General Women, Peace and Security

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment UN WOMEN (formerly UNIFEM) is helping build the capacity of Liberian civil society by training local non-profit organizations to advocate for the integration of gender initiatives into the budget of local and national government through gender responsive budgeting (GRB).

Women and Conflict Transformation in Asia, the Pacific, and the United States

As we approach the 20th anniversaries of the break-up of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union respectively, this conference offers a timely opportunity to consider the causes and legacies of these historic events from the perspective of gender analysis and by examining women's lives in particular.

Welcome to Women, War & Peace's podcast series with our host, Amy Costello. Each week, Amy will be talking to people who have responded creatively to the plight of women living in conflict zones.

Why would a woman join an armed group? Why would a woman become a suicide bomber?

As we bid farewell to 2010 and usher in 2011 with a renewed sense of purpose, I'm proud of all the hard work that has been done by the Office of Global Women's Issues, our State Department colleagues in Washington and around the world to advance progress for women and girls across the globe. Just a year ago, Secretary Clinton announced that the United States was taking steps to put women and girls front and center in our development work.

Looking for a way out of Afghanistan? Maybe it's time to try something totally different, like putting into action, for the first time in history, the most enlightened edict ever passed by the United Nations Security Council: Resolution 1325.

OPEN LETTER TO MEMBER STATES OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL Re: Res 1960 7 January 2011 Subject: UNSCR 1960 and the need for focus on full implementation of UNSCR 1325

Excellency,

Femlinkpacific, as a member of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders has been part of an open letter campaign sent to members of the Security Council calling for maintaining the mandates of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women and Peace and Security.

They want to highlight all subsequent resolutions on women, especially those calling for the prevention of sexual abuse and rape.

On the first day of the New Year, history was made when the newest agency of the United Nations, UN Women, became operational with a mandate to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. The new agency launched pretty quietly with no major celebration, despite representing a major step in the right direction for the United Nations, which has not made enough progress to advance gender equality.

This week, voters are flooding the polls in Sudan to vote on a referendum to allow the South to secede and form its own, independent country. Despite concerns of violence and unrest, the vote has been largely peaceful and is expected to yield a victory for the independence movement. However, despite the success so far, not enough has been to done to involve women in the peace-building process.