Focus on the 53rd CSW

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Issue:

106

1. EDITORIAL
Sam Cook

As we move into March, women from around the world are gathering in New York for the 53rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women. We have made the CSW the focus for this edition of the PeaceWomen 1325 E-News. While the CSW session is filled with many events, and while it is an important space for women to gather and collaborate, it is also a time for governments to get serious about meeting their commitments. More than anything, it is an opportunity for the UN and governments to really listen to women's voices. These voices will be raised at the CSW and we look forward to this being a CSW session in which NGO voices are given space and credence.

This edition of the E-News includes some of those voices and also provides useful resources and information for women, peace and security advocates attending the session and for those who are unable to do so. Our Feature Resources section (Item 6) contains some wonderful resources for those coming to the CSW to negotiate the space and to engage in more effective advocacy. In our Feature Events section (Item 3) are links to the CSW pages created on our website (www.peacewomen.org) that we will update during the session with the latest documents – with a focus on women, peace and security issues. Of particular interest will be the Commission's review of the previously Agreed Conclusions on the “equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes at all level” adopted at the 50th Session of the CSW. As the NGO Working Group Statement for the CSW (Item 7) notes, “concrete results remain very inconsistent…particularly with regard to women's participation in pace processes, UN leadership positions, national justice systems, and programs for the disarmament, demobilization, reintegration (DDR) of women and men associated with fighting forces.” And as our News section (Item 2) shows, challenges remain around the world to realizing gender equality and the promotion and protection of women's human rights. These challenges and gaps in implementation of commitments to gender equality must be addressed. For WILPF and our NGO partners in the Gender Equality Architecture Reform Campaign, addressing these gaps in implementation requires the active support of governments for the creation of a new women's entity at the UN. These demands are included in the GEAR campaign statement to the CSW in our Feature Statement section (Item 4).

We look forward to this CSW being one in which not only are new and real commitments made, but in which governments really tackle the serious obstacles that remain. We will, in our next edition of the E-News be featuring a review of the session and we encourage you to send us your reviews for publication.

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As always, we welcome your contributions to the newsletter's content. Contributions for the next edition should be sent to info@peacewomen.org by Thursday 22 January 2009.

SIERRA LEONE: “FORCED MARRIAGE” CONVICTION A FIRST
February 26, 2009 (IRIN) - FREETOWN- The Special Court for Sierra Leone on 25 February convicted three former leaders of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), marking the first time a court has convicted on the charge of “forced marriage”.

UN-BACKED WORKSHOP TO BOOST THE STATUS OF POLICEWOMEN IN COTE D'IVOIRE
February 25, 2009 - (UNNews) Improving the status and effectiveness of women, whose numbers have risen steadily in the past decade, in the police force of the Côte d'Ivoire is the subject of a new training course organized by the United Nations mission known as UNOCI in the West African country.

NIGERIA: GROUP IDENTIFIES REASONS WHY WOMEN HAVE NOT PROSPERED IN POLITICS
February 20, 2009 - (allAfrica) Lack of confidence, minimum grasp of universal social etiquette and lack of access to credible role models for the Nigerian female folks are reasons why Nigerian women have not prospered in politics, C&M Training, a Nigerian group in the Diaspora with headquarters in London has said.

AMAZON SELLING RAPE SIMULATION GAME
February 18, 2009 - (AWID) A game that involves the player stalking victims and then raping them in a virtual world is being offered for sale by online retailer Amazon.com, the Belfast Telegraph's website can reveal.

WORLD YWCA CALLS FOR END TO THE VIOLENCE AS POWER STRUGGLE IN MADAGASCAR CONTINUES
February 16, 2009 - (YWCA) World YWCA has joined with other women's organisations around the globe to call for end to the violence in Madagascar. More than 100 people have died in violent clashes during the political turmoil that has rocked the country. On February 7, police fired at opposition supporters marching toward the presidential palace, killing at least 25 people.

WOMEN JOURNALISTS ATTACKED AFTER REPORTING ON FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION IN SIERRA LEONE
February 12, 2009 - (Feminist Majority Foundation) Four female journalists were brutally attacked last week by a pro-female genital mutilation (FGM) group in Kenema, Sierra Leone.

WOMEN POLITICIANS CALL FOR A MORE INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY IN LATIN AMERICA
February 13, 2009 - (INSTRAW) The project "Strengthening Governance with a Gender Perspective and the Political Participation of Women at the Local Level in Latin America", has contributed to greater debate around the issue of women's political participation at the local level in the political, academic and media fields.

WOMAN FIGHTER FIRST IN LINE IN SUDAN'S UN-BACKED DEMOBILIZATION PROGRAMME
February 12, 2009 – (UN NEWS CENTRE) A woman was the first ex-combatant to be demobilized in this week's historic launch of a United Nations-backed programme aimed at coaxing 180,000 ex-fighters from Sudan's two-decades long north-south civil war back into civilian life.

RWANDA: WORKING TOGETHER AS WOMEN FOR WOMEN
February 12, 2009 - (AllAfrica) The Forum of Rwandan Women Parliamentarians (FFRP) last week held a retreat to strengthen the partnership between its members to develop gender empowerment on political level.

RH REALITY CHECK: A NEW DAWN IN BOLIVIA: CONSTITUTION EXTENDS NEW PROTECTIONS FOR WOMEN
February 11, 2009 - (AWID) Following a referendum on January 26, 2009, Bolivia has a new constitution, with initial results suggesting that almost two-thirds of the turnout voted in favor.

RWANDA: GENDER VIOLENCE LAW TO BE PASSED IN TWO WEEKS
February 11, 2009 - (AllAfrica) Kigali — The long-awaited special law against Gender Based Violence (GBV) is expected to be published in the next two weeks, Cabinet Affairs Minister Charles Murigande revealed yesterday.

UNDERSTANDING AND RESPONDING TO THE MANGALORE ASSAULTS
February 11, 2009 - (SACW) How should we in the women's movement understand and respond to the cluster of assaults by the Rama Sene, Bajrang Dal and other fundamentalists; the targeting of minorities and their places of worship; the harassment and molestation of women of all classes in the name of nation, culture and religion; the fear and anger spreading through villages and towns in southern-coastal Karnataka?

MOZAMBIQUE: MORE WORK NEEDED TO CURB DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
February 10, 2009 - (AllAfrica) Maputo — Awareness messages against domestic violence, particularly against women and children, are not yet reaching the target public or are insufficient to break the social and cultural barriers that hinder the efforts to fight against this type of behaviour, a senior police officer has warned.

