Partner News

Efforts to make Burkina Faso only the second country in West Africa after Benin to legislate against all forms of violence against women and girls get underway next week. A two-day consultation organized by the Burkinabè parliament and IPU on 14-15 June with MPs, parliamentary staff, government ministries, law enforcers, civil society, women’s and human rights groups will mark the first step in the drafting of a new bill on tackling violence against women in the country.

All around the world, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) partners with civil society organizations dedicated to empowering women and protecting women's rights. In the western Romanian city of Timişoara, APOWER is one organization doing just that. Each November and December, activists on the streets of Romania's cities send a critical message to the world: violence against women and girls affects everyone.

During the 51st Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UNDAW) are organizing a one-day parliamentary event entitled A parliamentary perspective on discrimination and violence against the girl child.

During Burkina Faso’s first-ever country-wide municipal elections in April 2006, more than 5,000 women were elected as local councilors. Women will now be an important part of the local decision-making process and assume an unprecedented role in local government.

UNIFEM supported the Gender Justice Workshop for South Sudan held from 12-14 February 2007, and participants came from government ministries, civil society organizations, the donor community and the media. The workshop aimed to familiarize participants with the concept of gender justice in the context of Southern Sudan and to create a space for women and men to discuss openly the most pressing gender justice issues.

UNIFEM co-sponsored the Symposium on Gender and Development in Liberia in Washington, DC, from 13-14 February 2007. Participants included 18 Liberian women and took place in conjunction with the Liberia Partners' Forum. Key priorites for the women participants included national security, revitalization of the economy, strengthening governance and the rule of law, and the rehabilitation of infrastructure.