UN gender equality news feed

Since January 2011, 17-year-old Irene Godonou A. has been an apprentice at a sewing programme in Agblangandan, located a half-hour's drive from Cotonou.

KATHMANDU (IRIN) - Most of Nepal's agriculture is undertaken by women, but research tailored to their needs is lacking. "We need new technologies that can reduce the drudgery for them," said Devendra Gauchan, agricultural economist and chief of the Socioeconomics and Agri-research Policy Division at the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC).

During a visit to Haiti 19–22 July 2012, the president of UN Women's Executive Board, H.E. Kim Sook, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations, called for an end to gender-based violence and the promotion of women's participation in politics.

Wherever I go, in every country, women are demanding that their voices are heard. From the Arab states, where women continue to stand up for freedom and democracy, to all regions of the globe, the calls for equal rights, opportunity and participation are spreading and have brought significant change over the years.

DAMASCUS, Syria — Like thousands of other people in the capital and surrounding suburbs, Abdulahadi and Aisha, along with their four children, fled their family home as shelling in their neighbourhood intensified. But Aisha had an additional concern: She was in her last month of pregnancy. Tired and scared for the unborn baby's health – and for the wellbeing of the other children – they went looking for shelter and basic services. After a 7-kilometre walk, the family settled in a public school that had been converted into a temporary emergency shelter by a local NGO. There, they received food and were given mattresses in a small room shared with other families.

Launched by UNICEF in partnership with the Department of Education, 'Meena Ki Duniya' or Meena Radio is an entertainment-education radio series designed to communicate with children, especially adolescent girls in rural schools, their educators, parents and community leaders.

MANILA (IRIN) - A nationwide conditional cash transfer programme in the Philippines is slowly improving maternal health, but more is needed to reverse the climbing maternal mortality ratio, say women's groups.

A diverse group of sixteen women's rights advocates and champions for gender equality have been selected for UN Women's Civil Society Advisory Group in Pakistan. The members, both female and male, will meet in mid-August for the group's first meeting.

A new constitution for Somalia has been overwhelmingly adopted by the country's 825 leaders after a week of debate. The constitution, which was adopted by a vote of 621 in favour, 13 against and eleven abstentions, among other things, protects the right to an abortion to save the mother's life and bans female genital mutilation.

When Israeli bulldozers arrived to demolish her home, 14-year-old Palestine refugee Salha Hamadin called on her pet Hantush to take her somewhere far away until they finished. Hantush, a flying lamb, took Salha on an adventure to Spain, where she met with the Barcelona football team's Lionel Messi, who then returned with Salha to her community and promised to fix their football field.

On the commemoration of Global Breastfeeding Week, the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) congratulated the Government of the Philippines for the significant increase in exclusive breastfeeding rates in the country. However, the challenge of breastfeeding when a mother returns to work still remains. Many working women face difficulties with the risk of income loss after giving birth.

From an online discussion in preparation for CSW 57 to World Breastfeeding Week, check out UN Women Watch's latest listing of gender-related events this month.

With the help of WFP's food support and livelihood assistance programmes, Belaynish Dabe and her HIV-positive husband no longer struggle to feed themselves and their children. WFP's food support to people living with HIV helps ameliorate the double burden of lack of income and deteriorating health.

The High-level Meeting of the 67th Session of the General Assembly on the Rule of Law at the National and International Levels will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 24 September 2012. Finland, South Africa and UN Women will also host the side event "Access to Justice for Women" the same day from 1:15 - 2:45 pm.

Women working in the public sector in countries of the European Union (EU) have been particularly hard-hit by recent cutbacks in jobs, wages and benefits, according to a joint ILO European Commission study titled "Public Sector Adjustment in Europe".

Recent cutbacks by European Union governments in jobs, wages and benefits have particularly affected women, according to a new study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the European Commission. It finds women civil servants are at greater risk of losing their jobs as a result of austerity measures.

Delivering a baby is strenuous enough, but imagine spending two hours on a motorbike, a ferry and a rickshaw just to get to the nearest health centre to give birth. That's what happened to 26-year old So phorn when she delivered her first baby three years ago in Cambodia.

Jamaica's national response to HIV needs to better address the challenges faced by vulnerable persons, according to Sannia Sutherland, the Director of Prevention for Jamaica's National HIV/Sexually Transmitted Infection Programme. Here she highlights how the socioeconomic impact of higher unemployment levels among women can disproportionately affect their ability to practice safer sex. Sannia says many must choose between buying food for their family or buying a condom.

The ITC-ILO is launching the 8th edition of the workshop "Mainstreaming gender equality: concepts and instruments", 5-16 November, in Turin, Italy. Deadline to apply: 21 September 2012.

A policy paper recently released by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women emphasizes that survivors of violence and HIV-positive women are the experts on their own lived experiences, and their engagement in all aspects of awareness-raising and programmatic interventions should be increased.

Science suggests an AIDS-free generation is within reach. We must reflect on lessons and human rights struggles of the last three decades of the AIDS response if we are to do better in delivering the best that science and innovation can offer to those most in need. More than 8 million people with HIV in poor and middle-income countries received AIDS medications last year, up from 6.6 million in 2010. Nearly 60 percent of the 1.5 million pregnant women living with HIV in poor countries also received medications in 2011, so their babies are less likely to be infected.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women concluded its work on 27 July by adopting observations and recommendations arising from its consideration of eight country reports that it took up during its fifty-second session. Under consideration during the three-week session were periodic reports submitted by the Governments of Guyana, Indonesia, Bulgaria, Jamaica, Mexico, New Zealand, Samoa and the Bahamas.

The Namibian High Court has ruled that the human rights of three HIV-positive women were violated when they were coerced into being sterilized while they gave birth, but the judge dismissed claims that the sterilization amounted to discrimination based on their HIV status.

While representation by women leaders is low across South Asia, at the Panchayat or local council level, India continues to blaze a trail. Since quotas or reserved seats were provided for in the Constitution, more than a million women have been elected to office, and women now occupy more than 42 per cent of seats in local bodies, as both ward members and village heads (Sarpanches).

As more than 22,000 people gathered at the XIX International AIDS Conference (IAC) this week in Washington D.C., UN Women convened a dialogue "Women Leading, Organizing and Inspiring Change in the AIDS Response," among eight transformative leaders. Representing government, national AIDS coordinating authorities, women living with HIV, and caregiver alliances, panelists shared experiences from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean on how to ensure meaningful participation of women at all levels of the AIDS response.

Granting secure land rights to vulnerable farmers enables them to pursue income-earning activities, access credit, increase agricultural production and raise their overall living conditions. These key factors help to strengthen men and women's bargaining power and their ability to make decisions on how their land can be used.

"It's All About M&E" blog series gives you a peek into Feed the Future M&E. In this blog post, guest blogger Sally Rey from the USAID Bureau for Food Security discusses how Feed the Future measures gender impacts.

As crowds throng London for the Olympics, passers-by are lured to enter huge boxes, only to be confronted with the horrors of human trafficking. The installations aim at raising awareness about a crime that – according to ILO figures – has claimed more than 20 million victims.

An AIDS-free generation is now within reach, and children are the key to achieving that goal. But innovative thinking aimed at overcoming bottlenecks in delivering services is also essential – not least because it can bring care, treatment and support to the women, babies, and families in greatest need.

South Sudan has the worst reported maternal mortality rate in the world.  "More women die in child birth, per capita, in South Sudan, than in any country in the world," says Caroline Delany, a health specialist with the Canadian International Development Agency in South Sudan which is funding a raft of maternal health programmes.

Palestine refugees were among the 80 young people who completed a football training camp run by Manchester City in Lebanon this month. In partnership with UNRWA, two coaches brought training to boys and girls in a refugee camp.

UNFPA is intensifying strategic support to voluntary family planning through its Global Programme to Enhance Reproductive Health Commodity Security. Countries participating in the Global Programme are now reporting their own success stories backed by measureable results. This publication shares numerous examples of activities in countries participating in the Global Programme to Enhance Reproductive Health Commodity Security as of 2011.

ILO's gender policy specialist welcomes recent achievements on gender equality in politics, but says more needs to be done including in the world of work.

Nepal will produce close to half a million additional improved cooking stoves over the next five years to benefit rural communities and bring the chance of better health to millions of people, particularly women and children.

At 50 years old, Kaltuumo Abdi Ibrahim left her life behind. She came to the capital from Dahar Village, where she had been an agro-pastoral farmer, after the drought killed her animals and crops.

Address by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the Parliament of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in Skopje, 25 July 2012

During the 1984 genocide in Rwanda, more than one million people died and a quarter of a million women were raped. Rwandans have been working tirelessly to rebuild from this tumultuous past and today their country is one of the fastest growing economies on the African continent.

UNIC Panama City, the UN Office for Human Rights-Regional Office for Central America and Panama have wielded a national poster campaign opposing discrimination against women at bus stops across the country.

In an ideal society, every child would have an equal shot at achieving their human potential, regardless of their race, gender, family background or where they were born. The reality in South Africa, one of the most unequal societies in the world, is that a white boy born to a two-parent household in suburban Johannesburg has a much greater chance of succeeding in life than a black girl born to a single mother in rural Kwa-Zulu Natal.

The Regional Government of Valencia in Spain announced a contribution this month of EUR 320,000 to promote mother-and-child health for Palestine refugees.

Providing protection for the world's millions of domestic workers has taken a major step forward. In April 2012, Uruguay became the first country to ratify ILO Convention 189, the landmark treaty guaranteeing domestic workers get the same core labour protections as other workers. Uruguay has long been a leader in protecting the rights of domestic workers, but ratifying the convention demanded a unique approach; a group of Uruguayan housewives were called on to represent the employers of domestic workers at the bargaining table.

South Sudan has the worst reported maternal mortality rate in the world. “More women die in child birth, per capita, in South Sudan, than in any country in the world,” says Caroline Delany, a health specialist with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in South Sudan which is funding a raft of maternal health programmes.

Telecentre.org Foundation (TCF) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) are hosting a contest to award ICT equipment to the telecentre that trains the most number of women to become digitally literate. This Contest is in support of the Telecentre Women: Digital Literacy Campaign (http://women.telecentre.org) under the Cooperation Agreement signed by TCF and ITU. All partners of the TCW Campaign are invited to submit to TCF verifiable reports of the digital literacy trainings they've conducted for women up through 1 September 2012.

The Secretary-General's UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign proclaims every 25th of the month as Orange Day! The first in a series of Orange Days will be launched on 25 July, and will be repeated every consecutive month leading up to the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women to be held in March next year.

Rwandans have been working tirelessly to rebuild their country since the 1994 genocide. Since then, the country has become one of the fastest growing economies on the African continent. Furthermore, women have now come to the forefront of national politics, making Rwanda the world's leader in the number of women parliamentarians.

At the International AIDS Conference (IAC) held in Washington D.C (22 – 27 July), UN Women aims to give visibility and amplify the voice of women, in particular women living with HIV.

Balancing the position of women in the national culture against step-by-step advances in their political participation, while ensuring that rural women participated in development, Samoa was meeting its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the country's delegation said this month.

As the founder of SANGRAM, an Indian non-governmental organisation that works with sex workers to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, Meena Seshu has strongly lobbied against the image of sex workers as powerless, irresponsible or even deserving of harm.

The fight against HIV in India has "opened the doors" to much wider social reforms in the country, said the UN secretary general's new special envoy for AIDS in the Asia-Pacific region, who has credited India's sex workers with pioneering some of the most successful HIV prevention programmes.

New Zealand continued to uphold its proud record in women's empowerment, with a high ranking in the Global Gender Gap report for 2011, its continuing efforts to increase female leadership in politics and the private sector and its solid progress in closing the gender pay gap, members of that country's delegation told the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this month.

Of the 565 of the peace agreements made between 1990 and 2010, 16 per cent mentioned the word women; 7 per cent mentioned gender equality or women's rights; and just 3 per cent mention gender-based violence. These are just one set of startling statistics reported by a new documentary from the Government of Australia, in partnership with UN Women.

In partnership with local organisations, UN Women and UNAIDS have completed a programme of workshops for HIV-positive women leaders across South East Asia with a training in Manila, in the Philippines.

Despite high unemployment, rising crime and socio-economic woes arising from the global financial crisis and natural disasters, the Bahamas had steadily improved the lot of its women through a range of legal reforms, awareness-raising campaigns and action plans, members of the country's delegation told the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this month.

For two weeks, from 23 July – 3 August 2012, a dynamic online discussion will bring together civil society organisations and experts who work on issues of violence against women around the world.

19 JULY -15 SEPTEMBER 2012 | GENEVA - The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (AHPSR), the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (MCA), the Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), and the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (PMNCH), are pleased to announce a Call for Proposals for Implementation Research.

AMREF, together with global patron Graça Machel Mandela, is launching the Stand Up for African Mothers campaign.

Statement by Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women welcomes the election of Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa as Chairperson of the African Union Commission, the first woman to hold the post.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has selected Asha-Rose Migiro of Tanzania, former United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, as his Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa – one of several appointments announced in July. During her tenure as Deputy Secretary-General from 2007 to 2012, Ms. Migiro was integrally involved in promoting the AIDS response globally and within Africa, with special emphasis on reducing the vulnerability of women and girls and ensuring the rights of people living with HIV, according to a news release issued by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

An independent United Nations human rights expert has spoken out against the recent killing of women in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and called on the two countries' Governments to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Through a "juridical revolution" and a range of comprehensive assistance programmes, Mexico was gaining ground in its bid to end violence against women, including murder, bolster their political representation at the most senior levels and slash maternal mortality, members of that country's delegation told the Women's Anti-Discrimination Committee this week.

Baby Rivona has advocated passionately on behalf of women living with HIV and AIDS in Indonesia since 2005. She contracted the disease herself through drug use, and was shocked by the stigma and the lack of support she encountered, from both her government and wider society.

KANCHARA, WAJIR-SOUTH 18 July 2012 (IRIN) - Habiba Ugas, a mother of five whose husband was killed in violent clashes in the central Kenyan town of Isiolo in April, is one of a number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to have moved 320km further north to Kanchara, near Wajir town. She told IRIN her story.

Sixteen-year-old Vivienne Bale always dreamed of becoming a professional table tennis player. Her dream became a reality when she was chosen to be a member of the Fiji Deaf Table Tennis Club.

A two-country delegation from Cameroon and Zambia, led by the UNICEF Chief of HIV and AIDS Craig McClure, recently visited Lesotho to learn about the country's experiences with the Mother-Baby Pack (MBP), a color-coded kit that provides essential medicines and supplies to pregnant women.

UNITED NATIONS, New York – Public and private partners last week announced plans to collaborate to reach approximately three million women in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia from 2013-2016 with up to 12 million doses of an injectable contraceptive at affordable price levels.

During the lean season, WFP is providing special fortified food to prevent malnutrition to close to 1 million children under 2 as well as nursing mothers.

UNFPA is intensifying strategic support to voluntary family planning through its Global Programme to Enhance Reproductive Health Commodity Security. Countries participating in the Global Programme are now reporting their own success stories backed by measureable results. This publication shares numerous examples of activities in countries participating in the Global Programme to Enhance Reproductive Health Commodity Security as of 2011.

The number of female elected parliamentarians in Senegal's National Assembly has almost doubled thanks to the impact of new parity laws on the July elections. With 44.6 per cent of female parliamentarians, Senegal has come close to achieving parity in its National Assembly.

ADDIS ABABA--UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehim on Monday called on African First Ladies to use their positions and voices to stop early child marriage and teenage pregnancy.  In a speech read on his behalf by Mr. Bunmi Makinwa, UNFPA Africa Regional Director at the 11th Extra Ordinary General Assembly of the Organization of First Ladies Against HIV & AIDS, Dr. Osotimehim noted: "Young women should go and stay in school, learn about their sexuality and be equipped to avoid pregnancies and protect themselves from HIV."

Remarks by Michelle Bachelet Executive Director of UN Women at Panel discussion on Ensuring Equity and Promoting Rights including those of young people, London, 11 July 2012.

Sexual and physical attacks, emotional abuse, humiliation, rejection, neglect. These and other forms of violence are more likely to be suffered by disabled children, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO). The report looked at 17 studies in high-income countries covering 18,000 children.

Despite cuts in development assistance due to the global economic crisis, ingrained prejudices towards women and cultural barriers confronting them, Guyana had rooted the empowerment and protection of women firmly in its national policies, legislation, educational and social programmes, as well as health initiatives, members of that country's delegation told the Women's Anti-Discrimination Committee last week.

Text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's video message to the London Summit on Family Planning, in the United Kingdom on 11 July

Children with disabilities are four times more likely to experience violence than non-disabled children, according to a study published by the World Health Organization (WHO). The report says children with disability associated with mental illness or intellectual impairments were at a higher risk of sexual violence compared with their non-disabled peers.

Bulgaria's adoption of a gender equality strategy and its enactment of legislation to combat domestic violence and discrimination had bolstered women's status in politics and the workplace, led to better protection from abuse, and established a viable avenue for seeking redress, members of that country's delegation said last week while presenting its combined fourth to seventh periodic reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

LONDON 13 July 2012 (IRIN) - By focusing on health and mother and child survival, and sidestepping some of the more contentious issues, the 11 July London Summit on Family Planning led to financial pledges of an extra US$4.6 billion for family planning services in developing countries over the next eight years.

With women and girls among the major victims of the violence perpetrated with illegally traded conventional arms, it was vital that an arms trade treaty take into account and contain specific gender-based violence criterion, the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty Conference was told Monday, 9 July, as it entered its second week of negotiations in New York.

In 1989, in its decision 89/46, the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme recommended that, in order to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues in the context of overall development plans and programmes and the need to find solutions for these issues, 11 July should be observed by the international community as World Population Day. This year's theme is "Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services."

For three decades, the 23-member Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has worked to bring the landmark Women’s Convention (CEDAW) to life. In response to the Committee’s review and recommendations, governments have changed their laws, policies and approaches to women in line with international gender equality goals.

Over the past month, UNRWA has turned the refugee camps in the northern West Bank into summer camps for young women. “Sabya for Change” (young women for change) brought together dozens of women between the ages of 18 and 25.

Niger has the world’s highest rate of child marriage, with roughly one out of two girls marrying before age 15, some as young as 7. As a hunger crisis affects millions here and across the Sahel region of West Africa, aid workers are concerned that struggling parents might marry off their daughters even earlier for the dowries they fetch, including animals and cash, to help the families survive.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks at the panel discussion on “Women’s Political Participation and Leadership — In Pursuit of Equality”, commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in New York on 9 July.

Twelve young refugee women returned to Jordan with renewed enthusiasm for their career path after spending two weeks on a vocational training exchange at a beauty school in Sweden.

Makhfirat Dadaboeva, a young mother, cradles the youngest of her three children as she waits in front of the Municipal office in Hissar District in central Tajikistan. Forced to drop out of university when her first child was born a few years back, she is now determined to change her future by finishing her education and getting a job.

Statement of Michelle Bachelet Executive Director of UN Women at CEDAW 30: A celebration of the 30th anniversary of the committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Conference Room 3 of North Lawn Building United Nations, New York, 9 July 2012.

The Maternal Health Thematic Fund supports countries with high maternal mortality to accelerate progress in reducing the number of women who die giving birth and in reducing associated morbidity. Its evidence-based business plan focuses on: emergency obstetric and newborn care; human resources for health, particularly through the Midwifery Programme; and the prevention and treatment of obstetric fistula, leading the Global Campaign to End Fistula. The many achievements featured in this report demonstrate the importance of strong political commitment, adequate investments and enduring partnerships.

Linda Rullis sold her motorcycle and borrowed money from relatives to cover neo-natal treatment for her daughter, who was born after only 24 weeks of pregnancy, barely weeks within the threshold of survival. The baby girl is now one year old and weighs 5.1kg.

Persecution relating to an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity is increasingly recognized by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and in refugee law as grounds for claiming asylum. Most such claims are based on the 1951 Refugee Convention's definition of a refugee as someone having a well-founded fear of persecution because of "membership of a particular social group". However, many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals fail to gain asylum on this basis, either because they are unaware they can do so or because the officials determining their refugee status do not recognize such claims.

Domestic violence is still broadly perceived as a private matter in Thai society. Although the Protection of Domestic Violence Victims Act has afforded assistance to survivors and penalties for perpetrators since 2007, awareness and understanding of the law remains low throughout the country – and its police force.

Pakhi Begum left Bangladesh for Dubai to work as a maid, only to find that her recruiter had sold her into domestic servitude. After months of hard labour and abuse she fell ill and was sent back to Bangladesh without being paid.

As the global economy struggles to recover from the impacts of the financial crisis, UN Women is calling for the urgent enforcement of policies and practices that ensure more women enter the labor market in jobs with decent working conditions and social protections. This call comes as the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is convening to discuss decent work for sustainable prosperity.

The United Nations Public Service Forum highlights creative achievements and contributions in public service. The Forum aims to encourage more effective and responsive public administration by governments across the world, on issues ranging from corruption and construction to litigation and irrigation.

The world cheered when it was announced that global child mortality rates had fallen by nearly half over the past two decades: from more than 12 million a year in 1990 to 7.6 million in 2010. Still, thousands of children die every day before even making it to their fifth birthday.

Violent acts committed by groups in northern Mali have been condemned by the UN Human Rights Council. In a resolution adopted on Friday, the Council called for an immediate end to the violence which has included attacks against women, hostage-takings, killings, and the destruction of cultural and religious sites.

Mam is a Mayan language spoken in Guatemala and Mexico by about 500,000 people. The Guatemala Ministry of Education and WFP have been trained in this language to more than 300 teachers of bilingual schools in the use of textbooks in Mam among students to promote gender equality, food security and nutrition, and other topics.

Social and legal discrimination against women remains a major obstacle to economic development in emerging and developing countries, according to the latest edition of OECD's Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI). Though women's rights are improving in a number of countries, in others women are still barred from fully contributing to social and economic life.

In Quito, the UN high-level official inaugurated the Ad Hoc Committee on Population and Development. Executive Secretary of ECLAC Alicia Bárcena said this was "the opportunity to make the leap to environmental sustainability and equality".

Nigeria's health services halved the maternal mortality rate between 1990 and 2010, but in parts of the predominantly Muslim north, which is less socio-economically advanced, women are 10 times more likely to die in childbirth than in the oil-rich, predominantly Christian south. Maternal health personnel are calling for more appropriate interventions to bridge the gap.

WFP is providing food assistance to more than 200,000 people affected by crop failure and livestock losses in the Far North region of Cameroon, where poverty rates are higher than the 40 percent national average.

According to the UN Population Fund, UNFPA, female genital mutilation has been around since the time of the pharaohs. FGM, as it is called, is a procedure that intentionally alters or causes injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons, reports the World Health Organization. The non-governmental organization Global Alliance against Female Genital Mutilation wants to put an end to FGM.

Despite the placing on Pakistan's statute books of tougher laws against the practice of 'swara' or the "giving away" of a woman to a rival party to settle a dispute, the tradition continues.

DAKAR 04 July 2012 (IRIN) - IRIN surveys the development of policy and practice since the launch of a ground-breaking report in 2002, in terms of preventing the perpetration of sexual abuse by humanitarian aid workers and their associates.

DAKAR 04 July 2012 (IRIN) - How much has really changed since NGO Save the Children, and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) published a report that shocked humanitarian agencies a decade ago, when it exposed sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) perpetrated on disaster-affected communities in West Africa by aid workers, peacekeepers and other community members? IRIN News reports.

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is calling on governments around the world to commit more resources to the critical issue of voluntary family planning. On World Population Day, 11 July, the London Summit on Family Planning will launch an unprecedented initiative to meet the need for modern family planning in developing countries. The aim is to mobilize the political will and extra resources needed to give 120 million more women access to family planning by 2020.

Using just one everyday eggshell, a team of four girls at an UNRWA school used their knowledge of chemistry to purify water that had been polluted by iron. The girls' idea won first prize at a chemistry competition in April 2012, which brought together students from public, private, and other UNRWA schools across Jordan.

To mark the 30th anniversary of the creation of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, UN Women and OHCHR will host an event to celebrate its work. The event will highlight the Committee's work on the protection and promotion of women's human rights under the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and will include a special focus on women's political participation and leadership.

As part of the London Summit on Family Planning on 11 July 2012, The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) in collaboration with the Innovation Working Group (IWG) and the United Nations Foundation have organized a parallel session to launch a new guide for businesses that identifies investment opportunities for improved women's and children's health.

In conflict-hit West African countries, husbands often pose a greater threat to women's lives than an armed assailant, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said in a recent report, but even in more stable countries, violence against women is hard to eradicate.

Despite progress in reducing maternal deaths in Indonesia, international organizations, health professionals and community workers say pregnancy still puts the health of women at greater risk.

The Bangladeshi government is attempting to register birth data online to combat high levels of child marriage. On 8 June in Bangladesh's western Khustia District, local media reported that 15-year-old Iva Parvin was to be married off by parents hiding her age, but local officials challenged the marriage and demanded proof that she had reached the legal marrying age of 18. When her parents could not provide documentation, the marriage was not approved.

This collaborative working paper, and the shorter technical briefing note derived from it, discuss hidden dimensions of urban poverty, and the different ways in which they impact men and women. This gender perspective supports a broader understanding of urban poverty that stretches beyond income to include domestic and care responsibilities, dependency and powerlessness.

http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/News.aspx?ArticleId=67

Chitrakali Budhamagar began her career in 2003 collecting yarn made out of 'allo' (Himalayan nettle) and selling it in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu. With the money she made selling yarn, she bought readymade garments to sell in her home village of Pyuthan, in the western part of the country.

