifold conflicts requires a comprehensive approach to security. Trade, development policy and humanitarian aid need to be utilised alongside traditional crisis management tools. We have to take women and children into account in conflicts and post-conflict peace building.

We have made good decisions. We have to make them a reality. I am pleased to inform you that last Friday Finland published a national action plan on implementing the UN Security Council resolution 1325. We hope that more and more member countries will do the same.

HUNGARY
H.E. Ms. Kinga Göncz, Minister for Foreign Affairs

We firmly believe that the lasting solution of the challenges of the present time cannot be completed without the effective involvement of women into all aspects of the international cooperation. I would like to state that Hungary fully supports the initiative to make a comprehensive overview of the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 by 2010, and I am confident that the UN should take the leadership. The outcome of such an analysis should provide us with sufficient ground to formulate concrete actions in fulfilling our obligations in this field.

IRAQ
H.E. Mr Jalal Talabani

Our position requires the support and assistance from countries around the world to be able to build a modern nation which ensures justice, equality, the strengthening of the rule of law, the respect for human rights, and women's participation in all spheres of life.

LIBERIA
H.E. Ms. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia

We believe in a peace and security environment…that promotes poverty eradication and human rights especially the rights of women and children…

I am proud to say that Liberian history and experience have taught us never to shirk our opposition to wars and the causes thereof, to man's inhumanity to main, to oppression, racism, human rights abuses, especially those against women and children, and abuses inflicted against race, creed, and religion.

Since education is the single most barrier to women leadership, we have put in place special programs to support girls' education throughout Liberia. These have resulted in the high rise in girl enrollment in schools and higher education institutions. I truly believe that when you educate the girl child you educate the whole nation and progress will become manifest and even.

I come from a continent where women leadership- particularly a women Head of State and Government- is still unthinkable in some quarters. At the global level, there are only a handful of colleagues. . . . I believe that to correct the inequalities in leadership and denials that women have suffered as a result of untenable and unacceptable practices, special efforts must be applied in support of women desirous of elective public offices or to encourage women to seek such office.

MAURITANIA
H.E. Mr Abderrahim Ould Hadrami, Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the United Nations

Lastly, women were accorded a quota of 20% of all candidatures in our Islamic Republic.

NORWAY
H.E. Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway

We are making progress towards the Millennium Goals. Poverty is being reduced Child mortality is falling. But we have not made any progress with regard to maternal health. The fact that we have not made any significant progress at all in reducing the number of women who die in pregnancy or childbirth, is appalling.

There can only be one reason for this awful situation And that is persistent neglect of women in a world dominated by men. Just think of all these millions of young girls and young women, who know, and who fear and dread, that giving life may cause their death. And all this human tragedy is avoidable By simple means. But we have not taken the problem seriously.

Money doesn't seem to be a problem when the problem is money. Let us look for a moment on what is happening on Wall street and in financial markets around the world. There, unsound investment threatens the homes and the jobs of the middle class. There is something fundamentally wrong when money seems to be abundant, but funds for investment in people seem so short in supply.

The marked mechanisms will not fund the schools in Afghanistan, the hospitals in Rwanda, or the vaccines given in the slums and the ghettos. That kind of investment requires political will and decisions. And we must provide the framework that will direct resources toward these ends.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA
H.E. The Honourable Puka Temu, Deputy Prime Minister

UN reforms need to be carried out in all the relevant areas of the UN We need to address the international gender architecture to be more robust, responsive and effective and has to be part of the core reform process to cater for our women, youth and children

RWANDA
H.E. Mr. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda

With regards to empowering women and promoting their socio economic and political participation, we continue to make modest progress. For example, in the just-concluded Rwandan Parliamentary Elections for the Lower Chamber, women candidates performed exceptionally well- increasing their percentage in the new Parliament from forty-nine to fifty-five. We believe that, besides improving gender relations in our country, this marks healthy progress towards realizing a vision of a united, democratic prosperous Rwanda.

