President Obama officially announced his nomination of Judge Sotomayor into the Supreme Court. This historic nomination makes Judge Sotomayor the first Hispanic justice, and the third woman on the nation’s highest court.
Check out this Opinion video from New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof that explores a tragic issue in Liberia and an important focus of WCI’s peace building and conflict mitigation programs, the sexual exploitation and abuse of young girls.
Today in Malawi, 5.9 million voters anxiously learned the results of the 2009 Presidential Election that took place yesterday, May 19th: Bingu wa Mutharika will serve another five-year term as President of the Republic of Malawi. Seven candidates ran for office, hoping to gain the position of head of state and government. It has tentatively been reported that 36 women MPs have secured seats in the newly-formed Parliament with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) still maintaining a majority.
The Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittees on African Affairs and Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women’s Issues held a hearing last week to discuss the rampant sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) in conflict affected areas, specifically in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan.
On Thursday, May 14th, WCI participated in a panel discussion at Philadelphia University City High School. The panel was part of the school’s Peace Week, a week of activities informing the students about peace and social justice organized by AmeriCorps’ City Year program.
Five years after WCI’s Candidate Training series helped double the number of women in Parliament, Malawi’s women leaders hit the campaign trail once again to vy for political office.
Throughout Colombia’s half century of civil war, cases of rape and sexual violence committed against women at the hands of armed, non-state actors have long been an under-reported taboo. Victims thus fail to secure the legal and pycho-social counseling they deserve, and many face the burden of unplanned pregnancies and/or miscarriages.
WCI urges the government of Papau New Guinea to take strong action in addressing the recent surge of witch hunts in their nation. Hundreds of innocent women have been accused of sorcery, denied fair trial, brutally tortured and killed at the hands of angry mobs.
Check out the inspiring messages behind The Girl Effect, a campaign dedicated to raising awareness about the benefits of empowering adolescent girls in developing nations and WCI’s domestic programs for adolescent girls.
WCI was recently recognized for its contribution to Liberia’s national development following a political campaign skills training held during the International Women’s Colloquium.