ZIMBABWE: 'AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY'
February 9, 2009 - (AllAfrica) Harare — As Zimbabwe's government of national unity begins its work, gender activists are pushing for a greater place for women in decision-making.

IRAQ: MINISTER OF WOMEN'S AFFAIRS TENDERS RESIGNATION
February 9, 2009 - (IRIN) BAGHDAD- Nawal al-Samaraie, minister for women's affairs, tendered her resignation on 3 February, saying she lacked the resources to implement her plans to help improve women's lives.

RWANDA: KIGALI CITY TOPS GENDER CRIME LIST
February 7, 2009 - (AllAfrica) Kigali — The three districts that make up Kigali City have been reported to have the highest reported figures of the gender-based violence (GBV).

SENATOR BOXER TO CHAIR FOREIGN RELATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON GLOBAL WOMEN'S ISSUES
February 6, 2009 - (Feminist Daily Newswire) Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) will chair the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women's Issues. This is the first time in history where women's issues will be a specific focus of a foreign relations subcommittee.

WOMEN MUST BE INCLUDED IN SOLVING GLOBAL ECONOMIC MELTDOWN, UN SAYS
February 6, 2009 – (UN News Centre) Governments must give women a key role in making decisions aimed at resolving the current global economic crisis, which is likely have a serious impact on the full realization of gender equality, a United Nations committee warned today.

TIMOR-LESTE: TACKLING HUMAN TRAFFICKING
February 4, 2009 - (IRIN) Human trafficking is a growing problem in Timor-Leste, but despite an increase in the number of potential victims identified, there has not been a single conviction.

RWANDA: STOPPING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE THROUGH THEATER
February 3, 2009 - (AllAfrica) Although Rwanda is striving to become a gender-equal nation, gender-based domestic violence is still widespread. A theater group has embarked on a crusade against the scourge.

PAKISTAN: ACID ATTACK VICTIMS SUFFER IN SILENCE
February 3, 2009 - (IRIN) - “I want acid thrown on his face and body”, said Maria Shah, aged 25, a lady health worker from Shikarpur, some 500km from Karachi. The victim of an acid attack for refusing to marry a man, Shah sits on a bench outside the Burns Centre of Karachi's Civil Hospital, shooing away flies with her bandaged arms. Her half-burnt face betrays signs of once beautiful features.

UGANDA: EDUCATE A WOMAN, EDUCATE A NATION
February 3, 2009 - (AllAfrica) Kampala — The O'level results released on Friday show a large disparity between the male and female performance levels. In all the districts except five, the boys performed better than the girls.

RWANDA: WOMEN MPS HOLD RETREAT
February 3, 2009 - (AllAfrica) Kigali — The Forum for Rwanda Women Parliamentarians (FFRP) is scheduled to hold its first retreat today, says a statement released by the organisation.

SOUTH AFRICA: CABINET TO CONSIDER CONCEPT PAPER ON WOMEN'S MINISTRY
February 3, 2009 - (AllAfrica) Pretoria — A concept paper for the establishment of a Ministry for Women and Gender Affairs is to be presented to Cabinet for consideration.

MAGHREB WOMEN'S ASSOCIATIONS CALL FOR END TO DISCRIMINATION IN INHERITANCE
Februart 2, 2009 - (AWID) Laws and legislations do not leave enough room for the change, women activists said. "We also have to change our means of defence," one activist told listeners.

AFGHANISTAN: LITTLE HEALTH CARE FOR WOMEN IN PAKTIKA PROVINCE
February 1, 2009 - (IRIN) There is not a single female doctor in Paktika province, provincial health officials say. “I will not take my wife to a male doctor even if she dies,” said Pir Gul from Paktika Province, southeastern Afghanistan, explaining that such a thing went against tradition.

STILL IN SHOCK, GAZA WOMEN TELL THEIR STORIES
January 30, 2009 - (Women's E-News) There may be a ceasefire here, but no there's no cessation to the suffering of women who survived this month's 22-day war. "We've seen horror movies before but nothing looked more real than this one," Kawther Abed Rabo, who lives in the northern city of Ezbet Abed Rabo, said shortly before the end of the war.

RWANDA: UN-BACKED UNIT CHARGED WITH PUSHING GENDER EQUALITY TO FORE
January 30, 2009 - (UN News Centre) Rwanda has appointed three officials to a new government body charged with putting gender equality at the forefront of Government planning and ensuring that necessary data is readily available to inform policy decisions, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) said today.

WILL IRAQ'S NEW QUOTA SYSTEM GIVE WOMEN MORE POLITICAL POWER?
January 29, 2009 - (Institute for War and Peace Reporting) Iraqi women are set to take more power in local governments as the country prepares to elect its first provincial councils with guaranteed seats for female leaders. A law that sets aside about 25 percent of seats for women in provincial councils is raising hopes of a new era where women hold political power on a local level.

BANGLADESH: WOMEN MOVE FORWARD BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN
January 27, 2009 - (IRIN) Women in Bangladesh have taken a significant step towards greater equality, chalking up a parliamentary milestone: nearly 20 percent of seats are to be filled by women.

WHERE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IS RAMPANT
January 27, 2009 - (HRW) Papua New Guinea has made the international news again with a horrific story to reinforce stereotypes about the country: sorcery, sex, and fire. On January 6, a group of men reportedly stripped a woman naked, bound her hands and feet, stuffed a cloth in her mouth, and burned her alive on a dumpsite. Rumor has it that she had "confessed" to having eaten a man's heart. But in all likelihood, this will turn out to be a more typical story from that country: a brutal killing of a woman that goes unprosecuted, unpunished, and forgotten.

ROCKY ROAD FOR IRAQ WOMEN CANDIDATES
January 25, 2009 - (IslamOnline) Nibras al-Mamour is one of thousands of women candidates registered for Iraq's upcoming provincial elections, but like many fellow female politicians, she believes there are still many roadblocks on the road.

PAKISTAN/INDIA: WOMEN BEAT UNORTHODOX PATHS TO PEACE
January 24, 2009 - (IPS) As high-profile delegations from Pakistan visit India after the launch of a month-long cross-border signature campaign to press for resumption of dialogue between the two countries and call for peace, IPS interviewed three Pakistani women who are pushing this agenda in their own unorthodox ways.

