General Women, Peace and Security

At the Bas Fond landfill in Mopti, residents sift through the rubbish, the dregs of other people's consumption. In a country as poor as Mali, they have to dig deep to find something for the keeping. The people living around this squalid waste disposal area are the poorest of the poor. Yet 16-year-old Fatoumata Traoré* would rather stay here than return to Tonka, the town in Mali's Timbuktu region she was forced to flee.

More than 38,000 children have taken part in Liberia's war as fighters, porters, and slaves throughout the country's bloody conflict. But stories of the former child soldiers of Charles Taylor's armies almost always focus on the boys. What has been largely unrecognized is that a significant number of these soldiers were girls.

Hundreds of women Thursday marched along the streets of the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, to protest against an increasing spate of rape cases in the country.

Headed by Women in the Media Sierra Leone (WIMSL), an affiliate body of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, the protesters who included non-media women were clad in symbolic black dresses. They marched through the streets with banners denouncing rape.

Inside a brightly painted Mogadishu clinic, Salim (not her real name) sits alongside her seven-year-old son, waiting for a check up. Opposite them, a health professional listens to their nightmarish ordeal.

The National Elections Commission (NEC) in collaboration with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) has commenced a two- day gender strategy and methodology workshop in Monrovia. The workshop, which is being held at a local hotel, started Wednesday with NEC Chairman Cllr. Jerome Korkoya, emphasizing the need for more women participation.

It's hard to underscore enough the role women have played in Liberia's recent history.

During the civil war years (1989-2003), rape of women and girls was used by rival factions to humiliate and instill fear, according to Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The United Nations has estimated more than 40,000 women were raped during the war years.

The Labor government's changes to immigration policy show a singular focus on stopping people seeking asylum in Australia and destroying the business of people smugglers. But unhappy prospects await the women and children who have fled conflict zones to seek asylum in Australia and find themselves in Papua New Guinea.

NEW YORK, July 31, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Reduction of Military Set for Next Year, Possible Further Drawdowns in 2015

A dozen women were seated in the courtyard underneath a traditional African roof. They were casually chatting while engrossed in stringing colourful beads. Some were making bracelets decorated with the South Sudanese flag to celebrate two years of the country's independence on July 9. For many, the income from selling their handicrafts here at the Roots Project is the first they have earned in their lives.

There is need to invest in women's empowerment and leadership in order for countries to achieve sustainable development.

Peter Malnak, USAID Rwanda Mission director, made the remarks yesterday while opening the first partners meeting for a Women's Leadership Programme in Kigali.

The Women's Leadership Programme is a USAID-supported project that operates in four countries worldwide: Rwanda, South Sudan, Armenia and Paraguay.