Focus on Energy

A new study by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) shows that violence against women can be significantly affected by community-based interventions. "Programming to Address Violence Against Women," reports on 10 case studies showing how targeted and planned interventions actually reduce gender-based violence. UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid said, "In many of these cases, the extent of violence against women was so prevalent and so entrenched that it first seemed impossible to budge the prevailing mindset…What we learned is that persistent advocacy targeting community leaders and the larger public can bring about huge changes in a relatively short time." The UNFPA also released a companion booklet, "Ending Violence Against Women: Programming for Prevention, Protection and Care," and an online multimedia exhibit. More

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative, Alan Doss told the all-female peacekeeping unit in Liberia that "we know from police experience around the world that women officers are good at handling potentially violent situations."

"I am quite confident that with your help we can maintain a peaceful, stable and violence-free environment in Liberia," Mr. Doss told the unit made up 105 female officers with 20 male supporting staff - the first largely female Formed Police Unit to be deployed to a UN peacekeeping operation.

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Angela King, 68, died this week from of complications from breast cancer. King, a Jamaican diplomat, was a leading advocate for women in the United Nations and was the first special advisor to the Secretary-General on women's advancement. In a statement, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lauded King's life and accomplishments, noting that she was a "champion of the equality of women and men, and women's enjoyment of their human rights" and that "she will be mourned with profound affection and respect by many friends and allies around the world." King enjoyed a 38-year career at the UN, with a focus on ending discrimination against women. In 1997, former SG Kofi Annan appointed her to a new post as a special advisor on gender issues to help ensure to implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. For more, go to the International Herald Tribune and the Jamaica Gleaner News.

A trial testing the effectiveness of microbicides in preventing HIV in women has been stopped, according to UN agencies. The trial was halted because of a higher number of infections among women taking the microbicide cellulose sulfate compared with those in the placebo group. In a recently released statement, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said, "This is a disappointing and unexpected setback in the search for a safe and effective microbicide that can be used by women to protect themselves against HIV infection." The statement also noted that while there is no present explanation for the higher rate of HIV transmission, "the need to continue research to find a user-controlled means of preventing HIV infection in women is urgent." More Jessica Ogden, a Senior HIV/AIDS Specialist at the International Center for Research on Women, says that while this cessation is a setback, "it is vital that the search for new HIV prevention options continue...Women need to have an option that is practical and practicable in the context of their everyday lives, and microbicide science holds out much hope in this regard." For more information on women and HIV/AIDS, go to the International Center for Research on Women. For more information on microbicides, check out the Global Campaign for Microbicides, the Alliance for Microbicide Development, and the Global Microbicides Project.

Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, spoke yesterday at the World Social Forum in Nairobi about urbanization, sustainable housing, and how these issues affect women. "This is a result of natural population growth, human mobility including rural-urban migration and international migration, as well as the reclassification of rural areas as urban areas. It is therefore important to consider the challenges of urbanization as you discuss women and poverty and listen to testimonies of women." More

Contributed by Gwendolyn Beetham, Gender Consultant, Department of Peacekeeping Operations It's that time of the year...the 37th Session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women is being held at UN Headquarters in New York. In this session, delegates from 15 of the 185 countries party to The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) get to talk about the "appropriate measures, including legislation and temporary special measures" that they have put in place in compliance with CEDAW, "so that women can enjoy all their human rights and fundamental freedoms." Experts get to ask questions. The country delegates respond. It's fun. In this session, running from the 15th of January to the 2nd of February, countries reporting include: Austria, Azerbaijan, Columbia, Greece, India, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Peru, Poland, Suriname, Tajikistan, and Vietnam. A run down of what's happened so far after the jump.

BBC: "Discrimination against women is holding back economic and social development across the Arab World, a report by the UN's development agency says.

"Women are facing increasing violence in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, especially when they speak out publicly to defend women's rights, a senior U.N. official told the U.N. Security Council. Noeleen Heyzer, executive director of the U.N. Development Fund for Women, called on for fresh efforts to ensure the safety of women in countries emerging from conflicts, to provide them with jobs, and ensure that they receive justice, including compensation for rape." More

"Highlighting the role played by women in promoting peace in countries emerging from conflict, the United Nations Security Council today stressed it was essential to promote the full participation of women in helping rebuild such societies and also encouraged more female involvement in UN peacekeeping operations." More