LUBANGA TRIAL A LANDMARK CASE
January 23, 2009 - (IWPR) First international case in which use of child soldiers prosecuted as war crime. The trial of Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, which begins on January 26, is considered a milestone for human rights, international justice, and the International Criminal Court, ICC, in The Hague.

ANGOLA: OFFICIAL CALLS FOR CREATION OF LAW CRACKING DOWN ON GENDER VIOLENCE
January 23, 2009 - (AllAfrica) Luanda — The Head of Department of Family Policy Board of the Provincial Family and Women Promotion, Jose Laurindo, defended Friday here, the need of creating a law to crack down cases of domestic violence.

WORKING TOGETHER TO RAISE MONEY FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS
January 23, 2009 - (AWID) Founded three years ago, the Latin American Consortium of Women's Funds consists of seven women's funds in the Latin American region. The Consortium has become one of the most innovative feminist strategies for collectively mobilizing resources. AWID interviews Emillienne de Leon of Semillas, one of the women's funds that belong to the Consortium.

WOZA LEADERS IN COURT FOR REMAND HEARING
January 22, 2009 - (SWRadioAfrica) On Thursday, a Bulawayo magistrate set aside a ruling on a case against the leaders of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), who are facing two ‘nuisance' charges for organizing demonstrations.

THE STATE AND STATUS OF WOMEN IN PAKISTAN
January 22, 2009 - (TheNews) For many years we have been witnessing women being prevented to participate in the electoral process both as voters and candidates. Shamelessly, despite their cutthroat competition, the religious and so-called liberal parties engaged in this fraud. And the Election Commission of Pakistan has never taken any action against this clear violation of its code of conduct. In addition, the state has been ominously silent on the closure and burning of girls' schools and women's colleges in some parts of the country.

WOMEN ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS OF REGIONAL POLLS IN IRAQ, INSISTS UN ENVOY
January 22, 2009 - (UN News) In the run-up to provincial polling across Iraq at the end of the month, the top United Nations official to the war-torn country today stressed that the full participation of women is imperative for the success of the elections.

WOMEN MAY WIN SEATS, NOT RIGHTS, IN IRAQI POLL
January 21, 2009 - (Reuters) More than a quarter of the 14,431 candidates registered for Iraq's provincial council elections are women, but college student Fatma Imad sees few women's faces on the posters plastered across her neighbourhood.

HRW URGES AZERBAIJAN TO DROP LIBEL CASE AGAINST RIGHTS ACTIVIST LEYLA YUNUS
January 21, 2009 - (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Human Rights Watch (HRW) is urging the Azerbaijani government to immediately withdraw its libel case against rights activist Leyla Yunus. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has accused Yunus of "insulting" the ministry and causing "moral damage" to the reputation of the police after giving an interview in which she questioned the conduct of a kidnapping trial in which a defendant had alleged police involvement.

PROGRESS ON GENDER EQUALITY WILL MEAN IMPROVEMENTS FOR ALL IN SOCIETY
January 21, 2009 – (UN News Centre) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today encouraged top government officials from around the world gathered in Guatemala City to push for greater progress on gender equality, stressing that women's empowerment is key to realizing other major international development targets.

UN OFFICIAL APPLAUDS LIBERIAN POLICE AFTER A RECORD NUMBER OF FEMALE OFFICERS GRADUATE
January 20, 2009 – (UN News) A record number of over 100 newly-trained women police officers, making up two-thirds of the cadets completing the training for the Liberia National Police (LNP), prompted a senior United Nations official to hail the progress made since the first batch of recruits passed through the gates of the National Police Training Academy in 2005.

WOMEN'S LEAGUE OF BURMA: STATEMENT ON THE FIFTH CONGRESS OF THE WOMEN'S LEAGUE OF BURMA
January 20, 2009 – (BurmaNet News) The Fifth Congress of the Women's League of Burma was held in a liberated area near the Thai-Burma border from 15–17 January, 2009. It was attended by fifty-five representatives from member organizations, the Secretariat and working teams of the Fourth Congress Term (2007-2008). Representatives to the Congress reviewed the programs, agreed upon WLB's policies and future work plans, amended the constitution, and shared ideas and suggestions on how to improve the implementation of the WLB's programs.

TALIBAN RESTRICT WOMEN'S EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN
January 18, 2009 - (The Independent World) Thousands of young women living in a part of Pakistan once considered the country's most idyllic tourist destination have been prevented from going to school after an order from Taliban forces which have seized control of much of the area.

CAMEROON: ARMED CONFLICT REPORTING FEMALE COMMUNICATORS IN SCHOOL
January 16, 2009 - (AllAfrica) A three-day workshop grouping journalists from the CEMAC zone is currently taking place in Yaounde.In a bid to respond to specific communication needs in times of conflict, the Cameroon chapter of the International Association ofWomen in Radio and Television is currently organising a three-day workshop under the theme "the role and the status of female communicators within the framework of armed conflicts, international violence, and the support and promotion of peace operations in the CEMAC zone".

KAZAKHSTAN: YOUNG TURKMEN WOMAN AWARDED WITH ROTARY PEACE FELLOWSHIP AWARD
January 16, 2009 - (Times of Central Asia) Gozel Arazmedova of Ashgabat is being sponsored by the Rotary Club of Almaty in Kazakhstan. Therefore, she will attend the University of North Carolina, USA, to study peace and conflict resolution.

FIRST AFGHAN WOMAN MAYOR SAYS WOMEN'S RIGHTS WORSENED
January 15, 2009 - (Reuters) Afghanistan's first woman mayor is determined to improve one of the country's newest and poorest provinces, but she is concerned women's rights in the former Taliban state are getting worse.

SIERRA LEONE: "ILLITERACY, POVERTY CHALLENGES TO GENDER VIOLENCE," SAYS GENDER DESK OFFICER
January 15, 2009 – (Concord Times) Gender desk officer of the ministry of social welfare, gender and children's affairs in the southern region said illiteracy and poverty are challenges to ending gender violence.

CONGO-KINSHASA: SPEAK OF THE REAL AUTHORS OF THE WAR
January 15, 2009 - (AllAfrica) Cape Town — Terna Gyuse interviews AIMEE MWADI KADI and KATANA GEGE BUKURU, Congolese women's rights activists. Each episode of the Democratic Republic of Congo's long-running civil war has weighed particularly heavily on women, yet women have relatively little voice in the negotiations for peace.

