General Women, Peace and Security

Finland wants to make it easier for women to enter peacekeeping forces, but this could mean loosening physical fitness requirements.

Most Finnish peacekeepers carried out their military service as members of an elite crisis preparedness group. Last year 600 conscripts sought a spot on the team. Not a single woman made the cut. The test involves running 2,600 metres in 12 minutes.

In a historical protest against sexual violence against women hundreds of thousands of angry women and men spontaneously gathered in the streets in India, following the brutal 16 December gang rape and murder of a 23 year old student in Delhi.

“Now, not tomorrow”

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Irish minister of state for equality Kathleen Lynch has announced that she will be pushing for "tight, firm conclusions" on violence against women during Ireland's EU council presidency.

Speaking at a meeting of parliament's women's rights and gender equality committee, Lynch said, "We all agree that there is no country in Europe where violence against women is not a problem."

Mahasa sits in the dust outside the hut she built herself, holding her youngest son in her arms.

The 29-year-old mother of four knows how vulnerable she is. "I'm scared," she said.

A Somali freelance journalist has been detained without charge since 10 January after interviewing a woman who says she was raped by state security forces. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that Abdiaziz Abdinur was summoned by the Central Investigations Department (CID) last Thursday, in connection with the interview he conducted with the woman.

The Secretary General detailed the Alliance's efforts over the past year to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 in its operations and activities in his second annual report on this issue, which was released on Tuesday 15 January. Adopted in 2000, the Resolution recognizes the disproportionate effect of armed conflict on women and children.

Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside the prime minister's residence in Nepal for a 10th day to protest against the alleged rape and robbery of a maid by officials and other violence against women.

The protesters chanted slogans on Sunday demanding the government punish those involved in crimes against women and that authorities do more to protect women in the Himalayan nation.

The United States continues to be in the dubious company of six countries that have either refused or are reluctant to ratify the landmark U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Now a coalition of more than 100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs), human rights groups and women's organisations is renewing a longstanding demand for U.S. ratification of the treaty.