SAN MARINO
H.E. Mr. Fiorenzo Stolfi, Minister of Foreign & Political Affairs & Economic Planning with functions of Prime Minister

I would like to add that the campaign to combat violence against women was also earned out at the national level, in which we tried to raise public awareness of an issue too often ignored or underestimated. Following this initiative, the Parliament of San Marino has recently adopted a law - Prevention and Repression of Violence Against Women and Gender-Bused Violence. It is a decisive and innovative legal instrument for our Country that provides for, inter alia, the introduction of preventive measures addressing violence against women and gender-based violence, as well as the protection of victims during criminal proceedings.

SWEDEN
H. E. Mr. Anders Lidén, Chairman of the Delegation
Violence against women and girls is a major obstacle to the full enjoyment of human rights and

fundamental freedoms by all people. Efforts to combat this violence must not end with a peace agreement. We must ensure that women have full access to justice, also in the transition from war to peace. Last June, the landmark Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security was followed up by resolution 1820 on sexual violence. It reaffirms that rape and other forms of sexual violence can be war crimes or crimes against humanity. It obliges governments to combat such behavior by all necessary means. Although the UN has made considerable efforts in this area, more needs to be done, both in the field and at headquarters.

The Accra meeting on the Paris Declaration took important steps towards better aid effectiveness and reconfirmed the shared responsibility for development. However, much more must be done in areas such as democratic governance and human rights, the role of women in development, and the impact of global climate change. This is a challenge for developing and developed countries alike.

The UN system – both in the field and at headquarters – has to be reformed in order to ensure coherence and effectiveness. Reforms must also enable the UN to work more effectively with gender issues and the promotion of equal rights and opportunities.

UGANDA
H.E. Mr. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda

The second position I would like to point out under MDGs is that Uganda is on course to meet all of them except maternal and child mortality.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
H.E. Mr. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan , Minister of Foreign Affairs

The United Arab Emirates has made major progress internally in a number of spheres, such as the expansion of the representation of women in its executive and legislative bodies and the enhancement of their role and participation in the labor market

ZAMBIA
H.E. Mr. Kabinga Jacus Pande, Minister for Foreign Affairs

Zambia believes that the attainment of the MDGs will only be meaningful if it is all inclusive. This entails the implementation of programmes and policies for empowering women, the girl child and other vulnerable groups of society are part of the overall process within this framework. Zambia in this regard, supports the assertion that ‘women empowerment and gender equality are drivers for reducing poverty, building food security and reducing maternal mortality'. It is with this realisation that most of the Member States of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), signed the SADC Gender and Development Protocol in August 2008, the first of its kind in Africa. These regional and national efforts need to be complemented by global action. It is in this regard, that Zambia welcomes the on-going debate on the reforms of the United Nations system wide coherence, particularly as they relate to strengthening the gender architecture, which is currently fragmented and under resourced.
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Reaching Critical Will Disarmament Index is an index of all references made to issues of disarmament, peace, and security, made in the 63rd General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly. This index is a tool to gauge the issues which will be detailed during the First Committee of the General Assembly, starting 6 October 2008. Included in this Index are all references made to arms control, disarmament, multilateralism, nuclear energy, security, proliferation, terrorism, cluster munitions, the US-India Deal, and nuclear and conventional weapons.

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6. feature Initiative

The Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice Blog – 2008 Women PeaceMakers Conference
A Division of the Joan B. Krock School of Peace Studies, University of San Diego

The fifth international forum held in conjunction with the Women PeaceMakers Program is an international working conference to probe and address global acquiescence to impunity, gender violence and exclusion that continue to obstruct peacebuilding and human security.

The Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice Staff Blog includes 2008 Women PeaceMakers Conference: "Crafting Human Security in an Insecure World", panels 1, 2, 3, 4, and Closing Session.

7. Gender and Peacekeeping update

International Day of Peace Statement – Gender Equality Key to Effective Peacekeeping
UN-INSTRAW, September 2008

On the International Day of Peace, September 21st 2008, the UN System turns its attention to the role of peacekeepers in promoting and strengthening human rights. Adding its voice to multitude calling for an end to war and conflict throughout the world, UN-INSTRAW emphasizes the crucial role that gender equality plays in making peacekeeping more effective, sustainable and just.