We are at a turning point for delivering on the promise to end child and maternal mortality and improve health – marked by bold new commitments. This strategic framework supports one such commitment, the 'Global Plan Towards the Elimination of New HIV Infections among Children by 2015 and Keeping their Mothers Alive'. It offers guidance for preventing HIV infections and unintended pregnancies – both essential strategies for improving maternal and child health, and eliminating new paediatric HIV infections.

Individuals, non-governmental organizations, groups and networks are invited to submit written communications—including, but not limited to, complaints, appeals and petitions—to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) with information on alleged injustices and human rights violations against women in any country. Examples of claims include arbitrary arrests of women, domestic violence, unfair employment practices and discrimination against women under immigration and nationality laws. The deadline to submit such communications is 1 August 2012.

Egypt in recent months has experienced a number of upheavals and challenges. Now, as the country transitions to democracy following its presidential election, Shahira Amin, an Egyptian journalist and consultant to UN Women, asked some women what the future holds for them and what they would like to see.

At the 1992 Rio Earth Summit world leaders signed up to a series of agreements intended to create a greener, fairer world – a world that would guarantee future resources for our children. That same year tve started filming the lives of 11 babies - born in 10 different countries around the world. Among the children is Panjy (Panjarvanam), born in the village of Manachpuram in Tamil Nadu, southern India, into a family dependent on the local fireworks industry. In 2011, we find that although Panjy really wanted to continue with education, her family could not afford her school fees and needed her to work to pay off loans, for her and her sister's dowries. Now married, Panjy is still hoping to escape the firework industry, and has ambitions to become a tailor but can't afford the cost of a sewing machine.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Zainab Hawa Bangura of Sierra Leone as his Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict at the level of Under-Secretary-General. Ms. Bangura will replace Margot Wallström, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedicated service and able leadership in achieving milestones within a challenging mandate.

The Gender and Land Rights database (GLRD) launches five new country profiles from Central Asia: Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, available in English and Russian.

'The Future We Want' was adopted by consensus by all countries in the United Nations at the closing session of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, from 20 to 22 June. 'The Future We Want' is a common global vision that reaffirmed commitments their nations made in the Programme of Action of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development.

When Thabita Mukamusana's partner died shortly after the birth of their child, she raised their son without hope of connecting him to his paternal family, or his inheritance, in her village in south-west Rwanda. Because the boy had been born outside of marriage, she believed that any claim would be impossible. Yet things recently turned around when she was able to access free legal aid for herself and her son, now 19.

Ethiopia expects to bring the number of under five child deaths from avoidable causes down to under 20 per 1,000 by 2035 or even sooner. This is due to the health extension program which was launched in Ethiopia in 2004. Over 34,000 government salaried female health extension workers are deployed, working in pairs out of 15,000 village health posts.

June 23 is annually observed as International Widows' Day. Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is president of the Loomba Foundation, a staunch supporter of the rights of widowed women. May Yacoub caught up with Ms. Blair, who talked about the number of widows in the world today.

Message of Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, in commemoration of International Widows' Day, 23 June 2012.

Remarks of Michelle Bachelet Executive Director of UN Women at the Rio+20 high-level roundtable on "Looking at the way forward in implementing the expected outcomes of the Conference", 21 June 2012.

Currently there are 3.5 billion girls and women in the world. This actually means to global advocates that there are 3.5 billion ways to change the world. The G(irls)20 Summit, in its third session, brought together 22 young women as delegates representing the G20 countries, including the African Union, to discuss issues and solutions for economic growth.

The UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Islamabad interacted with university students during a workshop on the "United Nation Role in the Development and Empowerment of Women". More than 150 graduate students of Gender and Women Studies from all parts of the country participated.

According to Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), speaking on 21 June at a side event to the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development: "The region needs to enter a third industrial revolution to overcome inequality that goes beyond poverty. Industrial policies, a macroeconomy in tune with industrialization efforts based on environmental sustainability and social protection and labour market policies are all crucial here".

On the evening of 18 June, just prior to the official opening of Rio+20, TVE launched its Zero Ten Twenty and Life Apps series movies to a select audience at the headquarters' of Brazilian TV channel Canal Futura in Rio de Janeiro.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's remarks at a Rio+20 side event on Green Growth for All, in Rio de Janeiro, 21 June.

Rio de Janeiro, 21 June—At a high-level event today at the Rio+20 Conference, women Heads of State and Government signed a Call to Action with concrete policy recommendations on integrating gender equality and women's empowerment in all sustainable development frameworks.

No sustainable development without equal rights. That was the clear message coming from a Nordic Council of Ministers' seminar at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, on the interconnection between gender, equality, welfare, green economy and the climate. For more on the issue, watch this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xOpBHOQvbg) featuring Sarah Cooke from UNRISD and Finnish Presiden Tarja Halonen, and visit www.norden.org/rio+20.

On the sidelines of the Rio+20 Conference this week, UN Women and the Latin American Development Bank (CAF) signed an agreement with the aim of strengthening the work developed by both organizations in the area of poverty reduction.

On the eve of the official opening of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), Member States announced that they had agreed on the Conference's outcome document, The Future We Want. "We now have a text which will be adopted at the Conference," Rio+20's secretary-general, Sha Zukang, said in a statement. "We think the text contains a lot of action, and if this action is implemented, and if follow-up measures are taken, it will indeed make a tremendous difference in generating positive global change."

This workshop, which will be held in Turin, Italy, 3-7 September 2012, is designed to meet the needs of those who are responsible for designing and implementing development policies and programmes, and wish to make sure that they truly advance gender equality priorities, at national and international level. The deadline to apply is 9 July 2012.

They struggle to make crops grow in the parched earth. They watch in despair as their seedlings and livestock are washed away by flash floods. They stand quietly in the markets and watch others buy food that has become too expensive for them to afford. Who are they? They are the hundreds of millions of people who strive – and often fail – to get enough nutritious food each day to lead a healthy life. Hunger is the world's greatest solvable problem. And solving it is the basis for sustainable development.

Countries, businesses, philanthropic organizations and UN entities at the Rio+20 conference are pledging to create a cleaner, greener, more equitable world. They are making voluntary commitments in any of 23 areas related to sustainable development such as climate change, sustainable education and green jobs, but also education, gender equality and public awareness. The commitments are not just promises on paper as they are required to be measurable and to have specific deliverables. Among the nearly 500 commitments made so far at Rio+20 is a $175 billion investment by the world's largest multi-lateral development banks to fund sustainable transport systems over the next decade.

Two independent United Nations human rights experts on Thursday 21 June urged greater protection for media professionals, citing the unacceptably high number of attacks against those disseminating news, including arbitrary arrests, torture and killings, to sexual violence against female journalists.

RIO DE JANEIRO 19 June 2012 (IRIN) - Population growth and women's right to choose when to have children could become hot issues again. Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former prime minister of Norway, has warned against "backsliding" in the draft outcome document being negotiated at the Rio+20 conference, which opens on 20 June. The new text might not recognize the advances made in ensuring that women have reproductive rights alongside other major multilateral agreements on development and the environment.

This resource stack features a number of publications and materials from the UN system on sustainable development and gender. Collated by UN Women Watch, this list can be bookmarked, shared and followed for the latest additions.

Women play a central role in advancing sustainable development. Everyday women take decisions that impact sustainable development—be it the use of land, water, energy, or forests or through their contributions to their families and the economy. If they have equal access to resources and opportunities and are part of the decision-making processes, women can become drivers of sustainable development. Prepared for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, in June 2012, this infographic highlights the importance of sustainable energy in achieving gender equality.

Opening remarks of Michelle Bachelet Executive Director of UN Women at UN Women Leaders Forum Rio, Brazil, 19 June 2012.

For years, many countries and regions have been holding their own Refugee Days and even Weeks. One of the most widespread is Africa Refugee Day, which is celebrated on 20 June in several countries. The UN General Assembly, on 4 December 2000, adopted resolution 55/76 where it noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) had agreed to have International Refugee Day coincide with Africa Refugee Day on 20 June. This year's theme is "Refugees have no choice. You do."

Ghalfa, the Sudanese word describing a girl who has not had her genitals ritually cut, carries connotations of impurity, promiscuity, even prostitution. However, the word Saleema means whole, intact, healthy in body and mind, unharmed, pristine, untouched, in a God-given condition, perfect. This distinction is reframing the conversation about female genital mutilation/cutting.

Ethiopia is synonymous in many people's minds with drought and famine. In some parts of the country, staying alive and healthy during the dry season without food handouts is difficult. But in the Tigray region, a pioneering project to manage environmental resources - which conserves water and improves food security - is transforming the fortunes of some families. Meet two mothers who live a few hours' drive apart, but whose lives are very different.

Malnutrition in all forms is a major contributor to disease and early deaths for women and children. Undernutrition can lead to health problems across generations, particularly among the most vulnerable populations. Overnutrition leading to overweight and obesity is increasing rapidly among low and middle-income countries, increasing the prevalence of chronic noncommunicable diseases and associated healthcare costs. Rapid progress in improving food and nutrition security is needed to reach health and development goals beyond 2015.

The UN Security Council strongly condemns the recent mutiny by renegade soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as well as the killing and abuse of civilians, mostly women and children, by armed groups operating in the eastern part of the country.

KAMPALA 15 June 2012 (IRIN) - A petition backed by over 50 NGOs and charging Uganda's government with failing to prevent the deaths of expectant mothers was thrown out by the constitutional court on 5 June, but the petition's supporters plan to appeal.

Thai police cadets on 15 June embarked on the first-ever training on ending violence against women and girls to increase their knowledge on the nature, extent, and seriousness on crimes perpetrated against women and show commitment as change agent towards ending the global pandemic.

In the lead up to the 22nd anniversary of the Day of the African Child, 16 June, UNICEF Podcast moderator Femi Oke spoke with Shuaib Chalklen, UN Special Rapporteur on Disability of the Commission for Social Development, on the rights of children living with disabilities. In a separate interview podcast moderator Kathryn Herzog spoke with Baba Diri Margaret, who lost her sight at 15-years-old and is now an Honourable Member of the Ugandan Parliament and a central figure of the disability movement in her country.

Hundreds of people fleeing violence in western Myanmar are stranded in boats off the coast of Bangladesh, according to the UN Refugee agency UNHCR. The boats, which are reported to be carrying mainly women children and wounded people from Myanmar's Rakhine State, have been denied entry into Bangladesh. UNHCR is appealing to authorities in Bangladesh to respond to the crisis in western Myanmar with compassion and solidarity.

The ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team and Country Office for Central and Eastern Europe has assisted the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Moldova in setting up and implementing awareness raising campaigns for the agricultural and construction sectors.

Progress towards providing access to education for all has stalled, according to new data from UNESCO which shows 61 million primary-age children out-of-school in 2010, the same figure as for 2008. The number of out-of-school children had been in steady decline over the past 15 years. Girls, who represented 58% of out-of-school children in 2000 and 53% in 2010, benefited most from the efforts to improve access to education. But progress has now stopped and the number of children out of school has stagnated. The complete data on these trends is now accessible in an online atlas published by the UIS.

On the eve of the Rio+20 conference (20-22 June) , the Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) are urging policymakers to put out-of-school children on the agenda. According to newly released data, an estimated 61 million children of primary school age are being denied their right to education. Failure to reduce this number condemns these girls and boys to poverty, poor health and lack of opportunity, while weighing heavily on efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals.

Thousands of Nepali girls leave school every year to get married, missing out on their education, the government says. Parents are often unaware of the impact that trying to save the money spent on education can have on the future of their daughter.

As diplomats hold the final stage of negotiations ahead of the Rio+20 conference, civil society groups are sharing their views of "The Future We Want"—the conference motto. The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) believes young women can lead the way, and have brought 24 guides from 15 countries to Brazil Priyanthi Hemamali Rajapaksa is a Project Executive with the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Associations, whose members are planting trees and making holiday cards from recycled paper. WAGGGS has honoured her for being a Champion of Sustainable Programmes.

Uruguay becomes the first to ratify the ILO's standard-setting Convention on Domestic Workers. The international treaty aims to improve the lives of domestic workers worldwide in the face of huge decent work deficits. The ILO estimates there are at least 53 million domestic workers worldwide, though the number could be about twice as high, considering that this kind of work is often hidden and unregistered. In developing countries, domestic workers make up at least 4 to 12 per cent of wage employment. Around 83 per cent of domestic workers are women or girls and many are migrant workers. A second country must ratify the Convention before it comes into force.

In response to an invitation from the President of the Republic of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, the Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet, will visit the country from the 13-16 June.

Information about safe, healthy employment can be scarce for Moldova's women, especially for those living in its large rural areas. Many women still work in the informal sector and rely heavily on their families and their husbands for physical and financial security.

At a time when governments are designing strategies and making crucial decisions to restore long-term, inclusive economic growth, it is essential to raise the profile of rural women and to sensitize both governments and the wider public on the contributions they make to hunger eradication and the well-being of their communities.

One key point of concern at the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainability will be the way that today's global challenges and deepening inequalities impact women and girls, and the need for decision-makers to accelerate action to counter this. In India, a two-year UN Women programme, with support from the Fund for Gender Equality (FGE), is tackling the feminization of poverty and hunger among low-caste Dalit women.

As part a year-long series of water-related events organized UNIC New Delhi, in partnership with the Alliance Française (French Cultural Centre) and Veolia Waters India (a private French Company), UNIC Director, Kiran Mehra-Kerpelman, joined Bangladesh High Commissioner Tariq A. Karim, in inaugurating an exhibition of photographs from Bangladesh, highlighting the issue of arsenic poisoning and decreasing quality of potable water in Goalmari Island in Bangladesh. The work of award-winning photographer Munem Wasif, the images poignantly highlight the extreme vulnerability of local women and children to water contamination.

Zinhle Shabangu (21) wants only the best for her five-month old baby girl. So the HIV-positive mother enrolled at Mbabane Government Hospital to get treatment to minimize the risk of her child becoming infected by the virus. Zinhle also gets special food to make both her and her baby strong.

Ahead of the UN Conference for Sustainable Development 20–22 June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet has called upon world leaders for bold action and strong commitments to advance women's equal rights, opportunity and participation.

CAIRO 14 June 2012 (IRIN) - On 30 April the Egyptian government launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of cervical cancer and offer free immunization to 15,000 unmarried women on the assumption that they would not have had any sexual contact. Cervical cancer is caused by sexually-acquired infection; prevention and treatment are unaffordable for many of Egypt's poor.

At the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 there was unanimous agreement that sustainable development cannot be realized without gender equality. Yet today, 20 years later, women still face discrimination and continue to demand equal rights, opportunity and participation. At the Rio+20 Conference in Rio de Janeiro, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet will call for robust policies and strong commitments to remove discriminatory barriers, ensure women's central role in sustainable development, and bring real change in people's lives.

The draft outcome document of the Rio+20 summit mentions smallholder farmers – many of them women – in growing acknowledgment of their importance in terms of food security, with the continued threat of famine in the Sahel, and environmental sustainability, as farming accounts for at least 14% of global greenhouse emissions.

London – TrustLaw, a Thomson Reuters Foundation legal news service, on 13 June launched a global poll of experts on the worst and best countries for women in the G20. Policies that promote gender equality, safeguards against violence and exploitation and access to healthcare make Canada the best place to be a woman among the world's biggest economies, while infanticide, child marriage and slavery make India the worst, the survey showed.

If you intend to plan, implement and monitor campaigns for advocacy and social change, the Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence against Women and Girls (VKC) is the place to go for guidance. The Centre is a unique global knowledge initiative, managed by UN Women, that provides expert guidance, practice examples, training and programming tools on ending gender-based violence.

A concert by the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra quavered the UN General Assembly Hall recently. This cultural event celebrated the 66th presidency of the United Nations General Assembly and it honored the work of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women. In this feature prepared by Florence "Beng" Poblete-Enriquez, you will hear a fusion of vocalizations and music from the concert.

The United Nations telecoms agency has designated Academy Award-winning Hollywood actress Geena Davis as a special envoy to promote the empowering role technology can play in the lives of women and girls.

On the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour, two United Nations independent human rights experts today highlighted that of the 215 million children working throughout the world, more than half are subjected to the worst forms of child labour, including sexual and labour exploitation.

How can women contribute to sustainable development? How can they benefit from it? Want to know more about UN Women's work in this area? In the week leading up to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, UN Women's expert and Director of Policy Saraswathi Menon will answer your questions live during an interactive twitter chat on gender equality and sustainable development on Wednesday 13 June from 10:00-11:00 AM EDT.

The annual report of the United Nations Secretary-General on children and armed conflict has been submitted to the Security Council. The report gives an overview of the situation of girls and boys in conflict zones and what is being done to protect them. It includes what is called a "list of shame" of armed groups that recruit and use children as soldiers, kill and maim them, commit sexual violence against or attack schools and hospitals.

International cooperation is key to combating child pornography, according to a report presented to the United Nations. The report was presented by the Netherlands, the only country in the world with an independent expert on child pornography and other forms of sexual violence against children. Marta Santos Pais is the UN's Special Representative on Violence against Children. She recently spoke to Gerry Adams about the phenomenon of child pornography in the world.

The United Nations has named 52 parties on its annual 'list of shame' of those who recruit and use children, kill and maim, commit sexual violence or attack schools and hospitals, including four new parties in Sudan, Yemen and Syria. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's yearly report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict gives an overview of the grave violations committed against girls and boys in conflict zones, the main perpetrators as well as measures taken for the protection of children.

Every minute, a young woman is newly infected with HIV. As a result of their lower economic, socio-cultural status in many countries, women and girls are disadvantaged when it comes to negotiating safe sex, accessing HIV prevention information and services.

Prepared in the lead-up to Rio+20, this report provides key messages on the relationship between population dynamics and sustainable development. It argues that: 1. Population dynamics have a significant influence on sustainable development. 2. Efforts to promote sustainable development that do not address population dynamics will continue to, fail. 3. Population dynamics are not destiny. Change is possible through a set of policies which respect human rights and freedoms and contribute to a reduction in fertility, notably access to sexual and reproductive health care, education beyond the primary level, and the empowerment of women.

An initiative to support women contesting in this year's National Elections in Papua New Guinea has been launched. The "Know Your Woman Candidate 2012: Vote Woman" campaign is the first of its kind in Papua New Guinea, where women's participation in politics is extremely low.

On 14 May, Bolivia's Legislative Assembly finally gave the green light to the Law against Harassment and Political Violence against Women, a ground-breaking law to protect women and their political participation. It responds to an urgent need: in the past eight years Bolivian police have received more than 4,000 complaints of harassment from women participating in politics; many more incidents are likely to have gone unreported.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said today it urgently needs more funds to assist women and children suffering due to drought, disease and conflict in West Africa's Sahel region.

Wrapping up the final day of its Annual Session on Friday 8 June, the UNICEF Executive Board adopted a number of decisions on the work of the organization, including making all UNICEF audit reports publicly available on the Internet, starting later this year. In her closing remarks, UNICEF Executive Board Vice President Nina Nordström said gender equality was key to supporting UNICEF's refocus on equity.

Statement by Michelle Bachelet Executive Director of UN Women at the Inaugural dinner of the Harvard Ministerial Health Leaders' Forum. Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts. 3 June 2012.

Noor is a young woman from Iraq with virtually no legal rights in a country still struggling with the legacy of Saddam Hussein's 24-year dictatorship.  Many women in Iraq cover their faces in public for cultural and religious reasons. But Noor does not want to be seen in public because, as far as most people know, she is dead. This is her story. 

The rains have failed across the Sahel and more than a million children are facing death. In Chad the problem is compounded by one of the world's lowest rates of breastfeeding … only three mothers out of every hundred exclusively breastfeed their children. Mother Zaïnabou Mamataya says: "As soon as my baby was born, I gave her some water or some millet water that I mix with oil. I do this because it's a tradition handed down from our grandmothers. I don't really know why." If Chadian women could be persuaded to breastfeed infant mortality rates would fall drastically. UNICEF supports Médecins du Monde, which organizes village meetings with facilitators who encourage mothers to breastfeed their babies.

In a message played in the General Assembly Hall at United Nations Headquarters, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and Academy award winning actress Nicole Kidman speaks on violence against women, and illustrates the efforts of the UN Women-managed UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, which supports efforts on the ground to end the pandemic.

Remarks by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at a special cultural event supporting UN Women and celebrating the sixty-sixth presidency of the General Assembly, in New York, 6 June.

The death sentence imposed on five women in Pakistan for allegedly dancing at a wedding has been condemned by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. Speaking at the end of her four day visit to the country, Ms Pillay said the sentence was symbolic of restrictions, dangers and lack of fundamental human rights for women in Pakistan. Patrick Maigua reports from Geneva.

The Ugandan rebel group known as the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) remains one of the biggest perpetrators of violations against children according to a new United Nations report. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's first report to the Security Council on the situation of children affected by the LRA says that at least 591 children including 268 girls were abducted and recruited by the LRA.

During the recent visit of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, at a meeting organized by the Women's Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCOZ) and facilitated by UN Women Zimbabwe, more than 30 women from various organisations gathered at the United Nations complex in Harare.

Good Evening! I thank the President of the General Assembly, Ambassador Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, for devoting this wonderful occasion to UN Women and to the work that we all do to end violence against women. We can no longer accept, excuse or tolerate violence against women and girls.

It can be difficult to identify the exact moment that we are touched by change. But Ali Raad, a secondary school teacher from the Lebanese village of Baalbek, can trace one such moment to a community discussion, arranged by a local NGO.

Sidra Bibi (not her real name) was a young girl living with her parents and siblings in the Pakistani city of Lahore when she suffered sexual abuse, and the trauma has lived with her over the years. "My mother, my father, my aunts and my uncles all connived to protect my paternal grandfather, who was abusing me, my sister and our female cousins since we were six or seven years old," Sidra, now 30 and married, told IRIN.

Women play a central role in advancing sustainable development. Everyday women take decisions that impact sustainable development—be it the use of land, water, energy, or forests or through their contributions to their families and the economy. If they have equal access to resources and opportunities and are part of the decision-making processes, women can become drivers of sustainable development. In partnership with women, their communities, and grassroots organizations, UN Women supports many initiatives that promote sustainable development solutions.

A new report states that security and the rule of law are essential to recovery from crisis situations. "We have seen around the world, that men and women affected by crisis in the first instance expect security," said Helen Clark, head of the United Nations Development Programme, at the launch of a UNDP report that calls for strengthening the rule of law after crises. "The freedom from fear is the freedom they need the most to live their lives in dignity." The report, 'Strengthening the Rule of Law in Crisis-affected and Fragile Situations', notes the fact that a quarter of the world's population, some 1.5 billion people, live in countries affected by armed conflict or organized crime. It highlights the strong link between development and protecting people from violence and building legal institutions.

A cultural event featuring the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra is taking place in the UN General Assembly Hall on Wednesday evening. The concert has a dual purpose – it celebrates the 66th session of the General Assembly and it honours the work of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.

For the third year, UNRWA has signed a financial agreement with the regional government of Andalucía in Spain that will help to provide quality and accessible family healthcare for Palestine refugee women and their children throughout the Middle East. As part of the agreement, around 100,000 women will receive regular care during pregnancy and after giving birth, including antenatal care, birth assistance, postnatal monitoring, psychosocial support and other related clinical and therapeutic services. These will be provided through UNRWA´s 137 health centers in the UN Agency's five areas of operation: Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

The President of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, is hosting a Special Cultural Event in the GA Hall on Wednesday, 6 June, featuring the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO), with the aim of promoting UN Women and specifically boosting support for the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) is the eleventh United Nations body to join the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) as a cosponsoring partner. The official joining of UN Women as a UNAIDS Cosponsor, which was approved at a UNAIDS board meeting on 5 June, will further strengthen the UNAIDS family's work on gender equality and HIV and enhance collaboration with governments, international partners, women's organizations and the women's rights movement.

When Dana read an advert from a travel agency inviting women from the Republic of Moldova to spend a summer in Italy working as waitresses in a nightclub, she did not think twice about seizing the opportunity. The 19-year-old had long dreamed of going to Italy; now she could do so - and even earn good money. Dana responded to the ad and soon after made the fateful journey from her country, nestled between Ukraine and Romania, west to Italy. Upon arrival, Dana found herself trapped in a nightmare. Locked up, deprived of food and forced into prostitution, Dana became one of the estimated 2.4 million people who are trapped in modern-day slavery at any given time. Caught in a web of sexual exploitation, she constantly feared for her life.

When Indonesian forces invaded Timor-Leste in 1975, Maria De Fatima Kalcona hid in the jungle with resistance fighters, but after years on the move, and hobbled by a gunshot wound, she was eventually captured in 1979. The punishment that she and other women in her position received is hard to justify, or even discuss, she says. "We were abused by Indonesian soldiers in every way." But uncomfortable truths about rape, often perpetrated with the utmost brutality, should not stop history from being told. "We want the young generation to know about our history. Usually they know only about the male fighters, the male heroes."

In the municipality of San Rafael Cedros located in the province of Cuscatlán (central region of El Salvador and some 83 kilometers from the capital city of San Salvador), five women have set up a small business now known as "La Cocina Económica" (Economic Kitchen). This business is managed by an association of women entrepreneurs that supply ready to eat school meals for students attending the local public school in this municipality.

As a woman with deteriorating health due to HIV, Phillipa Marisa, 60, used to agonize over the legacy that she would leave her children. Since her husband's death from AIDS she had become dispossessed from her property in Hopley Farm, Harare, faced discord within her family, and had fierce arguments with her in-laws. Yet she found support and solace in a programme that connects HIV-affected women with their property and inheritance rights, and with each other.

