Gender and Displacement

1. EDITORIAL
The PeaceWomen Team

This month's 1325 E-news edition focuses on the nexus of gender, security and displacement. The lives of women and men in situations of crisis and conflict are often over-shadowed by the socio-economic, political and security risks that come with being forcibly displaced. As eloquently put in a featured report from a recent WILPF delegation to Colombia, “Being forced to move from your home and your land has many implications…your house and land is the base of your security, your life project.” (Item 5)

This report from Colombia highlights what is already well known, that women and children account for the majority of those displaced internally and as refugees. This has clear implications for the kind of action and assistance required from governments, humanitarian organizations, development agencies and the security sector. In our feature analysis this month, Ramina Johal broadly reviews the status of international efforts to respond to displacement in a gender-sensitive manner. (item 3) The analysis makes note of various forms of displacement, and its associated vulnerabilities, including trafficking in persons. But while trafficking and other forms of gender based violence and exploitation have gained increased attention at an international level, their victims may receive little support and no justice. This is the theme of our feature statement, a response by the WILPF section in Australia to a recent Washington Post letter by a number Japanese policymakers, denying Japan's system of forced prostitution during World War II. (item 4)

Security Council Resolution 1325 can be a useful reference point on the needs of displaced women, particularly with regard to the security of women and girls in displaced contexts and their participation in decision-making. While the resolution does not cover the entirety of issues in displacement, there are other international policy documents that lay out in more breadth the political and legal protection, welfare needs and secure environment needed by those affected by displacement.

The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an important instrument in this regard, and our feature resource this month is an Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre report on Kenya directed at the CEDAW committee at its current 39th session. (Item 10) The report highlights the gaps in the Kenya government's recognition and response to the needs of women displaced by drought, insecurity and ethnic conflict, factors that are often inter-linked in all Horn of Africa nations. (Item 6) However while women, particularly in pastoral communities, often bear the brunt of these factors, they are also taking an active lead in seeking peaceful solutions to such intercene conflicts, as illustrated in one featured news story this month. (Item 2)

We would like to thank Ramina Johal, Carol Shaw and the WILPF sections in Colombia and Australia for their contributions to this month's edition. We continue to welcome contributions to the newsletter's content. Contributions for the August 2007 edition should be sent to
enewssubmissions@peacewomen.org by Thursday 16 August 2007.

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2. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY NEWS

ZIMBABWE'S WOMEN 'FACE BRUTALITY'
July 25, 2007 - (BBC News) Women who oppose Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe are suffering increasing violence and repression, a study says.

THREE WOMEN KILLED EAST OF CENTRAL GAZA: WITNESSES
July 23 (2007) (People's Daily Online) Three Palestinian women were found killed early on Sunday in an opened area east of the central Gaza Strip town of Deir el-Ballah, eyewitnesses and police sources reported.

WOMEN PUSH ONTO CONTINENT'S AGENDA
23 July 2007 (Africa Renewal) The status of women in many African countries is improving. "Africa is in a period of great experiment," says Ms. Anne Marie Goetz, who heads the governance, peace and security division at the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). "Things are starting to change, as countries see a window of opportunity to create ways for women to contribute their skills and talents to national development."

PRATIBHA PATIL NAMED INDIA'S FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT
July 20, 2007 (International Herald Tribune): India got its first female president Saturday in a victory hailed as a special moment in a country where discrimination against women is often deep-rooted and widespread.

THE MALDIVES APPOINTS FIRST WOMEN JUDGES
July 18, 2007 – (Feminist Daily News Wire) The president of the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, has appointed the country's first two women judges, and a third is expected to join them this week. The appointments follow recommendations by UN Special Rapporteur Leandro Despouy to end gender discrimination within the Maldives' judiciary by nominating women judges.

CONCERN ABOUT SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN BURUNDI
July 13, 2007 – (ReliefWeb) The U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) says it is concerned about the large and growing number of children in Burundi who are victims of sexual violence. UNICEF says few cases are ever prosecuted and is calling for urgent reform of Burundi's judicial system.

