At a press conference on 18 June during The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Rio de Janeiro, Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women calls for women's central role in achieving sustainability. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Former Prime Minister of Norway and Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Climate Change, joins the press conference.

The Fiji National Council of Women says groups like it should be involved in a new government scheme that aims to teach business skills to women.

The NGO's comments are in response to the Ministry of Social Welfare's Women and Poverty Alleviation plan which is focussing on individuals rather than groups.

It will partner with Indonesia to empower Fiji women in new income generating projects, such as seaweed processing.

At a Week long workshop held last week in Windhoek, Women's Action for Development (WAD) brought stakeholders up to date on its campaign to teach women their rights, and to raise awareness of human rights issues with a gender bias. This campaign is sponsored by the European Union. Head of the EU Delegation, Ambassador Raul Fentes Milani attended the workshop.

In a few hours a large group of Egyptian women will gather in Talaat Harb Sqaure in Cairo to protest against sexual harassment. Activists say the new wave of sexual violence seems more coordinated than ever before. Last week a group of demonstrators calling for an end to the sexual harassment of women were attacked by a group of men who reportedly ripped women's clothes off, groping and punching them as they marched across Tahrir Square.

I first learned of Charlotte Bunch during a screening of Passionate Politics: The Life and Work of Charlotte Bunch in NYC earlier this year at the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission. The inspiring film highlights much of her life's work to promote gay rights and women's rights in the international human rights arena as an organizer, activist and out lesbian.

The "Must Haves" for Rio+20

To ensure women's voices are heard, Bachelet outlined some of the core themes on the UN Women agenda to be raised at the Rio+20 Summit.

Isabelle de Grave interviews MICHELE BACHELET, Executive Director of UN Women

Unlocking women's energies and allowing them to become drivers of change could fuel the motor of sustainable development.

Political leaders must act immediately and halt arms supplies to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where they continue to fuel unlawful killings, rape, looting and abductions, Amnesty International said in a new report published today.

Liberia made history when it elected Africa's first female president in Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. It was not an easy choice since her opponent was George Weah who had acquired a lot of wealth and popularity especially among the youth thanks to his dazzling football career that saw him once voted as African footballer of the year, World Footballer of the year and European footballer of the year.

This weekly update provides a snapshot of the United Nations and its partners' response to the influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey.