General Women, Peace and Security

"The voices of rural women need to be heard in this 1325 National Action Planning process. We need to make sure that their voices are heard because they are the ones who suffer in the conflict.

A series of workshops on women's participation in the Darfur Peace Process were organized throughout Darfur by the African Union - United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). The forums, which targeted more than 160 local media representatives of which most were women, aimed at enhancing the capacity to advocate on the importance of the role of women in the peace and political process in the region.

A series of opinion polls in recent months in Chile show that Michelle Bachelet, the executive director of UN Women, is still the most popular Chilean politician three years after her four-year term as the country's president ended. Reports from Chile say that across the political spectrum, party officials are assuming she will be returning soon to start a campaign for the next presidential election, in December 2013.

A dozen years have passed since the United Nations Security Council made history by adopting a resolution that addressed women's rights during conflicts and required their participation in preventing wars and in peace talks.

The conference is organized by the Ministry in cooperation with EVE organization as part of its work on implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in South Sudan.

The conference will bring government and civil society participants from all the 10 states.

“Its objective is to identify priority areas for the development of a National Action Plan,” said the statement.

About two weeks ago the US Defense Secretary lifted the ban on women in combat jobs. Both feminists and peace activists are still a bit troubled. Two questions stand out. Can this be considered a step on the way to achieving gender equality? And will it contribute to a more peaceful world?

A peace center recently opened in Sulu in line with the government's program in Localizing the National Action (LNAP) on Women, Peace and Security in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

As Yugoslavia split apart in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse, the breakaway state of Bosnia and Herzegovina suffered four years of cataclysmic horrors. A conflict over territory claimed by neighboring Serbia became a bloodbath of ethnic “cleansing” at the hands of Serbian-backed militias and vigilantes.

MURDER is an everyday tragedy in Guatemala, one of the world's most violent countries. With around 15 killings a day, most violent deaths merit only a couple of paragraphs in the papers. But the slaying last week of two girls, aged six and 11, has shocked the country and been widely reported outside Latin America.