Asia

The United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) announced Wednesday awards of US$10 million in grants to 13 initiatives in 18 countries. The grants complete the UN Trust Fund's 14th grant-making cycle of 2009, delivering a total of US$20.5 million for 26 projects in 33 countries and territories.

Um Ali is scared. She says male relatives want to kill her and sell her daughters into marriages that are really sex-trafficking arrangements that put young women to work in brothels overseas.

She lives in hiding and relocates often. Her pulse accelerates every time an international text message pops into her cell phone.

"The world is small," wrote her brother in a recent threat.

Norwegian Deputy Minister for International Cooperation and Environment, Ingrid Fiskaa, underscored that for more women's representation, even if it is challenging for women to come to politics, in the peace and other political processes is a must for the country's prosperity.

Ofelia Lubat, 45, has nine children. Her youngest son Marvin who turned one last September looks malnourished. Em-em, her eighth child is naked and was as small as a three year-old child. Only four out of her nine children are going to school because they cannot afford the expenses. Her eldest son Micheal, 20, only finished grade 5. He is presently unemployed.

The reality of gender equality isn't the same as the Indonesia government would like the public to think, an Indonesian woman's rights activist told a packed auditorium at University of Guam last night.

Zohra Andi Baso, a prominent gender rights activist in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, spoke about the challenges women face in a predominantly Muslim country.

A Nobel Peace Prize nominee helps unveil a new center for gender studies at the University of Guam.
Zohra Andi Baso did the honors, cutting the ribbon to officially open the center.

More women could emerge as powerful political figures in Kyrgyzstan as the country prepares for weekend elections, a watchdog group says.

Kyrgyzstan has parliamentary elections Sunday, six months after supporters of Roza Otunbayeva overthrew the government of Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

ISLAMABAD: A two-day regional conference on gender and policing began on Tuesday at the Islamabad National Library. It was organised by Rozan, a non-governmental organization, in collaboration with the Ministry of Human rights and the Islamabad Police.

Steps should be taken to explore opportunities making police more responsible and responsive towards gender-based violence, said experts in inaugural session of a regional conference organised by Rozan in collaboration with Ministry for Human Rights and Islamabad police the other day.

The moot was titled ‘21st Century and policing in South Asia, Response towards Gender Based Violence: Challenges and Prospects'.

Two former Catholic nuns will lead a 15-woman peace corps that will monitor a ceasefire between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

“I believe that we can surmount any problem through organization and coalition work," one of the ex-nuns, Adel Nayal, said in an article posted on the Union of Catholic Asian News website.