AFGHAN MINISTER: OLD CUSTOMS IMPEDE WOMEN'S RIGHTS
January 14, 2009 (The Associated Press) Repressive customs like forced marriages and the trading of women as currency are too strong in much of Afghanistan to be changed by the legal system, the country's women affairs minister warned Wednesday.

NIGERIA: MRS. SYLVA'S MAGIC WAND OF UNIFYING BAYELSA WOMEN FOR PEACE IN NIGER DELTA
January 14, 2009 – (Leadership Nigeria) With the three administrations of Governor D.S.P Alameiseigha, Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan and Chief Timipre Sylva, many Bayelsa women and youths seems to have continued to count their blessings in terms of mobilisation, empowerment and political development.

A STRUCTURE TO MATCH THE VISION
January 14, 2009 - (Huffington Post) Watching Hillary Clinton before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee was an unalloyed joy. Smart, committed, grounded. Values I've admired ever since we first worked together in 1992 on her husband's campaign. The gains made on behalf of women by Senator Clinton in the Democratic primary will continue with her selection as Secretary of State. The woman who 13 years ago at the UN Conference on Women in Beijing declared unapologetically that "women's rights are human rights" will more than ever stand on a global platform.

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT: CLARIFYING THE SCOPE OF THE CRIME OF RAPE
January 13, 2009 - (Amnesty International) On the eve of the first hearing in the International Criminal Court (ICC) to decide whether to confirm charges of rape as a crime against humanity and as a war crime, Amnesty International hopes that the Pre-Trial Chamber will confirm in its judgments a strong definition of rape which will help ensure prosecutions for this crime which pervades so many current conflicts.

UGANDA: FGM HAS TURNED WOMEN INTO OBJECTS
January 13, 2009 - (AllAfrica) Kampala — Female genital mutilation (FGM) poses a serious challenge to the Government and politicians, most especially women Members of Parliament, women lawyers and other women organisations in this country.

GIRL SOLDIERS - THE COST OF SURVIVAL IN NORTHERN UGANDA
January 13, 2009 - (Women News Network) UGANDA - It had been 11 years since my feet had touched the dusty rust-colored soil of Uganda. My first visit had been particularly remarkable as it had been the first time the long, black barrel of a gun had been pointed within centimeters of my face.

CHANGES IN IRAQ ELECTION LAW WEAKEN QUOTA FOR WOMEN
January 13, 2009 - (New York Times) A little more than two weeks before Iraq's provincial elections, there is widening anger that the published version of the election law has only a weak provision to set aside seats for women.

JEWISH WOMEN SPEAK OUT AGAINST ISRAEL'S WAR ON GAZA
January 13, 2009 - (Middle East Online) Tens of thousands of people took to streets over the weekend in cities across the globe to protest the Israeli assault on Gaza, and some of the protests have been organized by Jewish groups who are speaking out against Israel's actions, Democracy Now! reported Monday.

YEMEN WOMEN FROM LAHJ, THAMAR TO RUN FOR PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
January 13, 2009 - (Yemen Observer) Prior to the upcoming elections, Yemeni women's groups have worked actively to secure a quota for women in parliament. For the first time in Thamar, a woman has announced that she will run in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

WILL WOMEN BE EXCLUDED FROM GAZA PEACE PROCESS?
January 12, 2009 – (European Weekly) “We ........ demand an end to the bombing and other tools of death and call for the immediate start of deliberations to talk peace and not make war......” A broad spectrum of 23 women's organisations in Israel have issued a statement demanding that war no longer be an option and that the dance of death and destruction in Gaza be brought to an end. Released on January 2, it reminds us that it is so often the women caught up in war who seek to spread the message of peace.

NEPAL: UN RIGHTS OFFICE CONDEMNS KILLING OF JOURNALIST AMID GROWING ATTACKS ON MEDIA
January 12, 2009 – (UN News Service) The United Nations human rights office in Nepal deplored the brutal murder of a female journalist who was hacked to death in her own home yesterday and called on local authorities to conduct an immediate investigation. Uma Singh, a reporter at Radio Today FM and member of the Women's Human Rights Defenders in the southern district of Dhanusha, was attacked by unidentified men armed with “khukhuris” – curved knives traditional to Nepal.

KUWAIT - WOMEN & POLITICS: OBSTACLES & PROSPECTS
January 10, 2009 - (Arab Times)"I was the first female candidate in the 2008 parliamentary elections supported by a political party - the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) - fighting a cultural phenomenon of 'political non-activism' among women," Assistant Professor in Kuwait University (KU) Dr Aseel Al-Awadhi said Thursday. Al-Awadhi made the statement while delivering a lecture on 'Women and Politics in Kuwait: Obstacles & Prospects' at the Aware Center in Surra. She was one of the women candidates in the last legislative elections in Kuwait and currently a professor at KU, teaching political philosophy and critical thinking. She discussed the challenges that Kuwaiti women face in the political arena.

UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS CONSULT WITH WOMEN FROM AFRICA'S HORN AND GREAT LAKES REGION
January 9, 2009 - (AWID) Last month, women's human rights defenders from Africa's Horn and Great Lakes Region met in Nairobi for a consultation with Yakin Ertürk, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences, and Margaret Sekaggya, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders. The countries represented at the consultation included Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, and Sudan. This is the most volatile region of the African continent. The fact that all these countries are either in or emerging from conflict, is extremely significant to the mandates of the Special Rapporteurs because, violence against women, already widespread in times of peace, is exacerbated in times of conflict.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS - WHAT HAPPENED IN 2008?
January 9, 2009 - (Women's net) This first Friday File for 2009 presents a brief summary of some key events and issues that shaped the global women's rights landscape in 2008. Last year was a year of challenges and opportunities for women worldwide… Key events and issues in 2008 – resulting in both losses and gains for women - include: Barack Obama's election as President of the United States (US); the severe and continued crackdown on women's human rights defenders; Rwanda setting a new world record for female representation in Parliament; a global food crisis; a global financial crisis; UN Member States passing a resolution to establish a new UN Agency for women; and, unfortunately, increasing crackdowns on women's freedoms due to fundamentalist forces. Below is a summary of some of these, with a focus on the overarching issues influencing our work and our lives.

CHAD: “THEY'RE GOING TO EXTERMINATE US”
January 8, 2009 - (IRIN) - Cécile Moutouba marched with a knife in one hand, a stick in the other. She said her husband has used both against her. Moutouba was among some 100 women who recently walked for more than 2km, their hands on their heads (a sign of mourning), in the Chadian town of Guelendeng, 153km from the capital N'djamena. In what some Chadians said was a rare public demonstration, the women marched to protest violent acts committed by men on their wives.

