Asia

Women who fled conflict and oppression in military-ruled Burma have become a potent political force during their lives in exile, says a leading women's rights activist from the South-east Asian country's Shan ethnic minority.Nothing confirms this more than the fact that the Women's League of Burma (WLB), a network of 13 women's groups in exile based in this northern Thai city, marked its 10th anniversary in December 2009.

The motivation behind a new political party in Solomon Islands is to get more women into parliament.

It's the first party since independence in 1978 with a charter focusing on women's issues.

It's called the 'Twelve Pillars to Peace and Prosperity Party' or TP4.

However, membership is not restricted to women, anyone who identifies with the 12 pillars contained in the party's charter are welcome to join.

Earlier this year, Sharia police arrested a 20-year-old college student and her boyfriend for indecency; they had been spending time together even though they were not legally married.

Her boyfriend was released, but she was detained and then allegedly raped by three policemen. Two of the men are on trial, while the third is at large.

Amnesty International has welcomed a decision by the Philippine government to implement a United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution, which aims to ensure the protection of women's rights during armed conflict and post-conflict situations.

The Philippine government launched the National Action Plan (NAP) on Women Peace and Security in Quezon City, on Friday, 26 March. "This is a step in the right direction.

Women leaders attending a United Nations-hosted conference in Madrid today called for a just and peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including an end to the three-year-old blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Whenever Sri Lankan rights activist Shereen Xavier attends a meeting related to her work in this war-battered northern capital, she makes sure to be dressed in a sari, a traditional gown worn by South Asian women.

The Nobel Women's Initiative and the Women's League of Burma have launched the final report for the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women of Burma.

Concluding a two-day conference bringing together government leaders and nearly 100 experts on women's human and political rights and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the International Women's Commission for a Just and Sustainable Israeli-Palestinian Peace (IWC) reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening their joint action to call for concerted action to end the occupation and achieve a two-state solution based on the 4 June 1967 borders, a

Female migrants to Delhi from India's north-east are increasingly being subjected to sexual attacks made worse by police attitudes

Women from Tribal Areas Yearn the Opportunities Opened Up by Education