Marking World Environment Day, United Nations officials today highlighted the need for a change in thinking and approach to ensure the sustainability of the Earth's resources as the world population grows. This year's theme for the Day, Green Economy: Does it include you?, seeks to underscore the need for everyone to play a part in keeping humankind's ecological footprints within planetary boundaries. In his message, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that the UN Sustainable Development Conference (Rio+20), in Brazil from 20-22 June, will provide an opportunity for countries to deepen their commitment to find these solutions. "Rio+20 is our opportunity to deepen global commitment to sustainable development," Mr. Ban said. "We should agree that the world needs a set of sustainable development goals that will build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). And we should make progress on some of the building blocks of sustainability – energy, water, food, cities, oceans, jobs and the empowerment of women."

Female inmates at the Juba Maximum Prison in South Sudan are learning sewing skills as part of a rehabilitative process and to provide skills once they are released from prison.

Since their invention in the late 1940s, electronic games have been an integral part of our culture. But recently, games have been doing a lot more than just entertaining: They promote health, education and human rights, and bring about social change, among other things. To talk about how game designers are using innovative ideas to do good, UNICEF podcast moderator Femi Oke spoke with three guests: Mallika Dutt, President and CEO of Breakthrough Television, a human rights organization that uses new media to reach mass audiences; Emily Treat, Senior Producer at Games for Change, a not-for-profit organization that creates and distributes social impact games; and Hsing Wei, Awards Manager at Games for Change.

A group of philanthropic organizations are forming a partnership to provide up to $5 million for efforts to increase the participation, quality, and relevance of secondary education for marginalized children, especially girls, in developing countries. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The MasterCard Foundation, Douglas B. Marshall Jr. Family Foundation and an anonymous donor will identify and support innovative initiatives that provide learning opportunities and life and livelihood skills for underserved youth between the ages 12-19 in East Africa (Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda), Nigeria, and India.

Forced labour is the antithesis of decent work. Almost 21 million people are victims of forced labour globally – trapped in jobs which they were coerced or deceived into and which they cannot leave. The least protected persons, including women and youth, indigenous peoples and migrant workers, are particularly vulnerable.

For Dilsora Rahimova, business training and the support of other women, were all she needed to soar. After joining a self-help group and applying the training to her traditional embroidery skills, the 43-year-old craftswoman and mother from Uzbekistan's Kashkadarya province slowly built the confidence to submit her work to a few exhibitions.

The ILO launched a new global estimate of forced labour on 1 June – a shocking 20.9 million women, men and children are trapped in jobs into which they were coerced or deceived and which they cannot leave. ILO's estimate captures the full realm of forced labour and human trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation, or what some call "modern-day slavery". The figure means that, at any given point in time, around three out of every 1,000 persons worldwide are suffering in forced labour.

New figures published by the ILO estimates the total number of forced labourers across the world to be nearly 21 million. Of these, 4.5 million alone are victims of sexual exploitation within the private sector. Beate Andrees, head of the ILO's Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, discusses the report findings and explains the links between labour mobility and cross-border migration.

Two men are literally sketching out a better future for women and girls in Haiti. Mike Charles, a script writer, and Chevelin Pierre, an illustrator, are behind a new comic book that encourages Haitian women and girls to go after the career of their dreams.

In Cairo — where women face sexual harassment on a daily basis as they go to school, work or even to visit the doctor — UN Women has lent support to an innovative advocacy campaign led by a group of young activists striving to make their communities safer.

When heads of State and Government meet in June for The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, activists will also come from across the world to monitor the proceedings, share and exchange ideas and push for change. Here are some of their voices on what they hope to achieve.

Stressing the important role of Palestinian women and youth in achieving a durable peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a greater say for both groups in decision-making, as he kicked off the United Nations International Meeting in Support of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process on 30 May in Paris. "Palestinian women and youth have a right to fulfil their aspirations without barriers and without discrimination," Mr. Ban said in a video message. "We cannot just make speeches about them. We must listen to them. We must work with them."

The UIS survey shows that a child in Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to study in an overcrowded classroom that can number as many as 67 pupils in Chad, for example, compared to fewer than 30 in OECD countries. Moreover, many schools in Sub-Saharan Africa have limited, or no, access to basic services such as drinking water, toilets and electricity. The absence of clean, safe and separate toilets for boys and girls tends to discourage children, particularly girls, from attending school regularly. Yet, these shortages are the rule among public primary schools in the region. Shortages are particularly severe in five countries: Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, and Niger where at least 60% of schools have no toilets. Schools in Mauritius and Rwanda on the other hand are well equipped with separate-sex toilets.

Early bird registration for Women Deliver's third global conference opens on Friday, 1 June. Women Deliver 2013 is expected to be the largest conference of the decade to focus on the health and empowerment of girls and women, featuring world-renowned speakers, a Ministers and Parliamentarians Forum, over 100 breakout sessions and over 5,000 attendees. The early bird registration rate of $500 will expire on January 31, 2013, at which point the $650 regular registration rate will apply. Participants under the age of 30 may register for $400 at any time excluding on-site registration (all youth participants must submit documentation of their birth date). Register at http://www.womendeliver.org/conferences/2013-conference/

A group of United Nations independent human rights experts this week urged the Government of Moldova to ensure the implementation of the country's non-discrimination legislation to accelerate progress on gender equality and ensure the protection of women's rights.

Authorities in the Philippines are reporting a sharp uptick in the number of gender-based violence cases over the last five years. The World Health Organization described the level of sexual violence in the Philippines as "a serious cause of concern".

Emini, who is 20 years old, is one of 14 female residents of the House of Hope, a Kabul-based transitional house for women leaving prison. Pardoned by President Hamid Karzai's decree on 8 March, she is one of the newest inhabitants of the house. Originally sentenced to three years in prison for running away from an abusive husband and his family, Emini hopes that her defence lawyer will help her to be granted a divorce, and that her father will forgive her and allow her to return home.

An initiative by the government of the United Kingdom to help combat sexual violence in conflict areas has been welcomed by a top United Nations official. The UK government announced on Tuesday 29 May that it is creating a special rapid deployment unit to collect evidence on suspected sexual violence perpetrated in areas of conflict.

Wendy's Bahamas, a franchise of the Wendy's international fast food chain, has joined with the United Nations Global Initiative To Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) and the new Bahamas National Trafficking-in-Persons Task Force to launch a unique "anti-trafficking-in-persons" tray liner in its ten restaurants in Nassau and Grand Bahama. For a month, all Wendy's Bahamas restaurants will serve food on tray liners that explain to people the different forms of human trafficking, including for forced labour, domestic servitude, female sexual exploitation and the exploitation of children.

Liberia's former president, who was convicted for aiding and abetting war crimes in Sierra Leone, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison. The 64-year-old Taylor was convicted in April on 11 counts, including terrorism, murder, rape, sexual slavery, and recruitment of child soldiers during the 1991 to 2002 civil war in Sierra Leone. Thousands of people were killed and others had their limbs hacked by rebels during the war. Julie Walker spoke with Solomon Moriba, the Press Officer for the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone about the sentencing, as well as the scene inside and outside the courtroom.

Countries on Tuesday 29 May began the last round of negotiations on an outcome document before they meet at the United Nations Sustainable Development Conference (Rio+20) in Brazil next month, which seeks to shape new policies to promote prosperity, reduce poverty and advance social equity and environmental protection.

In Garin Goulbi, a small village more than 500 kilometres from Niger's capital, women have taken the lead in protecting their families and community during the country's dire food security and nutrition crisis, which has left more than six million people across Niger facing food shortages.

The United Nations Bangladeshi peacekeeping contingent in Haiti is entirely composed of women. Here one of its troops explains how they are contributing to the fight against gender-based discrimination and violence in the country.

The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is commemorated each year on 29 of May. Learn about the work to integrate more women, and gender awareness, into peacekeeping missions in Latin America.

In recognition of the more than 120,000 United Nations peacekeepers working to promote peace and security worldwide, the Better World Campaign launched its 2012 "Thank a Peacekeeper" campaign. The campaign commences in anticipation of International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on 29 May, and will collect messages of thanks from people around the world through 21 September — the International Day of Peace.

The UN Women Executive Board convenes for its annual session 2012 from 29 May – 1 June. Among other items on the agenda is the review of progress made on the UN Women Strategic Plan 2011-2013 and the report on the organization's regional architecture review.

The Wikigender/Gendernet online discussion will kick off on 29 May and last until 8 June. As the Wikigender community, your comments will be collated into a summary report and presented at the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Gendernet meeting as an introduction to the 14 June workshop on gender equality, climate change and green growth. This Wikigender discussion provides an opportunity for researchers, donors, civil society, Wikigender partners and interested public to provide their insights into this issue by responding to the following question: How can gender equality be better integrated into climate change policies and programmes in order to ensure sustainable development?

ISTANBUL—Lawmakers from 110 countries reaffirmed their support last week on 25 May to the principles and goals of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), emphasizing their continued centrality to efforts to reduce poverty and safeguard people's health and rights, including sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights. At the fifth global parliamentarians' conference on population and development, held from 24 to 25 May, some 400 delegates, including more than 200 parliamentarians, discussed a course of action over the coming years to implement the ICPD Programme of Action by 2014 and beyond.

Maldives is on track to achieve almost all Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), yet nearly 17 percent of its children are underweight and up to 19 percent suffer from stunting. UNICEF says this could be because many mothers are not breastfeeding their children. Figures suggest that less than fifty percent of children in the island are exclusively breast-fed up to 6 months and the average duration of exclusive breast feeding is less than two and a half months, this impacts the mental and the physical growth of a child. Also lack of a good diet has meant that more than a quarter of Maldivian children between six month to five years of age are anemic and nearly sixty percent of children suffer from iron deficiency.

The fight against child sexual abuse took center stage recently in Kingston, Jamaica, in May as professionals from across the Caribbean gathered to follow up a 2006 United Nations study on violence against children. Sandra Knight, who's worked with the children's hospital here for the past ten years, was seeing so many cases of raped children, many of them attacked brutally, that she went public in a recent newspaper article that detailed the horrors.

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the United Nations International Meeting on the Question of Palestine on 30 and 31 May at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, in Paris. The theme of the Meeting is "The role of youth and women in the peaceful resolution of the question of Palestine".

Graduation Address by Michelle Bachelet Executive Director of UN Women at Sciences Po Institute Paris, France, 24 May 2012.

Remarks by UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet at the first of UNESCO's Global Partnership for Girls' and Women's Education Paris, 25 May 2012.

"Even if I am not going to live for very much longer, I am voting for the future of my grandchildren." So states one elderly lady as she waits in front of a polling station in Cairo, voicing the hope and resolve of a nation going to the polls. Over 50 million voters are eligible for Egypt's 2012 presidential elections, the first since the country's inspiring revolution, and of them, 23 million are women. Recent UN Women's analysis has shown that 90.3 per cent of women surveyed are willing to participate in the upcoming presidential election.

Every day, girls as young as five years old are robbed of their childhood because they cease being girls and become brides. However, thousands of American girls between the ages of 13 and 18 who are outraged after learning about child marriage are working to fight it. These girls are raising awareness and funds to help the UN Foundation's Girl Up campaign support programmes in four countries: Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi, and Guatemala.

29 May is the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. The theme this year is a celebration of global partnerships, which include Member States, the UN Secretariat, host countries, regional organizations and UN partners — all working to bring peace and security to some of the world's most troubled areas.

Appointed to a new term at the helm of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), the agency's head Wednesday underlined her commitment to improving the health of women and the people of Africa, as she pursues other priorities, such as enhancing health systems and combating non-communicable diseases.

From 22 to 24 May, over 40 young people from around the globe gathered in Bangkok for the first-ever Global UNiTE Youth Forum. The event was hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's global campaign UNiTE to End Violence Against Women and brought together young activists, aged 18-30, to build partnerships and strengthen the movement of young people working to end persistent gender inequality and violence against women and girls.

From 22 to 24 May, the Global UNiTE Youth Forum brought together youth activists from around the world to meet in Bangkok, and create a unique network to end violence against women and girls. A truly global space, the Forum incorporated workshops and learning sessions, in which participants shared experiences, ideas and their passion for human rights.

We, the participants of the first Global UNiTE Youth Forum, seek to create a safe, gender equitable, and violence free present and future for all women and girls, from all walks of life. In order to achieve this, we have established the Global UNiTE Youth Network as part of the Secretary General's UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign.

Many young women who are looking for better opportunities in life have fled their homes in rural northern Ghana for the country's capital, Accra. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) says these young women, some just girls, are running from complicated or tragic family situations, including forced marriage.

Statement of Michelle Bachelet after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the French Government in Paris, France May 24, 2012.

UNFPA has launched a companion guide to its free e-learning course for professionals who are working to address Gender Based Violence in humanitarian contexts. The e-learning course uses problems that practitioners currently face and case scenarios from real-life humanitarian contexts to guide learning. Integrated throughout the modules are videos, learning activities and quizzes that both engage the learner, and support participants' varying learning styles. The new companion guide not only covers all of the content in the e-learning, but also provides new case studies, sample tools, best practices, and activities.

Every year more than seven million children die before reaching the age of five and over a quarter of a million women lose their lives while giving birth, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2000 world leaders set 2015 as the target date for achieving eight Millennium Development Goals to improve people's lives.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been speaking out about gender equality in the international arena since at least 1995, when she delivered a forceful message on women's rights as human rights at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. So it was no surprise that the rights of rural women figured prominently in her remarks last week at the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security.

One year after the launch of the Partnership last May, three projects funded by private partners are making good progress.

A United Nations independent human rights expert has urged Gabon to adopt measures to tackle trafficking in children from West and Central African States, and address traditional and cultural factors that exacerbate the problem. The Special Rapporteur stressed that current Gabonese laws provide protection only to victims of trafficking who are under the age of 18, and that some forms of abuse – including labour and sexual exploitation, slavery and removal of body organs – are not covered.

When 28-year-old Namgay Peldon was elected as the Gup of Tashiding Gewog in Bhutan's Dagana district, she made history by becoming the first woman block leader since the country first went to the polls in 2008. Gewogs are official administrative units in Bhutan, each headed by a Gup. It hadn't been easy, but her victory has inspired other Bhutanese women to venture out and participate in the political and administrative affairs of the state.

The Sistren Theatre Collective , a grantee of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women , has been internationally honoured with the Otto Rene Castillo Award for Political Theatre , given to organizations globally that "extend humanity's social imagination". In its 35th year, the Jamaican women's organization was recognized for its enduring work for social and political change using artistic expression. The awards ceremony was held in New York on 20 May 2012, on the eve of the International Day of Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development .

For centuries, female genital mutilation or cutting has been practiced throughout much of Africa. But dealing as it does with a very intimate subject it was often spoken of, if at all, only in whispers. Today the movement against it is open, public and highly visible. And it is fostering change: FGM/C seems to be out in the open and on its way out.

At the OECD Forum 2012, Ms. Bachelet speaks about the need to build partnerships for equality worldwide and to ensure that gender equality and women's empowerment are prioritized in the post-2015 framework.

UNITED NATIONS, New York — While commending the work of a United Nations commission trying to improve access to life-saving medicines, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that much remains to be done to save the lives of the 800 women and more than 20,000 children who die every day from preventable causes. "Every two minutes, a woman dies at what should have been a joyful moment [childbirth]. And millions of women are unable to choose if, when and how many children they would like to have because they lack access to modern contraception – this tells me we are still not doing enough," said Mr. Ban in remarks at the opening of the UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children.

WFP nutrition support helps improve the health of children under five as well of pregnant women and nursing mothers. More than 29,500 children are benefitting from WFP's supplementary feeding programme at 338 government-run health centres across Malawi.

Press Statement of Michelle Bachelet United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women at the OECD Ministerial Council Tuesday, 22 May 2012.

Developing countries need support so that they can produce medicines and other life-saving commodities for women and children. That's what Nigeria's Minister of State for Health, Dr. Muhammad Pate, told a meeting of the UN Commission on Life-Saving commodities for Women and Children on Tuesday.

Although maternal mortality world-wide has dropped by nearly half over the past 20 years, millions of women and children are dying because they cannot access medicines and health supplies. A UN Commission meeting in New York on Tuesday wants to increase provision of life-saving medicines which stop women from bleeding after childbirth and which treat pneumonia and diarrhoea in children. It estimates this action could prevent up to six million deaths over the next three years.

SHAMSHATOO 23 May 2012 (IRIN) - Widespread poverty and ignorance, negative attitudes to the education of girls, and the lack of proper documents for children of Afghan migrants are some of the obstacles to school enrolment in a poor suburb of Peshawar in Pakistan, say local officials.

KATHMANDU 23 May 2012 (IRIN) - Sexual harassment is an everyday issue for women in Nepal, particularly in urban areas. Although exact numbers are unavailable, activists say the problem is on the rise and are demanding change.

UNITED NATIONS, New York—Affordable, life-saving medicines and health supplies with the potential to save millions of lives are not reaching the children and women who most need them. To help change this, members of the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children will on Tuesday 22 May review and finalize recommendations to help increase access, reduce costs, and increase demand for 13 products.

The cash-for-work initiative, funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with support from UN Women and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), is being implemented with the Government of Fiji to focus initially on market vendors in Rakiraki, one of the country's worst affected districts, located halfway between the capital Suva and the western town of Nadi. UN Women and UNDP have conducted research and recently compiled the socio-economic profile of market vendors in Fiji, showing that about 80 per cent of market vendors in the western part of the country are women, with incomes ranging from US$71 and $141. With the UNDP-supported temporary employment scheme market vendors will be able to earn up to three times more.

Merly Ybanez dropped out from college in 2008 because her parents cannot pay anymore her school fees. Her mother, who was into small scale buy and sell of agricultural products, became a breadwinner when her father got sick. As the youngest of 6 children, she helped her parents in daily household chores.

Australian aid officials recently went on a field mission to Wonsan, Hamhung and Nampo port to monitor Australian assistance to women and children through WFP in DPR Korea.

The Executive Director of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet, and Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, a UNESCO Special Envoy on Literacy for Development, will join UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova on Friday 25 May to review the achievements of UNESCO's Global Partnership for Girls' and Women's Education during its first year.

Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women – the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women – with the Secretary-General of Organisation Internationale de La Francophonie (OIF), Abdou Diouf, signed a framework cooperation agreement Monday 21 May aimed at mutually reinforcing the various initiatives and projects to promote women's rights in Francophone countries – especially with regard to the fight to end gender-based violence (GBV).

Throughout the world, indigenous women and girls experience diverse forms of violence due to their marginalization within their own communities, and in society at large. While causing harm on a personal level, this also deters their ability to engage fully in community and societal developments. This is the focus of a report presented at the Eleventh Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples, in New York from 7 May to 18 May. The report stemmed from a three day meeting held in January, at which international experts discussed article 22 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, on violence against indigenous women and girls.

The first UNiTE Global Youth Forum, in Bangkok from 22 to 24 May 2012, will see over 40 youth activists meet from across the globe to discuss preventing and ending violence against women and girls. Each represents a strong network that has helped to advance young people's priorities and recommendations in their country, through advocacy and preventive actions. Here, Say NO speaks with two of the Forum's participants — Dhruv Arora and Bothaina Qamar.

ACCRA, Ghana — Sixteen-year-old Sahada was pulled out of school when her family arranged a marriage for her. But it wasn't what she wanted. "I wanted to remain in school and learn," she said through a translator. "My family took me from school and told me it is time to be married." In spite of her resistance, Sahada was kidnapped into marriage with a man from another village. "In some cultures in the North, when a man falls in love with you, he just grabs you by force," explains Mohammed Salifu with the Kayayee Youth Association as he translates her story. Sahada managed to escape on her own, making her way to Accra.

Colombia must increase its efforts to fight impunity for crimes of sexual violence, a United Nations envoy said Monday 21 May, adding that such efforts should be paired with assistance to survivors and victims. "I understand that the country as a whole wants to look to the future, instead of dwelling on the past, but there can be no lasting peace without security and peace for women," the Secretary-General's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallström, said in a statement at the end of a four-day visit – her first – to the South American country.

Ten years ago Pushpa Devi Maurya joined a self-help group to make ends meet in the village of Chak Padri in the state of Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Today this 35-year-old mother of two manages the bulk milk chilling centre set up by the milk producers' company near her village. The centre collects milk from 56 villages and supplies on average 2000 litres of milk a day to the state's milk grid. This project was possible because women's voices are starting to be heard. The lives of 50,000 women in 500 hundred villages in three of the poorest districts of Uttar Pradesh have been transformed through a UN Development Programme (UNDP)-IKEA Foundation pilot initiative titled Swaayam, which started two years ago. The partnership seeks to empower women socially, economically and politically. Thanks to these successes, the pilot is now being expanded to reach 2.2 million women.

Bangkok – A lack of targeted research on transgender persons in Asia and the Pacific is significantly hindering their access to health services and blocking effective responses to HIV, says a groundbreaking study released to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on 17 May. In this region, where long marginalized sexual minorities are already bearing the brunt of the HIV epidemic, transgender persons are among the most socially ostracized, lacking fundamental rights including basic access to health care and social protection schemes. Lost in Transition: Transgender People, Rights and HIV Vulnerability in the Asia-Pacific Region is a comprehensive review of material gathered from across the region over the past 12 years.  

Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Michelle Bachelet will travel to France next week to strengthen global partnerships for gender equality. She will meet with France's senior political leaders, participate in the ministerial meeting of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and strengthen cooperation with the Organisation de La Francophonie and UNESCO.

UNFPA disclosed that its Philippine office raised $28.5 million in the year to date, and that the money will be used to promote reproductive and maternal health, one of the country's Millennium Development Goals. "For the current seventh country programme, which started this year and will end in 2016, around $28.5 million has been mobilized and we are expecting more," UNFPA country representative Ugochi Daniels told reporters in a press conference.

Sexual violence is being used by illegal armed groups in Colombia as a weapon to scare and subjugate communities in areas where these groups operate. That's the testimony a senior United Nations official heard from women who have been raped in the department of Meta, about 100 kilometres from the capital, Bogotá.

The World Bank is helping Tanzania establish a safety net programme to improve the lives of 15 million people, over half of whom are women. Through cash for work projects and other programmes, people are earning money to support their families while rebuilding their communities.

One of the exciting things about training that cuts across divisions is that you get to learn stuff from colleagues with very different experiences of IFAD's work. The gender training that's been running this week was an excellent opportunity for this because the sessions I attended involved a lot of group work and discussion, as well as giving guidance and insights on the challenging business of gender mainstreaming.

Literacy data for the school year ending in 2010, featuring a series of interactive graphics on literacy rates by age group, gender and the correlation to national wealth.

Statement by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the occassion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, 17 May 2012. This year the day focuses on women and girls.

Statement by ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré on the occassion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, 17 May 2012. This year the day focuses on women and girls.

A parade inaugurated by Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan of Jordan celebrated women's participation in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector earlier this month. On 7 May at the Hashemite University, Fifth National Technology Parade welcomed hundreds of visitors, as more than 200 students from Jordanian universities showcased their work. Many came from a programme supported by UN Women, to bring more female students into ICT fields.

UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet on 17 May announced the members of her Global Civil Society Advisory Group that will facilitate regular consultations and dialogue between civil society and UN Women.

Statement by Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women on the increase in the number of women in Algeria's Parliament.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has renewed her call for States to confront prejudice towards lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) persons.

From 22 to 24 May 2012, over 40 youth activists from across the globe will meet in Bangkok for the first Global UNiTE Youth Forum. The Forum is being organized by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's global campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women, to harness the leadership and engagement of young people in addressing violence against women and girls.

María Elena Muñoz industriously weeds a clearing in the forest and then digs several holes, where she and another four dozen women are planting plantain seedlings to help feed their families in this poor farming area in El Salvador. The group is involved in an agroecology programme that has two main aims: achieving food sovereignty, which is at risk in the rural communities of San Julián; and fomenting the development of energy forests, which provide local families with sustainable energy and help mitigate the impact of climate change.

Fundamental rights enshrined in international law should be enjoyed by everyone regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. That's the message of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in a video message for the International Day against Homophobia observed on 17 May. Charles Radcliffe is chief of the Global Issues Section at the UN Human Rights office in New York. "This is about non-discrimination. It's not about creating new rights or special rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. We're talking about the right to life, the right to freedom from discrimination, the right to education, the right to health. These and many other rights are universal. They are enshrined in international law but they are denied to many people just because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. So the High Commissioner's central message is that we all deserve these rights and that states should punish violence and hatred, not love."

For years Beauty, 52, carried out menial tasks in return for food in Mashonaland East, a rural district in Zimbabwe. She couldn't sell at the city market because it was considered neither safe nor appropriate for women in her community where vendors routinely wait overnight for markets to open. She was little involved in village decisions about its agricultural or economic affairs.

Colombian women are speaking up against sexual violence and want their government to fight impunity. That's what Margot Wallström, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict said Thursday 17 May on the first day of her visit to the South American country.

Marking International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, senior United Nations officials today drew attention to laws around the world which discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, and called for equality and the repeal of such laws.

They stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the men in Tahrir Square, yet many women now feel sidelined as Egypt undergoes its transition to democracy. Ahead of the presidential elections, beginning 24 May, this short documentary asks Egyptian women what they want from their next President.