LOKIRIAMA WOMEN BECOME THE ARBITERS OF PEACE
11 July 2007 (Africa Interactive News) One of the things pastoralists are notoriously known for is the violent resource-based conflicts that have persistently sent a terrifying shock to the communities and their environments.

SIERRA LEONE WOMEN TO LAUNCH VIOLENCE-FREE ELECTIONS CAMPAIGN
July 9 2007 - (Awareness Times) Women in Peace and Security Network-Africa (WIPSEN-Africa) in collaboration with the Grass roots Empowerment for Self Reliance (GEMS) with support from UNIFEM-Sierra Leone will on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 draw women from civil society organizations (CSOs) across the country in Bo to officially launch a mass advocacy violence-free elections campaign.

FEMALE ACTIVISTS ON MISSION FOR PEACE
July 8, 2007 - (The Dallas Morning News) Banning land mines, fighting exploitation of women and halting the trafficking of children are all interconnected and key elements in the ongoing struggle for world peace. Coming up with action plans to fight against these and a host of other issues is the goal for Nobel Peace Prize laureate Betty Williams and 1,000 women from 43 countries who will be in Dallas this week for the International Women's Peace Conference.

PHILLIPINES: FEMALE PEACE ACTIVIST KILLED INSIDE HER HUT
June 28, 2007 - (Manila Standard Today) A communist sympathizer turned peace advocate was shot and killed by armed men believed to be communist guerrillas in Quezon province Monday night, her group said yesterday.

JAPAN'S APOLOGY URGED ON 'COMFORT WOMEN'
June 26, 2007 - (Guardian Unlimited) A House committee is expected to endorse a resolution urging Japan to apologize formally for coercing thousands of women to work as sex slaves for its wartime military.

IRAQ: WOMEN RESIST RETURN TO SECTARIAN LAWS
June 25, 2007 - (IPS) - As Iraq struggles to define its future, there is one important group that has been largely left out of the process: women.

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For more country-specific women, peace and security news, CLICK HERE

For more international women, peace and security news, CLICK HERE

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3. FEATURE Analysis

WOMEN, DISPLACEMENT AND SECURITY: AN ANALYSIS

By Ramina Johal

Introduction

Designing responses and remedies for the displaced is dependent upon how this population is defined by policymakers and practitioners. Addressing the needs of women displaced by conflict is further influenced by the application of gender approaches in displacement, humanitarian and peace and security forums.

The following article draws particular attention to the situation of displaced women and girls, focusing on the application of gender sensitive approaches as highlighted in Security Council Resolution 1325. It proposes, among other things, that in order to address gender and displacement, key challenges, such as the need for greater synergy between the UN's work on displacement and gender equality, must be addressed.

Where does addressing the needs of displaced women, including through gender-sensitive approaches, fit in the peace and security framework?

Through adopting resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (2000) the UN Security Council acknowledged women's contributions to peace-building, as well as their vulnerabilities resulting from conflict. Article 12 specifically addresses refugees in camps and Article 8 calls for attention to the special needs of women and girls during repatriation, resettlement and post-conflict processes in relation to peace agreements. Notwithstanding debates on gaps in the resolution (for example, lack of reference to IDPs, returnees, or persons residing outside camps; lack of attention to women's access to humanitarian programs and services) it has served as an important vehicle for holding the UN and governments accountable to women's rights in conflict and post-conflict settings. Other resolutions, such as those described above to establish peacekeeping missions and on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, have also been applied to reinforce accountability to displaced women.

The advancement of gender-sensitive approaches in the peace and security arena is another component of addressing the needs of women IDPs, refugees and returnees. Articles 7 and 8 of Security Council resolution 1325 reference gender-sensitive training and applying a gender perspective to ensure attention to the needs of women in repatriation and resettlement. Since 1997 the UN has been tasked to apply gender mainstreaming as a strategy to promote gender equality in all its operations. At that time, several agencies working with the displaced, such as the WFP and UNHCR, already had programs and structures in place to address the needs of women (rather than gender). Although there have been challenges in their approaches, over the years UNHCR and WFP have developed useful tools and analysis on reaching the displaced, as well as on achieving gender equality and gender mainstreaming more broadly.

