General Women, Peace and Security

When Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote a year-end op-ed piece for an Australian newspaper last week, he talked about the future of a world body facing a new generation of threats: climate change, poverty, nuclear disarmament and human rights.

But, wittingly or unwittingly, he left out one of the biggest political success stories of the world body: the creation of a separate body, UN Women, to promote gender empowerment worldwide.

In modern times, Kashmir is known more for violence less for scenic beauty. Two decades conflict has not only done irreparable loss to life and property but has done unimaginable harm to the women folk, who are at the receiving end directly and indirectly.

Eleven African governments have pledged to ensure an effective regional mechanism to address sexual violence against women and children in a regional event sponsored by UNDP.

Aid agencies and donors are still failing to take into account the relief and security needs of women displaced by disasters and conflicts. Time is ripe to set action behind the resolutions adopted by the international community.

Crisis and trouble in the world dominate the headlines, but a woman's world remains silent and unnoticed.

Through every set back women still dare to smile from the mountains of Bougainville to the shores of Solomon, Fiji and Tonga.

More is being asked of the United Nations by more people in more places.

The United Nations today leads what seems at times like a double life. Pundits criticise it for not solving all the world's ills, yet people around the world are asking it to do more, in more places, than ever before - a trend that will continue in 2011.

UN Women, the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, will come into operation from January 1, 2011.

UN Women was created by the United Nations General Assembly on July 2, 2010 to accelerate progress in meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide.

The United Nations made history today as UN Women, the UN agency dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, has officially begun its work. This ambitious new organization consolidates and scales up UN actions to achieve gender equality, offering the promise of accelerated progress in realizing the rights of women worldwide.

Bangladesh, with two women leaders dominating the country's political scene both as Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, has called for women empowerment and recruitment of women in senior positions of the United Nations.

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to name and shame individuals and parties to armed conflict that are "credibly suspected" of committing rape or other forms of sexual violence.