A senior UN official is travelling to Colombia on Wednesday in efforts to combat impunity for crimes of sexual violence committed during the country's armed conflict. Margot Wallström, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for sexual violence, said she hopes to deepen dialogue and strengthen cooperation with the government during her four-day visit.

Remarks of Michelle Bachelet Under-Secretary-General, Executive Director of UN Women at GBC Health Conference New York, USA, 14 May 2012.

New maternal mortality estimates confirm that the number of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth is declining. Along with other indicators, this joint U.N. report validates the fact that we are making progress in saving mothers' lives, even if progress is slower than what is called for by the Millennium Development Goals. Rapid progress in some countries demonstrates that when governments take a strategic approach to the safe motherhood challenge -- by deploying trained midwives, ensuring adequate essential supplies, making family planning accessible and providing timely obstetric care to women with complications, we are getting results. Still, there is more work to be done in delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted and every childbirth is safe.

UN Women's Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women platform has recorded 5 million actions this month. Check out the journey of Say NO – UNiTE in the "5 Million Actions" photo essay.

Commencement speech by Michelle Bachelet United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, 15 May 2012.

LONDON - The past decade has seen great advances in child survival, but while toddlers and small children are benefiting, the death rate for new-born babies remains stubbornly high. Now a new report suggests that paying more attention to their mothers' health, and focusing on certain damaging but treatable diseases, could be one key to tackling neonatal mortality.

Nairobi, Kenya — Sub-Saharan Africa cannot sustain its present economic resurgence unless it eliminates the hunger that affects nearly a quarter of its people, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) argues in the newly released Africa Human Development Report 2012: Towards a Food Secure Future. While acknowledging that there are no quick fixes, the report argues that food security can be achieved through immediate action in four critical areas, one of which includes ending decades of bias against agriculture and women.

Earlier this month, I boarded a plane to see for myself the impact of recurrent drought on communities of Niger. The suffering there was immense and immediate. I could tell you the stories of the mothers who are struggling to put food on the table. The stories of the families who can't afford to buy food in the markets and the farmers who can't grow crops. Every mother I met was focused on doing everything possible to save the lives of their children. These are important stories that demand the world's attention, and we must do everything we can to help them.

UN Women along with UN partners in Afghanistan issued a press statement in the lead up to the NATO Summit on 21-22 May. The statement called on NATO and the Afghan government to fulfill UN Security Council Resolution 1325 which requires all parties to take special measures to protect women and girls in armed conflict.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking new war crimes charges against Democratic Republic of Congo rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda. Luis Moreno-Ocampo accused Mr. Ntaganda of murder, ethnic persecution, rape and sexual slavery. The ICC Prosecutor is also seeking similar charges against Sylvestre Mudacumura, military commander of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda or FDLR militia. Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said he made the public announcement Monday at the United Nations in New York to send a strong message.

"Rural women play a key role in supporting their households and communities in achieving food and nutrition security, generating income and improving rural livelihoods and overall well-being" (Rural women and the millennium development goals). However, rural women in developing countries are relegated to labour intensive activities, are given little access to resources, are not involved in the decision making process but their income, the income they generate, goes into men's pocket.

In 2011 Catherine Smith, an Australian mother of six, saw her former husband jailed on 17 charges. Among the charges were three for attempted murder, and many others for assault, sex without consent and detaining with intent to obtain advantage.

Algeria has become the first and only country in the Arab world to have more than 30 per cent of its parliamentary seats held by women, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). IPU reports that 145 women were elected as parliamentarians during last week's elections in Algeria. In the outgoing parliament, women MPs accounted for less than eight per cent of the elected legislators. Jemini Pandya, spokesperson for the Inter-Parliamentary Union, says Algeria is now ranked among the top countries worldwide with a large proportion of women legislators.

UNDP Administrator Helen Clark visited Maasai farm communities in Kenya ahead of the launch of the African Human Development Report that deals with food security in Africa. On a visit to Amboseli in southern part of the country, Clark finds that Maasai women farmers are changing lives by embracing new ways of farming.

Almost half a million Kenyan school girls have been given access to free sanitary towels through a State initiative supported by UN Women. The initiative is a great leap forward in a country where many girls miss up to five days of school every month because of their menstrual cycle.

Afghanistan is no longer the worst place in the world to be a mother, according to a new report by Save the Children. I am at once heartened and shocked by this news. If that respected NGO can show that progress has been made in this country, it must be true, and that is a good thing. But then this means that there is a place where women risk even more to have a child than in Afghanistan. My heart goes out to the women of Niger, the new holders of this soul-wrenching title.

In this opinion piece written on the occasion of Mothers' Day on 13 May, UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin talks about how his own remarkable mother shaped his attitudes toward women, human rights and empowerment. "She would say that Providence has put me here to accomplish an important mission in the world," he writes.

In this blog entry, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof references his piece about fistula survivors that was published on 13 May, which was Mother's Day in the United States and some other countries. He argues that the day should celebrate all moms, including those who nearly die giving life, and are left with a terrible injury.

Women infected and affected by HIV face persistent challenges as a result of their gender. Each year as many as 42,000 HIV-affected women die from complications relating to HIV and pregnancy alone, and many others struggle to access prevention, treatment, care and support services.

Israel's National Agency for International Development Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MASHAV) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) signed an agreement on 14 May to increase cooperation on food security, water management, the empowerment of women and industrial development in Africa and in Least Developed Countries.

A festival of health and nutrition took place in the East Jerusalem refugee camp of Shu'fat, dreamed up by the Agency's local girls' school to celebrate one year since the transformation of their canteen with healthier food.

The decreasing child population and the increasing number of older persons makes it imperative to redesign the way the State, the family and the market ensure welfare and capacity development of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean, as stated in a study published on 9 May by ECLAC. The document Ageing, Solidarity and Social Protection: Time to Move Towards Equality analyzes prospects on population ageing and its inclusion in the public agenda, based on ECLAC's development proposal entitled "Time for Equality".

School meals do not only fill stomachs. They also attract students to school and help them to concentrate on their lessons. In the case of girls, they do even more. They can help prevent them from leaving school early and getting married before they are ready.

An illiterate grandmother from a small village in Malawi, Stella, found it hard to picture what lay ahead when she arrived at the Barefoot College of India. Six months later she emerged as one of 25 trained African solar technicians, ready to electrify her home village for the first time.

"We are appealing to non-traditional donors to come to the rescue of the populations who are in a situation where their lives may be at risk," Thomas Yanga, the West Africa regional director for the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said. Yanga was speaking after a trip with WFP's newly appointed executive director, Ertharin Cousin, to Niger where they witnessed how mothers were feeding their children toxic berries to stave off hunger.

A landmark System-wide Action Plan (SWAP) on gender equality and women's empowerment has been adopted at a meeting of the United Nations Chief Executives Board for Coordination, to be applied throughout the UN system. For the first time, the UN will have a set of common measures with which to measure progress in its gender-related work.

Niger is the worst country on earth in which to be a mother, according to a report by Save the Children. The charity's annual Mothers' Index uses statistics covering female and child health and nutrition, as well as prospects for women's education, economic prosperity and political participation in its assessment of 165 countries.

One third of married women in Viet Nam have suffered from domestic violence, according to a national study by the General Statistics Office of Viet Nam and the World Health Organization. Recognizing that police officers are at the forefront of the justice system's efforts to prevent domestic violence and protect victims, UNODC and Vietnamese experts are developing a domestic violence prevention training module for police, to be used at the national People Police Academy of Viet Nam.

At the Eleventh Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples in New York, UN Women organized a side event on "Good Practices: Indigenous Women´s Contributions to Citizenship and Governance Processes". The panel focused on the results of public policies in Mexico which have tried to integrate a gender and intercultural approach to advance indigenous communities. These policies aim to promote indigenous women’s rights including land rights, economic empowerment and knowledge preservation.

The OECD Development Centre and the United States Department of State are co-hosting a launch event in Washington on 10 May to present 2012 SIGI data and rankings.

The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) has launched the first ever Wangari Maathai Award to honour and commemorate the impact of this extraordinary woman who championed forest issues around the world. The award in the amount of USD20,000 will be given in recognition of outstanding contributions made by an individual to preserve, restore and sustainably manage forests and to communicate the key role forests play in rural livelihoods and the environment across generations. The closing date for receipt of nominations is Friday, 15 June 2012.

UNITED NATIONS, New York—At the conclusion of its 2012 session late last month, the United Nations Commission on Population and Development adopted a groundbreaking resolution that provides a major boost to the sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights of adolescents and youth.

The lead United Nations agency dealing with the global AIDS response launched a campaign on 8 May to help bring attention to the goal of ending new HIV infections among children by 2015 and ensure mothers living with HIV remain healthy.

The joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has launched a campaign to end new HIV infections among children by 2015. Known as  "Believe it. Do it" , the campaign  also aims to ensure that women living with HIV stay healthy through pregnancy, delivery and breast-feeding. UNAIDS estimates that about 390,000 children become newly infected with HIV each year. As many as 42,000 women living with HIV aids die from complications relating to HIV and pregnancy.

Municipal authorities from eight cities around the world meet in Nairobi this week to advance work to develop their concrete programmes to make cities safer and more sustainable, with a special focus on women, young people and children.

Funded by the United Nations' International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Bolivian government’s Camelid Valorisation Programme (Proyecto VALE) is enabling ranchers to increase their incomes, protect the environment and transform their lives thanks to improved management practices, capacity building exercises and new initiatives designed to help traditional herders to protect their environment and make more money from their llamas. The project has also been investing heavily in women.

More than a third of women living in the Gaza Strip are exposed to physical abuse in their homes, according to a 2011 violence survey by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Almost 15 per cent are exposed to sexual abuse, and a staggering three-quarters experience psychological abuse. These figures highlight a growing concern throughout Gaza, where the Israeli blockade has halted imports and cut jobs, destabilising the local economy and increasing poverty. As Gazans continue to survive with less – earning lower salaries and living in crowded housing – the effects on families include an increase in domestic violence.

"I have never thought of myself as a female journalist. I think of myself as a journalist full-stop." So says award-winning Egyptian journalist, Shahira Amin, in a new book on frontline reporting by female correspondents, supported by UN Women.

“Women hold the key to doors that are closed to men.” So says Victor Nuñez, Commodore in Argentina’s Air Force, who has seen his female colleagues use such keys for the benefit of many communities while on peace missions.

Over one million babies worldwide die each year because they were born too soon, according to a report released on Wednesday. But the majority of these premature deaths—75 per cent—can be avoided through simple and low-cost interventions including promoting constant skin-to-skin contact between the mother and baby, a procedure known as "kangaroo mother care."

When Xiaoyu Su, from Fujian Province, tried to convince her parents that her newborn daughter should be fed breastmilk and nothing else, she was criticized for being stubborn. Nevertheless, Ms. Su is proud that she managed to exclusively breastfeed her daughter for the first 6 months of life.

Daughters as young as 12 in the villages surrounding Antsohihy, the capital of Sofia Region, in Madagascar's remote, traditional north, often suffer the harmful consequences of falling pregnant and giving birth too young when parents accept zebus (cattle) or cash as a dowry.

Grand Challenges Canada is calling on voters to help select winners in their third round of Rising Stars in Global Health contest.

A top United Nations official has voiced her concern about the latest wave of fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), especially in areas that have previously witnessed sexual violence committed against civilians by members of armed groups.

Nobel prize laureate Sir John Sulstonon 1 May told reporters at United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York that the 21st century is a critical juncture for the planet, and called on countries to reduce consumption and give women better access to family planning. Presenting key findings from a new report by Britain's renowned Royal Society on the link between population and sustainability, Sulston said that it was a mistake that population and consumption had thus far been looked at as separate issues.

Plunged into an unprecedented crisis following the military coup d'état perpetrated on 22 March 2012 by a military junta, the Malian authorities have embarked upon a process of transition. With the help of UN Women, women in Mali have been represented at the negotiating table.

Some 15 million babies worldwide - more than one in ten births - are born too early, according to a new United Nations-backed report, released today, which calls for steps such as ensuring the requisite medicines and equipment and training health staff to promote child survival. WHO's Director of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, Elizabeth Mason, noted that a key way to reduce preterm births is to find ways to help all pregnancies go to full term, or 39 weeks.

Giving children a good start not only tackles the cycle of poverty transmitted across generations but also breaks through gender stereotypes by enforcing positive gender socialization at a very young age. Evidence shows that parents' attitudes toward their girls shift as they witness them develop a wider variety of social and intellectual capacities in an early age. Furthermore, early childhood care and education programs are extremely effective at getting and keeping girls in school.

Puniben Rajpara from Gujarat has improved water facilities in her village, while Shashi Kiran from Himachal Pradesh has demanded one-year maternity leave for working women in her area. At the Women’s Political Empowerment Day Celebrations 2012, they were two of the four outstanding elected women representatives from panchayats (village councils) who were honoured for their efforts to improve health and provide basic social amenities in their villages.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on 1 May voiced alarm at the decline of breastfeeding across East Asia, and stressed the need to ensure that mothers understand the long-term benefits of this important practice for the survival and development of their children.

A preeminent panel of female leaders will share unique insights, inspiring experiences, new developments, challenges, and opportunities as they discuss their roles in international legal organizations, the judiciary, and private practice in the United States and around the world. The panel will be preceded by a reception at 6:30 pm. Event date: 1 May. RSVP required.

While conventional indicators of gender equality capture inequality in outcomes such as education and employment, the OECD Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) focuses instead on the underlying drivers of these inequalities. The launch event on 10 May is co-hosted by the United States Department of State and the OECD Development Centre. Event date: 10 May. RSVP required.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's remarks at the reception for civil society, private sector and creative community in support of "Every Woman Every Child", in Mumbai, India, 28 April.

Honaria's central market in the Solomon Islands' was dirty, crowded, and well known for petty crime and harassment – particularly for its mainly-women vendors. For many, making it "women friendly" was a lost cause.

While on an official trip to India with the UN Secretary-General, Mrs. Ban met with leading voices on women's rights and hears about the main challenges and opportunities in one of the world's largest democracies.

They are successful, intelligent and determined. And for many, Sarah Nafuna and Jane Mubanga Chinkusu are the role models and the source of inspiration for women pursuing a career in science.

On Thursday 26 April, the Special Court for Sierra Leone found guilty former Liberian President Charles Taylor for aiding and abetting war crimes committed by the Revolutionary United Front during Sierra Leone's 1991 – 2002 civil war. While serving as President in Liberia, he backed the rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone who killed tens of thousands during the war, notoriously used child soldiers, committed rape and sexual slavery as well as cruel treatment. He was found guilty on all these charges.

This film provides an overview of the contribution of livestock to livelihoods in rural communities, particularly for women. Stories from Ethiopia and Kenya show how poor men and women use and accumulate livestock to pull themselves out of poverty and food insecurity. A film by the IGAD Livestock Policy Initiative, under the Multidisciplinary Fund on Gender and Food Security (MDF) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Preventing mother to child transmission of HIV is the focus of a new campaign by UNAIDS. The campaign, called 'Believe It. Do It,' is aimed at stopping new HIV infections among children and keep their mothers alive by promoting use of anti-retroviral drugs. It was launched on Thursday in Ghana, one of 22 countries working to increase delivery of services to pregnant women.

How can we encourage young women in countries around the world to play a greater role in the technology revolution? In this panel held on Thursday 26 April on the occassion of Girls ICT Day in New York, world leaders, technologists and youth discuss the issue.

This case study (and related film), based in Swaziland, is part of a series of joint publications on strengthening linkages between sexual and reproductive health and HIV. Increasingly the first two prongs – preventing new HIV infections (Prong 1) and preventing unintended pregnancies in women living with HIV (Prong 2) – are receiving the recognition, commitment and programming support required to have an impact.

New York – Global leaders from the US, Europe, Africa and Asia joined together Thursday 26 April to debate and define a roadmap that will help break down barriers and overturn outmoded attitudes in a bid to get more girls into technology-related studies and careers. A high-level dialogue held at New York's Institute of International Education and hosted by the International Telecommunication Union, the UN-specialized agency for information and communication technology, identified misguided school-age career counselling, the popular media's 'geek' image of the technology field, a dearth of inspirational female role models, and a lack of supportive frameworks in the home and workplace as factors that, together, tend to dissuade talented girls from pursuing a tech career.

In this UN Radio invterivew, Dianne Penn speaks to Neelie Kroes, a European Commission vice-president and Commissioner for Digital Agenda. With Europe hit by a financial crisis and ICTs booming, Kroes is calling for more "girl power" in the sector.

Last year Joanne O'Riordan caused a sensation in her native Ireland when she convinced the government to halt proposed cuts to disability allowances. Joanne has Tetra-amelia syndrome, which means she was born without arms or legs. But what is truly amazing is that Joanne is only 16. She celebrated her birthday in New York where she participated in "Girls in ICT Day," a UN event aimed at encouraging more women and girls to enter the information communications and technology field. The event was an initiative of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) that was held on Thursday, 26 April. Joanne told Dianne Penn how different types of technology help her to live life to the fullest, starting with her wheelchair.

As climate change makes the land increasingly arid in Ghana's northern and coastal savannahs, food insecurity is worsening. An estimated 35 per cent of the land mass in Ghana is prone to desertification, with the desert increasing by 20,000 hectares a year. Yet 70 per cent of the population depends directly or indirectly on agriculture. The severe impact is being felt by the communities, with the brunt of it by the women responsible for the household cooking.

Remarks by Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Executive Director, UN Women, New York, 26 April 2012 on the occassion of Girls in ICT Day.

HA LONG CITY, Viet Nam – In several provinces of Viet Nam, a new twist has been added to the traditional marriage ceremony. After the bride and groom say their "I do's", the officiate pronounces them husband and wife. But before actually signing off on the marriage certificate, he invites them to a counselling session on sexual and reproductive health skills and knowledge. The initiative, entitled "Sexual Reproductive Health Communication and Counselling Integration in Marriage Registration Ceremonies", has been implemented in the four wards of Quang Ninh, Hue, Nghe An and Can Tho provinces since 2008.

UN Women co-sponsored a side-event on advancing HIV prevention among young people, at this year's Commission on Population and Development in New York on 25th April. Dr. Carol Underwood, a health and communications expert, spoke at the event. She has examined the gendered nature of HIV risk as the co-author of a new paper: 'Structural determinants of adolescent girls' vulnerability to HIV: Views from community members in Botswana, Malawi, and Mozambique'. Here she speaks with UN Women about the concerns and proposals of the communities she consulted – and the links they made between economic empowerment, violence and HIV prevention in young girls.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon kicked off his visit to India on 26 April by commending the country's progress on health, while highlighting the need to do more to promote the well-being of women and children. In his meeting with the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Ghulam Nazi Azad, in New Delhi, Mr. Ban took note of India's continued efforts towards achieving universal health coverage.

MT ELGON 26 April 2012 (IRIN) - The widow of a militia leader killed by Kenyan security forces speaks of her regrets over the numbers killed during the 2006-2008 conflict and of her efforts to promote peace and support other women who lost loved ones.

Despite the obvious benefits, many girls never even consider a career in ICTs. There is a lack of awareness among students, teachers and parents on what a career in ICT could offer. Attitudes can change when girls are invited into companies and government agencies to meet ICT professionals and see what life is like on the job.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will officially launch a "Tech needs Girls" campaign on Girls in ICT Day, Thursday, 26 April 2012, in New York. "Tech needs Girls" is a new ITU campaign that seeks, through extensive engagement with government and private sector stakeholders, to attract greater participation of girls in the technology sector. The campaign seeks to achieve greater empowerment, equality, education and employment for girls through greater access to opportunities in the world of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

UNAIDS will launch a campaign called "Believe it. Do it" on Thursday, 26 April, aimed at preventing mother to child HIV transmission.

Statement by UN Women Commission on Population and Development Forty-Fifth session 23-27 April 2012.

UNITED NATIONS, New York—Urgent action is needed to protect and fulfill young people's human rights, particularly their right to sexual and reproductive health.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has provided the Reframing Rio initiative with US$100 thousand to help ensure that rural poverty and the challenges faced by poor women and men living on 500 million smallholder farms are front and centre leading up to Rio+20. Reframing Rio is a multi-media project designed by tve, Inter Press Service (IPS) and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) to enhance global awareness and mobilize efforts towards the urgent need of a sustainable world leading up to and beyond Rio+20. In addition to IFAD's contribution the project is also supported by the EU and 9 other organizations.

24 April 2012 (Vienna) - Taking a firm stand against human trafficking, especially child trafficking, in the tourism sector, the heads of two United Nations bodies today pledged to stamp out this hidden scourge through joint efforts. Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), also called for concerted global action at every level of society.

In 2009, Mariama Baba became one of 30,000 girls in Ghana who receive WFP take-home rations when they attend school regularly. Mariama lives in Karaga in Ghana's deprived Northern Region and is the first of her father's nine children. In 2011, she had to repeat a year at her school, Karaga Junior High.

Statement by Michelle Bachelet UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women at the United Nations Security Council Women, Peace and Security, 24 April 2012, New York

While much has been done to improve the situation of women when it comes to peace and security in the context of UN missions and resolutions of conflicts, much more needs to still needs to be done. That was part of the message delivered to the UN Security Council Tuesday during a briefing by two Under Secretaries General, UN Women's Michelle Bachelet and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations' Hervé Ladsous.

The Security Council could play an important role in addressing the obstacles that women faced in being informed about — and participating in — formal conflict resolution, especially by encouraging mediators to pay more attention to gender issues, Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Women, said today, as she briefed the 15-member body on recent developments in the area of women, peace and security. Ms. Bachelet was accompanied by Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, who updated the Council on security, protection and equal participation of women in countries with a peacekeeping presence.

Gender-based violence (GBV) kills or disables as many women aged between 15 and 44 as cancer does. In nearly every modern day conflict and disaster, reports of gender-based violence have revealed the various ways in which emergencies can increase vulnerabilities to abuse amongst populations already deeply disadvantaged by the effects of the crisis. Every day the media reports on gender-based violence happening in countless crises around the world and on a scale that seems un-imaginable.

Poorly integrated maternal health services, a lack of human resources and a serious shortage of money for treatment mean the Democratic Republic of Congo is unlikely to meet the global plan of eliminating mother-to-child transmission by 2015.

Economic policies should be more responsive to the needs of women and more instrumental to achieving inclusive development. This is the message delivered by the head of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, to a high-level event in Doha, Qatar.

Change in favour of equitable and sustainable development in the Arab world and around the globe must be achieved by women working side by side with men at all levels, Qatar Museums Authority Chairperson Sheikha Al Mayyasa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said on 23 April as the Thirteenth Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) held a high-level event on "Women in Development".

On Monday at a week-long session on the Commission on Population and Development at headquarters in New York, UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin said that the nexus between technology and youth is expanding the agency's ability to raise awareness, adding that "when it comes to sexual and reproductive health, awareness can spell the difference between life and death."

Twelve CEOs from major companies have signed the CEO Statement of Support for the Women's Empowerment Principles, at an event organized by UN Women and the UN Global Compact in Serbia on 7 March.

Mothers with hungry and malnourished children are traveling by any means they can to get to feeding sites and clinics in the Chadian desert, such as Dibinindji, where no roads exist and where it is sometimes too late to save their babies' lives.

Hotel Taselotzin is a highly rated place to stay in tourist guidebooks and websites about Mexico. Yet, the road to get there has not been easy. "The idea of opening a hotel came from the members of our organization Maseualsiuamej Mosenyolchicauani (Indigenous Women Acting Together). We started taking courses in accounting and anthropology, and workshops on how to serve customers. We now have 14 members and the hotel is 11 years old," says Juana Maria Nicolasa Chepe, the hotel manager.

Video Message of Michelle Bachelet at the 12th International Association of Women in Development Forum on Women's Rights and Development, 20 April 2012, Istanbul, Turkey.

A scroll, given to UN Women by a Chinese delegation, has showcased a unique female-only script. Deputy Executive Director John Hendra received the scroll from a delegation of experts from Hunan Province, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday stressed the need to provide reproductive health care for young people, as well as give them access to the necessary information and the means to protect themselves from sexual abuse and violence.

More than half of the world's poorest people don't use banks, leaving them vulnerable to theft, loss of money and exploitation, according to a new Gallup Poll conducted for The World Bank. Hardest hit are poor women, who may not have control over their own assets.

UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet's statement at the Women's Foreign Policy Group, 20 April, 2012 Washington, D.C.

Violence continues to be a serious problem in Africa, according to a Tanzanian scholar. Dr. Lindah Mhando says the causes of violence include unemployment, the unequal distribution of resources and marginalization of women.

We, the Executive Directors of the World Food Programme and UN Women dedicate this Earth Day to the young girls who spend a full day in search of firewood, to the mothers who sell food rations to buy fuel for their family, and to the countless women who are forced to skip meals because wood is not available or unaffordable to cook their food.

When the global financial crisis struck in 2008, the World Bank's social development unit and the Institute of Development Studies in the UK set out to examine in "real time" how around 3,000 people in 17 developing countries coped with the shock of higher food and fuel prices. The adults worked for longer hours, ate less and bought cheaper and less nutritious food, switched their children from public to private schools or reluctantly took them out of school altogether. Women were particularly hard-hit as they continued to bear the burden of household responsibilities despite experiencing long hours in paid work.

This opinion piece  by UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin,  was published in the Global Motherhood Blog of the Huffington Post.  It argues that protecting the rights of women and girls is a moral imperative, as well as a route to economic development.  And that investing in adolescent girls is especially critical.

New Faces New Voices (NFNV), the Pan-African Network of women in the financial and business sectors, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) agreed in Abuja (Nigeria) to strengthen their cooperation to promote women empowerment in Africa.