In addition, agencies such as UNFPA and the UN Development Program are enhancing efforts to bridge their development, humanitarian and crisis prevention work, including through bolstering attention to gender equality. In 2007, UNFPA used Resolution 1325 as an entry point for its conference on women, conflict and displacement (report forthcoming) to further explore the agency's work in conflict settings. Following a detailed review and consultations on its gender strategy, in 2006 UNDP introduced an Eight-Point Agenda for Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality in Crisis Prevention and Recovery (Agenda). The Agenda references resolution 1325.

DPKO has been working to advance gender mainstreaming in its own operations, as well as externally with troop contributing countries and “host” governments. The Department's work on gender-based violence, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) in peacekeeping missions may include the participation of IDPs and returnees. In 2007 the Department released a Policy Directive on Gender Equality in Peacekeeping Operations, revised its gender training tools to enhance relevance to the different elements of its work and management structure, and published two evaluations on gender mainstreaming in Sierra Leone and Timor Leste.

On the other hand, the UN's development of strategies and tools for gender equality and gender mainstreaming has been uneven, which can impede efforts to effectively reach displaced populations, and advance peace and security more broadly. While some variety is necessary in order for strategies to reflect the mandates of the respective agency or entity, there is now a recognition of the need for greater system-wide coherence, standards and synergies in the UN's work to promote gender equality. Such recommendations are contained in the UN Secretary-General's report on Women, Peace and Security (which reviews the system-wide action plan on implementation of resolution 1325) and in the report of the Secretary-General's High Level Panel on System-Wide Coherence: “Delivering as One,” released respectively in September and November 2006.

For the full version of this article and references please click HERE

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Ramina Johal is an advocate and consultant on gender, displacement and migration. She can be reached at ramina.johal@gmail.com

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4. FEATURE statement

WILPF (Australia) letter to Japanese Ambassador in Canberra concerning Comfort System

14 July 2007

Your Excellency,

We write following the placement of a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post of 14 June 2007 by a group of Japanese Members of Parliament and others denying that the Japanese Imperial Army forced hundreds of thousands of young women and girls into sexual slavery during World War II.

The advertisement was published under the title, "THE FACTS". It was signed by professors, journalists, political commentators and twenty-nine members of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, thirteen from the Democratic Party of Japan and two independents. In the advertisement, the claim was made that "no historical document has ever been found by historians or research organisations that positively demonstrates that women were forced against their will into prostitution by the Japanese army. The Ianfu (comfort women) who were embedded with the Japanese army were not, as is commonly reported, 'sex slaves'. They were working under a system of licensed prostitution that was commonplace around the world at the time." The text of the advertisement went on to add that many of the women made more money than field officers "and even generals".

We write now on behalf of the Australian Section of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom to communicate to you our profound disappointment at this public denial by MPs of the actual facts of the horrors endured by the women who were taken into the Comfort System.

From evidence given by Ms Kim Haksun of South Korea and by Adelaide woman Ms Jan Ruff O'Herne at the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal held in Tokyo in December 2000, it is clear that this was indeed a system of military sexual slavery set up by the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII.

From evidence at the Tribunal and from speaking with Jan Ruff O'Herne herself, we well know that under this system, so-called "comfort stations" were set up wherever Japanese troops went.

It is now widely and well known that hundreds of thousands of women and girls throughout Asia under Japanese rule or military occupation were deceived or abducted into the system. Socially vulnerable and marginalised women were often the primary targets. After the war, few came home. Many were killed or simply abandoned at the end of the war. The few who survived the war were often kept away from their homes by a sense of shame until at last in 1991 the survivors began to speak out.

These crimes have also been catalogued by the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Radhika Coomaraswamy, in her report submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 1996 (E/CN.4/1996/53/Add.1) and also by the UN Special Rapporteur, Gay J. McDougall, in her report on systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during armed conflict (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1998/13).