ANGOLA: CIVIL SOCIETY CALLS FOR VALORISATION OF WOMAN SOCIAL STATUS
January 8, 2009 - (AllAfrica) Uíge — Women integrated in female organisations of the civil society Wednesday spoke of the need for valorisation of the social status of women in general and particularly in northern Uije province, in the defence of the rights and main liberties, Angop learned.

DARFUR WOMEN EXPECT WORST CRISIS IF ICC INDICTS BASHIR
January 7, 2009 - (Women's Net) Sudanese women leaders, attending a peace forum here, Tuesday expressed fears that an impending indictment of President Omar El-Bashir might have profound effects on the welfare and security of women in Darfur.

FEMALE COPS TEST TRADITIONAL GENDER ROLES IN AFGHANISTAN
January 7, 2009 - (Christian Science Monitor) There is relish in Khatera Malikzada's voice when she talks about the time the Kabul police needed a woman. The policemen, armed with guns and strict orders to search a local house, had made it no farther than the front gate. Following the customs of Islam, "the women were not allowing them to enter the house unless they had a female police officer," says Ms. Malikzada.

WOMEN OF SUDAN HOLD KEY TO PEACE SAY GLOBAL WOMEN LEADERS
January 5, 2009 – (World YWCA) World YWCA General Secretary Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda and Realizing Rights head and former UN High Commissioner of Human Rights Mary Robinson are amongst a delegation of high profile women leaders calling for Sudanese women to be part of peace negotiations in conflict-ridden Darfur. "A new Sudan, a Sudan without war, needs women as leaders and as full and equal citizens. Women are central to the enormous tasks ahead and can accelerate the building of peace, security and prosperity," says Gumbonzvanda who has worked previously on gender equality issues in the peace processes for the Sudan.

WOMEN CRUCIAL IN BETTER EAST-WEST RELATIONS
January 5, 2009 - (CGNews-PiH/UPI) Samuel Huntington's 1993 "Clash of Civilisations" depicts a world in which fundamental cultural differences form the basis of conflict between Muslims and the West. Current events seem to bear out his warnings, as the US wages its Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism (a.k.a. the Global War on Terror or, less favourably among some, the War on Islam) and Muslim perceptions of the United States sink to new lows.

UN INVESTIGATING ALLEGED SEXUAL MISCONDUCT OF PEACEKEEPERS IN DR OF CONGO
December 24, 2008 – (UN News Service) The United Nations is investigation allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by its peacekeepers stationed in the war-ravaged North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

ISRAELI WOMEN'S GROUPS COMPLAIN TO UN—AGAINST ISRAEL
December 22, 2008 - (IsraelNN.com) Israeli women's groups filed a complaint to the United Nations Security Council on Monday, accusing Israel of failing to implement Resolution 1325. The resolution requires parties in a conflict to promote women's participation in peace negotiations and the implementation of peace initiatives. NAHLA HUSSEIN AL-SHALY: A KURDISH MARTYR FOR WOMEN
December 21, 2008 - (Kurdish Aspect) When the President of the United States has a pair of shoes thrown at him the story covers the front pages and the video is repeatedly played on cable news programs for a week. When the leader of a Kurdish women's group is assassinated and beheaded, the story is given a brief AP notice. The fact is that in the context of increasing violence in the city of Kirkuk against Kurds, this act of barbarity is aimed at those forces within southern Kurdistan and northern Iraq that seek to protect the democratic rights of women and the national rights of the Kurdish people. Earlier this month, 57 people were murdered in a bomb attack in Kirkuk against a local initiative to seek political unity.

MBEKI TO MEET WITH ZIMBABWEAN WOMEN ACTIVISTS December 19, 2008 - (PambazukaNews) Today, Zimbabwean feminists caucus with women activists from the SADC region to break through the Zimbabwean political impasse and begin the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

PACIFIC ISLANDS NEED TO MEET GENDER EQUALITY COMMITMENTS
December 19, 2008 – (Pacific Community) Sex discrimination and violence against women still needed to be addressed in the Pacific Island region, according to an international human rights organisation. Speaking at a regional consultation for Pacific Members of Parliament on integrating human rights standards into national policy and law, Apolosi Bose of Amnesty International's Pacific team said Pacific Island governments needed to follow through on the regional and international commitments they had made to ensuring gender equality in their countries.

PACIFIC ISLAND MPS URGED TO END DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
December 17, 2008 – (Pacific Community) Pacific Island parliamentarians must join their leaders in working to end all forms of discrimination against women, according to two Australian Parliamentarians. They were speaking in Brisbane on Monday at the opening of a regional consultation for Pacific Members of Parliament on integrating human rights standards into national policy and law. Australia's Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Honourable Duncan Kerr, commended recent stands taken by PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare and Kiribati President Anote Tong to end violence against women.

SEEKING JUSTICE FOR WOMEN IN POST CONFLICT SITUATIONS
December 15, 2008 – (UN OHCHR) The design of any post-conflict social and economic order must include women and women's rights in order to facilitate their access to justice, says an expert panel on the prosecution of sexual violence organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on 15 December.

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3. FEATURE Event

53rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
2 – 13 March, 2009, UN Headquarters, New York

The fifty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women will be held at the United Nations headquarters in New York from 2 to 13 March 2009. The main theme will be “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including care-giving in the context of HIV/AIDS”. An interactive dialogue will evaluate progress of the implementation of the agreed conclusions "Equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes at all levels" adopted at the 50th session of CSW. In addition, the emerging issue on “The gender perspectives of the financial crisis” will be considered through an interactive expert panel. The session will be attended by representatives of Member States, UN entities and of ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world.

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CSW on the Web:

The PeaceWomen Project has developed web pages for the 53rd Session of the CSW featuring :

* UN Documents & links
* NGO Documents & links
* Governmental Participation

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Women, Peace and Security-Themed Parallel Events:

The PeaceWomen Project has developed a calendar highlighting women, peace and security events taking place at the 53rd session of the CSW

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4. feature Statement

GEAR Statement: Building a United Nations that Really Works for All Women
Gender/Equality/Architecture/Reform (GEAR) Campaign, 2008.

The global campaign for Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR Campaign) welcomes the priority theme for the fifty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women on “the equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including care-giving in the context of HIV/AIDS” as well as the review theme on “equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes at all levels" adopted at the fiftieth session of Commission on the Status of Women.