KARACHI — It was personal experience that turned Gul Bano and her cleric husband, Ahmed Khan, into ambassadors against early marriage and its worst corollary — obstetric fistula, which allows excretory matter to flow out through the birth canal. As is the custom in the remote mountain village of Kohadast in the Khuzdar district of Balochistan province, Bano was married off as soon as she reached adolescence, at 15, and was pregnant the following year.

UNFPA has launched a companion guide to its free e-learning course for professionals who are working to address gender-based violence in humanitarian contexts. The e-learning course uses problems that practitioners currently face and case scenarios from real-life humanitarian contexts to guide learning. Integrated throughout the modules are videos, learning activities and quizzes that both engage the learner, and support participants' varying learning styles. The new companion guide not only covers all of the content in the e-learning, but also provides new case studies, sample tools, best practices, and activities.

NEW YORK — Representatives from the United Nations, the private sector, governments, philanthropy, academia and civil society met today for the first time under the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children.

"Rise up and sit at the table. Negotiate, because you are not alone. We are many women waiting for you to negotiate on our behalf ". The call comes from a strong commitment among Mexican women and SUMA (meaning sum of all parts in Spanish), an alliance of five civil society organizations which is working to increase women in decision-making in Mexico. The organization has been supported since 2011 by UN Women's Fund for Gender Equality, in cooperation with the National Institute for Women. The Fund aims to advance women's economic and political empowerment through high-impact, multi-year grants of up to USD 1 million.

WOLAITA SODO, Ethiopia — It's no ordinary day for Fanaye Fanta. Since her initial training to become a health extension worker, Fanaye has taken clients' temperature and blood pressure and provided information, counselling, condoms and pills. But this is the first time she has inserted a slim plastic rod (Implanon), which serves as a long-acting contraceptive, into a woman's arm.

Women from across Zimbabwe have celebrated the launch of a strategic high-level women's coalition. The voluntary group will lobby to ensure that the new constitution, currently being drafted, will deliver on gender equality and empowerment for women in the country.

With just one month until President Barack Obama hosts G8 leaders at Camp David, The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health is joining other leading development organizations in a social media campaign to encourage political will towards reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) action among a number of key issues at this high level meeting.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC ) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) signed an agreement on 17 April pledging closer cooperation to tackle human trafficking and migrant smuggling, and to improve border management, bearing in mind the cross-cutting theme of corruption.

On 13 April a landmark System-wide Action Plan (SWAP) on gender equality and women's empowerment was adopted at a meeting of the United Nations Chief Executives Board for Coordination, to be applied throughout the UN system.

Through the Gender Innovation Project, WFP in Guinea-Bissau is supporting women's farming associations in the regions of Bafata and Oio. In exchange for part of their fresh produce, which goes towards WFP school meals in 16 schools, WFP gives farming equipment to the women.

The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) to be held in June will be an important opportunity to define international frameworks to advance sustainability. To amplify the voices of women in the discussions for Rio+20, UN Women is supporting the civil society network Women's Major Group on gathering the views and gender perspectives on sustainability and what that means for women around the world through the Rio+20 gender survey.

A United Nations independent human rights expert on 17 April urged the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) authorities - at the Federal and Emirate level - to further concentrate on the plight of the victims of trafficking, especially women and children, while keeping up their fight against human trafficking.

A new partnership between the EU and UN Women set up to strengthen cooperation between the two organizations on their work on empowering women and gender equality, was signed on 16 April by High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/ Vice President of the Commission Catherine Ashton and Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs, with Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Michelle Bachelet.

MOGADISHU, 17 April 2012 (IRIN) - The Somali Athletics Federation will select one female runner from a field of 10 to compete in the 400-metres at this year's London Olympics. The youngest of those currently training in Mogadishu is Najma, 10. She started running six months ago, shortly after Al-Shabab left the city. "My father encouraged me," said Najma.

In this video clip, UNIFEED looks closer at the stigma and ridicule survivors of rape and violence face at an IDP settlement in Hargeisa, Somaliland.

The United Nations has welcomed the passage of a bill to address domestic violence in the Maldives. The successful vote is a testament to the passion, optimism and dedication of those in the political parties, ministries, and non-government and community organizations who have worked to reach this goal.

"Needless to prove, I am basically half the world". So sings Angham, one of the Arab world's most successful female vocalists in her new single Nos El Donia or "Half the World", which she has dedicated to Egyptian women.

From 5 to 9 March 2012, more than 70 climbers from 36 African countries, tackled the continent's tallest mountain range as part of the Africa UNiTE to End Violence against Women Campaign, supported by UN Women, UN country teams in Africa, and others. Here, five climbers share their experiences, and their reasons for climbing.

Margot Wallström, who has been spearheading United Nations efforts to tackle sexual violence in conflict, will step down from her post at the end of May due to family considerations, it was announced on 16 April.

In this post, UNDP's Administrator Helen Clark emphasizes the importance of women as decision-makers, especially in the political landscape. "Road to Rio" is a series of posts by senior officials of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), outlining some of the key challenges around human development central for achieving the sustainable future we want.

The IKEA Foundation has committed €30 million (approximately US$40 million) for a programme to empower 2.2 million poor rural women in India. This will allow the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to reach these millions of women and their families in approximately 20,000 villages in some of India's poorest districts.

When Nicolae was just five years old, his sole caretaker died, forcing him to beg for money on the street. At the age of eight, Nicolae quit school and turned to petty theft. Soon afterwards he was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing electronic equipment. Once out of jail, Nicolae vowed to turn his life around. However, he couldn't do it alone.

It is a crisp spring morning in Ghonchi district in northern Tajikistan, and a large crowd of women from across the district have gathered outside of the main government building, the Hukumat. They are here for an historic event – the opening of Tajikistan's first One Stop Shop for public service delivery.

TORIT, South Sudan – It was a busy morning in the maternity ward of Torit Civil Hospital, Eastern Equatoria State. Three newborns were welcomed into the world, all in good health. Surrounded by family members, Lugina Michael let out a sigh of relief.

Emerging from a two-decade civil war, the world's youngest nation faces many challenges in providing health care to its population, particularly maternal and newborn health care. Only 19 per cent of births are attended by a skilled health worker. And there are broad disparities in healthcare access, with children and women in rural areas having far less access to care than those in urban areas.

The Security Council is calling on the Government of Sierra Leone to continue efforts to consolidate peace in the country. In a presidential statement, council members noted the progress achieved in a number of areas including national reconciliation, the promotion of gender equality and the preparation for national and local elections in November.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon answered questions from young people during a Google+ Hangout. Topics discussed included terrorism, technology, youth unemployment and women's rights. Mr. Ban said he wanted to use the social media tool to connect with people and hear ideas.

DADAAB - A mix of cultural practices, such as early and forced marriage, as well as child labour, are depriving girls of education in the Dadaab refugee complex in eastern Kenya.

Some 180 women from communities affected by flooding and armed violence in Colombia's Córdoba department have come together in the town of Santa Cruz de Lorica to build a women's shelter. Although some men helped behind the scenes, the women themselves built the shelter and painted it, and are now maintaining it.

Now that I am aware of my rights as a citizen, I feel so empowered", said Aber Evalyn a 51 year-old woman from Uum village in the North of Uganda after participating in trainings held by the Forum for Women in Democracy to increase women's involvement in the decision-making processes at the community level.

This week, "In the Shadow of a Man", a film commissioned by UN Women, is taking the compelling stories of four Egyptian women to the Istanbul Film Festival, as part of a string of international screenings. The documentary premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year, and will be followed soon with a second film by the director on women candidates in Egypt's 2011-2012 parliamentary elections. In an interview with UN Women, young British-Egyptian director Hanan Abdalla weighs in on the issues the film addresses, and its relevance as the women's movement gathers momentum in the country.

10 APRIL 2012 – Convened by PMNCH partner Melinda Gates, and hosted by TED's Chris Anderson, last week's TEDxChange event encouraged important conversations surrounding critical reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) issues—such as access to family planning for women in developing countries.

10 APRIL 2012 – Laying a foundation for discoveries that will improve maternal, newborn and child health everywhere, PMNCH member the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth (GAPPS) has created the world's first ever standardized, widely accessible repository of high-quality specimens linked to data from diverse populations of pregnant women.

In close collaboration with researchers at Aga Khan University, Family Care International (FCI) undertook a program of work to highlight interconnections between maternal and newborn deaths anc the poor health of the mother before or during pregnancy, or poor quality care during and immediately after childbirth.

JAKARTA 10 April 2012 (IRIN) - Survivors of sexual violence in Indonesia face an uphill battle in recovery as a result of an inadequate legal system, police inaction, and prevailing societal attitudes that tend to be suspicious of victims, say activists.

During a visit to Barbados, the United Nations human rights chief urged the country to adopt more effective legislation measures to combat discrimination and domestic and sexual violence in the country, adding that an attitudinal change is needed in society as a whole to tackle these issues.

Mom Ra lives just a few hours from Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, but the 30-year-old felt very far from state support when first diagnosed with HIV. Like other HIV-positive women in her small village, she knew almost nothing about the illness and was diagnosed late, after countless costly trips to the local village doctor and losing a child to the disease. Like many such women, she says, she also struggled to find information on treatments and her rights, and has been isolated by open discrimination from her neighbours.

PORT MORESBY - In the Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG) sexual violence against young girls, and the shame and stigma that follows, is forcing many out of school and others into early marriage.

Safehouses, hotlines … and rugby? The work being done in Georgia to address violence against women is taking place on many fronts, notwithstanding its national playing fields. Violence against women in the country remains a pandemic. UN Women has been supporting efforts to address gender-based violence through outreach campaigns, as well as helping to improve services for survivors, and the capacities of service providers.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union, the world's largest body of lawmakers, has approved a resolution to secure access to health, as a basic human right, for women and children. The resolution calls on parliaments to take all possible measures to achieve Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 by 2015. MDG 4 aims to reduce child deaths around the world by two thirds by 2015, while MDG 5 aims to reduce maternal deaths and widen access to reproductive health.

It is estimated that, across the globe, 2.4 million people are forced to endure the crime of human trafficking at any one time. They do so in forced labour, in domestic servitude, in sexual exploitation, and in every country and every region of the world.

The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against Women is calling on the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to do a better job when it comes to protecting women. Rashida Manjoo was recently in both places urging the governments to launch programmes that to keep women safe and reinforce the laws that govern violence against them.

Leaders of nearly 120 national parliaments attending a major meeting in April this week resolved to prioritize action and resources for improving the health of women and children.

The challenge of delivering for rural women is a critical issue for UNFPA as it works to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted and every childbirth is safe. Accessing basic health care, including quality family planning services and supplies, is problematic for many women in rural areas, leaving them with little control over the timing and spacing of births. Once pregnant, these women often face limited transportation options to reach ide skilled assistance during labour or to get emergency care should complications arise.

On International Mine Awareness Day, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet participated in the "Lend Your Leg" initiative to sensitize world leaders as well as people around the world to join the UN Mine Actions Service (UNMAS) campaign to prevent deadly weapons from causing indiscriminate harm to civilians. In contemporary conflicts, as much as 90 percent of casualties are civilians, mostly women and children.

The President of the 66th United Nations General Assembly His Excellency Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser today called on Member States, civil society, the private sector and the media to step up efforts to bring an end to human trafficking, calling it "an appalling form of human rights abuse".

Although the Government of Indonesia has issued a number of regulations concerning migrant workers and gender mainstreaming, significant challenges still hamper the development of effective policy and regulations for the protection of migrant workers against gender based violence and HIV and AIDS. Indonesian women migrant workers, a majority of whom work as domestic workers, are particularly vulnerable to gender based violence and to HIV and AIDS throughout the entire course of the migratory cycle.

To rally more than 1.3 million web users, you need four simple ingredients. A website, a blog, a video blog, and a team of 22 spirited young people. And just one message: that everyone should stand up and speak out about violence against women. This is how the "Must Bol" social media campaign is encouraging young men in India to examine violence in their lives, and question social norms.

At the UN General Assembly interactive dialogue on "Fighting Human Trafficking", UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet highlights strategic interventions to address human trafficking by focusing on gender, human rights, justice and development.

BANDUNG (ILO News): According to an ILO study in 2004, there were an estimated 2,593,399 domestic workers in Indonesia; of these, 1.4 million domestic workers were estimated to work in Java alone. The great majority of domestic workers are female with low educational levels; they mainly come from poor families in rural communities in Indonesia.

MEDAN (ILO News): The great majority of domestic workers are female with low educational levels; they mainly come from poor families in rural communities. Apart from adult domestic workers, one of the most common child labour forms found in Indonesia is child domestic labour.

Providing education to boys and girls is essential for the development of societies, said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday. The Secretary-General spoke at Colombia University in New York where he said young people are a force for transformation.

A blood donation campaign has been launched by United Nations agencies in the Darfur region of Sudan to save the lives of mothers. According to the United Nations, 25 per cent of women who die while giving birth is caused by excessive bleeding due to lack of adequate blood for transfusion.

A United Nations independent expert today urged Lebanon to investigate the death of an Ethiopian migrant domestic worker who committed suicide days after being abused in the capital city of Beirut. The abuse committed against Alem Dechasa, 33, was caught on video and posted on social media websites, showing the victim shouting and struggling to resist a man dragging and forcing her into a car in front of bystanders. Ms. Dechasa committed suicide on 14 March.

KINSHASA 03 April 2012 (IRIN) - Twelve HIV-positive women held a fashion show in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, on 30 March to highlight the plight of tens of thousands of people with HIV/AIDS, and challenge donors and the authorities to provide adequate treatment.

UN Women's English-language Twitter account @UN_Women has celebrated its 100,000th follower, just fifteen months after UN Women became operational. The magic number was hit on 31 March 2012 by Ruth Richards (@MsRuthR), a law student from the United Kingdom.

The main driving force for earthquake-damaged house rebuilding in Haiti is not the government, the private sector, NGOs or international organizations. Families and communities have been playing a vital role, taking the task to build back a more resilient country into their own hands—especially women who head more than 40 percent of Haitian households.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) visited a center for girls freed from armed groups. Many of them had been subjected to rape, sexual slavery or other forms of gender-based violence. At the centre, they receive counselling and vocational training as tailors or carpenters, skills that will offer them a means of survival after they leave. The centre also has a nursery to assist the girls who arrive either pregnant or with children.

South Africa has some of the highest rates of HIV prevalence in the world. Over a decade ago, to prevent the mother-to-child transmission of HIV during breastfeeding, the Government of South Africa rolled out a policy providing free infant formula for all HIV-positive mothers. A major policy shift is now underway in KwaZulu Natal, the province with the highest HIV prevalence among pregnant women. All mothers are now being encouraged to exclusively breastfeed for the first six months. And instead of formula, HIV-positive mothers and their infants will receive antiretroviral drugs that will dramatically reduce the chances of transmission.

At only 19 years old, Jawa has taken her passion for hairdressing, makeup and skin care, and with the assistance of UNRWA and its Spanish Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund project, turned it into a business.

The "Must Bol" social media campaign is encouraging young men in India to examine violence in their lives and question social norms.

Cholera-hit communities in Northern Cameroon have been floored by a second disaster — a massive food crisis. Aid workers are warning that more than one in five women (21.4%) could be suffering from malnutrition in the extreme north of the country.

Expanding access to a choice of affordable and appropriate contraceptive commodities is critical to achieving the goal of reproductive health for all. This report, prepared for the United Nations Commission on Commodities for Women and Children's Health, provides a review of three contraceptive commodities that are considered to be overlooked or underutilized: the female condom, hormonal implants and emergency contraception.

Sustainable development will not be achieved without the full participation of women. As government officials met in March to prepare for Rio +20, the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, a special dialogue was hosted by UN Women, with the Women's Major Group – a formal group representing women's priorities in sustainable development – supported by the Governments of Brazil and Switzerland.

In this publication, Countdown to 2015 provides profiles for the countries where more than 95 percent of all maternal and child deaths occur. The profiles highlight how well each country is doing in increasing coverage of high-impact interventions that can save the lives or millions of women and children.

NAIROBI - A new survey of commercial sex work in Kenya, the first to include male sex workers, has revealed that 40 percent of female and male commercial sex workers are in marriages or stable unions. According to the survey by the National AIDS and Sexually transmitted infections Control Programme (NASCOP), the World Bank, Kenya Prisons and Canada's University of Manitoba, there are an estimated 200,000 commercial sex workers in Kenya, 15,000 of whom are men.

At a press conference on 27 March titled "Civil Society Coalitions React to Governments' Progress at Rio+20 Negotiations", Executive Director Sascha Gabizon from Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) expressed outrage that G-77 leaders "deleted" gender equality and women's rights land tenure. Women are the majority of the poor, she said. "They own less than one percent of assets worldwide."

Remarks by UN Women Director for Policy, Saraswathi Menon, at a panel discussion on the gender dimensions of the sustainable development goals and the post 2015 development agenda. 21 March 2012, New York.

Advancing rural women's economic empowerment and access to decent rural employment, supporting associations in giving them a stronger voice in decision-making, and fostering their better access to land are three priority areas in enabling rural women to realize their full potential for food and nutrition security.

As Niger enters its annual "hunger season," efforts are being made by international aid agencies to try and prevent the country's food crisis turning into a famine. The BBC's Andrew Harding went to visit an initiative that is being run by the UN's World Food Programme, where he says women are trying to "push back the sands of the Sahara."

Recently I interviewed Ann Tutwiler, Deputy Director-General for Knowledge of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). We discussed the economic empowerment of rural women, key trends in agriculture and international development, leadership lessons of social change and more. (..) According to FAO's most recent State of Food and Agriculture report, just giving women the same access as men to modern seeds, fertilizer and tools could increase production on women's farms in developing countries by 20 to 30 percent – enough to feed up to 150 million more of the world's hungry people.

Shishir Chandra is a community organizer with Men's Action for Stopping Violence Against Women (MASVAW) in Uttar Pradesh, India, an alliance of individual men and organizations that are committed to reducing gender-based violence through education and advocacy. Here he talks about the struggle to challenge gender roles for both men and women in India, and why he believes that young men can and should step up to the challenge.

Remarks of UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet at the Panel on Affordable Security: Financial and Economic Realities,27 March 2012, Washington, D.C.

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and Chairman of the L'Oreal Foundation Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones will present the L'ORÉAL-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards to five exceptional women scientists during a ceremony at the Organization's Headquarters on Thursday, 29 March.

UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet travelled to Libya on 11 and 12 March to meet with leaders and strengthen UN advocacy and engagement in support of Libyan women's meaningful engagement in the transitional process.

Until 2009, available data showed Afghanistan as a country with a low HIV prevalence rate. However, research conducted in Kabul, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif in 2009 showed an average HIV prevalence of 7.1 percent among people who abuse drugs by injection. Of one million drug abusers, 110,000 of whom are female, only 10 percent have access to treatment services.

Groupon Malaysia presented a cheque worth RM 92,320 to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on 27 March following the recent 'Groupon for Women' initiative which was launched on International Women's Day.

In an exclusive discussion with women's organizations the day after he emerged as the winner of Senegal's Presidential election on 25 March, President-Elect Macky Sall outlined his vision for improving the lives of Senegalese women.

India has a rich history of women in positions of power, yet the country ranks 129 out of 146 countries on the Gender Inequality Index, and women in India face barriers at all levels in areas such as food insecurity and education. To confront the social, economic and political challenges faced by women in India, a group of female activists, local leaders and entrepreneurs in New Delhi met with Helen Clark, chief of the United Nations Development Programme in March.

For women, who have long been invisible during and after conflict, truth-seeking is an opportunity to have their experiences recognised and their roles understood, as survivors and agents of change. In the past three decades approximately 30 truth commissions have been established, along with many national and international fact-finding missions and commissions of inquiry. These have been used to draw a clear picture of past events, and identify how best to move forward on issues of accountability and redress. While there has been significant progress in recent years, many of these historically failed to include or respond to women's experiences of conflict.

Women in Pakistan have faced formidable challenges in their efforts to achieve gender equality and address gender-based violence in their country, with particular problems posed by elements among customary norms and practices. Yet throughout the past few years, breakthroughs in pro-women legislation have shown that both the efforts of Pakistan's government, and the advocacy of groups working toward women's empowerment in the country, are taking effect.

UNICEF and UNFPA launched a high-level commission on Friday 23 March 2012 to improve access to essential but overlooked health supplies that could save the lives of millions of women and children every year. "Making sure that women and children have the medicines and other supplies they need is critical for our push to achieve the MDGs," said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "The Commission will tackle an overlooked but vital aspect of health systems, and ensure that women and children are protected from preventable causes of death and disease."

Eighteen years after Rwanda suffered from a genocide that killed hundreds of thousands of people, the country is making steady progress in its efforts to achieve equality between men and women. That's the assessment of Professor Shirley Rendell, the Director of the Centre for Gender, Culture and Development at the Kigali Institute of Education. She says the government in the tiny country in east-central Africa has good policies to encourage and enable women to play leadership roles. Professor Rendell told Derrick Mbatha that, in fact, more than half the members of parliament in Rwanda are women.

Expanding access to quality, affordable maternal health medicines is critical to making progress in reducing maternal mortality. However, significant challenges often impede such access. Chief among them is a lack of data on the needs, gaps, systems and financing for maternal health medicines.

During times of drought and civil conflict, women are usually on the frontlines, fighting to keep their families afloat. Helaffi and Bidari, two women now in a nomadic encampment in northern Djibouti, are typical. Thanks to support from WFP and the EU, they're managing — and the food is keeping their spirits up.

The United Nations is hosting a series of events, beginning Friday 23 March, to pay tribute to the men and women who bravely fought against the transatlantic slave trade and those who continue to stand up against modern forms of slavery.

We are just beginning to understand how a changing climate can impact rural men and women quite differently in different agricultural systems across Africa and Asia. This is partly due to the differing roles and responsibilities men and women have in various cultures vis-a-vis food production, marketing, consumption and income generation. Much research on agricultural and farming systems has examined the range of soil, water and land management strategies and technologies that can be considered 'climate-smart' agriculture options. Yet little emphasis has been placed on understanding the different adaptive strategies men and women pursue in order to secure their livelihoods in the face of a changing climate.

Urgent international action is needed to combat social inequalities and environmental risks. That's the message from the Secretary-General to the Global Human Development Forum taking place in Turkey. Ban Ki-moon is stressing coordinated global action on both fronts ahead of the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development in June this year.

ILO and UN Women have signed Letter of Intent to develop a common approach for better coordination and cooperation to work effectively on advancing gender equality and women's empowerment initiatives.

Celebrated worldwide on 30 April, International Jazz Day aims to promote intercultural dialogue towards eradication of racial tensions, foster gender equality and reinforce the role of youth for social change. 2012 marks the First Annual International Jazz Day. The Day will have its official kick-off at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 27 April. The UNESCO celebration, organized in cooperation with UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock, will set the stage for a series of events to take place around the globe in the following days. The Day will bring together performers, educators, governments, experts, and fans alike, as they explore together the history, meaning, impact, and legacy of jazz music throughout the world. The Programme at UNESCO HQ includes open master classes by renowned international jazz musicians, scat improvisational classes for young students, musical perfomances, conferences, debates and a big evening concert.

22 March marks World Water Day. This year's theme is water and food security. In developing countries, 43 percent of the farmers are women, but their importance is even higher than this figure might suggest. According to the official World Water Day 2012 brochure, women are usually not enabled to perform well because of unequal access to services and resource inputs — including water. If women had the same access to resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20–30 percent. Closing this gender gap would lift 150 million people out of hunger.

While I was chewing my pencil over how to start on this blog, I googled "how much does water weigh?" And I was pretty surprised at some of the answers, including that the question was incorrect and that water's weight depends on its temperature. What I was really trying to estimate was how heavy the bucket of water Pascaline Bampoky is carrying in the photo would be. If she's carrying about 20 litres of water – then the answer is about 20 kilogrammes. The only time I lift that sort of weight is when I heave my suitcase onto the airport scales. For millions of women – especially young women – across the developing world, water means heavy loads and hours of drudgery. Every day one of their jobs is to walk long distances, often across unsafe areas, lugging home buckets, jars or plastic containers of water for household needs.

As the agricultural sector races to adapt to climate change, awareness is growing that gender issues are at the heart of climate-smart agriculture and food security. A Training Guide on Gender and Climate Change Research was recently launched to support the formulation of better agricultural programmes.

Vilma Argueta and Catarina Sapón are part of a network of 228 volunteer mother peer counselors working in local communities to encourage good feeding practices and care for children under 3 years. They work in 40 indigenous communities of the seven municipalities in Totonicapán, which has one of the highest rates of chronic undernutrition (82.2 percent) in Guatemala.

Empowering female farmers in developing countries is crucial to solving the world's food problems as an era of food price spikes looms, the chair of a panel which advises governments and donors on agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa told Reuters.

For World Water Day, learn how Zimbabwe's first female fishing rig operators are making history, while reclaiming their health, livlihoods and access to the water.

The Nairobi-based Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) brings practical information and civic education to communities living in the arid parts of East Africa through 12 community-based knowledge centres in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. In Nepal, the Community Radio Support Centre / Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (CRSC / NEFEJ), promotes environmental journalism and public awareness of sustainable development issues. Both these organizations won the US$20,000 UNESCO-IPDC Prize for Rural Communication, which recognizes meritorious and innovative efforts to improve communication for rural communities in developing countries.