We recall that earlier this year, Prime Minister Abe also claimed that there was no evidence the Japanese Imperial Army had coerced the Comfort Women into sexual servitude. However, around the time of the March 2007 visit of Australian Prime Minister John Howard to Japan, Mr. Abe stated that he did stand by Japan's 1993 apology to the Comfort Women. We welcomed this and also Mr. Abe's statement in late April during a visit to the United States of "deep sympathy" for the women concerned.

We are of the view that the Government of Japan should take seriously the sentiments expressed in the United States House of Representatives Resolution 121 that calls on Japan to account honestly for its past and to make full reparations to the Comfort Women. As noted by the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, although Japan has taken a leadership role in areas such as the environment and humanitarian protection, it has not acted with honour in respect of the Comfort Women.

Your Excellency, in light of these considerations, we respectfully request that you inform Prime Minister Abe that we would welcome a statement that he will take positive steps to acknowledge Japan's responsibility to the thousands of women horribly affected by the Comfort System.

We would also be grateful if you could communicate to your Government our view that it is well past the time when the Japanese Government should pay adequate reparations to the women concerned.

Yours sincerely,

Cathy Picone and Ruth Russell
Joint National Coordinators

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For more information about this statement please contact WILPF's Australian section - Email: wilpfaustralia@wilpf.org.au

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5. FEATURE INITIATIVES

Women building peace in the world –the case of Colombia:
Reflections of the WILPF Delegation to Colombia, July 2007

An international delegation of WILPF members went to Colombia in the end of July 07 to assess the situation for women within a 1325 context. The delegation supported the concern that the civil population, and particularly women and young girls make up the majority of those who are at a disadvantage in Colombia, particularly as internally displaced individuals who more frequently are the specific target of attacks by armed groups.

Colombia has one of the largest populations of persons in displacement, close to 4 million. One of the horrifying aspects is that about 1 million of the 4 million were displaced between 2005-2007, so the conflict is not lessening, but intensifying. The number of the dead in the conflict is not known, there is an estimate of 10 000. Still the Colombian government denies that there is an internal conflict in the country and ignores the evident humanitarian needs.

The delegation had the opportunity to listen to the representatives from human rights organisations, unions, women, and the official entity responsible for the introduction of the policy for women and gender and particularly to listen to the voices and statement of women victims and survivors.

To read the full report on this initiative, please click HERE

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A move to change: Building on the principles of Security Council Resolution 1325
Australian National Committee on Refugee Women (ANCORW), African Women's Advocacy Unit

For the last four years, Australia has been actively resettling refugees from African countries. In 2005, the Australian National Committee on Refugee Women (ANCORW), a national advocacy and advisory organization based in Sydney, Australia sought funding to work with refugee women from Africa in order to further identify and address some of the issues impacting on their successful resettlement in Sydney, Australia. Once received from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), the funds allowed for a small pilot program to be run for a group of 15 refugee women from various countries in Africa. The program trained women to work within a human rights framework, incorporating a gender perspective to resettlement, representation and advocacy skills. Upon completion, both the ANCORW board and DIAC worked with graduates to establish links and networks into the agencies and services, acting as a way to further progress issues identified by their communities. Thus providing a way to influence policy and service provision, whilst also enabling them to bring about change in their situation. A change that would later developed into ANCORW African Women's Advocacy Unit (AWAU).

Since it's conception and the initial training of 15 refugee women from Sierra Leone, Burundi, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and Liberia, AWAU has successfully identified key issues for their communities and began negotiation with various government departments and national agencies to bring about more insight into the issues for refugee women in resettlement and to offer more ‘durable solutions' to these issues. In 2006 the graduates were trained in training methodologies to pass on their skills to a new group of refugee women from African countries. A new group of 35 refugee women from African countries have now actively joined AWAU and are working towards building the refugee women's voice in resettlement.

