Asia

Afghan women peace activists marked the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325 by coming together to discuss and agree on a range of key issues for women and peace in Afghanistan.

Aimed at empowering women to take on leadership roles in their families, communities and societies, Aurat Foundation on Monday launched the Urdu translation of an international leadership training handbook for women titled ‘Pasand ki Janib (Leading To Choices).'

UNIFEM and leading women and civil society organisations in Pakistan organised “Open Day 1325” here the other day to mark the 10th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325. The resolution, unanimously adopted on October 31, 2000, has a special significance that stresses the necessity to involve women in conflict prevention, peace building and post-conflict reconstruction.

The reconciliation process that is part of the Yellow Ribbon Project needs to be carefully scrutinized when dealing with perpetrators of rape and sexual abuse.

"I am a firm believer in forgiveness, however, the process of forgiving and reconciliation in the incidence where the crime of rape has occurred needs to be looked at in depth," said Shamima Ali of the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre.

For the first time, abuse of women and children will become a focal point of discussion at the Cakaudrove Provincial Council meeting in Yaroi this week.

The revelation by police that the northern division has the highest number of sexual assault cases is alarming according to the Roko Tui Cakaudrove Ro Aca Mataitini.

Ro Aca said the issue needs to be tackled head on.

President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III is faced with big expectations from a country disillusioned with the alleged excesses of the previous administration.

But unlike most people who resorted to wish lists and plain accusations, a women's group opted to do it in style -- through a fashion show.

When Yenny Wahid became an assistant to her father, the former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, a decade ago, officials asked her to sit separately from him at public events. She was a woman, and sitting next to a man - especially the president - was seen as taboo in the socially conservative country, home of the world's largest Muslim population.

Uzbekistan on Monday issued a plea for international aid to cope with tens of thousands of refugees from Kyrgyzstan, saying it can accept no more people fleeing ethnic bloodshed there.

"We need humanitarian aid from international organisations," the country Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Aripov said, during a visit to a swelling refugee camp near Uzbekistan's border with Kyrgyzstan.

In the wake of increasing cases of domestic violence and sexual offences the Fiji Police Force is organizing a symposium on Elimination of Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence.

The symposium is being organized in conjunction with the Ministry for Women and Social welfare at the end of the month.

The top United Nations envoy to Timor-Leste has underscored the need for dialogue to bring an end to gender-based violence in the fledgling South-East Asian nation.

Yesterday, Ameerah Haq, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, visited Covalima, a district in the country's southwest, where she visited a safe house, home to women who have been targets of domestic or sexual violence.