"Lack of access to clean drinking water exacerbates the burdens carried by the poor and the undernourished, and it increases mortality rates [...] We must join together to secure clean water and food for every citizen of the world, now and in the future," said UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova in her message for World Water Day, 22 March. The theme for World Water Day 2012 is "water and food security". UNESCO's main contributions to the Day this year are the 4th UN World Water Development Report 2012 (WWDR), and the International Traveling Painting Exhibition, titled "Water".

During a news conference on 21 March at UN Headquarters in New York, the UN police chief called on Member States to ensure that peacekeeping personnel found guilty of sexual exploitation and abuse are punished and that everything possible is done to prevent such crimes from being committed in the first place.

Pakistan's Sindh Province has recorded a sharp increase in reported cases of human trafficking since the beginning of the year, and the trend could continue unless the authorities take action to contain it, say activists.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Associate Administrator Rebeca Grynspan and Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan of Turkey will open the first "Global Human Development Forum" on 22 March in Istanbul, leading discussions of development experts, government ministers, civil society leaders and UN officials on the new global policies needed to ensure a sustainable future for people today and for generations to come.

In recent decades, most Latin American countries have made increasing commitments to gender equality. However, the commitments alone have not been sufficient to fully address gender gaps and inequality, as they require appropriate budget resources to ensure effective implementation. In response to this need, UN Women promoted Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) as a tool for linking women's and gender-equality public policies with budget allocations, and for strengthening the capacity of governments to implement the relevant policies. UNV joined UN Women's work in the region with the project 'Gender Budgeting and Volunteering through Civic Engagement: A Contribution to Democratic Governance and Gender Equality in Latin America'.

When Alice Kachere, a small farmer from Malawi, lost her husband, she also lost her land, her home, and the means of providing for her three young children – all due to a lack of joint tenancy and land inheritance rights. For Cesarie Kantarama from Rwanda, access to credit and markets is the missing link to improving incomes for her and other small producers. Women farmers working their small plots can't compete with high-quality less-expensive imports, she says, and live a precarious existence while middlemen benefit from the fruits of their labor.

Three short films capturing three very different perspectives on the opportunities and challenges of today's complex world have been voted as winners in the '1 in 7 Billion' film contest. One, A Common Guy by Pedro Diaz deals with the desperation of growing old alone and impoverished. Another, A True Dream, by Bao Long, conveys the frustration and excitement of environmental awareness and activism. The third, Scarecrow, by Cassio Pereira deals with the yearning of a young farm girl to attend school like her brother.

On 9 March, 70 intrepid, exhausted activists returned to the base of Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro to extensive celebrations. They had accomplished a grueling yet rewarding feat: taking awareness of gender-based violence to new heights.

In some parts of west Africa, water levels have become dangerously low and pastureland has disappeared. The UN estimates more than 13 million people are at risk of serious food shortages. Here, Chadian women in the Bahr-el-Ghazal and Guera provinces speak about the poor harvest over the last few years and the difficulties they have in feeding their children.

UN Online Volunteers Hazel Alfon (Philippines) and Riddhima A. Mehta (India) provide support to the first African Regional Conference on Women Access to Trade and Finance . The African conference is organized by the Alliance for African Women Initiative (AFAWI), a non-governmental organization based in Ghana. Starting on 31 March in Accra, the conference will bring together government representatives, development agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia, women communities, volunteers, financial institutions and local media. They will work together to come up with concrete and innovative ways to empower women in the areas of access to credit, micro-finance and women's contributions to trade and sustainable economic development.

This Guidebook presents valuable advice on how to design gender-sensitive, community-based projects and programmes. It draws on a wealth of experiences and examples from UNDP CBA Programmes, together with lessons learned from Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programmes and UN Volunteers' experiences within the field.

Globally, 39 million girls are currently not enrolled in either primary or secondary education, while two–thirds of the world's 796 million illiterate adults are women. Only about one third of countries have achieved gender parity at secondary level. The evidence shows that something needs to change. The IIEP 2012 e-forum from 26 March to 6 April 2012 will build on the IIEP evidence-based policy forum of the same title held in October 2011 as part of the comprehensive follow-up on forum recommendations proposed by participants. In order to ensure continual collaboration on issues relating to gender, the online forum will bring together a number of actors, including participants who were unable to attend the IIEP evidence-based policy forum in 2011, to carry on this knowledge exchange.

Since 1990, the baseline year against which we measure progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, millions of people have been lifted out of poverty. The world is within reach of seeing every child enrolled in primary school, and many fewer lives are being lost to hunger and disease. Overall people are healthier, wealthier, and better educated than ever before.

UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman has received the Humanitarian Award of the Kuwait-America Foundation for her work on behalf of women around the world, along with a donation of $250,000. The funds will benefit a UN Women initiative in one of Jordan's poorest rural areas to enhance women's economic empowerment.

An American reproductive health advocate, Adrienne Germain, and a Malaysian non-governmental organization, the Federation of Reproductive Health Associations of Malaysia, were announced today as winners of the 2012 United Nations Population Award.

Voters in Timor-Leste are due to go to the polls on 17 March to elect a new president. Thirteen candidates, including two women, have been approved to run in the election

On November 25, 2011, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the municipality of Quito in partnership with the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and with support from UN Women, issued a call to solicit testimonies of women's lives through letters, asking also for letters on what would make a better world without violence or discrimination against women. The result of this innovative participatory campaign was overwhelming — in three months 10,000 letters were received.

Statistics gathered by UNESCO testify to the staggering number of journalists and media workers killed while performing their professional duties. The report notes that "in most cases, these journalists were reporting on local conflicts, corruption and other illegal activities, and many of these attacks were perpetrated by police and security personnel, militia as well as non-state actors, such as organized crime groups." During its meeting, the IPDC's Council will also consider a draft United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. This is the first UN-wide initiative to curb violence against media workers mobilizing all relevant UN agencies. It has been prepared in cooperation with other UN bodies, Member States, NGOs, professional associations and media outlets. Once adopted, the Draft UN Plan of Action will be presented to the UN General Assembly. The draft was developed at a UNESCO conference in Paris last September.

UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet comments on the ending of the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women without agreed conclusions.

Around one-fifth of the population of Yemen is in need of emergency food aid, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday. "What this shows is that almost one quarter of the Yemeni population needs emergency food assistance now," said WFP's Yemen representative Lubna Alaman. WFP has already scaled up its aid programme to the country this year to feed 3.6 million vulnerable people. It is targeting assistance to women and children living in the poorest 14 governorates as well as around 670,000 internally displaced and conflict-affected people.

When she was enrolled in the programme six weeks ago, Namuding's mid upper arm circumference (known to nutritionists as her 'MUAC') measured 20.3 cm. Now it is 21.3 cm. According to WFP nutritionist Joyce Owigar, a pregnant or nursing mother with a MUAC of less than 20 cm is severely malnourished. "Namuding has improved from being almost severely malnourished to moderately malnourished," she said. The programme through which Namuding receives her rations of Super Cereal targets people who are already certified as malnourished. Alongside the nutrition programmes, the European Union (either through individual member countries or through ECHO, the humanitarian arm of the EU) is also supporting other WFP-run programmes for people affected by drought in northern Kenya.

Young people in the Zambian capital Lusaka highlighted low education, lack of skills and low levels of entrepreneurship as the main causes of youth unemployment in the country, during the first of 45 youth consultation events worldwide that the ILO is hosting during March.

Actress and Goodwill Ambassador Ashley Judd came to the UN to discuss her life and her book "All That Is Bitter and Sweet: A Memoir". In it she opens up about emotional and sexual abuse she endured as a child and what led to her work as a humanitarian activist fighting human trafficking.

This Mother's Day the United Kingdom Department of International Development is highlighting how UK aid is helping two million women to deliver their babies safely in the world's poorest countries. DfID has launched a special Facebook campaign called "Changing Lives" for 18 March — Mothers' Day in the UK.

The mHealth Alliance, in partnership with the Innovation Working Group, the UN Secretary-General's Every Woman Every Child global strategy and the Norwegian Development Cooperation Agency (Norad) have issued a Call for Letters of Interest (LOI) for the 2012 mHealth for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Competition for catalytic funding.

Lack of services and information about adolescent reproductive health are fuelling the rise of teen pregnancies and hurting child survival rates, according to health experts.

Women face widespread restrictions with their ability to buy, sell or inherit land, open a savings account, borrow money or sell their crops at market. They also are more likely than men to lack access to rudimentary basics of farming such as fertilizers, water, tillers, transportation, improved crop and animal varieties, and extension services. "The global sidelining of women farmers puts our food security at great risk," said Mark Holderness, Executive Secretary for the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), one of the sponsors of the first-ever Global Conference on Women in Agriculture, which is part of GFAR's Gender in Agriculture Partnership program.

In recognition that malnutrition is an enemy to the country's development, the Irish government and the World Food Programme (WFP) towards the end of last year signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a K225 million grant to support Malawi government in its Supplementary Feeding Programmes (SFPs). WFP Country Director, Abdulaye Diop, also hailed the grant saying the contribution from the Irish Aid to Malawi's fight against malnutrition was timely. "It will enable us to reach out more malnourished pregnant or lactating women and children in the country," Diop said.

There must be more thought to the role women play in the economy, according to Celine Paramunda, one of the representatives from civil society speaking at a special high-level meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and the UN Conference on Trade and Development. Ms. Paramunda represents the Society of Catholic Medical Missionaries, an NGO accredited to ECOSOC. The overall theme of the 2 day meeting was "Coherence, Coordination and Cooperation in the context of Financing for Development". Julie Walker spoke with Ms. Paramunda about promoting sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth.

Three Pakistani policemen serving with the UN in Haiti will be sentenced to prison for sexual exploitation and abuse, the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) reports. The decision follows the outcome of a military justice procedure conducted this month by Pakistani authorities in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince.

To prepare for the Engaging Youth conference and to provide context for discussions, UNRWA has gathered stories about the work it does to engage young Palestine refugees throughout the region.

As the second largest sending country, some 700,000 documented Indonesian migrant workers leave the country for work abroad, primarily in East and South East Asia as well as the Middle East. Of these, 78 percent work as domestic workers. In 2009, around 4.3 million Indonesians were estimated to be working abroad. As an effort to provide better protection and recognition to Indonesian migrant domestic workers, the International Labour Organization (ILO), in collaboration with SmartFM Network, a leading radio station in Jakarta, will organize a series of migrant workers forums that will be held every Tuesday for three weeks in March 2012. The Forums are aimed to raise the awareness of both public and targeted policy makers to comprehensively protect migrant workers through a national strategy of advocacy.

Population size, rapid urbanization, industrialization and economic development are placing increasing pressure on fresh water resources in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the latest edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR4) released on 14 March at the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille. The United Nations warns that pollution from industries, agriculture and households jeopardize future water availability in the world's most populous region, which is also increasingly threatened by natural disasters. The United Nations World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) is hosted by UNESCO and brings together the work of 28 UN-Water members and partners in the triennial World Water Development Report (WWDR). This 4^th edition directly reports from the regions, highlighting hotspots, and has been mainstreamed for gender equality, which is addressed as a critical issue.

According to the latest edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR4), released on 14 March at the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille, France, Arab countries are responding to these challenges by improving water resources management, increasing access to water supply and sanitation services, strengthening resilience and preparedness, and expanding the use of non-conventional water resources. However, these measures are insufficient to overcome water scarcity constraints facing most countries in the region.

Findings on the prevention of postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) have important implications for expanding access to effective care and could have a substantial impact on maternal survival in places where access to skilled medical staff is difficult.

An independent United Nations human rights expert on 14 March urged Israel to release Hana Shalabi, a Palestinian woman prisoner who has been on a hunger strike for nearly a month.

UN Women and the Rockefeller Foundation are supporting the Women's Major Group to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development by conducting a global survey on sustainable development and Rio+20. The survey will gather the views, perspectives and goals of advocates around the world on the issue of gender equality and women's empowerment.

Chief of political affairs B. Lynn Pascoe and UN special representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Margot Wallström launched the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA) Guidance for Mediators on addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Ceasefire and Peace Agreements. For the first time, it will provide principles and strategies for mediators and their teams to help combat this destructive tactic of warfare.

Thousands of people from a community in South Sudan have fled to western Ethiopia to escape violence in their homeland, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reports. The people, members of the Lou Nuer tribe in Jonglei State, are mostly women, children and the elderly. They are escaping fresh fighting with a rival ethnic community.

South Sudanese women use their art and craft to preserve their culture, while making a living for themselves. The Roots Project was started in 2009 with the aim of bringing together women from across South Sudan to do arts and craft as a way of preserving and promoting their culture while making a living and providing for their families.

UN-supported organizations in Somaliland provide medical, psychological and legal assistance to women and girls — particularly refugees and the internally displaced — who were gang raped and later gave birth.

Women living in India's Himalayan mountain ranges are gaining control over their natural resources and their lives by utilizing their local wisdom. The Community Awareness Centre (AADHAR), is a grassroots organization that seeks to empower these rural women by documenting, protecting and promoting their indigenous knowledge.

There has been growing recognition that good development models are based on evidence and mutual accountability. Yet for years the lack of gender-related statistics has been used as a reason to not take bolder action on gender equality and women's empowerment. A dynamic new partnership, the Evidence and Data for Gender Equality (EDGE) Initiative, is responding to this gap.

The Maternity Protection Resource Package provides inspiration and tools to help organizations and individuals everywhere to strengthen and extend maternity protection to all women in all types of economic activity.

The coordinator for global agriculture at the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF), Ms. Sue Longley, stressed the need to strengthen decent work in agriculture to protect women's rights.

Under the vast oil palm canopy of the Hap Seng plantation, on the eastern edge of Malaysian Borneo, Maria Rafael hacks away dead branches with her machete while supervising the progress of several other female migrant workers.

Magdalena, 12, is eager to go to school. She dreams of becoming a nurse or a doctor one day, to serve her people when she grows up. "I'll make sure that I can treat people and give them medicine so they can feel better," she said. Magdalena belongs to the Ik community, a small minority ethnic group in the mountains of Karamoja, northeastern Uganda. They live in several small villages after having been displaced when their land was converted into part of a national park.

Ju Hye-Sim lives with her husband in Chongnam, in DPR Korea's South Pyongan province. As a pregnant woman from a poor household, she received specialised nutritious food from WFP from the first trimester of her pregnancy, until six months after her child was born.

The Government of Pakistan is committed to improving its global health index and we are dedicated to ensure that Pakistan's most vulnerable, especially women and children, get vitamins and minerals they need to survive and thrive, said Mr. Muhammad Ayub, Senior Chief, Planning and Development Division, Government of Pakistan. Mr. Carl Paulson, Head of Programmes from World Food Programmes in his remarks, assured that the WFP would continue to support the people of Pakistan for elimination of malnutrition in the country.

UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, last week visited Sun Valley, Idaho, where he was the key guest of honour at the Fifth Family of Women Film Festival. Dedicated to documentaries addressing women's status and empowerment at the global level, this year's festival focused on the Middle East and North Africa.

An event is scheduled to be held in London in July to generate political commitment and substantial resources to meet the family planning needs of women in the world's poorest countries by 2020. The event will be organized by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DfID) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with support from UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and other partners.

Chronic food shortages have become the most pressing human rights issue in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), an independent United Nations expert said today, warning that hunger could lead to serious health problems, especially among children, women and the elderly.

How can researchers and aid organizations use technology to make the voices of the most marginalized girls heard? How can adolescent girls in the hardest-to-reach rural communities use mobile phones and the Internet to gain critical life skills? The issue of integrating new technologies with communication strategies to empower and support the most vulnerable girls was at the center of a panel discussion that took place at the UNICEF Headquarters in New York last week. The event was organized during the 56th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

On 9 March 2012, the UN Department of Political Affairs launched its Guidance for Mediators on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence. On the sidelines of the event, UN Mediation Experts will answer your questions about addressing conflict-related sexual violence in ceasefire and peace agreements. Tweet your questions with the hashtag #sexualviolenceinconflict from 9-12 March 2012. Selected questions will be answered and published on this page. Follow the UN Department of Political Affairs on Twitter @UN_DPA

The new guidance by the Department of Political Affairs will be issued to all UN mediators and mission chiefs and incorporated in training and briefing materials for envoys and their teams. Key principles for mediators include an obligation to engage parties in discussion on this issue and to work towards firm commitments in peace accords to cease all acts of conflict-related sexual violence. The guidelines also require sexual violence to be included in the definition of acts covered by a ceasefire and monitored for.

With the economy in Beit Surik struggling to survive the effects of the West Bank Barrier, new job opportunities are almost non-existent. UNRWA offers a job creation programme to address high unemployment among Palestine refugees.

On the last day of her trip to Morocco to commemorate International Women's Day, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet, met with rural women of the Soulalyates ethnic group, who have been striving for inheritance and property rights.

"We are a community of camels", is how Kalif Abey of the Kenya Camel Association (KCA) welcomed us in Greater Isiolo in the arid and semi-arid low plains of the upper eastern part of Kenya. The majority of the "ruteros" are from Sudan and Somaliland, therefore have extensive experience with camels and been eagerly awaiting to meet the hosts of this case, local camel raisers and members of the Anolei Camel Milk Cooperative.

Raliya Sumani, a former refugee from Somalia, struggles to ensure a better life for her daughters. She lives with her six children in Tanzania's Chogo settlement since 1992 following civil war in her country.

Violence, sexual abuse and violations of rights are a daily routine in the lives of many women in Hargeisa, Somalia. Handa is one of the thousands of Somali women who were sexually abused, but one of the very few who chose to report it.

At least two things are certain about the millions of women who work as smallholder farmers worldwide. First, they are among the hardest-working people on the planet, and second, they are woefully under-appreciated and under-compensated for their daily, uphill struggles. For most of those women, and the daughters who work alongside them, 8 March was probably just another day of rising early and tending their fields or herds. But their achievements and challenges were in the spotlight at IFAD headquarters, where the three Rome-based UN food and agriculture agencies – IFAD, FAO and WFP – jointly celebrated International Women's Day.

Remarks by UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet at the "Soulaliyat Women Entitled to Land Property Rights" event, Morocco, 9 March 2012.

Remarks by UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet at Informal Discussion With Girl High School Students, Al-Ghafari High School, Morocco, 8 march 2012.

Remarks of Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women at the National Conference "Morocco on the Path towards Equality: Legal and Institutional Advances for Gender Equitable Public Policies", 8 March 2012, Rabat, Morocco.

On International Women's Day, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and UN Women urged the Government of Afghanistan to fully and promptly implement the law on Elimination of Violence against Women. "As long as women and girls in Afghanistan are subject to violence with impunity, little meaningful and sustainable progress for women's rights can be achieved in the country," said Georgette Gagnon, Director of Human Rights for UNAMA. "Ensuring rights for Afghan women—such as their participation in public life, including in the peace and reconciliation process and equal opportunities in education and employment—requires not only legal safeguards on paper, but critically, speedy and full enforcement of the EVAW law."

To commemorate International Women's Day, UN Women and CARE Egypt, in collaboration with the Gender and Development Donors Subgroup (GAD Group), will commemorate International Women's Day (IWD) in the Cairo Opera House on Saturday 10 March 2012, in a celebration titled "Laha" (for her). "Laha" is in appreciation of Egyptian women's contributions and achievements to the advancement of Egypt.

For ages masculinity has been equated with power, toughness and the suppression of one's emotions, according to the UN Population Fund. The notion of what it means to be a "man" may have contributed to risky behaviours, sometimes deepening gender inequalities, the agency adds. But a new initiative led by the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex, Britain, is helping men change these harmful social norms to become staunch allies of women's rights.

ABOMEY, Benin – At 1.2 percent, HIV prevalence in Benin is one of the lowest in African but entrenched stigma against people living with HIV have forced UNICEF and the Government of Benin to find innovative ways to combat the disease and support those affected by it. Women are often not empowered to refuse sex or demand protection and many are subjected to sexual exploitation or violence that can increase their vulnerability to the disease.

Residents of low-income and informal urban settlements suffer hugely from inadequate living conditions and limited access to services, which puts a disproportionate burden on women's unpaid time and results in far-reaching consequences for their well-being, according to a new research study. The study, which was conducted by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) with support from UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, shows that although urbanization presents women with more job opportunities, greater independence and fewer economic and cultural constraints, it does not always result in a fairer distribution of wealth and other advantages, including rights, political representation and their ability to secure assets. UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, said this research synthesizes a new and emerging area of work that is of critical importance to reduce poverty and promote gender equality.

Each year hundreds of organizations and civil society activists attend the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). They come from across the world to share and exchange ideas, make connections and push for change, many focusing on the issue of violence against women and girls.

Speaking on International Women's Day at a forum on the role of business in empowering women, UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri highlighted that engaging the private sector is a key strategy to unlock women's potential.

Women do not enjoy the equality they deserve, and advancing their status is a shared responsibility for all, according to the President of the General Assembly. His message was delivered by his Chef de Cabinet, Dr. Mutlaq Al-Qahtani, to mark International Women's Day 2012. The theme for this year is empowering rural women and the critical role they can play in improving food security and eradicating poverty. With Rio+20 on the horizon, says Al-Qahtani, it is time to recognize their role in achieving sustainable development.

"As an international scientific organisation, the IAEA is aware of its need to strive for gender balance," said IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano during an event at the IAEA's Vienna headquarters to highlight and honour the achievements of women, International Women's Day.

International Women's Day is commemorated all over the world on 8 March. It gives us an opportunity to celebrate progress towards gender equality and to raise awareness on work still to be done on gender-based discrimination. The United Nations theme for this year's Day is "Empower Rural Women - End Poverty and Hunger". Together with the Palestine refugees, UNRWA organises a multitude of activities to commemorate and acknowledge the role of Palestinian women in society and their contributions to it. These events reaffirm the Agency's commitment to gender equality and women's rights.

Today, the world marks International Women's Day, the theme for this year being "Empower rural women - end hunger and poverty". UNODC is working with rural women in parts of Asia and Latin America to equip them with knowledge relating to sources of livelihood that are alternatives to the cultivation of illicit crops used in the manufacture of illegal drugs, such as heroin and opium, to address drug abuse and HIV and to protect the environment.

Against the backdrop of global geopolitical events and during a period of unprecedented transformation in the region, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet commemorated International Women's Day in Morocco on 8 March. Highlighting the progress made globally in women's legal rights, educational achievements and participation in public life, she also underlined the huge gaps that still remain for women globally from unequal opportunities to gross violation of rights.

Two UNFPA-supported projects dealing with men have been voted as among the 'Women Deliver 50' most inspiring ideas or solutions in terms of delivering for women. The competition, organized by Women Deliver in conjunction with International Women's Day, celebrates the progress made on behalf of girls and women worldwide.

Remarks delivered by UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet at a press conference on the occasion of International Women's Day, 8 March 2012, Rabat, Morocco.

They say a woman's work is never done. For women peacekeepers patrolling Sudan's Darfur region, that is certainly the truth. And the same also applies to the internally displaced people (IDPs) whom they are helping to protect. In fact, women residents of IDP camps say they are just too busy scratching out an existence to even acknowledge International Women's Day, which is celebrated every year on 8 March.

Kuala Lumpur — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is commemorating International Women's Day with E! News Asia host and Malaysian celebrity Ms. Marion Caunter by launching a public service announcement to raise funds and support for Mother and Child Health and Nutrition activities in Asia.

"Empower Rural Women, End Hunger and Poverty" is the theme of this year's International Women's Day which is observed annually on 8 March. The day is dedicated to celebrating the achievements that women have made while pointing to the challenges they still face as they strive to enjoy the same political, economic and social rights as men. Access to land is recognized as critical for empowering rural women who produce most of the food in developing countries, particularly in Africa. One woman who knows about the plight of rural women is Alice Kachere of the national Smallholder Farmers' Association of Malawi (NASFAM). During her visit to New York, to attend the session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, she told Jocelyn Sambira about the plight of rural women, particularly those who have lost their husbands.

Kandeh K. Yumkella, the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), said on 8 March that rural women were often at the forefront of economic and social change but many continued to face challenges due to  discrimination and gender-based stereotypes.

Critical gaps in the treatment of survivors of domestic and sexual violence are placing thousands of women at serious physical and psychological risk in Papua New Guinea (PNG), health experts warn. In a recent report, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) — the largest provider of specialized medical and psychosocial services to survivors of family and sexual violence in the country — highlights the "urgent, unmet medical and emotional needs of survivors of gender violence" in this half-island nation.

Proposed amendments to a draft law on gender violence in Lebanon have sparked demands from civil society organizations that parliament uphold an original draft criminalizing "honor crimes", marital rape and other abuses. "The version that we came up with at first was fine," said Maya al-Ammar, an activist with the organization KAFA, [Enough Violence and Exploitation]. "Now it is not good at all." The original draft has been worked on since 2007 by a coalition of over 40 civil society organizations, and primarily aims to protect women from mental, physical and economic violence.

International Women's Day gives us the chance to recognize the invaluable contributions women make around the world, and mark the challenges we still have to meet to achieve gender equality. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently highlighted the importance of addressing the needs of women and young...

Prevention of harassment in the workplace is both an international and national concern. It is internationally agreed that sexual harassment is a form of gender discrimination and is recognized as a violation of human rights. Sexual harassment at work can happen to any worker at any workplace — offices, factories, plantations and farms, small and large enterprises.

This collaborative working paper, and the shorter technical briefing note derived from it, discuss hidden dimensions of urban poverty, and the different ways in which they impact men and women. This gender perspective supports a broader understanding of urban poverty that stretches beyond income to include domestic and care responsibilities, dependency and powerlessness. The papers explore women's engagement in both paid work, which is often informal and subject to increasing insecurity and low earnings, and unpaid work, which results in time poverty for women. It also discusses differential access to shelter and basic services and their importance for safety, security and well-being.