The GEAR campaign, now comprising over 275 organizations in more than 50 countries, believes that the creation of a new consolidated and stronger United Nations entity for women will greatly advance gender equality, the empowerment of women and women's human rights throughout the world.

For the past three decades, the United Nations has been a galvanizing force in efforts to define a comprehensive global agenda for peace and security, human rights, poverty eradication and sustainable development. As a result, there have been significant commitments made for the advancement of women towards gender equality and women's empowerment. These include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Platform for Action, Security Council resolution 1325 on Women Peace and Security, and the Millennium Declaration and Development Goals.

However, the United Nations still lacks a strong driver at the leadership level, both at Headquarters and at the country level, as well as a systematic and effective mechanism to deliver on many of the essential commitments made, including those concerning the equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men and caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS. The United Nations has several small under-resourced agencies focused exclusively on women's issues. Other larger agencies make critical contributions to women's human rights and gender equality, but this is usually a small part of their mandate.

The GEAR campaign therefore welcomes the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General's paper on “Institutional options to strengthen United Nations work on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women” dated 23 July 2008. We also welcome the step taken by the General Assembly on 15 September 2008, adopting by consensus a resolution that supports the Gender Equality Architecture Reform process.

In this context, the GEAR campaign urges United Nations Member States, with the support of the women's human rights and social justice movements, to accelerate progress towards the creation of a stronger United Nations entity for women, with the following essential requirements:

Headed by an Under-Secretary-General to ensure representation and decision-making at the highest level in both policy development and program operations at the global and country levels. The new Under-Secretary-General post would provide higher level leadership in executive decisions, than exists at present, to more effectively drive the gender equality and women's empowerment agenda.
Universal field presence and a strong policy and programmatic mandate essential to effectively improve the lives of women on the ground and worldwide.

Substantial and predictable resources to ensure the capacity to meet expectations and deliver results at all levels. It must be funded initially at a minimum level of $1 billion USD, with increases over time.
Accountability at both national and international levels, including through meaningful involvement of civil society, particularly women's non-governmental organizations.

Promotion of gender mainstreaming by the integration of gender equality and women's human rights throughout the United Nations system, and especially in the United Nations Country Pilots and in all United Nations reform processes.

Systematic and transparent civil society participation in the creation and monitoring of any newly established entity by:

Securing direct communication with the relevant United Nations Working Group now developing proposals; and an opportunity to review and contribute to the United Nations Secretariat's relevant studies and papers at all stages of drafting processes;

Ensuring timely and direct access to information and documents, with time to share them with GEAR colleagues in all regions;

Facilitating an open, inclusive, and transparent process to build legitimacy with stakeholders, particularly women's organizations in countries around the world, in this process.

Strong commitment and leadership by the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General that will allow timely and effective action during the current sixty-third session of the General Assembly.

Strengthening the United Nations' gender equality machinery is a crucial part of developing and implementing gender-responsive policies that adequately address the most pressing problems facing women around the world, including those related to poverty, development, human rights and peace and security as well as the effects of HIV&AIDS. A new, stronger United Nations entity for women will better enable the United Nations system and Governments to deliver on the promises made to advance gender equality and women's human rights at the global and country levels.

Let us build a United Nations that really works for all women!

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5. FEATURE Initiative

International Colloquium for Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security
March 7-8, 2009, Monrovia, Liberia, The Colloquium

Coinciding with International Women's Day (March 8), women leaders from around the world will convene for the International Colloquium for Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security (the Colloquium) at the SKD Stadium in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa. The Colloquium, conceptualized in 2006 during the inauguration of Africa's first female President, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, will bring together 400 international participants and 400 Liberian national participants, including female leaders; heads of state and government; ministers; CEOs, presidents and executive directors; and NGO and community leaders. The Conference, co-convened by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and President Tarja Halonen of Finland, seeks to create an environment for women and their champions around the world to discuss, learn, demonstrate and act on the benefits and lessons learned from women in leadership.

* The Colloquium seeks to realize the aims of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security to ensure that women are protected from the worst abuses in times of conflict and to empower them to play their rightful and vital role in helping their countries prevent, end and recover from conflict. The Colloquium will bring together an international group of women leaders to identify the successes and failures of measures adopted for 1325; to serve as a resource base and catalyst for activity worldwide; and to develop and support meaningful strategies and activities for increasing global security.
* The Angie Brooks International Centre on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, Peace and Security, which will be based in Monrovia, will be launched in March 2009. The Centre will support the implementation of actions emerging from the International Colloquium, through, inter alia: a) training to empower current and future women leaders; and b) research, analysis and advocacy on women's leadership. It is being established in honor of the late Angie Brooks, Liberia's former Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Africa's first woman President of the United Nations 24th General Assembly (1969).
* Furthermore, the establishment of the Centre is symbolic in that through it, women in leadership worldwide are being honored. The Colloquium will initiate other capacity-building projects such as the Young Professional Emerging Leaders Dialogue Series, one of which will establish a 5-region dialogue series entitled Uncovering Barriers to Women's Political Leadership: Today's Leaders Reach Out to Tomorrow's Leaders. This series, which precedes the conference from December to January 2009, will feature live interviews of and participation from current and former women heads of state interacting with a global audience of future world leaders. Each dialogue will produce recommendations and solutions on how to break down gender barriers to leadership.

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6. FEATURE Resource

Faith at the UN, Gender in the Church: Ecumenical Women's Guide to Advocacy
Ecumenical Women, 2009.

Every year more than two thousand women come to the United Nation's Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) — traveling for hours and arriving in New York in the depths of winter. Often it is their first experience in the halls of the United Nations and with an intergovernmental process. As a coalition of faith-based organizations with offices at the UN, we work hard to prepare as hosts: we plan an orientation, parallel events, dinners, and worship. In between the business of organizing, we take a moment to appreciate the fact that annually the global women's movement comes to our doorstep.

The goal of this book is to prepare Ecumenical Women delegates for advocacy at the CSW, but we realize our work extends far beyond the UN. We hope this book helps equip a movement of women and men who will transform their churches and societies to be places where girls and boys, men and women, have access to resources and opportunities to reach their greatest potential.

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Women's GLOBALNET #348: "Navigating the 53rd Commission on the Status of Women: A Quick Guide for NGOs"
International Women's Tribune Center, 2009.