Gender is a central aspect of conflict, influencing its short- and long-term impacts on all populations. Gender-based violence (GBV), particular sexual violence, has become an increasingly common facet of conflict throughout the world, in many cases constituting war crimes or crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. During the armed conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina in which 20,000 to 50,000 women were raped (ILO), sexual violence was used as a means of warfare and to attack and demoralize entire communities.

The UN Security Council has twice recognized that a gendered understanding of conflict does not imply perceiving women only as victims, but like men also as agents of conflict and peace. In 2000, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1325on Women, Peace and Security, which recognized “…the urgent need to mainstream a gender perspective into peacekeeping operations” and requested the Secretary-General to “…provide to Member States training guidelines and materials on the protection, rights and the particular needs of women, as well as on the importance of involving women in all peacekeeping and peace-building measures.”

Similarly, in 2008 the Security Council adopted Resolution 1820 on Acts of Violence against Civilians in Conflict Zones, which requested the United Nations to “…develop and implement appropriate training programs for all peacekeeping and humanitarian personnel deployed by the United Nations…to help them better prevent, recognize and respond to sexual violence and other forms of violence against civilians.”

In order to examine the state, impact and long-term effectiveness of gender training for peacekeepers in UN missions, UN-INSTRAW developed a working paper on Gender Training for Peacekeepers: A preliminary overview of United Nations peace support operations (http://www.un-instraw.org/en/home/gender-peace-and-security/gender-train... paper/download.html). The paper analyzes the strategies and methodologies used to deliver gender training and the training tools and materials that are currently available, as well as new opportunities for research and policy-making.

As the paper emphasizes, “The goal of gender training is to ensure that peacekeepers understand the complexities of a conflict situation, and effectively respond accordingly. To accomplish this, peacekeeping troops should receive gender-awareness training during their pre-deployment program in the troop-contributing country, and when they arrive in their mission. This ensures that gender-training is applied within a context-specific situation.”

Member States hold the primary responsibility for training peacekeepers before their deployment to specific missions. The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) (http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/) has developed training materials for use by Member States in this pre-deployment training, as well as consultations and supplementary training events in various regional and national training centers worldwide.

However, pre-deployment training is dependent on the priorities, resources and policies of troop-contributing countries, which do not often take gender issues into account. Many troops thus receive little or no gender training before arriving at their duty stations. Due to the fact that the majority of UN peacekeeping personnel come from developing countries(Pakistan: 10,173; Bangladesh: 9675; India: 9471), they may face limited resources to provide training in gender issues for their troops.

“Gender training of peacekeepers is part of the broader gender mainstreaming process that UN Missions and DPKO have undertaken in response to such mandates as Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820. Other key aspects of mainstreaming process include the appointment of gender advisors to specific UN Missions, an increase in the number of women in peace operations, particularly in decision-making positions, and a growing commitment to delivering gender-awareness training,” stated Nicola Popovic, Gender, Peace and Security Progamme Officer at UN-INSTRAW.

Limited progress in this area is visible. Of the 30 peace operations worldwide, only one is currently headed by a woman, Ellen Margrethe Løj (Denmark), who holds the position of Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) in Liberia (UNMIL). Henrietta Joy Abena Nyarko Mensa-Bonsu (Ghana) also holds the position of Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG) in Liberia.

Of the 20 active peacekeeping missions, 12 currently have full-time gender advisors (PeaceWomen 2008), who work to provide technical guidance to mission directors in areas involving the participation of women. In addition, current data for this year show that of 77,117 military personnel in UN peacekeeping missions, 1,640 are women (DPKO, Gender Statistics,2008 - http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/contributors/gender/2008gender/aug08.pdf). In 2007, an all-female Formed Police Unit was deployed to Liberia by the Government of India (UN News Centre, 30 January 2007). The team is composed of 103 women who support the work of the Liberian National Police and serve as role models for the women and girls of Liberia in breaking gender barriers.

