Asia

The radical changes in the Arab world mean women's rights groups face the major challenge of campaigning for both equality before the law and political democratisation simultaneously. The Cairo-based non-government organisation Karama has created a platform on which the region's activists can engage in debate.

Sri Lanka says the country has taken concrete steps to address the issue of violence against women, in line with its zero tolerance policy on gender based violence.

We awoke one morning in Kabul to the sound of not-too-distant explosions, marking the start to the fighting season. But bombs were not the foremost takeaway from our Mother's Day trip to Afghanistan -- the women fighting to stop the bombs left a more lasting impression.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 12 June) –The lead convener in the Global Campaign on Women, Peace and Security dubbed “#Women Seriously” and launched in London on June 12 is a Mindanawon: Irene Santiago of the Mindanao Commission on Women (MCW), who conceived the idea for the campaign.

MANILA – “We are ready to share our experiences in the hopes of inspiring similar stories of success for our sisters—our peers—involved in peace tables around the world,” said Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles as she expressed her sentiment during a brief address in the recent cocktail reception co-organized by the embassies in the Philippines of the United Kingdom of Great Britain a

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – In the early days of Syria's uprising, many women called on men not to take up arms in response to the Syrian government's brutal clampdown on street protests. Now, they are trying to build peace between supporters of rebel groups and supporters of the government.

There is only so much sexual violence against women I can watch before the knot in my gut and roar in my throat forces action. On this occasion I stood up and walked out. But UK Foreign Secretary William Hague didn't - apparently. And just as well.

Seven men have been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting women at Sunday's celebrations for the inauguration of Egypt's new president.

The arrests come amid growing outrage over a graphic video that appears to show a woman being stripped naked and attacked in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

It is not clear when it was filmed, but witnesses told the BBC similar assaults had taken place there on Sunday night.

The United States government has recognised Bougainville women for their contribution to peace building before, during and after the Crisis.

EM TV reports that a two year $US1.5 million, 'Women's Peace Building Initiative Project' is to be implemented in the autonomous Papua New Guinea province, to support more inclusive, sustainable and transparent economic growth.

Women from around the region are in Fiji to learn how to influence social change, and to take that influence beyond the community level.
Women from Bougainville, West Papua, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Kenya are attending the training course hosted by the Pacific Centre for Peacebuilding

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The centre's executive director, Koila Costello-Olsson, says there is a need for more women in influential positions.