General Women, Peace and Security

The PeaceWomen Translation Initiative was established with the understanding that implementation of SCR 1325 and related resolutions can only occur if there is broad local dissemination and understanding of the documents. To this end, we have successfully compiled over 100 translations of SCR 1325.

The Global Network of Women Peacebuilders conducts Capacity Building and Local Legislation and 1325 Workshops in Sierra Leone (June 19 - July 4, 2012)

We recognise women's vital role in achieving and maintaining international peace and security and as such understand the need for equal political, civic and economic participation in times of peace, conflict and during periods of political transition.

When rich countries like the U.S., Japan, and NATO nations get together periodically to discuss the future of development funding for Afghanistan, who represents the interests of women and children who actually live there? Mostly men.

In 2011, the American Journal of Public Health estimated that 48 women are raped every hour in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Some experts have even suggested that the figure is much higher considering the number of unreported cases. Sadly, rape as a weapon of war is not exceptional in the Congo; rather it is pervasive in many fragile states.

By Margot Wallström and General Sir Richard Shirreff

Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, Permanent Representative to the UN Human Rights Council

Human Rights Council 20th Session, Geneva, Switzerland

Thank you Mr. Vice President.

Women from Asia Pacific demand governments address critical issues on women's human rights missing in the Rio+20 negotiations for sustainable development. Employment and economic rights, militarisation, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and women's role in climate change significantly impact women across the region, yet are being ignored.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's video message to the twenty-fifth meeting of the Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP) Policy and Coordinating Committee and HRP's fortieth anniversary, being observed in Geneva, 21-22 June:

Every two minutes, a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth.

Many of them are adolescent girls.

Time, pitilessly lurching forward, has a way of altering memory.

And a memory can be a powerful thing. Tweaked, reinterpreted, repackaged — in a war-ravaged country, it's a political tool, to be sold back to people seeking stability, seeking answers. Or, it could be a means to empowerment, a way to define one's course and actions across a lifetime.