When they arrive at peacekeeping missions, most personnel receive general induction training. The extent to which gender issues and awareness are included in this training varies from one mission to another, but tends to be stronger in missions that have full-time gender advisers. “Induction sessions on gender are short, ranging from thirty minutes to two hours and touching on only a limited number of issues. To increase the effectiveness and sustainability of peacekeeping efforts, gender units should be established and adequately supported with human and financial resources in all missions,” emphasized Popovic.

Research on the impact of gender training on peacekeeping personnel and their interaction with local communities – in particular women - is much needed in order to identify the best training tools and mechanisms, as well as other ways of ensuring that the policy commitment to gender equality becomes a reality on the ground.

Visit the UN-INSTRAW Gender Training for Peacekeepers webpage, which includes a global overview of UN peacekeeping missions and peacekeeping training centers, tools and materials such as online resources for training on gender and peacekeeping:
http://www.un-instraw.org/en/gps/general/gender-training-for-peacekeeper...

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8. TRANSLATION UPDATE

8 New Translations Now Available: Fijian, Hindi, Montenegrin, Pidgin (Papua New Guinea), Pidgin (Solomon Islands), Rotuman, Slovenian and Tongan

Total number of available 1325 translations: 95

Fijian has many dialects and is part of the Austronesian family of language. It is one of the official languages of Fiji, which has a population of almost 920,000 people and more than half the population can speak it. Fijian is very similar to English language since most of the sounds are the same.

Hindi is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It is one of the official languages of India and also has many speakers in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and other nations. It is written in Devanagari script, but this version is written in the Modern Latin alphabet.

Montenegrin is the official language of Montenegro. The country has been an independent state since 2006, and it was formerly part of the Joint State of Serbia and Montenegro and ex-Yugoslavia. Montenegrin evolved from an ancient Slavic language, and an estimated 22% of the 650,000 people who live Montenegro speak the language.

Pidgin (Papua New Guinea), also known as Tok Pisin, is one of the three official languages spoken in Papua New Guinea where it is the most widely used language. It is a language that developed from regional dialects and English. Tok Pisin is considered a Creole language and is spoken by an estimated 5-6 million people.

Pidgin (Solomon Islands) is closely related to Tok Pisin and is also considered a Creole language. It is spoken in the Solomon Islands, which has a population of almost 567,000 people.

In a Fijian dependency called Rotuma, Rotuman (Fiji) is the language used by the indigenous people. It is the official language of Rotuma, which has a population of over 2,000 people.

Slovenian, or Slovene, is one of the 23 official and working languages of the European Union. There is an estimated 2.4 Slovenian million speakers worldwide and the majority of them are Slovenia where it is the official language. Slovenian is also spoken in Argentina, Canada, Croatia, and the USA.

Tongan is the official language of Tonga and over 100,000 people speak it. It is part of the Polynesian branch in the Austronesian language family. Tongan is also spoken in nearby countries such as American Samoa, Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand.

The Fijian, Hindi (in Roman Script), Pidgin (Papua New Guinea), Pidgin (Solomon Islands), Rotoman (Fiji), and Tongan translations were coordinated and provided by femLINKPACIFIC. It is a media-based NGO committed to the development and production of community media initiatives. In addition, it also serves as a coordinator of a regional women's media network on UNSC 1325.

The Gender Equality Office of the Government of Montenegro provided the Montenegrin translation.

Sonja Lokar and Lois A. Herman coordinated the attainment of the Slovenian translation. The Ministry of Defense in Slovenia completed the translation.

