Advocacy and Lobbying

All stakeholders will have to struggle to ensure the rights of women in politics, participants of a regional conference on engendering democracies said on Wednesday.The senior rights activists and experts expressed these views on the first day of the two-day international conference under the title of ‘Reflection of Violence against Women in Politics’.
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An overview of UNDP's engagement at the 54th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), to be held from March 1 to March 12, 2010.

The Commission on the Status of Women was in full swing on Tuesday, with countries continuing to report on progress since Beijing and UNDP participating in side events on HIV/AIDS, the Beijing Platform for Action’s links to achieving the MDGs, and considerations of gender in the mitigation of and response to climate change.

Women Must Be Involved and Funded in Post-Crisis Responses“Women are not heard, not respected and not funded,” said Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, at the UNDP/UNIFEM panel discussion, “The Price of Peace: Financing Gender Equality in Post-Conflict Recovery and Reconstruction.” Robinson called for a requirement that 30 percent of negotiators in all peace processes be women for the UN to be involved.

Democratic and economic transitions and development in the UNDP Europe and CIS region have taken place in the post-Soviet era without the full participation of a major segment of the population—women. The lack of participation by women weakens their position in political life and their social and economic prospects says a new publication by the United Nations Development Programme, issued on International Women’s Day, March 8.

Earlier this month, Timor-Leste approved its first domestic violence law, eight years after it was initially drafted. The legislature voted overwhelmingly in favor of the law, with 30 votes in favor and three abstentions. Domestic violence is widespread in TImor-Leste, but is severely underreported. Most cases of domestic violence are resolved through traditional practices like the perpetrator paying a fine to the victim's father.

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The new body will be known officially as the U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, although officials say it will be referred to as U.N. Women (www.unwomen.org). It will consolidate four separate U.N. divisions now dealing with women's and gender issues. "U.N. Women will significantly boost U.N. efforts to promote gender equality, expand opportunity, and tackle discrimination around the globe," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.

Women and girls hardly ever fight the world's wars, but they often suffer the most. Increasingly, they are the direct targets of fighting, when sexual violence is deliberately used as a tactic of warfare.

"Make Women Count for Peace" - Add your name to this petition and ask your government to support three steps to implement Security Council resolution 1325:

To sign the Petition, Click here.