General Women, Peace and Security

In the past two decades, experts monitoring the international arms trade recorded more than 500 violations of United Nations arms embargoes. Just two have resulted in trials and convictions.

Negotiations are (nearly) underway at UN headquarters in New York over a proposed Arms Trade Treaty. I say “nearly” because the official start of the negotiations were delayed this morning when the Arab League supported a motion to let Palestine participate as a full UN member state. When that happened, the USA and others walked out.

Ahead of July, when final negotiations will be held at the UN on the ATT initiative, several civil society groups and state parties (1) have called for the inclusion of gender in an ATT: to refer explicitly to gender-based violence in the Treaty text; and to ensure women's participation in the field of arms control more broadly.

The Bangladeshi government is attempting to register birth data online to combat high levels of child marriage. On 8 June in Bangladesh's western Khustia District, local media reported that 15-year-old Iva Parvin was to be married off by parents hiding her age, but local officials challenged the marriage and demanded proof that she had reached the legal marrying age of 18.

The Regional Women's Lobby (RLW), a network of women from seven countries in the Western Balkans, organized a roundtable entitled “Dialogue between women in Kosova”. The event provided a forum for women to discuss and share on how to integrate Serb women of northern Kosovo into Kosovo institutions and social life.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) committee has urged the government to prioritise adoption of legal provisions to fight discrimination against women.

The committee has sought a comprehensive programme including public education and awareness raising campaigns involving mass media as well as community and religious leaders to address multiple forms of discrimination.

Religious views do not stand in opposition to women's rights in the Arab world, says a survey of men and women from across the Middle East. The survey, conducted by the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, shows that no correlation exists between people's attitudes towards Shariah law and their level of support for women's rights.

The results show that other factors impact women more.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Zainab Hawa Bangura, currently the Minister of Health and Sanitation of Sierra Leone, as his new Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict.

She will replace Margot Wallström, a Swedish politician with a long history of defending women's rights, who had served in the position since it was created two years ago.

The New Democratic Party of Canada introduced a motion to the House of Commons to make Canada a leader in ending sexual violence in conflict worldwide. The motion was announced today shortly after 3 pm in the House of Commons.

Just over a week ago, the very first Dialogue for Action Africa was held in Libreville, Gabon. More than 550 individuals representing NGOs, businesses and governments from across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, India, China and the United States joined us to put forward their expertise in politics, health, education, development and business.