For more information on the translators, please click HERE

Fijian, Hindi (in Roman Script), Montenegrin, Pidgin (Papua New Guinea), Pidgin (Solomon Islands), Rotuman (Fiji), Slovenian, & Tongan translations are among the languages identified as a priority for translation by women, peace and security advocates. Other languages currently on this priority list are:

Achehnese (Indonesia)

Acholi/Luo (Northern Uganda, W. Kenya, South Sudan)

Aymara (Bolivia, Peru)

Bari (Sudan)

Dinka (Sudan)

Embera (Colombia)

Hmong (spoken in Laos, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, and Southern China)
Juba Arabic (Sudan)

Luganda (Uganda)

Malayalam (South Indian)

Mongolian

Nepali

Nuer (Sudan)

Oshiwambo (Namibia)

Paez (Colombia)

Pashto (Afghanistan)

Quechua (Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Northern Chile, Argentina, Southern Colombia)

Sangho (Central African Republic)

Shiluk (Sudan)

Tajik

Wayu (Venezuela)

Wayunaiki (Colombia)

Zande (Sudan)

If you know of existing translations of 1325 which are not among the 95 on the PeaceWomen website, or would like to volunteer as a translator, suggest potential translators or add languages to the list for priority translation, please contact sam@peacewomen.org

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USING 1325 IN TRANSLATION

As part of its 1325 Translation Initiative, PeaceWomen is soliciting information on how translations of Resolution 1325 are being used and the impact of these translations on the work of women peace and security advocates.

We invite anyone who has used translations of 1325 for outreach, advocacy or other purposes, or who may know how translations of the resolution are being used, to provide us with information detailing among other things:

• Which particular translation(s) of 1325 you have used or know are being used

• Who carried out the translation (if known) or how the translation(s) was accessed

• The types of activities for which this translation(s) has been used (e.g. workshops, radio programs) and your views about the impact of such activities in promoting resolution 1325

• What you believe to be the importance of translating Resolution 1325 into local languages ?

Kindly contribute to the “Using 1325 in Translation” effort by responding to these questions or submitting any other information on translating UNSCR 1325 to info@peacewomen.org

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9. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY CALENDAR

WIDE Annual Conference 2008: ´Feminist Visions for a Just Europe´
October 9-11, 2008, The Hague, The Netherlands

This year´s conference will be hosted by WO=MEN, the Dutch Gender Platform, and is expected to convene at least 200 delegates representing the unique triangle of women living and working in the ´West, East and South´. Its general aim is to examine Europe´s role (and responsibilities) in the world, viewed through the lens of women´s rights and gender justice.

´Feminist Visions for a Just Europe´is a three-day conference designed to usher in a logical build-up in this collective feminist exercise to foresee justice. Each day is structured to meet concrete goals:

Day 1: Feminisms in Europe Today -Reflections
Day 2: Europe´s Role in the World through the Lens of Women´s Rights and Gender Justice - Challenges and Opportunities
Day 3: Building a Feminist Future through a Just Europe - Strategies and Alliances

For further enquiries and indications of interest (or confirmation) in participating in the WIDE Annual Conference 2008, please write to:

WIDE Annual Conference 2008
WO=MEN, Dutch Gender Platform
Email: wideconference2008@wo-men.nl

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Prosecuting Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes Before International/ized Criminal Courts
October 14, 2008
American University, Washington College of Law

Please join the War Crimes Research Office and the Women and International Law Program of the Washington College of Law (WCL) for a full-day conference bringing together experts in international criminal law and feminist jurisprudence to examine advances and missed opportunities in the prosecution of sexual and gender-based crimes before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the ad hoc and hybrid criminal tribunals. Keynote address to be delivered by Patricia Viseur Sellers Former Legal Advisor for Gender and Trial Attorney, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY); Special Consultant to the High Commissioner for Human Rights; and Independent Gender Expert.

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THe Third Global Congress of Women in Politics and Governance: Focus on Gender and GovernanceOctober 19-22, 2008, Dusit Hotel, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines

The overall purpose of the conference is to provide a forum for women legislators, and women in decision-making and environment organizations at all levels, in formulating gender-responsive legislation and policies.

