Al-Shabaab loyalists are shooting themselves liberally in the foot with all their strange rules, the most recent being that women should not be permitted to sell khat, the popular stimulant. It is a redundant clause, if the Somali fundamentalists are seriously considering becoming the rulers of a nation.

What will happen to Afghan women when the United States begins withdrawing troops later this year? Will women be thrown under the bus as soldiers head for the exits?

Even as the Arab spring unfolds across the region, I learned with profound astonishment that Mr. Jack Persekian, director of the Sharjah Art Foundation, has been dismissed as “punishment” for allowing an artist invited to the Sharjah Biennial total freedom of expression. I am the artist in question.

In charge of budgets of over $5 billion, capable of mobilizing resources and 100,000 + staff worldwide. Responsible for the coordination of thousands of peacekeepers in conflict zones throughout the world, and leading negotiations for the release of child soldiers in Uganda.

Talk about power.

This is a great video of an initiative taken by Israeli and Arab women to create peace.

Every day, misogyny kills women around the globe in two ways: directly through violence and indirectly through apathy, said David A. Grimes, MD, clinical professor of ob-gyn at University School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, who delivered his lecture "Misogyny and Women's Health" today at The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' 59th Annual Clinical Meeting.

In the lawless eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, press freedom means having a voice to speak out against horrific violence against women and children. This World Press Freedom Day, the International Center for Journalists has teamed up with Vital Voices to help Congolese radio reporter Chouchou Namegabe, ICFJ's 2009 Knight International Award Winner and Vital Voices' 2009 Fern Holland Award recipient.

In her article, Mariella Frostrup asks "Local groups are best placed to mediate in civil war, so why aren't we listening to them?" (Let women lead way to peace, 15 April).

Out of the 69 million children that are deprived of their right to education globally, 54% are girls. From 2 – 8 May, the Global Action Week is arranged to place focus on the challenges girls are faced in accessing education.

Women living with and affected by HIV in Latin America met recently in Panama to identify tools and methodologies to undertake their own study on the “vulnerabilities of women living with HIV in Latin America and the Spanish speaking Caribbean.”