To read the full report on this initiative, please click HERE

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For more Global & Regional Initiatives, please visit:
http://www.peacewomen.org/campaigns/global/index.html

For more Country-specific Initiatives, please visit:
http://www.peacewomen.org/campaigns/countriesindex.html
6. FEATURE RESOURCES

Engendering Persecution: Refugee Women, Gender-based Violence and State
Responsibility in South Asia
Oishik Sircar, Women in Security, Conflict management and Peace (WISCOMP) - Discussion Paper 13 (2007)

This monograph makes a case for the development of "gender asylum law" in South Asia in order to protect women from myriad forms of gender-based violence during times of active conflict as well as times of apparent peace.

For information on how to acquire this publication, please visit
http://www.wiscomp.org/publications.htm

NGO Report on the situation of internally displaced and refugee women in Kenya for the Committee on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre of the Refugee Council - June 14, 2007
In anticipation of the consideration by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (“the Committee”) during its 39th session in July-August 2007 of the combined fifth and sixth periodic report of Kenya, the IDMC would like to draw the Committee's attention to the situation of internally displaced and refugee women in the country and to a number of substantial constraints they face in realising the rights enshrined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (“the Convention”).

For the full report, please click HERE

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For NGO and civil society reports, papers and statements, UN and government reports, and books, journals and articles on women, peace and security issues, please click HERE

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7. TRANSLATION UPDATES: CROATIAN
AND HINDI TRANSLATIONS NOW AVAILABLE

Total number of available translations: 79

PeaceWomen has recently received Croatian and Hindi translations of resolution 1325:
The Croatian language is a south Slavic language that is the official language of the Republic of Croatia. It is also spoken by over half a million people in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is reasonably understood in the former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia, Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro.

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.

The Croatian translation of SCR 1325 was completed by Nermina Zecirovic-Arnaud, a Summer 2007 intern at the PeaceWomen Project.

The Hindi translation was completed by Ms. Seema Thakur, an intern at the NGO Global Action to Prevent War, who is pursuing her PhD on the topic "Women, Peace and Security: A Study of the Impact of United Nations Resolution 1325 in South Asia."

For more information on the translators please click here

Croatian and Hindi are among 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)
Embera (Colombia)
Hmong (spoken in Laos, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, and Southern China)
Luganda (Uganda)
Malayalam (South Indian)
Mongolian
Oshiwambo (Namibia)
Paez (Colombia)
Pashto (Afghanistan)
Pidgin (Papua New Guinea)
Quechua (Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Northern Chile, Argentina, Southern Colombia)
Romani (or Romany)
Sangho (Central African Republic)
Shilook (Sudan)
Wayu (Venezuela)
Wayunaiki (Colombia)
Xhosa (S. Africa)
Zande (Sudan)
Zulu (S. Africa)

If you know of existing translations of 1325 in any of the above languages, or would like to volunteer as a translator, suggest potential translators or add languages to this list, please contact milkah@peacewomen.org

To view the 79 translations, click HERE

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USING 1325 IN TRANSLATION” INITIATIVE

PeaceWomen continues to solicit information on how translations of the resolution are being used and the impact of the availability 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:

1. Which particular translation(s) of 1325 you have used or know is being used
2. Who carried out the translation (if known) or how the translation(s) was accessed
3. The types of activities for which this translation(s) has been used (e.g. workshops, radio programs) and your opinion about the impact of such activities in promoting resolution 1325
4. What you believe to be the importance of translating Resolution 1325 into local languages
5. Ideas on languages which may require a 1325 translation and whether you or anyone you know may be interested translating the resolution

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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For more information on the “using 1325 in translation” initiative, please click HERE

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8. GENDER AND PEACEKEEPING UPDATE

PEACEKEEPING WATCH

U.N. WARNS MOROCCANS ON SEX ABUSE
23 July 2007 - (AP) The United Nations is investigating Moroccan peacekeepers suspected of sexually abusing girls under age 18 in Ivory Coast and possibly leaving some of them pregnant, a U.N. spokeswoman said Sunday.

RECOMMENDATIONS ON PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS APPROVED BY FOURTH COMMITTEE, INCLUDING PROPOSED ‘UNITED NATIONS STANDARDS OF CONDUCT
17 July 2007 - (UN Press release) The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) this morning approved the proposals and recommendations of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations contained in its annual report, and recommended that United Nations standards of conduct be included in the revised draft model memorandum of understanding between the United Nations and troop contributing countries.