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The 2nd New Arab Woman Forum
23 - 24 October, 2008
Intercontinental Phoenicia Hotel, Beirut - Lebanon

Following up on the overwhelming success of the first New Arab Woman Forum that was held in Dubai on October 21-22, 2007 the second yearly forum will take a closer look at the evolving role and position of Arab women in the face of remaining challenges, and how these challenges are being, or can be, overcome.

For this purpose, the forum is organized under two main and meaningful headings, with the first day devoted entirely to the question of women and leadership in politics, business and society generally, and the second to the broader concept of the meaning of womanhood and feminism in the Arab world in its various attributes, activities and implications.

The New Arab Woman Forum is organized by Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group and Al Hasnaa Magazine the leading Arab women's magazine since it was first published in 1909. As in the first forum, the 2008 forum will bring together a distinguished group of speakers and participants from both genders, but including first ladies, women ministers and public officials, business leaders, social scientists, writers and journalists, artists and actresses, heads of NGOs and other social institutions, and other personalities and activists.

Ms. Rana Kassem
Project Coordinator
Tel: + 961-1-780200
Email: rana.kassem@iktissad.com

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THE FUTURE OF ASIAN FEMINISMS CONFRONTING FUNDAMENTALISMS, CONFLICT AND NEOLIBERALISM
November 2-5, 2008, Bali, Indonesia
The Kartini Network for Women's/Gender Studies in Asia

Following the successful First Kartini Conference in Dalian, China, in 2004 this second Kartini conference will discuss the future of Asian feminisms assessing past experiences and charting new paths. One of the major foci will be successes or failures of legal campaigns in specific contexts.

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Coordination of Multi-Sectoral Response to Gender-Based Violence in Humanitarian Settings
November 3-14, 2008, Ghent, Belgium
International Centre for Reproductive Health and the United Nations Population Fund

This two-week intensive course is specifically designed to train qualified experts in gender-based violence (GBV) from various backgrounds in the coordination of multi-sectoral prevention of and response to GBV in humanitarian settings.
The organization of the course is a joint initiative of ICRH and UNFPA, supported by the Flemish Inter-University Council (VLIR), the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Sub-Working Group on Gender and Humanitarian Action and UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict.

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Mainstreaming Gender Equality: Concepts and Instruments
November 3-14, 2008, Turin, Italy
International Training Centre, Gender Coordination Unit

The course aims at promoting gender equality in the world of work, by introducing participants to gender concepts, and moreover by providing them with anadaptable set of conceptual and information tools tobring gender equality concerns into the mainstreamof labour-related development activities and in their everyday work, whether it be in a trade union,entrepreneurial, governmental or non-governmentalenvironment.

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The 11th AWID International Forum on Women's Rights and Development
November 14-17, 2008, Cape Town, South Africa
The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)

The International Forum on Women's Rights and Development is both a conference and a call to action. The AWID Forum brings together women's rights leaders and activists from around the world every three years to strategize, network, celebrate, and learn in a highly charged atmosphere that fosters deep discussions and sustained personal and professional growth.

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Peacebuilding: Strengthening Policy and Practice
November 17-21 2008, Birmingham, UK
RTC- Responding To Conflict

Course description: Peacebuilding: Strengthening Policy and Practice is designed to assist participants to identify constructive ways of engaging with the unpredictable and rapidly changing circumstances within which many humanitarian and development agencies work. It focuses on the relationship between policy and practice in complex situations.

The course looks at critical themes in peacebuilding, such as gender, power and resources. In relation to gender, this is addressed through examining the role of women, different forms of violence against women, and women as peacebuilders.

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An Introduction to Gender Budgeting in Organizations and Institutions
November 17-21, 2008, Turin, Italy
International Training Centre, Gender Coordination Unit

Gender budget analysis helps governments and organizations understand the impact of policies, where adjustment can be made, and where resources need to be reallocated to address poverty and gender inequalities. Gender responsive budgeting is based on the analysis of the impact of expenditure and revenue on women and girls as compared to men and boys and provide a policy and planning document. Participants in this five-day workshop will analyze gender responsive budgeting as a strategic tool to boast gender equality mainstreaming in economic planning and financial management.