Asia

Women in Israel have very different views on what the basic threats against their security are, depending on factors as ethnicity, health status and socio-economic conditions. That is one of the major findings in the Israeli Women's Security Index, a survey based on interviews made with more than 700 women, both Jewish and Palestinian, living in the country.

Peace building efforts between India and Pakistan are not for bilateral talks at the diplomatic level alone. People-to-people contact, as they have been saying, is vital.

GNWP is back in Nepal for part two of its Localization and United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820 program, first instigated here in Nepal, in June 2011

In armed conflict, the experiences of women are varied. From victims to survivors, and from peace-builders to perpetrators of conflict, the categories of classification are indeed numerous. In the context of the conflict in Kashmir, however, what are the new opportunities that have been created for them? And what are their roles in it?

Leaders of 15 Pacific Island nations have pledged to remove barriers to women's economic empowerment, end violence against women and pave the way for their increased political representation, at the conclusion of the 43rd Pacific Islands Forum in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, last week. The meeting was also attended by the Executive Director of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet.

Four recent cases of women slain allegedly at the hand of either a husband or father have prompted women and human rights groups to demand tougher Palestinian laws against domestic violence.

Several female activists marched through the streets of Bethlehem on Thursday demanding justice for women in a patriarchal and traditional society. They also demanded severe punishment for men who kill or batter a female family member.

“The daily toil and toll of keeping and making peace can challenge even the most persevering among us,” Secretary Teresita “Ging” Quintos Deles, of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp), has said.

Suleman Khan demanded justice from the tribal elders. His wife had slept with another man, he said, and he wanted their permission to seek revenge. The elders deliberated for an hour, and then announced their verdict: Punish the man and his family any way you see fit.

Awareness of the National Action Plan initiative – on women, peace and security – has been woefully inadequate in the Far Western region.

When the multi-country research programme that I direct, Pathways of Women's Empowerment, began its search for inspiring examples of empowerment, in 2006, few might have imagined it would take us to a collective of sex workers in a town in the heart of Maharashtra in India.