Women in conflict and transitional countries take centre stage

Funds allocated received by more than 350 initiatives in 128 countries in 16-year history

New York, 7 November—The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) today kicked off its 16th year announcing more than US$8 million in grants to 12 local initiatives in 18 countries. In ten countries, funds will be used to address violence against women in conflict, post conflict and transitional settings, including Libya for the first time.

In some developing countries, informal or traditional justice systems resolve up to 80 percent of disputes, over everything from cattle to contracts, dowries to divorce.

Disproportionately, these mechanisms affect women and children.

A new report, commissioned by UNDP, UNICEF, and UN Women and produced by the Danish Institute for Human Rights, provides the most comprehensive UN study on this complex area of justice to date. It draws conclusions based on research in Bangladesh, Ecuador, Malawi, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Uganda, and 12 other developing countries.

AusAID and USAID have jointly funded research conducted by GSMA mWomen which looks at the wants and needs of women in developing countries, and how mobile technology might improve their day to day lives.

The research report, ‘PORTRAITS—A Glimpse into the Lives of Women at the Base of the Pyramid‘ is the result of discussions with over 2,500 women living on less than $2 per day.

Researchers surveyed women in Egypt, India, Papua New Guinea and Uganda, with secondary research contributions from many other parts of the world.

The issue of rising food prices came to international attention in early 2008. This document answers the following questions about the crisis and responses to it:

• What has happened to food prices and why?
• Why are food prices important & where can we find them?
• How have countries and the international community responded?
• The future

Résumé

Le présent rapport a été établi en application de la résolution 63/141 du 10 mars 2009 de l'Assemblée générale, dans laquelle

This is just one of the multiple impacts of climate change taking their toll on the world's poorest people, according to the Oxfam report 'Suffering the Science - Climate Change, People and Poverty'.

The report's release comes ahead of the

Economic and Social Council
Substantive session of 2009
Geneva, 6-31 July 2009
Item 5 of the provisional agenda**
Special economic, humanitarian and disaster relief assistance

Summary

The present report has been prepared

Brussels, 13 March 2009

This Friday 13 March the European Commission and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries (ACP) Group signed a cooperation agreement for a total of €2.7 billion. Thanks to this global agreement, funded via the 10th European Development Fund, 77 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries will benefit from aid in a wide range of sectors such as health, water, combating climate change and peace-keeping.

Commenting on the agreement, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel said: "These €2.7

Summary

Incentives and sanctions are used by external actors to try to stop armed conflicts in the short term. But are they effective in promoting peace? This research by Conciliation Resources argues that these instruments are often not used as part of a broader strategy aimed at resolving conflict. They are often a confused mix of coercion and assistance, which neither force nor encourage the conflict parties towards a negotiated settlement.