awing on the global reach and reputation of the International Herald Tribune and the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the world's biggest news and information provider, Trust Women seeks to empower women to know and defend their rights.

It aims to drive innovation and partnerships by connecting legal expertise with the financial, technological and educational resources that enable women to exercise their rights.

Monday, 29 October 2012, 11:15 am
Press Release: femLINKPACIFIC

“Weathering the Storm – Enhancing Women's Agency for Peace and Security”
By Sharon Bhagwan Rolls

New York
Sunday 28 October 2012

This weekend I was invited to speak about women's issues at the Model UN taking place here in Washington. I have to say, though there has been unprecedented attention to women's issues over the past few years, I struggled to present an optimistic picture given a number of unsettling developments.

Fawzia Koofi would like to be the next president of Afghanistan. But that is nearly inconceivable, because Koofi is a woman.

The Taliban has tried to kill her multiple times. When she travels for her work as a member of Afghanistan's parliament, she leaves goodbye letters for her two daughters, in the event that she does not return.

Despite increased prominence of women's issues in public limelight, progress towards gender equality is still painfully slow in Kenya.

This is the case when it comes to elections where the populace has to make a choice of who should lead or represent them. Gender biases and myopic cultural beliefs have conspired to muscle women out of political leadership.

How many coalition soldiers does it take to keep one Canadian filmmaker alive in Afghanistan?

By the time I returned from Kabul and Kandahar last month, I had my answer.

Far too many.

Three weeks earlier, I left my home and family in Crescent Beach. This was my fourth trip to Afghanistan and my second documentary shoot in two years.

Dear Secretary Clinton,

We write to ask you to take the lead in formulating a clear and public US strategy for promotion and protection of women's rights in Afghanistan, and to urge other countries to join in this effort.

"What does it mean to call a country democratic when government critics are exiled and branded terrorists? Who decides what is patriotic and what is not? Whose voices are actually being heard? Whose rights are really being protected?" -- Sunila Abeysekera, Prominent Sri Lankan Human Rights Activist.

Sometimes winners lose.

Women and Genocide in the 21st Century: The Case of Darfur

Saturay, October 27 - Sunday, October 28

It is estimated that nearly 11,000 former LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) combatants either surrendered or captured by the Sri Lankan security forces at the end of the war in May 2009. Tens of thousands of civilians from the north of Sri Lanka were displaced due to the nearly three decade long war.