Asia

One of the most prominent women's organizations in the world has written a letter to the UN Secretary General, calling for an end to the Iraqi government's abuses and threats against the residents of Camp Ashraf.

Camp Ashraf, Iraq, is home to 3,400 members of the main Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

OVER the past decades, government has worked to promote Filipino women in every field of life. Various activities have been undertaken to implement recommendations and decisions made during various local and international conferences on women and development in general.

Azza Kamel, a women's rights advocate in Egypt, said the popular uprisings in her country and its neighbors are creating new opportunities for women.

“There was no difference between women who were veiled or not veiled,” Kamel said at the United Nations in New York, referring to the protests that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule last month. “The revolution created a land as free for women as for men.”

Perhaps for the first time since inception of armed militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, the Kashmiri women broke silence over the continued violence in the state of which the women folk has been the prime victim.

In June 2010 a brawl in the southern capital of Osh sparked four days of clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. Many of the predominantly Uzbek neighbourhoods were looted and burned to the ground, and at least 426 people of both ethnicities were killed.

Experts have predicted an increase in the incidents of violence against women (VAW) in future and termed the trend a natural product of new social order which allows larger space for women.

If you believe Central Asian women are reluctant to take part in politics, then think twice.

Three Kazakh women have so far applied for candidacy in the country's April 3 presidential election. A fourth female hopeful, pensioner Zaure Masina, has changed her mind and withdrawn her application.

Nepal launches National Action Plan on Women Peace & Security internationally

Nepal launched its National Action Plan (NAP) internationally on the Implementation of the United Nation Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) 1325 and 1820, at a special side event on the margin of the 55th Commission on the Status of Women in New York on Wednesday.

The US government launched a five-year ‘Gender Equity Programme' in Pakistan in 2011, to advance women's human rights and support Pakistani government's policies against gender inequities, says a press release issued here Wednesday.

Girls' education in Afghanistan, one of the biggest gains for women since the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban, is at risk because of insecurity, lack of funds and equipment and poor teacher-training, aid groups said on Thursday.

Women's education was banned under the government of the hardline Islamist group, now leading a growing insurgency, with only an estimated 5,000 girls in school.