The Twinning effect

One of the greatest benefits of being part of a world wide international organisation such as WILPF is the valuable experiences you gain from keeping in touch with members from all different corners of the world.

Women and girls have a unique perspective on the causes and effects of conflict on the population. Yet they are often under-represented, or even denied any role in efforts to resolve hostilities and address their root causes, and on deciding how to rebuild society in a manner that promotes peaceful resolution to conflicts.

On 24 February 2013, recognising the recurring cycles of conflict and violence that permeate the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), eleven countries of Africa signed a Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the region1.

The world is waking up to the fact that sexual violence is wreaking havoc on the lives of women and communities in conflict zones—and poses a real threat to lasting peace. Though as we applaud this growing international consciousness about how sexual violence stands in the way of progress, we can't help but wonder when African leaders will have the same awakening.

One is far too many. Two begins to boggle the mind. Two in one week—it's almost impossible to find words. And in fact, the rape and murder of two tiny girls, only four and five years old—one in New Delhi and the other in the Punjab province—are only the most recent, and publicized, instances of rape and child sexual abuse in India.

Violent sexual assaults against women, including rapes, have surged in the vicinity of Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square in recent months. The violence increased in scale and brutality on January 25, 2013. This day of protests marked the second anniversary of the start of the 2011 uprising that ousted President Mubarak.

The second Preparatory Committee for the 2015 Review Conference of the Treaty on Nuclear Non-Proliferation (NPT) begun its two-week session yesterday, Monday 22nd April, at the United Nations in Geneva. The NPT contains the only binding commitment to nuclear disarmament and entered into force in 1970.

On Tuesday 9 April, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs in cooperation with Global Action to Prevent War launched the publication, “Applying a Disarmament Lens to Gender, Human Rights, Development, Security, Education, and Communication: Six Essays”, with a panel discussion at the United Nations.

As all our 193 governments met at this year's Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at UN Headquarters, the thousands of activists, NGOs, and even government delegates were worried that a failure would signal a lack of political will to advance women's rights. Tensions were high. There was a real risk that the Commission, like last year, would fail to agree on an outcome document.

Congolese women and women from Burundi, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Uganda who took part in the Women's Peace Dialogue held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo April 5-6, 2012 demanded discussions on the formation of the first Intervention Brigade that will operate in the eastern part of the DRC.