UN Practicum Blog - Catherine Odera

South Asia SASRO ‘Experts Group' on Women Peace & Security organized a regional Conference on “The Changing Dynamics of Peace building in South Asia: Recasting Women's Agency and Transformative Strategies” in Kathmandu February 15th -17th, 2013.

As you know, on the 8th of March, the whole world was celebrating the International Women's Day (IWD). On this occasion, WILPF attended a side event of the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) on how to involve youth in the struggle to end violence against women and girls.

At the International Women's Day commemoration at the United Nations in New York today, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet made a rallying call to the international community to move forward on gender equality and women's rights.

The Women Peace and Security Institute (WPSI) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) has called on the media to project women in a more positive way and thereby increase the awareness of women in leadership and governance.

Even before joining WFP seven years ago, Baicon Macaraya, head of WFP Philippines' Iligan sub-office, had all the tools to do her job in conflict-affected Central Mindanao. As an advocate of gender mainstreaming, Baicon has pushed towards a new outlook on women and development.

Gender-based violence tends to increase after natural disasters, researchers have found. Haiti, unfortunately, is no exception.

We must bring the perpetrators to justice and end the culture of impunity

I am writing from the beautiful city of Granada, Nicaragua. I am participating in the prestigious International Poetry Festival of Nicaragua, which honours our great national treasure Ernesto Cardenal, an inspiring figure who has contributed much to the fields of art, literature, theology and politics. He has helped to shape Nicaragua's history.

"In Gaza we don't lead normal lives, we just cope, and adapt to our abnormal lives under siege and occupation," says Dr. Mona El-Farra, a physician and a long-time human rights and women's rights activist in the Gaza Strip. On International Women's Day, when many of the world's women are fighting for workplace equality and an end to domestic violence, Farra and the majority of Gaza's women fight for the most basic of rights.

Yaneth Llerena, 40, leads a team of 50 community workers at an emergency women's centre in the poor district of Villa el Salvador