Asia

In some ways, the problem is pure maths. During the 11-year Nepalese civil war, which ended three years ago with the overthrow by Maoist guerrillas of the country's monarchy, about 40 per cent of the 19,000 Maoist cadres were women. The peace agreement stipulated that the fighters would be integrated into the 100,000-strong national army – only 2 per cent of which is female, with most of the women in clerical and nursing posts.

‘Give peace a chance' may just be another cliché for many, but for women who have suffered the ravages of war, endless strife and other forms of conflict, joining hands to find meaningful solutions to their collective aspiration lends it a whole new meaning.

When Kusum Lata, 40, decided to run for election in her village, she felt frightened. "I was extremely nervous as everything was new to me," says the mother of four. But the support of her family and friends inspired her.

She has not looked back since becoming a ‘sarpanch' (head of village-level government) of Gairsain village in Chamoli district in the picturesque mountain state of Uttarakhand.

Provincial authorities, community elders and women in Dai Kundi province met recently to discuss how to promote women participation in the civil service.

‘Give peace a chance' may just be another cliché for many, but for women who have suffered the ravages of war, endless strife and other forms of conflict, joining hands to find meaningful solutions to their collective aspiration lends it a whole new meaning.

Scores of former Maoist combatants, including women, were released from UN supervised camps today in Nepal's Chitwan district in the second phase of the process to rehabilitate the disqualified guerrillas as part of the 2006 peace process.

Finally the National Assembly passed the Protection Against Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2009 after the Criminal Law Amendment Bill was adopted by the Senate. The latter was part of the comprehensive bill passed by the National Assembly on workplace harassment and had been passed there in November 2009 but due to the opposition of the religious parties in the Senate, it faced some delay.

As a political activist and president of the women's wing of the Awami National Party (ANP), Zahira Khattak has been working relentlessly for the empowerment of women in the war-torn North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan. She believes that by empowering them, they can contribute more to the peace efforts in the region.

In Peshawar, Pakistan, the sermons of radical imams are carried on loudspeakers atop the minarets of mosques, and the words echo in the narrow streets.
The Pakistani Taliban is strong in Peshawar. In recent months, the Taliban leadership has used these radical sermons to step up recruitment of young fighters in their jihad against the Pakistani government and across the border in Afghanistan.

With the Jammu and Kashmir High Court more or less set to have more judges to deal with pending cases, history is likely to be made as the new appointments may include a woman candidate, sources said.
The union law ministry is likely to announce the appointment of judges against vacancies in the High Court very soon.