No one quite knows how Qud al Haboob elementary school got its name. From its location, on the dusty outskirts of Darfur's largest town, Nyala, one may surmise it refers to the blinding haboob dust-storms that sweep periodically across much of Sudan. Aside from its unusual name, the school has another, more telling, distinction – the number of girl students who attend. Of 186 students, 98 are girls.

The United Nations is calling for an end to violence and discrimination directed at gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity was a grave violation of international law. Addressing the UN Human Rights Council, Mr Ban said countries must tackle the violence against gay people, decriminalize consensual same sex relationships, ban discrimination and educate the public. The Secretary General said he was opposed to attempts by some donor countries to link their future international assistance to the respect of gay rights.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon commemorated International Women's Day 2012 on 7 March in New York by highlighting the potential of rural women to improve the well-being of entire societies.

The challenge of delivering for rural women is a critical issue for UNFPA as it works to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted and every childbirth is safe. Accessing basic health care, including quality family planning services and supplies, is problematic for many women in rural areas, leaving them with little control over the timing and spacing of births. Once pregnant, these women often face limited transportation options to reach skilled assistance during labour or to get emergency care should complications arise.

Speech Delivered by UN Women Deputy Executive Director John Hendra at a send-off ceremony for the Kilimanjaro Initiative, 5 March 2012.

South Sudan has one of the highest rates of maternal deaths in the world. Available statistics indicate that one out of seven women die due to pregnancy-related causes and with less than 100 midwives for the entire country, health workers are severely lacking. But now, South Sudan's Ministry of Health, along with several organisations including UNFPA are working hard to tackle the problem through various midwife training programs, which will see graduates sent to various states country-wide.

International Women's Day is observed on 8 March annually to celebrate and highlight the achievements that women are making around the world. The theme for this year is "Empower Rural Women, End Hunger and Poverty." The Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development (ACORD) is working in 17 countries in Africa to empower rural women so that they can improve their economic lot. The day was observed this year as women from around the world gathered in New York for the two-week session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Derrick Mbatha sat down with Didacienne Mukahabeshimana, the Livelihoods Programme Officer for ACORD to discuss what this non-governmental organization is doing in Rwanda.

In time for International Women's Day, Groupon Malaysia and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) have ventured into a unique partnership to raise awareness and support for nutrition activities that benefit mothers and children in Asia, through the 'Groupon for Women' initiative for WFP's Mothers-to-Mothers campaign. The campaign which is also supported by Ms. Marion Caunter hopes to garner the backing of Malaysians to contribute for a worthy cause.

Namuding, a young mother in the drought-hit Turkana region of northern Kenya, fighting off malnutrition thanks to a nutrition programme supported by the EU. Last year's drought in the Horn of Africa left many communities weakened, making women and children especially vulnerable.

For the first time, the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council has taken up the issue of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. All across the world, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people have been targeted, abused or even killed, according to a report from the UN Human Rights Office. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is a grave violation of international law. Dianne Penn reports.

Domestic workers also represent the single largest group of female salaried workers toiling away in households of others in their own country or abroad. Despite of the importance of the role of domestic workers, domestic work is still not recognized as work.

Rural women are being recognized at the UN as important catalysts for sustainable development and powerful agents against poverty and hunger. In many cultures, it's the women who work in the fields. They make up 43 percent of the agricultural labour force worldwide, Marion V. Kamara of Liberia told delegates at a UN General Assembly debate on Wednesday 7 March. Which is why financing for rural and agricultural development must prioritize rural women, she adds.

Top United Nations officials today urged Member States to tackle violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation, adding that countries cannot continue to overlook such grave violations of human rights. "We see a pattern of violence and discrimination directed at people just because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a video message to the first-ever session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) devoted to this subject. "This is a monumental tragedy for those affected – and a stain on our collective conscience. It is also a violation of international law," he said.

The United Nations theme for International Women's Day 2012 is "Empower Rural Women — End Hunger and Poverty." The official observance for the day will be held at UN Headquarters, New York, from 10:00-12:00 EST. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will deliver opening remarks. The full event will be webcast live.

The United Nations theme for International Women's Day 2012, marked on 8 March annually, is "Empower Rural Women — End Hunger and Poverty." This web package highlights official UN system observances for IWD and includes related statements, events and resources.

Significant progress has been made towards providing education for all, yet according to UNESCO an estimated 67 million children still remain out of school – and over half of them are girls. Ten years after the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) was launched in 2000 to safeguard the right to education and gender equality for all children, filmmakers Frederick Rendina and Oren Rudavsky travelled to Nepal and Uganda to document the lives of girls seeking an education amid poverty and in the aftermath of conflict.

Nearly 400 chief executives worldwide have publicly declared their commitment to implementing the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) over the last two years, as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet will highlight today at the 4th Annual Equality Means Business Event.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 6 March called for greater efforts to remove barriers that hinder women's full participation in the economy, citing lack of access to jobs, markets, credit and property as some of the impediments. "The meaningful participation of women in business – from the inclusion of women-owned businesses in supply chains, to having significant representation of women on corporate boards – also translates into stronger performance," Mr. Ban told an event at UN Headquarters on gender equality for sustainable business.

Remarks by Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women at the Women's Empowerment Principles—Equality Means Business Event, 6 March 2012, New York.

More than 1,500 front line advocates and survivors from 96 countries assembled in Washington DC last week for a series of powerful meetings and platforms on addressing violence against women. The 2nd World Conference of Women's Shelters, hosted by the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), gathered activists from women's shelters across the world, along with celebrities, corporate leaders, dignitaries and policy makers, from February 27 – March 1.

Gender equality and the empowerment of women are gaining ground worldwide. There are more women Heads of State or Government than ever, and the highest proportion of women serving as Government ministers. Women are exercising ever greater influence in business. More girls are going to school, and are growing up healthier and better equipped to realize their potential.

This International Women's Day, I join women around the globe in solidarity for human rights, dignity and equality. This sense of mission drives me and millions of people around the world to pursue justice and inclusion. Looking back at the first year of UN Women, I applaud every individual, government and organization working for women's empowerment and gender equality. I promise the highest commitment moving forward. The creation of UN Women has coincided with deep changes in our world — from rising protests against inequality to uprisings for freedom and democracy in the Arab world.

Too often marginalised, women living in rural settings face steep challenges to the exercise of their human rights, their personal development and the pursuit of their aspirations. Across the world, this is weakening societies and holding back their development. Tackling this problem is the goal of the 2012 International Women's Day.

Women are the backbone of the rural economy, especially in the developing world. Yet they receive only a fraction of the land, credit, inputs (such as improved seeds and fertilizers), agricultural training and information compared to men. Empowering and investing in rural women has been shown to significantly increase productivity, reduce hunger and malnutrition and improve rural livelihoods. And not only for women, but for everyone. This FAO infographic takes a closer look at the story of women and agriculture.

The coconut is one of the easiest crops to grow requiring minimal care to thrive, but many rural women farmers are shut out of this lucrative business. Dr. Sarala Gopalan, who works with women coconut farmers in Southern India says these women need to be recognized, so that they can access valuable resources including technology that makes the job easier. Dr. Gopalan explains to UN Radio's Chuck Appel how she hopes that the Commission on the Status of Women will help to bring about an attitudinal change in society to include women as coconut farmers.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, will join representatives from business, civil society, the governments and the UN on 6 March for a special event marking the second anniversary of the launch of the Women's Empowerment Principles – a set of seven steps companies can take to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community.

In Darfur, Sudan, UNICEF is working hand-in hand with the government and other partners to boost the number of girls in school. Central to the strategy of getting more girls into school is promoting a methodology intended to make both the learning experience and the school environment more child-friendly.

The Right to Education Act passed in 2010 says that all children in India between six to 14 years of age are guaranteed elementary education. For many poor children, however, school remains out of reach. More than 14,000 girls and boys living in 101 slums of Moradabad were found to be not in school, putting them at risk for being drawn into labour.

For ages masculinity has been equated with power, toughness and the suppression of one's emotions, according to the UN Population Fund. The notion of what it means to be a "man" may have contributed to risky behaviours, sometimes deepening gender inequities, the agency adds. But a new initiative led by the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex, Britain, is helping men change these harmful social norms to become staunch allies of women's rights. Alan Grieg, author of the Mobilizing Men in Practice Guide shares with Jocelyne Sambira how the project is changing the ethics of the driver community in Kenya.

Music superstar Angelique Kidjo recently performed at the United Nations in a concert calling for an end to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). And while Saran Dioubate is not a household name, her voice is equally loud and compelling on this issue. As a child in her native country, Guinea, Saran and several other little girls from her neighbourhood underwent the practice, which is also known as cutting. Dianne Penn reports.

To mark International Women's Day, UNESCO and the UIS have jointly released the World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education, which includes over 120 maps, charts and tables featuring a wide range of sex-disaggregated indicators. The vivid presentation of information and analysis calls attention to persistent gender disparities and the need for greater focus on girls' education as a human right. The atlas illustrates the educational pathways of girls and boys and the changes in gender disparities over time. It hones in on the gender impact of critical factors such as national wealth, geographic location, investment in education, and fields of study.

To mark CSW56, the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI), in partnership with UN Women, UNICEF and Plan International, hosted a side event on 1 March, bringing together adolescent girl delegates and key UN representatives to discuss the complex realities and challenges facing rural girls. The event, 'Empowering Rural Girls: From Invisibility to Agency', moderated by Daniel Seymour, featured panelists Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women; Marta Santos Pais, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children; and delegates Elizabeth, Teresa, and Maryam from rural areas in Malawi, Sierra Leone and Pakistan.

"As many as a third of married women in Malawi and a fifth of married women in India are not involved in spending decisions, even about their own income." I read that sentence twice to be sure I hadn't misunderstood it, and then carried on: "Even in an upper-middle-income country like Turkey, more than a quarter of married women in the lowest income quantile lack control over their earned income."

To facilitate regular dialogue between civil society and UN Women, at the opening of the 56th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet announced the establishment of the UN Women Global Civil Society Advisory Groups. The Advisory groups will be formed at the global, regional and national levels, and will be based on wide consultation with civil society networks and with nominations from civil society organizations.

At a panel discussion organized by UN Women and partners this week, rural women activists from across the world met to share their needs, experiences and inspirations with UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet and other UN and NGO representatives.

At a joint press conference with IPU to unveil a joint map on women in politics worldwide, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet has called on stronger commitment by leaders to increase women's involvement in politics.

The future of farming is in the hands of small holder farmers and rural women farmers in particular, according to the World Farmers' Organization. The international agricultural organization, formed in the wake of global food security concerns, is helping farmers worldwide come together to realize this goal. WFO President Robert L. Carlson is in New York for the UN global debate on the status of women. He says small farms that are less than 5 hectares already feed 50% of the world's population. And they can in the future feed the world. Speaking to Jocelyne Sambira, he began by telling her what a farmer from North Dakota like him, shares with farmers in developing countries.

Rural households headed by women are among the most vulnerable of the world's 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty in developing countries. Women and girls constitute 60 percent of people suffering from chronic hunger worldwide. From a new atlas highlighting educational challenges for women, to efforts to empower women journalists, and a partnership with Procter and Gamble for girl's education in Senegal, UNESCO will celebrate the hopes and dreams of women worldwide on International Women's Day this March 8th.

With women underrepresented in high level politics and decision-making the world over, a new Guidebook produced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) is showing political parties how they can begin to redress this imbalance by supporting women's participation in the electoral process.

The People's Republic of China has signed an agreement with UNESCO establishing an USD 8 million funds-in-trust to support educational development in Africa over four years, with a special focus on teachers. The Government of China's initial support to UNESCO's educational activities in Africa came in 2007 with a contribution of $USD 1 million that benefited the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa, based in Ethiopia, and the International Centre for Girls and Women's Education in Burkina Faso.

The Government of Japan will fund projects to be implemented in Africa by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) worth a total of over USD 7 million, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia and South Sudan. The projects aim to provide vocational training and equipment for productive activities to help increase employment opportunities and income generation for  vulnerable groups, especially those affected by recent conflicts. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, UNIDO will support the revival of the local agro-processing sector. The project, worth USD 1,300,000, will stimulate income generation, job creation and improve food security in the province of Bas Congo. Some 1,000 households, or 4,000 people, mainly poor producers and rural entrepreneurs, among them youth and women, are expected to benefit.

Remarks of Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women at a joint IPU/UN Women meeting, 29 February 2012 New York.

Women make up nearly half the agricultural workforce in sub-Saharan Africa and East and Southeast Asia, but women's farm production tends to lag behind their male counterparts. With world population expected to grow by another two billion in the next four decades, maximizing food production is a key goal for everyone in the agricultural sector. Aid agencies including the U.S. Agency for International Development see women's empowerment as key to meeting that goal.

Remarks of UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet at the official launch of the Fund for Gender Equality's Call for Proposals' second phase, 2011–2012 grant-making cycle, UN Headquarters, New York, 1 March 2012.

At a high-level event at the Commission on the Status of Women in New York, Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, issued a new call for proposals for UN Women's Fund for Gender Equality from organizations working to advance economic and political empowerment in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Central Asia.

Remarks of UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet at the NGO CSW Forum Consultation Day, NGO Committee on the Status of Women, 26 February 2012.

TIGRAY REGION, Ethiopia — "We are all looking to you to be a window of hope to reduce the unnecessary death of mothers and newborns during pregnancy and delivery in rural Ethiopia," said Dr.Tedros Adhanom, the Minister of Health, as he handed over diplomas to the first graduates of his country's programme in integrated emergency surgery and obstetrics. The first graduating class of the new three-year Masters of Science, established by the Ministries of Health and Education with the support of UNFPA, included 16 health professional graduates at Ayder Hospital who will now be able to carry out Ceasarean sections and other procedures that were once strictly relegated to medical doctors. This strategy for dealing with the significant shortages of trained health workers, particularly in rural areas, is called task-shifting.

Tribal wars are forcing families in the highlands of Papua New Guinea out of their homes. Not only are these families being separated in the conflicts, but women and girls are being exposed to violence. Voice for Change, a non-governmental organization, is trying to create a safe environment for these displaced women through mediation. It's also helping to empower rural women and advance their rights. Lilly Be'Soer Kolts is the founder. This year, she successfully coordinated a peace reconciliation to resettle 500 internally displaced families. At the UN annual debate on the status of women Ms. Kolts shared details of her life with Jocelyne Sambira.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, will join representatives from business, civil society, the governments and the UN on 6 March for a special event marking the second anniversary of the launch of the Women's Empowerment Principles – a set of seven steps companies can take to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community.

"Improving access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights is essential for rural women's empowerment and ability to earn an income and feed themselves and their family," says Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Executive Director, in his message on the International Women's Day.

"Rural women are active economic agents who could unleash major advancements in hunger eradication and development if they were able to participate equally with men in the agricultural economy," said FAO Deputy Director-General Ann Tutwiler, speaking at the opening session of the 56th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Pregnant girls attending the Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health clinic at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital told UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, that they face many challenges being young and pregnant. These include stigma and discrimination, isolation from peers and families, lack of support from their 'baby fathers', and limited access to opportunities for continuing their education and supporting themselves. All of these barriers they say, limit their ability to care for their babies and realize their dreams.

Each year hundreds of organizations and civil society activists attend the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). They come from across the world to share and exchange ideas, make connections and push for change. Here are some of their voices on what they hope to achieve.

The United Nations agency mandated to promote gender equality today announced it will give out $10.5 million in grants to organizations working to advance economic and political empowerment of women in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Central Asia. According to a news release issued by the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), grants will start at $200,000 for initiatives that "make tangible improvements in the lives of women and girls, from enabling women candidates to run for office, to managing resources to support themselves and their families." Approved proposals will be announced in October.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has advised women on injectable hormonal birth control to use condoms to prevent HIV infection in light of possible HIV risks associated with "the shot", but HIV organizations and activists say this has not been effectively communicated to women.

UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet's speech at the CSW Side Event on "Accelerating progress towards the economic empowerment of rural women," co-organized by UN-Women, FAO, IFAD and WFP, Tuesday 28 February 2012.

At a Roundtable on 27 February, the Deputy Executive Director of UN Women John Hendra reinforced the support of UN Women for what he called the "landmark"Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence", which was adopted by the Council of Europe last year, by signing a letter of intent on future cooperation between the two entities. The event took place on the opening day of the 56th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

The United Nations Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, wants FIFA to allow Islamic women to wear a hijab headscarf while playing soccer. Wilfried Lemke says he supports an initiative by FIFA Vice-President HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein to review the Laws of the Game in favour of allowing a safe hijab. FIFA outlawed hijabs for safety reasons in 2007. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) will hold their 126th Annual Meeting this Saturday 3 March. On the agenda are eight proposals and amendments to the Laws of the Game including a discussion regarding the Hijab.

The effects of climate change are being felt in Central America, even though the people there are some of those least responsible for emissions. Since 2006, food consumption in Nicaragua has declined by 26 percent, according to the World Food Programme, with young children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers especially affected.

The largest and most comprehensive map of available services for women living with obstetric fistula was launched on 28 February by Direct Relief International, the Fistula Foundation, and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. The release of the Global Fistula Map, a major step forward in understanding the landscape of worldwide treatment capacity for obstetric fistula, will help streamline the allocation of resources and raise awareness of the condition.

To achieve gender equality, education is the key and more cooperation is needed among women, explains this programme. Duration: 4'28″

This programme analyzes women's involvement in political struggles and decision making around the world. Duration: 4'32″

The first part of this series offers a survey of the situation of women around the world on International Women's Year. Duration: 4'42″

Ghana is facing the challenge of combating poverty among its rural women who do the bulk of agricultural work. The West African country is also grappling with the migration of people from the north, which is underdeveloped, to the south in search of opportunities for better life. As the Commission on the Status of Women holds its two-week session in New York, Derrick Mbatha sat down with Juliana Azumah-Mensah, Ghana's Minister for Women and Children's Affairs to discuss the situation of rural women.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angélique Kidjo gave a special concert at the United Nations Tuesday, dedicated to global efforts to end Female Genital Mutilation. The UN estimates as many as 140 million girls and women have undergone some form of genital mutilation or cutting, and at least 3 million girls are at risk of undergoing the practice every year. Ms. Kidjo says she was one of the lucky ones, who grew up in Africa with a father who did not believe in Female Genital Mutilation. "Out of 10 children with 3 girls he would stand against the whole society against his own family and refuse everything that can harm us physically that is called tradition. If my father was able to do that then I think every African man and every African woman can do the same."

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Government of Norway, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Grand Challenges Canada invite global problem solvers to answer their second call for innovative solutions to dramatically reduce maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths. The Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development partnership also announces a new partner, the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID), in its search for groundbreaking prevention and treatment approaches for pregnant women and newborns in poor, hard-to-reach communities around the time of childbirth.

A top United Nations official expressed support for an initiative that would allow female soccer players to wear a headscarf, also known as a hijab, while on the field, stressing that every person should have the right to enjoy the world's most popular sport regardless of their gender, race or religious beliefs.

On the 101st anniversary of International Women's Day, 8 March, UNFPA will sponsor a major quilt exhibition that illustrates the hopes, fears, and challenges that women face all around the world. The exhibition is a tribute to the strength of women and a promise to support their efforts to take care of themselves and their families. It is also a testimony to their role in weaving the social fabric of their communities.

Speech delivered by UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet at a joint US–China side event titled "Rural Women and Sustainable Development" during the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, 27 February 2012, ECOSOC Chamber, UN headquarters, New York.

Ending violence against women is one of the global priority areas of UN Women and the UN System, including acid violence. This year's Best Short Documentary Oscar winner explores the holistic ways in which ASF-Pakistan has been working to eradicate acid violence.

A housewife and mother of two, Radha Devi is a busy bee when it comes to doing household chores every day. But once every month she doesn't forget to visit the health post where she receives vital medical checkup for herself and her 16-month-old son under WFP's Mother and Child Health Care (MCHC) programme.

Around the world, men are being mobilised to stand up against gender inequality. From taxi drivers in Kenya, to student activists in India and refugees in Uganda, all have pledged to confront gender inequality in their communities. They're part of a pilot project known as the Mobilising Men Initiative, which is led by the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom and supported by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). To learn more about Mobilising Men, Dianne Penn spoke to UNFPA's Leyla Sharafi, a technical specialist on gender issues.

Italy is pushing for approval of a UN resolution to end Female Genital Mutilation or FGM. The country's Ambassador to the UN, Cesare Maria Ragaglini, says the practice is a violation of basic human rights. Italy is a sponsor of a concert at the UN by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angelique Kidjo dedicated to the global efforts to end FGM. The UN estimates as many as 140 million girls and women have undergone some form of genital mutilation or cutting, and at least 3 million girls are at risk of undergoing the practice every year.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a US$114 million contribution from the government of Japan to provide urgently needed food and nutritional assistance to millions of the most vulnerable people including refugees, internally displaced people, malnourished children, pregnant and breastfeeding women in 21 countries. The donation will also support logistics operations in two countries.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angelique Kidjo will perform in a special concert at the United Nations dedicated to the global efforts to end female genital mutilation. The UN estimates as many as 140 million girls and women have undergone some form of genital mutilation or cutting, and at least 3 million girls are at risk of undergoing the practice every year. It has both immediate and long-term harmful consequences to the health of women, including severe bleeding, urination problems, infections, infertility and childbirth complications. "The concert is about trying to put the words out there to the African countries and the country where FGM is practiced to come to sign a resolution regarding FGM in their countries and internationally. And when it's about FGM we always turn our head to Africa. It's true that Africa as a continent have more countries that practice FGM, but it also exists in the Middle East and also in Asia." The concert, held on 28 February in the evening, can be seen at www.un.org/webcast.

A senior United Nations official and the renowned singer-songwriter Angélique Kidjo today urged all UN Member States and communities to outlaw female genital mutilation (FGM) and raise awareness about its harmful effects, especially in African countries where the practice is most prevalent. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), told a news conference at UN Headquarters that many communities are increasingly abandoning FGM thanks to the use of "culturally sensitive, human rights-based approaches that support the positive values within communities that want the best for their girls and women."

The global anti-poverty movement has added a new tool to its arsenal with the launch of an index that measures women's empowerment in agriculture. "Agriculture is the most effective way to drive inclusive economic growth of the poorest communities", which too often include women and children, said Sara Immenschuh of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a partner in compiling the index. The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index is a partnership between the US government's Feed the Future initiative, US Agency for International Development (USAID), IFPRI and Oxford University's Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI). It uses five criteria to measure the empowerment of developing country women in agriculture, and in their own households.

This inter-agency web package features a central discussion piece on the strengths and complementarities of a number of UN agencies in addressing the different challenges facing rural women. It also showcases the comparative advantages and good practices of each agency. This feature includes a fact sheet on rural women and the Millennium Development Goals in Arabic, English, French and Spanish.

The 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women convenes from 27 February to 9 March 2012 at United Nations headquarters. It focuses on the theme of empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, sustainable development and current challenges.

Zambia is being praised for entrenching democracy and making good progress in increasing primary education enrolment, reducing maternal mortality and HIV-related deaths. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made these remarks in the Zambian capital of Lusaka after meeting with President Michael Sata. The visit is the first state visit of a UN Secretary-General to Zambia. Mr. Ban also paid tribute to the 73 Zambians who have lost their lives on UN peacekeeping duties, as well as the 300 and more who serve in peacekeeping missions in Africa and beyond. Meanwhile, Mr. Ban stressed the need to ensure that all people, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) members of society, are not denied their human rights. Homosexuality is illegal in Zambia, a situation which has drawn increasing criticism from the UN and many Western countries.

Empowering rural women to play a role in fighting hunger and poverty will be the main focus of an annual debate on the status of women worldwide. The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) opened its 56th session at the United Nations in New York on Monday. Rural women and girls make up one-fourth of the world's population. Yet they account for a great proportion of the agricultural labour force and grow the majority of the world's food. Marjon Kamara is the Permanent Representative of Liberia and Chair of the CSW meeting. "At this 56th session, the Commission's priority theme is the empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication in development and current challenges. We will examine the many contributions of rural women to the economy and their communities."

Today's global food insecurity destabilizes rural communities all over the world, impeding their access to food and affecting their ability to earn a livelihood. In partnership with the Huairou Commission and WOCAN, FAO held a series of twenty one consultations with hundreds of women and men in Africa, Asia and Latin America to better understand the direct impacts of food security on their lives and those of their families.

The 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the principal global policy-making body committed to gender equality and the advancement of women, meets 27 February- 9 March in New York and is this year dedicated to rural women's empowerment. Given the centrality of rural women in FAO's work to eradicate hunger and poverty, the organization will play a major role in this year's discussions.

On 5 March an intrepid group of activists from across Africa will start the long climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, in the hope that they can reach its summit by International Women's Day on 8 March. The group is as dynamic as it is diverse, consisting of 70 youth activists, sports personalities, human right lawyers, journalists, musicians, actors and doctors, among others; as well as staff from UN offices, NGOs, and governments across Africa.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow visited the Democratic Republic of Congo recently to raise awareness of polio and to encourage mothers to vaccinate their children. The country was polio free between 2000 and 2005, but because of a weak health system it has begun to re-emerge.

As the current session of the main United Nations human rights body began Monday, senior officials stressed that the Organization's work in this area is as vital as ever, particularly at a time when men and women worldwide are rising up to demand basic freedoms and a life of dignity.

