General Women, Peace and Security

As part of the Global Open Day for Women and Peace, 20 women from civil society and community-based organizations in Kenya came together in Nairobi on 7 July to discuss issues related to the inclusion of women in processes of conflict resolution, peace negotiations and peacebuilding.

"We do not have an open conflict right nowbut guns keep taking their toll within communities still today," says Josefina Sandemba, a pastor from the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola (IECA) who was briefing a Living Letters team visiting the country on behalf of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in late July.

Bassam al-Kadi heads the Syrian Women's Observatory, which aims to change the way both the government and the culture regard women in Syria.

Three decades of wars, massacres and sectarian killings have left Iraq with as many as a million widows, by Iraqi government count. Hameeda Ayed is one of them.

A certain hallowed ritual around the United Nations holds that to ensure a truly auspicious beginning, any new branch of the world body needs a really first-rate acronym.

So the new umbrella organization for women, which was unanimously approved by the General Assembly on Friday after years of haggling, seemed off to a rocky start, given that its acronym would be Unegeew.

The United Nations on Wednesday launched its first compilation of the best practices for its peacekeepers and other workers to prevent, deter and respond to the use of rape as a war tactic.

The booklet, titled: "Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence - An Analytical Inventory of Peacekeeping Practice", was launched at the UN headquarters in New York, US.

The UN is to set up a single agency dedicated to promote the rights of women and girls around the world. The UN General Assembly voted in favour of the body after four years of negotiations. The new UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women will be referred to as UN Women, officials said. It will start work at the beginning of next year and unify four existing UN divisions dealing with women's issues.

The First Lady, Her Excellency Mrs. Sia Nyama Koroma's second visit to the United States in less than a month for the 2nd Global Conference ‘WOMEN DELIVER' is a demonstration of her commitment to work along side her husband's progressive administration to improve the health and lives of women and children in Sierra Leone. Her party included her personal assistant Mrs.

"Laws are important, but they're not sufficient because often traditions are stronger than the implementation of laws." That's what the head of the UN Population Fund Thoraya Ahmed Obaid told a televised debate at UN Headquarters in New York on the role of culture in promoting the empowerment of women and upholding human rights. She said "culture is about ownership of change, ownership of how we live:

Women in Fiji will benefit from Australian efforts to reduce gender disparities in developing countries, under a new policy launched by the Australian Government.

Titled 'Gender Equality in Australia's Aid Program - why and how', the policy aims to reduce poverty by advancing gender equality and empowering women.

It highlights the link between gender equality, economic growth and sustainable development.