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Global Network of Women Peacebuilders
 
WOMEN SPEAK  WOMEN ACT
(download pdf here)

  

WHEN?

April 5-10, 2013

 

WHERE?

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

 

WHY?

 

 The violence between the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the rebel group M23 that escalated last November - the latest in a series of armed conflicts and wars that have affected the country since 1998 - has finally subsided. Peace negotiations between the DRC government and M23 are under way. A Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework, drafted by the United Nations, has been signed by eight African states including Rwanda and Uganda, two countries implicated in the conflict. Yet, despite numerous efforts and resources spent on securing peace and stability in DRC and the region, the incidence of violence against women continues to be on the rise. If the DRC really is becoming more stable and secure, the question is: for whom? It is urgent that women activists gather and examine the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework, in particular as it relates to violence against women and girls.

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11:16 pm | Monday, March 18th, 2013
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Baileng Mantawil heads a nongovernment organization called Bangsamoro Women Action for Development Initiatives or Bwadi. She is also, she says, a 'child of war.'

Her father is a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and as a child she lived with her family in an MILF camp in Maguindanao. When the government launched a major offensive against the MILF, she and other women members of the family had to disguise themselves and flee the camp, crossing a river and trudging through marsh lands. I think I changed schools about four times during my elementary years, she recalls. But the onset of peace negotiations put an end to her wanderings, enabling her to finish a Computer Science course from the Mindanao State University in Marawi.

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Thursday 21 March 2013, by siawi

Suja Jones, an Indian woman, has taken her French husband to court in the city of Bangalore, India, on charges of rape of their then 3 year-old daughter.
She is fighting a lonely battle.
The French authorities provided continued unilateral support to the accused, an employee at the French consulate in Bangalore, leaving the mother of three minor French citizens alone to fend for them. 
The French media have given a very biased coverage of this case, based on the allegations of the accused father.
This undeniably added an unnecessary hardship on the already deeply wounded mother and children.

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We tend to hear about the violation and not the response-- so, important news to hear that the African Commisison on Human and People's Rights has found the Egyptian state responsible for failing to protect four women journalists from sexual assault during protests in Tahrir Square, calling for a full investigation and compensation for the victims and ratification of the AU Women's Protocol . Sadly one of the women Nawal Ali Mohammed Ahmed has since died. To our revolutionary Egyptian sisters, we are with you, always!

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JOINT STATEMENT OF MALAYSIAN-PHILIPPINE CSOs

March 7, 2013

Standoff in Lahad Datu: Engage in Dialogue Now with all stakeholders to resolve the crisis peacefully

We the undersigned Civil Society organisations (CSOs) from Malaysia and Philippines are extremely concerned over the on-going standoff between the Malaysian security forces and followers of the Sultanate of Sulu’s heirs, Jamalul Kiram III at Lahad Datu, Sabah. We the CSOs, together with all individuals, organizations and networks, urgently call upon President Benigno S. Aquino III of the Philippines, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak of Malaysia and Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, to disavow all forms of violence, and instead supports dialogue as the primary mechanism for a resolution to the siege.

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It's the CSW, the largest biggest annual gathering of feminists, and it's electric. Whether you're in New York or siphoning off the energy to fuel your feminism somewhere else, driving the change around the world, ISIS International's calendar of events is designed to bring to you the vital sites of activism, where your voice can help build the tidal wave of change we urgently need.