General Women, Peace and Security

At this juncture in human history, women and girls who have lived under some of the most repressive regimes might be afforded the window of opportunity to be released from traditions that have robbed them of the ability to develop to their fullest potential.

In the CNN-ised global village, we all stood in awe and disbelief when we viewed the dramatic political and social changes that taking place in North Africa and the Middle East.

Dozens of women in the war-torn Afghan capital took part in a march for peace ahead of the traditional new year, calling on the all parties to the conflict to ensure a violence-free year.

The march marked the launch of a three-day civil society peace campaign.

Egyptian and Tunisian women's role in post-revolutionary governments was a major concern at the high-powered “Women in the World” summit this past weekend, hosted by Newsweek and Daily Beast editor Tina Brown. Speakers such as Melinda Gates, Madeline Albright and Melanne Verveer devoted three days to discussing the importance of investing in women worldwide.

Decades of armed conflict, ongoing violence and high unemployment have left millions of men and women in Iraq struggling to make ends meet and care for their families. Basic services such as health care, the supply of clean drinking water and sanitation remain largely inaccessible outside large population centres. In many places, very little funding and few services are available to help needy people.

At the 15th annual Women in the World conference, held in New York City last Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced her concern about the future of women's rights in the Middle East:

The United Nations human rights office and the national commission on caste-based discrimination in Nepal have urged the Government to fulfil its stated commitment to end all forms of discrimination, saying the problem was widespread and a cause of conflict in the Asian country.

Basing on the experience of her mother, Dr. Ana Lua Tubban, wife of Mayor Ferdinand Tubban, who was the guest speaker during the Women's Day celebration in the city on March 8, said that women of today are better off than their counterparts in the 1950s when it comes to discrimination against their sex.

To appease "Arab spring" protesters, Algeria lifted a 1991 law that banned public assembly, but a longstanding women's vigil for the country's "disappeared" complains it doesn't help them. Other political women debate the effects.

The violence in Côte d'Ivoire has gotten so that women sitting at a vegetable stall mid-afternoon can end up in pools of blood on the ground in an instant.

A mortar attack that killed at least 25 people in the commercial capital Abidjan on 17 March came from military forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo and “could constitute a crime against humanity”, says the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI).

"Let's take a moment of silence for our sisters and brothers in Cote d'Ivoire," she said.

Recent images of women brutally slaughtered in Ivory Coast resonate with Liberians. During the country's 14 years of civil war, which ended in 2003, women were routinely targeted.

Jerome Verdier, chairman of Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said rape was used by every fighting faction as a tactic of war.