The 53rd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), scheduled to kick off for two weeks on March 2, 2009, is expected to bring together 5,225 representatives from 460 organizations worldwide. While the commission presents NGOs with a unique policy space where they can parley and advocate with governments, their robust participation is critical to the commission's success as well as to follow-up action on its outcomes. In addition to official CSW meetings, this year's commission offers participants 297 parallel events that will be organized by NGOs and UN country missions and agencies. This edition of GlobalNet provides an overview of the NGO package of events and opportunities, and presents highlights that could make navigating the CSW a little easier.

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BRIDGE Cutting Edge Pack: ‘Gender and Care'
BRIDGE, Institute of Development Studies, 2009.

Providing care can be both a source of fulfillment and a terrible burden. For women and girls in particular, their socially prescribed role as careers can undermine their rights and limit their opportunities, capabilities and choices - posing a fundamental obstacle to gender equality and well-being. This Cutting Edge Pack hopes to inspire thinking on this fundamental question – with an Overview Report outlining why care is important and exploring which approaches offer the best prospects for change, a Supporting Resources Collection providing summaries of key texts, tools, case studies and contacts of organisations in this field, and a Gender and Development In Brief newsletter with three short articles on the theme. In March BRIDGE will launch this Cutting Edge Pack at the 53rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York.

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7. NGOWG ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY UPDATE

The NGOWG on Women, Peace and Security is engaging in a number of ways in this year's CSW. The Working Group is presenting a panel discussion on Women in Disarmament in conjunction with the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace & Security: March 2, 12 – 2 pm, and many of our member organizations are organizing panels throughout the CSW.

We also prepared an NGOWG statement for this year's CSW review of progress towards “Equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes at all levels.” Main points of this statement, in keeping with our broader advocacy work, called for systematic UN support for women's substantive participation in peace processes, the appointment of more women to senior United Nations leadership positions, and the consistent and full implementation of United Nations' Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Standards relating to women associated within fighting forces. These recommendations are critical elements to realizing women's right to equal participation in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post-conflict peacebuilding and other decision-making processes.

The full text of the NGO Working Group Statement on the occasion of the 53rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women can be found below.

We also have a number of NGOWG members who will be attending the upcoming Liberia Colloquium, so we are looking forward to their active engagement and reporting back on the outcome of that event.

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NGO WORKING GROUP STATEMENT TO THE CSW

On behalf of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security we welcome the decision of the UN Commission on the Status of Women to review, at its 53rd session, progress towards “Equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes at all levels.”

The NGO Working Group is a coalition of international civil society organizations,* that formed in 2000 to advocate for a UN Security Council resolution on women, peace and security. We now advocate for full and effective implementation of Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008) on Women Peace and Security, and for the particular concerns of women in conflict-affected situations to be addressed consistently and substantively by the UN system and by Member States.

At its 50th Session in 2006, the Commission on the Status of Women stressed the need to increase women's role in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post-conflict rebuilding of society, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1325, and underlined the link between increasing women's participation in decision-making and ending violence against women. The Commission concluded by urging Governments, the UN system and others to, inter alia, strengthen research, monitoring and evaluation of the progress of women's participation in decision-making, introduce objective and transparent procedures for recruitment and gender-sensitive career planning; take measures to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women; and promote women's leadership in all areas and at all levels.

In recent years, there has been considerably more discussion about the protection and promotion of women's human rights in conflict-affected situations, with many new actors positively engaged in driving this agenda forward. Concrete results remain very inconsistent however, particularly with regard to women's participation in peace processes, UN leadership positions, national justice systems, and programs for the disarmament, demobilization, reintegration (DDR) of women and men associated with fighting forces.
With regard peace processes, the UN Development Fund for Women reported to the Security Council in October 2008 that since 2000, women averaged only 7% of negotiators in five major UN peace processes. In addition, fewer than 3% of the signatories in 14 peace talks have been women.

The NGO Working Group urges the Commission to stress that mediators, negotiators and donors assisting peace processes must take further, measurable action to eliminate the obstacles that prevent women from bringing their valuable contributions to peace processes. This requires very practical support, such as the provision of transportation, personal security, and care for family members, so that women representatives are able to get to the negotiation table. On a systemic level, women's meaningful participation in peace processes also requires renewed efforts to empower women through training, and access to education, employment and health-care services.

There have been some important UN initiatives, such as in Northern Uganda, to support women's participation. However, such UN support needs to systematic and integrated into all aspects of peace processes. The UN Department of Political Affairs is a key player in such processes, but the lack of a well-funded Gender Unit in that Department is limiting. The NGO Working Group therefore urges the Commission and Member States to give effect to repeated suggestion of the Security Council and others that such a Gender Unit be created. The NGO Working Group also urges the Commission and Member States to actively support the creation of a well-resourced women-specific UN entity, led by an Under Secretary-General, and with the necessary capacity and presence to effectively drive, monitor and evaluate women's equal participation in decision-making at all levels.

As regards women's equal participation within UN system itself, the new appointments of women as Special Representatives (SRSG) and Deputy Special Representatives (DSRSG) to the Secretary-General are encouraging. Since 2006, these appointments include: SRSG Ellen Margrethe Løj and DSRSG Henrietta Joy Abena Nyarko Mensa-Bonsu for Liberia; DSRSG Leila Zerrougui for the Democratic Republic of Congo; and DSRSG Rima Salah for the Central African Republic and Chad. Women nevertheless remain dramatically under-represented in the UN's 30 peacekeeping and political missions and must be appointed to more leadership positions. National-level reforms are essential to enable more women to obtain positions in UN missions and a transparent and accountable process must be established for Member States to submit names of women candidates to the Secretary-General for appointments to high-level posts.
As the Commission noted in 2006, women's equal participation in decision-making processes can help to decrease sexual and gender-based violence. The NGO Working Group is concerned however that the stigmatization, threats and intimidation associated with women who have experienced such violence, often discourages them from political participation. The Commission should therefore continue to stress the critical need for more women in the judiciary and legal professions in conflict-affected situations. Further measures to eliminate barriers to women's and girls' education and to promote women's access to legal training, for example, will help to increase women's access to justice, end impunity for crimes of sexual and gender-based violence, and reduce some of the risk that women face when striving for equal political participation.

Women continue to be excluded from policy-setting on conflict transformation, such as rule of law and justice sector reform. Women and girls for example who play a significant role in some fighting forces, should appropriately targeted and benefit from relevant post-conflict programs. The UN's Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Standards of 2006 provide useful guidance on how to build gender-responsive approaches into DDR programs. This includes the essential participation of women in the design, implementation and evaluation of such programs to ensure their effectiveness. The Commission should encourage the UN system and Member States to consistently implement these new standards and make sure that women are part of wider post-conflict disarmament processes, once DDR programs have ended.

