Asia

The fate of a gender equality bill pending in Indonesia's parliament and aligned with the United Nations convention on the elimination of all forms discrimination against women (CEDAW) has become uncertain after falling afoul of powerful Islamist groups.

Three Nepalese officials visited Kalinga to share their country's peace and security situation and its impact on women.

The sharing is in line with the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 calling on member states to give spaces for increased women's participation in decision-making processes.

Sameena Imtiaz, a soft-spoken, educated Pakistani social worker, operates in the midst of U.S. drone strikes and Taliban suicide bombings. She regularly travels to remote parts of her country in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, infamously known for the safe Al-Qadea and Taliban sanctuaries, to promote peace education among the radicalized young seminary students.

The impact of Iranian doctrines in the region is apparent throughout history. At one time Iran had a constitutional monarchy, which affected the entire region. Then it had a campaign for modernization during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi (1925-1941), the effects of which were felt throughout the region, once again. Nationalization of the oil industry in the 1950s also brought nationalism to the entire region.

Every morning in this mountain village in eastern Afghanistan, four dozen girls sneak through a square opening in a mud-baked wall, defying a Taliban edict.

The French Embassy and the UNWOMEN Arab States Sub-Regional Office signed on Wednesday an agreement to combat violence against women and enhance their human rights.

The recent election of José Maria de Vasconcelos, or Taur Matan Ruak as he is known, to the Presidency of Timor-Leste is not good news for women in that country.

Adding yet another member of the male military elite to a position of great prestige and power will not increase the political participation of women nor add to a culture of gender equity.

In "Distant View of a Minaret," the late and much-neglected Egyptian writer Alifa Rifaat begins her short story with a woman so unmoved by sex with her husband that as he focuses solely on his pleasure, she notices a spider web she must sweep off the ceiling and has time to ruminate on her husband's repeated refusal to prolong intercourse until she too climaxes, "as though purposely to deprive her."

The Indonesia National Dialogue with CSOs on National Action Plan P4K, organized by UNDP under the N-Peace initiative, 18-19 April 2012, begins today in Bali, Indonesia.