My grandmother, Lola Maverick Lloyd, was among 47 American feminists who sailed to the Netherlands in April of 1915 in hopes of stopping World War One.  She and her peers were answering the call of a Dutch physician, Aletta Jacobs, who pleaded with them to come join women from both sides of the conflict for a conference at the Hague. In total, 1,300 women from twelve countries answered Jacobs’ call, and during a four day conference they collectively raised their voices against the unbelievable carnage taking place at that moment 104 miles away in Ypres, Belgium.

What do Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles and South Africa have in common? The answer is that these four African nations are among the 10 countries with the highest number of women in their parliaments. Rwanda heads that list: 64% of its MPs are women.

The UN Commission on the Status of Women concluded its 59th annual session today with an agreement by UN Member States on steps to boost its efforts to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff will soon submit nominations for senior positions to the Congress for approval. Positions up for nomination include directors at the Brazilian Central Bank (BCB) and a judge on the Brazilian Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal – STF). But Rousseff, one of the world’s most powerful women, seems scarcely inclined to address the very poor gender balance in her government.

Further to the announcement of the  Fund for Gender Equality’s third Call for Proposals, UN Women is pleased to inform that the online grants application system is now open for the proposal submissions. Eligible applicants are invited to enter their applications from today until 5 April 2015.

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 59) has opened its 59th Session, which will review progress in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 20 years after its adoption. The opening session included the launch of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's global review of progress on gender equality, which finds that no country has achieved gender equality. CSW 59 also unanimously adopted a Political Declaration (E/CN.6/2015/L.1) marking the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.