General Women, Peace and Security

As the Colombian Government prepares to meet with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Havana, Cuba, later this month for the second phase of the peace talks, the role of women – and in particular Afrodescendant women – in guaranteeing a successful peace effort requires support from the international community.

On the first day of the Eid el-Fitr celebrations, Cairo's Nile River promenade's sidewalks were crowded, and packed with young boys on the prowl. The few women on the streets were huddled in packs, braving the Eid holiday known for its rampant sexual harassment. When one boy grabbed a woman's breast and behind, she turned and yelled at him, she received a push from the perpetrator in response.

The violence between Israel and Palestine is increasing. – The civilian population of Gaza is being severely affected, regardless of socioeconomic status. Civilians have died, including a pregnant woman and several children, says Linda Öhman, working for the women's rights and peace organization The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation in Jerusalem.

Abeer Abu Ghaith, a poised young woman overflowing with optimism, works tirelessly to help Palestinian women achieve their dreams and improve their lives. She is just one of many women who are finding creative ways to overcome the restrictions Palestinians face in finding work and starting a business.

Given the news dominating the headlines this week (CIA sex scandals and an increasingly Orwellian surveillance apparatus), it is unsurprising that a report published by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), The State of the World Population 2012, received little attention.

Ana Angelica Bello, 45, was coming out of the Ministry of Justice in 2009 when two men bundled her into a car, put a gun against her head and sexually assaulted her. They told her she was being punished for her work as an activist for the nation's displaced population.

Lawmakers in Iran are preparing to consider legislation that may drastically alter an adult woman's ability to obtain a passport and travel outside the country.

The draft law, set to go before the 290-seat Majlis, stipulates that single women up to the age of 40 must receive official permission from their father or male guardian in order to obtain travel documents.

MADRE, an international women's human rights organization, condemns the growing violence that has killed at least 18 people in the past days: 15 in Gaza and three in Israel. We assert that all attacks against civilians must end immediately.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the Palestinian female police's violent dispersal of a women's sit-in in front of the headquarters of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service (PPS) in Hebron.

On a warm day late last month a crowd filed into a white tent outside the royal palaces in Amman to hear a much-anticipated speech by King Abdullah II on the country's political future.

“We are failing this generation,” said Abla Abu Elbeh, secretary general of the Jordanian People's Democratic Party and a former member of Parliament.