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GENDER AND PEACEKEEPING RESOURCES

Peacekeeping to Peacebuilding: Lessons from the Past, Building for the Future
United Nations Association of Canada March 2007 - Chapter 7 of the UNA - Canada Report "Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding" focuses on “Women's Issues in Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding” and derives from a UNA-Canada public dialogue on Canada's commitment to gender perspectives in UN Peacekeeping. Among the themes explored were the various roles of women in post-conflict societies and the importance of bringing a gendered approach to the institution of peacekeeping.

To read the chapter, please click HERE

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For PeaceWomen's Peacekeeping Watch index, visit
http://www.peacewomen.org/un/pkwatch/pkwatch.html

For more gender and peacekeeping news, visit PeaceWomen's Gender and Peacekeeping News Index:
http://www.peacewomen.org/un/pkwatch/pknews.html

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9. NGOWG UPDATE

NGOWG and OSCE Partner in Workshops on National Level Implementation of SCR 1325 in Central Asia

The consequences of women's exclusion and marginalization pose a significant threat to human security and sustainable peace and development. These consequences are far-reaching and manifest into core security risks such as the absence of legal and human rights, lack of protection against gender-based violence, lack of access to justice, health, education, and exclusion from participation in economic life, credit, land and natural resources. They not only constitute underlying sources of political and economic instability, but also result in the weakening of social and family units and the welfare of communities as a whole.

Including women's needs and priorities in peace and security policy is critical, to ensure representation, inclusivity and participation of all members of the population. However, just as important is the effective implementation of gender policy and analysis that takes not only women into consideration, but critically examines the different roles, needs, interests and capacities of both men and women, girls and boys.

With this in mind, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security and the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE) are currently partnering to conduct a series of Training Workshops on National Level Implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Central Asia as a follow-up to the Regional Roundtable on SCR 1325 held by the OSCE in Kazackstan in September 2006.

The first workshop, conducted in Bishkek, Kyrgysztan in June, brought together government, civil society actors and gender experts from around the country to build on key issues in relation to gender, women and human security from a national perspective. Within this context, the workshop reviewed the provisions of UNSCR 1325, and participants identified possible priority areas for national-level implementation, with the aim of taking concrete steps forward in advancing the domestication of UNSCR 1325 in Kyrgyzstan.

Five key priority areas in regard to gender and security in Kyrgysztan were identified: Political Participation; Economic Insecurity; Human Trafficking/Migration; Violence against Women/ Physical Insecurity; Religion and Cultural Tradition. In addition to these priority areas, the needs of rural populations and the rule of law were identified as cross-cutting themes.

In order to advance gender and security issues at the national level, the participants formed a national Working Group on Gender, Peace and Security at the end of the two-day workshop to take their recommendations forward, with the immediate aim of incorporating gender and security elements into the National Action Plan on Gender Equality which will be finalized on 3 July 2007. The Working Group is comprised of both government and civil society representatives nominated and elected by the workshop participants. The members of the national Working Group plan to collaborate to further identify, develop and refine strategies for enhancing the integration of gender into key security priority areas at the national level, in line with the implementation of UNSCR 1325.

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For more information on the NGOWG & its events visit: http://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/

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10. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY CALENDAR

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
39th Session of the CEDAW Committee
July 23 - August 10 2007, UN Headquarters, New York

For three weeks, the CEDAW committee of experts and state delegations will discuss reports on the implementation of CEDAW in the Cook Islands, Belize, Brazil, Estonia, Guinea, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea and Singapore.

For more information, please visit http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/39sess.htm

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Women: Agents for Change
29th International Federation of University Women Conference
10 –16 August 2007, Manchester, United Kingdom

The week long conference brings together academics, UN experts and officials and policy makers to discuss a range of global issues including education, information society, human security and peace, particularly with respect to Millennium Development Goals. Speakers include Mary Robinson, Elisabeth Rehn and Salma Khan.