Rural women constitute one-fourth of the world's population, and their contributions are vital to the well-being of communities, economies, and the achievement of all development goals. During the Commission on the Status of Women, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet will call for robust policies to remove the barriers that prevent rural women from reaching their full potential and ensure their rights. She will also underline the need to expand their economic opportunities and political participation and leadership. Highlighting the contributions of rural women and the challenges they face, UN Women events during the meeting will also showcase innovative strategies that focus on empowering rural women worldwide.

WFP is reaching up to 1.3 million people with food relief in those parts of Somalia to which there is access. These include Puntland, Somaliland, central regions, Mogadishu and some border areas of the south. To assist the most vulnerable, WFP has increased its nutrition programmes using specialized products both to prevent and treat malnutrition in young children, pregnant women and nursing mothers. Nutrition programmes now make up some 63 percent of WFP's activities in Somalia.

Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women has been nominated by the Avon Foundation for Women for the first-ever Avon Communications Awards: Speaking Out About Violence Against Women. As part of its support of the 2nd World Conference of Women's Shelters, the Avon Foundation for Women will present four awards to organizations that have produced exemplary communications materials or campaigns on preventing violence against women and girls. The categories are Storytelling, Innovation, Breaking the Silence and Global Excellence in Communications.

Maria was just a teenager when her family forced to her to marry, and to accept a life of violence at the hands of her husband. Following an attempt to end her life, she was connected with LeMuSiCa, an organization that provides shelter and support for women survivors of violence in the city of Chimoio, Mozambique. Maria gradually regained her health, her smile and her self-esteem, and today is one of the group's most active and inspirational members.

A quarter of young children around the world are not getting enough nutrients to grow properly, and 300 die of malnutrition every hour, according to a new report that lays bare the effects of the global food crisis. There are 170 million children under the age of five whose development has been stunted because of lack of food for them and their breastfeeding mothers, and the situation is getting significantly worse, according to research by Save the Children.

The action that is being taken by the Security Council to deal with sexual violence in conflict sends a message to perpetrators and potential perpetrators that the world is watching. That's what the United Nations Special Representative Margot Wallström told the Security Council on Thursday as it discussed women, peace and security. Ms. Wallström said the Security Council, which in 2009 created her mandate as the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, has led the way in recognizing that rape can be used as a tactic of war. She said that conflict-related sexual violence is a global problem and while it disproportionately affects women and girls, men and boys are also direct and indirect victims.

The 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will open on 27 February at United Nations headquarters, focused on the theme of empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, sustainable development and current challenges.

Supported by UN Women's Fund for Gender Equality an alliance of 12 social women's organizations has spearheaded a project to amplify Bolivian women's voices during the lawmaking process, following the drafting of a new constitution in 2009.

By teaching participants to overcome their fear of technology and use it to improve their situations, UN Women supported programmes in Ecuador and Guatemala have opened up new opportunities and empowered women as leaders.

Over the next two weeks, the 56th Commission on the Status of Women takes on the challenge of empowering rural women and acknowledging their crucial role in the eradication of hunger and poverty. The Commission is the principal policy-making body dedicated exclusively to gender equality and the advancement of women worldwide.

A project supported by the UN Trust Fund in Liberia combats discriminatory traditional justice systems, low awareness of protection laws, and defines better what constitutes violence against women.

The annual United Nations report documenting conflict-related sexual violence around the world Thursday for the first time names some of the military forces, militia and other armed groups that are suspected of being among the worst offenders.

Dr. Lindiwe Majele Sibanda of FANRPAN, introducing herself as the daughter of tomato farmers, this afternoon inspired IFAD's governors and attendees with her compelling call to put farmers first to allow them to produce food sustainably to feed a growing urban population.

A documentary film commissioned by UN Women has premiered at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival in Germany. In the Shadow of a Man is the first film from young female Egyptian-British filmmaker Hanan Abdalla, and is the first to be commissioned by UN Women in Egypt. Cutting across class and geography, Shadow is an intimate portrait of four very different Egyptian women as they tell their stories of marriage, divorce, work, love and resistance — and what it means to be a woman in the wake of their country's revolution.

A woman-run school canteen project that employs 200 Palestinian women is transforming not only individuals but also families and communities. It offers women and their families economic independence and represents a ray of hope for the future in this troubled land.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will launch an expanded partnership to help these farmers increase their productivity and lift themselves out of poverty. At IFAD's 2012 Governing Council, Bill Gates and IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze will sign a statement of intent to accelerate our collaboration on ensuring food security and improving rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

I am a BA student working on agriculture (kitchen gardening) as a part-time job. I have acquired good experience in producing vegetables using indigenous techniques, seeds from my own plot, and compost from my own compost pits, minimizing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Independent United Nations human rights experts today called on Morocco to consolidate and advance the country's achievements on women's rights by tackling gaps in its legal framework which put women at a disadvantage, adding that domestic and migrant workers are at higher risk of having their rights violated.

Each year, the period between the rains and the new harvest is a lean season, when mothers like Fatima Mohammed struggle to feed their children – in Ms. Mohammed's case, seven of them.

Molly is a 12-year-old Kenyan girl living in the Mathare Slum just outside of Nairobi -- one of the poorest places in the world. Every day, Molly walks to a school where she receives a free meal. But last year, she was given something more: A camera.

Speech delivered by UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri at the panel discussion on "Leadership Views on Women in the World of Sports," at the 5th IOC World Conference on Women and Sport, Los Angeles, 17 February 2012.

Women living with HIV and those at high risk of contracting the virus can safely continue using contraceptives to prevent pregnancy, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday. But WHO is also advising couples who want to prevent unintended pregnancies and HIV infection to use two contraceptive methods at the same time. For example, condoms and the contraceptive pill. The UN health agency recently reviewed findings from studies on the issue following a report last year by a leading medical journal. That report suggested that hormonal contraceptives may increase a woman's risk of HIV infection. It said that HIV-positive women using hormonal contraception may be more likely to transmit the virus to their partner than women who did not use the pill.

In the midst of the severe flooding brought on by tropical storm Washi, Analiza Tumanda was resigned to the idea of giving birth on the rooftop of a neighbour's house. But as raging floodwaters started sweeping away houses along the banks of Cagayan River, Analiza, her husband and their three children (ages 8, 6 and 3) were forced to flee, moving from one rooftop to another along with neighbours.

UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet has joined a prestigious reference group for a new research project on the economic benefits of investing in women's health. The Norwegian-led research will build on existing studies that refer to the positive "ripple effects" for families and communities when women's health, education and employment are promoted. It responds to the need for a better understanding of the ways in which investing in women's health can contribute to economic growth.

Governments, international agencies and non-governmental organizations are making progress toward ending female genital mutilation/cutting, or FGM/C, by reaching out to those who still practice it, said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a meeting in Washington D.C.

The Asia-Pacific region has made big gains in reducing poverty and is moving fast towards other development goals, but still has high levels of hunger as well as child and maternal mortality, according to a new report.

Following decades of civil strife and insurgency in northern Uganda, there has been much discussion on how to achieve lasting reconciliation. High on this agenda is reparations for its victims. Reparations can acknowledge the rights and dignity of those harmed by conflict by providing some justice, and the resources to rebuild lives and communities. Yet any such programmes and frameworks must respond to the particular needs of all its victims, including those considered especially vulnerable.

Fashion brands Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent are discovering that empowering women through sustainability initiatives is good business. The parent company of the two French luxury goods brands, PPR, says it's all part of building businesses that meet the needs of an evolving society. That includes motivating the company and its customers to be aware of the various social issues that go into sustainable consumerism. Helen Crowley, the Conservation and Ecosystem Service Specialist at PPR Home says empowering women really makes a difference in the world. Julie Walker spoke with Ms. Crowley at a sustainability conference in New York.

The Women's Union building in Viet Nam's Binh Dinh Province is afloat with music, as traditional songs about the province, the seasons, fishing and farming drift through its rooms. Yet those singing know that the life they celebrate is under threat. Each has gathered here to discuss plans and actions for tackling natural disasters.

Hungary has been urged to revise new laws that criminalize homelessness and potentially imprison people living on the streets. Up to 35,000 people, including women and children, are thought to be homeless in the eastern European country.  About 8,000 of those live in the capital Budapest, which has a capacity of 5,500 beds for homeless in public shelters.

This guide is a practical tool for those involved in national legislative processes and in the design of labour laws, including government officials and representatives of workers' and employers' organizations.

This publication sheds light on the magnitude of domestic work, a sector often "invisible" behind the doors of private households and unprotected by national legislation.

During a lecture in Vienna on 16 February, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed the need to empower women and youth, who have been at the centre of recent social protest movements worldwide. He warned countries against ignoring their voices as they are critical to countries' development.

FAO in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and PROCASUR launched an initiative to strengthen women's access to micro financial services. The objective of this activity was also to target practitioners of the rural microfinance industry and assist them with generating effective microfinance programs for both women and men.

Today's global food insecurity destabilizes rural communities all over the world, impeding their access to food and affecting their ability to earn a livelihood. In partnership with the Huairou Commission and WOCAN, FAO held a series of twenty one consultations with hundreds of women and men in Africa, Asia and Latin America to better understand the direct impacts of food security on their lives and those of their families.

For a heavily pregnant Tafadzwa Gwera, 27, of Chiroti Village in Hurungwe, the monthly pilgrimage to Deve Clinic — some 400km north west of Harare the capital — is one she really looks forward to.

In northern Côte d'Ivoire women farmers are playing a key role in reducing poverty. They are members of a cooperative, where they grow high quality rice seeds. These seeds are helping them double their yield and reap huge profits. Not only are they living better with their families, but they are also becoming more independent. Jocelyne Sambira has the story. Duration: 2'23''

UNFPA and others, including the G77 and the European Union, called for more emphasis on population dynamics, gender equity and reproductive health in the first round of negotiations on the outcome document that is expected to be adopted at Rio+ 20. In a prepared statement about the draft, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pointed to the fundamental importance of considering population as an element of sustainability.

Rural women entrepreneurs in Rajasthan produce a nutritious food supplement as take home rations for pregnant mothers and underfed infants. The supplement, which goes under the label of 'Raj Nutrimix', has been developed by the World Food Programme (WFP) in partnership with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), and in consultation with the Government of Rajasthan. "We discovered that producing this supplement is a perfect fit because it addresses two urgent needs: An uninterrupted supply of nutritive food and a regular source of income for poor rural households," says Dr Nikhil Raj of WFP, who coordinates this project.

Islamabad, Pakistan — The National Highways and Motorway Police (NH&MP) will actively promote a decent environment in public transport particularly for women passengers and will impart sensitization training to drivers, conductors and the transport union. For this purpose, with the support of International Labour Organization (ILO), around 60 officers of the NH&MP attended "Training of Trainers" to further impart training to public transport-operators on "Decent Public Transport for Working Women".

United Nations Member States must boost economic empowerment for women to help them realize the global community's common goals, UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said during her closing remarks to the Non-Aligned Movement's (NAM) ministerial meeting on the advancement of women in Doha, Qatar, 14 February. She warned that gender discrimination around the world was still too widespread.

"Men who abuse women misuse power," says the sticker on the back of a boda boda taxi in Nairobi. The words point to imbalances in prevailing gender norms and to the role men need to play in changing power dynamics. These are issues being addressed — by taxi drivers, among others — in reflective and participatory sessions organized by the Mobilizing Men initiative, which is supported by UNFPA and several other organizations.

All countries have a role to play in abolishing the recruitment of child soldiers. That's the opinion of Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. Her comments come on the 10th anniversary of a treaty banning the use boys and girls under 18-years-old in armed conflicts, a practice which she characterized as "inhumane." The UN says that while roughly three-quarters of the world has ratified the anti-child soldier treaty, nearly 50 countries have yet to sign on.

For billions of people living in rural areas, or as urban poor, access to information is limited. Disconnected from the information gateway due to poverty, low literacy, limited electricity connections and access to communication technologies such as computers and internet, radio is often the only medium available. Run on batteries, lightweight, mobile and inexpensive, the popularity of the radio medium remains high, amongst the six billion people who have access to it worldwide. As the world celebrates the first World Radio Day on 13 February, learn more about how community radio expands dialogue on women's rights in rural communities.

The UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability releases its report, "Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing." The report contains 56 recommendations to put sustainable development into practice and to mainstream it into economic policy.

American rap star Curtis Jackson, known to fans as 50 Cent, calls the sights he saw in a refugee camp in Somalia "devastating." The United Nations World Food Program recently hosted Jackson on a tour of Somalia and Kenya so he could see the fight against hunger in the Horn of Africa. Jackson spoke Thursday about a visit to the Kabasa camp in southern Somalia's Dolow region, where thousands have sought refuge from war and drought. Jackson said women and children risked everything just to get food.

Lack of access to reproductive health services in Myanmar has led to high rates of maternal deaths and unplanned pregnancies among the country's displaced, migrant and refugee populations, say health experts. Without skilled birth attendants or contraception, complications from unsafe abortions and post-partum haemorrhage are common along the Thai-Burmese border, where there are more than 150,000 Burmese refugees, according to a new report by the international NGO, Ibis Reproductive Health.

It has been one year since a wave of political change set Egypt on a challenging but promising path to reform. Yet, while women played a crucial role in bringing the transition about, many feel that they are yet to fully benefit from it.

UN Women works with Rwandan co-ops to increase women farmers' access to agricultural services. Trainings provided to co-op leaders have enabled them to think about the needs of women and men farmers. A testimony to their success is the sentiment expressed by many of the women members about the life they can now provide for their children and the future.

This 2011 manual highlights the issues of women in shelter homes. Very little efforts have been made earlier to understand the problems and concerns of these women. The issues of the staff who work in shelter homes are hardly addressed too. This lack of understanding can lead to the inadequate care and support and at times injustice to the residents who have been victims of difficult circumstances. This manual aims to enable the care givers of these shelter homes to understand the needs of the women and gives them an insight into the spectrum of psychosocial interventions.

Produced jointly by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), UN Women and the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) in 2011, this publication reviews human trafficking and the law in South Asia and provides a further country analysis in this context of Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

More than 400 children have been killed in the ongoing conflict in Syria, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reports. Meanwhile, hundreds of other youngsters are being held in detention where they face torture, sexual abuse and other horrors. Dianne Penn reports. Duration: 2'07″

The goal of this guidance document is to provide a framework for developing an essential Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) package. It focuses on two priority areas: 1) integrating family planning into maternal and newborn care services, and 2) integrating services for preventing and managing sexually transmitted infections/reproductive tract infections into primary healthcare services.

There's a clear geographical distinction when it comes to cancer and women. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), breast cancer is more common in industrialized countries while cervical cancer overwhelming affects women in the developing world. Cervical cancer is caused by the human papillomavirus or HPV, which is sexually transmitted. It has a low cure rate. 4 February marks World Cancer Day and WHO's Dr. Andreas Ullrich explains why a woman's access to cancer care makes all the difference.

To help provide opportunities for girls and young women in Gaza, UNRWA has partnered with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) to offer rare on-the-job placements. During their school break, young refugee women shadow professionals for one week, in fields such as primary health care, human resources, and emergency preparedness. The programme complements their formal instruction at school while providing refugee students with an opportunity to serve their own communities.

On 2 February 2012, the Pakistan Senate unanimously approved the "National Commission on the Status of Women Bill 2012″ to protect women's rights against every kind of discrimination. The new bill replaces the National Commission on the Status of Women Ordinance from 2000 and strengthens the Commission by giving it financial and administrative autonomy through an independent Secretariat.

WHO and partners are launching a new website on results, resources and oversight related to women's and children's health. The site will track progress on the implementation of the recommendations of the Accountability Commission and inform the international community about the work of its independent Expert Review Group (iERG). The website will also serve as a global database for the accountability issues related to women's and children's health.

Women at the grassroots in Nepal are being empowered to address all forms of violence against them and their children. Community-based Paralegal Committee programmes, supported by UNICEF, were created initially to stop the trafficking of persons. But more recently, the committees are settling domestic disputes, matters relating to property rights, fighting discrimination and also promoting family health rights. In this audio segment, John Britte, UNICEF's Chief Communications Officer, describes how these paralegal committees work.

Dramatizing violence! That's the motto of the community-based Seeds Theatre Group to address violence against women and girls in the densely populated communities of the Lae District in the Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. Funded through UN Women's Pacific Fund to End Violence against Women, the Seeds Theatre Group consists primarily of unemployed youth and uses theatre as a powerful tool to raise awareness in urban communities with high risks of HIV/AIDS, crime and drugs.

Message of UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, on the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, 6 February 2012.

A network of 50,000 women is helping Nepal to make great strides in health care. The Female Community Health Volunteers, or FCHVs as they are known, bring essential health services and medicine to remote areas of the country. They are supported by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). John Brittain, UNICEF's Chief of Communications in Nepal, talks about the vital role these women are playing, including in driving down child mortality rates.

Women in 15 African countries are working to abandon the deeply rooted traditional practice of female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C). The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates up to three million girls a year undergo the procedure. Senegal looks set to become the first African country to stamp out FGM/C, according to the agency. Dianne Penn spoke to Nafissatou Diop, coordinator of a joint UNFPA-UNICEF programme on FGM/C. She explains how Senegalese women are helping to change attitudes.

Maternal death rates in Afghanistan are down 22% since 2000 thanks to the growing popularity of midwifery training programmes, according to the United Nations Population Fund, or UNFPA. In Afghanistan, the combined total of midwives, nurses and doctors amounts to less than 1 for every 1,000 people. The lack of health workers trained in maternal care is compounded by the fact that Afghan women on average have just over five children. Dr. Laurent Zessler spoke to Jocelyne Sambira about how midwives have been key to saving lives.

Almost 2,000 communities across Africa have abandoned female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in 2011. This brought the total number of communities renouncing the practice to 8,000 over the last few years, according to new findings by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund.

During a press conference 2 February to mark UN Women's first year anniversary, the organisation's Executive Director Michelle Bachelet said that her priority this year is to enhance the economic empowerment and political participation of women. She called for the support of the international community as well as concerted effort by the entire UN system to ensure success.

In a ceremony of poetry, drama and music, the Buremudaytu and Argoba districts in the Afar region officially abandoned female genital mutilation/cutting earlier this month. The event – attended by government and religious leaders, clan elders, former circumcisers and other community officials – was a remarkable achievement in an area where an extreme form of FGM/C was almost universally practiced for centuries.

When Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman began offering a course in community development in the 1990s meant for mature, illiterate women farmers, the main goal was to expand the students' role in the economic life of their communities. But over the years, many such courses have expanded to touch on more intimate subjects, including reproductive health, early marriage and even female genital mutilation/cutting, a longstanding tradition in the area.

Training women conflict mediators in countries in Africa and Asia, helping ethnic Moroccan women to inherit property, and creating "safe spaces" for school girls in Zambia. These are just some of the successes of UN Women, which celebrates its first anniversary this month. Agency chief Michelle Bachelet has outlined her six-point plan for 2012 which focuses on political and economic empowerment, as well as efforts to combat gender-based violence and expand women's role in conflict resolution.

Economic empowerment and the political participation of women have been identified as key issues in 2012 for the United Nations agency dealing with women's issues. The Executive Director of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet said equality and empowerment depend on support from across the world.

Opening remarks of Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General, Executive Director of UN Women, on the one year anniversary of UN Women.

At a press conference in New York Thursday, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet called for galvanizing greater commitment and action for women and gender equality, as political and economic upheaval threaten progress on women's rights.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is in the Middle East as part of his efforts to push forward Israeli Palestinian peace talks. During his trip, Mr. Ban visited the Khan Younis school of "hope" for girls in the southern Gaza Strip.

Investing in the social and economic development of women and girls yields big payoffs for them, their families and their communities, according to the United Nations. But women are still shut out of some professions, such as information and communication technologies, or ICTs, which are viewed as "stereotypically male." The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) says girls remain underrepresented in computer science and engineering programmes which could lead to careers in ICTs. Patrick Maigua spoke to the ITU's Susan Schorr about what the agency is doing to level the playing field.

Produced by UN Radio, this audio news report draws attention to innovative irrigation methods helping Kenyan farmers, Uzbek day care centres that cater to the needs of HIV-positive families, and young displaced Haitian women who are training in fashion design.

UNESCO and technical professional association, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), signed an agreement to implement projects to support the engineering community in Africa. UNESCO and IEEE agreed to collaborate on several projects and initiatives including accreditation programmes, faculty training and initiatives encouraging the participation of women in engineering.

The European Commission, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today announced the launch of a multi-country initiative to enhance women's participation in peace-building and post-conflict planning and economic recovery.

As Senegal edges closer to becoming the first African country to fully abandon the practice of female genital mutilation/cutting, younger women are supporting campaigns to change social norms surrounding the practice. In Pata, a village in the Kolda region of southeastern Senegal near the Gambian border, a celebration in November drew a huge crowd to formally announce the decision of 69 communities in Kolda to stop cutting.

The Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said Tuesday that former Haitian dictator Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier should be tried for torture, rape and killings committed during his rule, not merely on corruption charges as reports indicate.

A UN Survey says that 75 percent of Afghans are happy with the role of the local police and more than 50 percent approves of the participation of women in the force.

This project, under the slogan "Help my hand write my future," aims at training 40,000 young girls and women in seven regions of the country, with emphasis on the use of ICTs to acquire skills in national languages.

Cases of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), as well as domestic violence, are increasing in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared independent Republic of Somaliland. Social workers attribute the trend to hard economic times made worse by recent drought in the region.

"We feel safe here," says Labakal Kalahin, an exhausted mother of four who lost one of her children while fleeing to the village of Pibor from the fighting which erupted late last year in South Sudan's Jonglei State. She's among tens of thousands of people driven from their homes by the fighting whom WFP is now moving to assist with food and basic necessities.

Intel and UNFPA have announced a joint commitment to strengthen the skills of midwives and community health workers through technology and training materials from the two organizations. Intel will build on its commitment to the United Nations Every Woman, Every Child initiative to help train one million frontline health workers by 2015 under the Intel 1Mx15 Health initiative. According to the United Nations, every year, about 360,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth and up to 2 million babies die within the first 24 hours of life, largely because they don't have access to properly trained health workers.

In 2012 the United Nations celebrates the International Year of Cooperatives. As important partners for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), cooperatives are helping to improve the lives of millions of smallholder farmers and their families, including marginalized groups, such as youth and women.

For the third time in a decade, drought has returned to the Sahel region of West Africa bringing hunger to millions of people across the region. The World Food Programme is pre-positioning food assistance ahead of the annual lean season when the vulnerable – especially women and children – are most at risk of malnutrition.

Italy must do more to protect women from violence and urgently address the underlying structural causes of gender inequality and discrimination, an independent United Nations human rights expert warned after visiting the country.

During the World Economic Forum in Davos on 27 January, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet participated in the panel, "Women as the way forward," — the first public meeting in Davos focused on women's leadership. Moderated by Nick Kristof, columnist for The New York Times, the event included panelists Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook; Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand; and Desmond M. Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize winner, peace activist of South Africa, and president of The Elders, a non-governmental organization dedicated to peace and human rights.

Produced by UN Radio, this audio news report draws attention to a leading medical journal's recent study that suggests hormonal contraceptives, particularly injectables, may double the risk of uninfected women acquiring HIV. The audio clip also highlights the lack of decent jobs for African women and Egyptian women's demands for reform.

UN Women highlights gender equality and the empowerment of women as the cornerstone for sustainable development in its inputs to the Rio+20 consultations. ASG and Deputy Executive Director, UN Women, Lakshmi Puri calls on Member States for action-oriented inclusiveness of gender equality considerations at the initial consultations on the Zero Draft of the Rio+20 Outcome Document.

UNESCO will cooperate with Barefoot College to offer technical support for establishing environmentally sound Community Empowerment Centres in villages around the world. These centres will promote girls' and women's education, vocational skills, women's entrepreneurship, literacy and lifelong learning, in line with the aims of the Global Partnership launched by UNESCO in May 2011 to narrow the gender gap in secondary education and adult literacy.

Testimony by Michelle Bachelet Executive Director of UN Women at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. Strasbourg, France. 26 January 2012.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called today on business leaders attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to increase their investment in women's education and health to ensure their well-being and encourage their participation in the world economy.

The Executive Director of UN Women will travel to Strasbourg on 25 and 26 January to address the Parliamentary Assembly on women's rights worldwide. She will then travel to Davos, to meet with government officials, civil societies and businesses, and participate in a panel on "Women as the way forward" with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.

Egyptians have gathered in the thousands in Tahrir Square, Cairo, to mark the first anniversary of the uprising which toppled former President, Hosni Mubarak. Islamist party supporters are celebrating successes in the first elections in the post-Mubarak era, while many people, especially women, are calling for more political reform.

As the annual gathering opens, Cherie Blair, Founder, CB Foundation for Women, joins others in mapping out the tough challenges ahead for global well-being, including how to ensure women's economic inclusion. The World Food Programme has found that when girls and women earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of the money in their families. For men, that figure is more like 30 percent to 40 percent.

A private sector side event related to the UN Secretary General's Every Woman, Every Child effort is being co-organized with PMNCH. Keynote speakers include the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and CEOs from Merck and Johnson & Johnson. This event will be aligned closely with the central theme in Davos this year, The Great Transformation: New Business Models.

An investigation has been launched into two allegations of sexual exploitation and the abuse of minors by United Nations Police in Haiti. According to a United Nations spokesman, the first case involves United Nations police officers based in Port-au-Prince. The officers have been removed from their duties to reduce any contact with the local population.