Ten years ago on this day, a few of us—sick and tired of the Liberian civil war—joined forces and started the women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace Campaign. We had three major agenda items:

1. Immediate unconditional ceasefire
2. A fruitful dialogue by the warring parties and
3. The deployment of an intervention force.

Women's rights are increasingly heralded as a useful propaganda device to further imperial designs.

Western heads of state, UN officials and military spokespersons will invariably praise the humanitarian dimension of the October 2001 US-NATO led invasion of Afghanistan, which allegedly was to fight religious fundamentalists, help little girls go to school, liberate women subjected to the yoke of the Taliban.

We hoped the end of Ba'athist rule would bring a new era of civic freedom. But for women especially, Iraq has become a prison.

In 2003, I dreamed that once Saddam's Ba'athist regime had tumbled, we could at last live in peace. Today, I wonder if the Ba'athist culture of despotism, repression and violence can ever be expelled.

In a way I agree with Indian Army chief Gen Bikram Singh that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), without which his troops would be open to charges of rape and murder in Kashmir and Manipur, should neither be diluted nor withdrawn.

“What makes women leadership different - women not only can manage homes but also the country”

There is therefore a need to continue civic education programmes particularly to increase awareness and use of human rights treaties and commitments at the community and sub-national level. Civic education must also reach women where they are - in their clubs and groups.

"Two of every three women murdered died for the simple reason: they were women. In 2012, recorded cases numbered 526 for Guatemala, 245 for Honduras and 231 for El Salvador (CLADEM, 2012).

Most of us have heard about the murders of young women in Ciudad Juarez or the genocidal rapes in the Congo. In the notorious cases, at least the victims' plight is recognized–although we often despair at the lack of real change that years of news stories and government and NGO programs has wrought. Public and official forums note the seriousness of the crimes, and attempts are made to address them.

Pakistan's tribal areas are not known for female empowerment. The Federally Administered Tribal Area (Fata) which borders Afghanistan is an ultra-conservative region where women are mostly uneducated, and rarely leave the house without their husbands, if at all.

A young Indian woman has just given birth to her child, but her eyes are dull and show no happiness: her baby is a little girl, unfortunately. She will have to kill her soon.

Women all over the developing world face harassment, threats, and abuse on a daily basis. The brutal gang rape of a young medical student in New Delhi last December ignited India, and the rest of the world, leading to mass protests for women's rights and demands for safer cities for all.