Eight years on from the landmark adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 on Women Peace and Security, and women are impatient to see new and concrete results before its 10th anniversary in 2010. The NGO Working Group on Women Peace and Security therefore urges the Commission on the Status of Women to use its review of progress on the “equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes at all levels” effectively. This includes garnering essential support for a well-funded Gender Unit in the Department of Political Affairs, the appointment of more women to senior UN leadership positions, and the consistent and full implementation of UN's Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Standards relating to women associated with fighting forces. These recommendations are critical elements to realizing women's right to equal participation in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post-conflict peacebuilding and other decision-making processes.

* The NGO Working Group on Women Peace and Security comprises: Amnesty International, Boston Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights, Femmes Africa Solidarite, Global Action to Prevent War, Global Justice Center, Hague Appeal for Peace, Human Rights Watch, International Action Network on Small Arms, International Alert, International Women's Tribune Centre, Women's Action for New Directions, Women's Division of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

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8. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY CALENDAR

Fifty-third Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
March 2-13, 2009, New York, NY, United Nations

The fifty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place in New York. The priority theme for the session is : "The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS." The review theme is: "Equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes at all levels " and the emerging issue is "The gender perspectives of the financial crisis."

For more information, please visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ecosoc/CSW53/index.htm

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Women for Peace Conference
March 5-6, 2009, Dili Timor Leste, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The second International Women for Peace Conference will be held in Dili, Timor Leste on 5-6th March 2009. The Theme will be “Women as creative agents for peace”. This conference will be an opportunity for women from around the world to share their experiences about ways to move from conflict to peace, to find justice and solidarity, and to acknowledge and value traditional culture, while reducing its negative impact on society. By using drama, song, visual arts and storytelling during the conference, we hope to draw upon these powerful artistic tools to more fully explore these challenging issues.

For more information, please visit: http://www.alolafoundation.org/womenforpeaceconference.php

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International Colloquium for Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security
March 7-8, 2009, Monrovia, Liberia, The Colloquium

For more information, please visit: http://womenscolloquium.org/col.html

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"Ways of Implementing the EU Directives on Violence against Women, Children and Youth: Good Practices and Recommendations"
March 20-22, 2009, Ljubljana, Slovenia, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts

The conference is part of the two-year research project "Ways of Implementing the EU Directives on Violence against Women, Children and Youth: Good Practices and Recommendations," which is funded by the EU Daphne II Programme. In the course of the project, the research team is evaluating the process of changes in the legislation on violence against women, children and youth in new EU Member States in the period from 1991 to 2006. The conference will present preliminary research results and hopefully open new chapters on violence.

For more information, please visit: http://www.ff.uni-lj.si/fakulteta/ziff/DAPHNEeng/default.htm

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Making Governance Gender Responsive
March 20-27, 2009, Asian Institute of Management Conference Center Manila (ACCM), Asia-Pacific Gender Equality Network (UNDP-APGEN) and the Regional Governance Programme for Asia and the Pacific (UNDP-PARAGON).

"Making Governance Gender Responsive (MGGR)" is a generic course that can be adapted and modified to suit the needs of the different countries in Asia-Pacific. The course starts with the conceptual definition of gender and governance. The training module will also have inputs on key aspects of governance (domains and exercise of authority) as well as the attributes of gender-responsive governance. The course also introduces the tools for identifying and analyzing the gender biases in governance. In addition to March 20-27, the course will also be held July 23-30 and November 20-27.

For more information, please visit: http://www.capwip.org/training/mggr.htm

For the registration form, please visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/frame/calendar/March%2009/RegistrationMGGR2009...

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Global Symposium on Engaging Men and Boys in Gender Equality
March 30 – April 3, 2009, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Promundo, Instituto Papai, White Ribbon Campaign Canada, UN Population Fund (UNFPA), MenEngage Alliance, & Save the Children Sweden

The Global Symposium on Engaging Men and Boys in Gender Equality will take place in Rio de Janeiro, March 30 – April 3, 2009. Four hundred fifty participants from around the world will share their work in applied research, policy, and program development. Their work challenges rigid gender norms and engages men and boys in reducing violence against women and girls, promoting sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and fatherhood and caregiving. The Symposium will also develop a “Call to Action” for governments to implement policy that engages men and boys in gender equality. The final results of the Call to Action as well as key conclusions from the Symposium will be available after the event on the MenEngage website.

For more information, please visit: http://www.engagingmen2009.org/42

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Second Annual Workshop for Women in International Security
May 8-10, 2009, Quebec City, Institut quebecois des hautes etudes internationales (HEI)/ Programme Paix et Securite Internationale (PSI) and the Groupe d'etude/ Recherce sur la securite internationale, Universite de Montr?al (REGIS)

The Programme Paix et securite internationales (PSI) wishes to emphasize women's presence and contribution in international security. In order to achieve this, PSI is organizing the second annual workshop that will be held from May 8-10, 2009. Its first goal is to reinforce the network created at last year's successful workshop, which developed a platform for discussion and exchange for women working on security issues. During this conference, different activities will take place: academic presentations, career-building seminars, and a one day negotiation exercise on conflict resolution.

For more information, please visit: http://www.psi.ulaval.ca/activites/activites_a_venir/

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IPDTC 2009 Spring Peace Academy
May 11-29, 2009, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, International Peace and Development Training Center (IPDTC) and the Peace Action, Training and Research Institute of Romania (PATRIR)

IPDTC is launching its 2009 Spring Peace Academy with a range of programmes addressing the core skills, knowledge and experience of all practitioners working in the field of peacebuilding, conflict transformation, development work, humanitarian aid, gender, governance and other related areas.

For more information, please visit: www.patrir.ro/training

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SVRI Forum 2009
July 6-9, 2009, Johannesburg, South Africa

The Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) is pleased to invite you to its first conference, SVRI Forum 2009: Coordinated evidence-based responses to end sexual violence, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 6 - 9 July 2009. The conference is aimed at promoting research on sexual violence, highlighting innovation and encouraging sharing and networking in the area of sexual violence. This global event will bring together over 200 participants working on sexual violence as researchers, gender activists, funders, policy makers, service providers, survivors and others.

Editorial: