General Women, Peace and Security

The deputy minister for Gender, Child and Social Welfare Dr. Priscilla Nyanyang Joseph has called on women to learn and claim their human rights as enshrined in the constitution.

“When women know they have rights in the constitution, they will be able to stand up and claim their rights; because rights are claimed, they are not given”, said Dr. Nyanyang.

As we mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, we appeal to everyone to participate in promoting “Peace in the Home by Challenging Militarism and Ending Violence against Women”- in line with this year's global theme.

As ACFODE celebrates her 26th birthday this month, and as the country prepares for the 16 Days of Activism Campaign Against Gender Based Violence (GBV), ACFODE wishes to express concern over the high levels of violence against women in Uganda, and to emphasize that such acts are a violation of their human rights, peaceful existence in homes, communities and in the nation.

On October 31, 2000, the UN Security Council (UNSC) unanimously passed resolution 1325. The resolution marked the first time that the body recognized the unique impact of armed conflict on women—and women's undervalued role in peacebuilding. As Sanam-Naraghi Anderlini, who was a civil society drafter of the resolution, described, the resolution was spurred by the wars of the 1990s.

UNAMID organized today in El Fasher, North Darfur, an open day on the progress in the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security under the theme “Women count for peace”. More than 100 women from Darfur's three states participated in the event, including officials from the state governments, legislators and UN agencies.

Two weeks ago in Los Angeles the Skirball Cultural Center launched their "Women Hold Up Half the Sky" exhibit, inspired by the acclaimed book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. The book was co-written by Pulitzer Prize winning journalists and husband and wife team, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, and addresses the oppression of women and girls worldwide.

In a society like Sudan in which men occupy the vast majority of leadership positions, one might be surprised to know that it was women who made up the majority of voters in the South Kordofan state gubernatorial elections in May 2011.

The population of the world reached 7 billion on Oct. 31, 2011. According to UN projections there will be an additional 3 billion or more people by the end of the century.

Unfortunately, there are millions of women in developing countries who are unable to determine their family size because of a lack of access to contraceptives.

The 11 candidates contesting presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo all pledge to improve peace and security in the country - promises received with varying degrees of scepticism by Congolese voters.

Many of the world's women are moving closer to gender equality, but substantial gaps remain between men and women in health, education and, particularly, political and economic participation in a number of countries, including some of the most developed, according to a new global report.