29th January 2014
This year agriculture is the main theme of the 22nd Assembly of Heads of State and Government at the African Union (AU) – the AU Summit, which is taking place this week. But African leaders are also deliberating on the peace and security of the continent. Country situations at the top of the agenda are […]
10th December 2013 Brasilia, Brazil
The following is a guest blog by Louise de Sousa, Head of the Foreign Office’s Human Rights and Democracy Department. I’m looking forward to arriving in Brazil tomorrow, the day after International Human Rights Day, for my first visit to discuss human rights issues since I left the Embassy after three happy years in 1997. […]
Read more on Tackling violence against women and girls | Reply
25th November 2013 Brasilia, Brazil
Maria da Penha was shot in the back while she slept. Not by a stranger, but by her husband. She survived, but the attack left her paraplegic and consigned to a wheelchair. The second attack happened on her return from hospital, when her husband tried to electrocute her in the shower. She survived that too. […]
Read more on International day for the elimination of violence against women | Reply
16th October 2013 Brasilia, Brazil
Today is Blog Action Day, an annual worldwide event where bloggers write about a single topic since 2007. Earlier this year over 800 Blog Action Day participants took part in a poll to help identify what the theme should be for 2013. The most popular votes and suggestions all fell under the banner of human rights, making […]
20th September 2013 Paris, France
Everyone is working incredibly hard at the moment to deal with the conflict in Syria. This conflict reminds us all again that all too often we find that rape and sexual violence is used as an instrument of war, particularly against women.
Read more on Join the UK campaign against sexual violence in conflict. It’s #timetoact! | Reply (2)
20th September 2013
We can’t escape the daily reports of widespread violence throughout our world. And it has been especially shocking to hear recently about chemical weapons being used on innocent civilians in Syria. As we mark International Peace Day, it’s important that we stand in solidarity with people caught in conflicts. We are faced today with many […]
3rd September 2013
One of the highlights of the United Nations General Assembly in September will be an event hosted by Foreign Secretary William Hague and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to launch a high level political and ambitious declaration on the need to keep up the international momentum on tackling sexual violence in conflict. This event follows […]
Read more on UK and Holy See: It’s Time to Act Together | Reply (1)
22nd May 2013 Chevening, UK
The following is a guest post by Faiza Abdirashid. Faiza is a 2012 Chevening Scholar from Somalia studying for an MSc in Public Policy at the University of Bristol. A recent meeting organised by three UK government departments (DFID, FCO and home Office) on 29rd April focussed on the challenges facing Somali women. It was a great […]
Read more on Addressing Sexual violence in Somalia: Moving beyond retaliation and impunity | Reply (13)
17th April 2013
This year it will be 65 years since the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Open any newspaper or news website today and you find depressingly many and varied examples of continuing breaches of those universal rights in countries around the world. Advancing respect for universal human rights is a priority […]
Read more on Human Rights and Democracy Report 2012 | Reply (2)
8th March 2013 Atlanta, USA
These are the words of a rape survivor from the Bosnian conflict, quoted by Haja Zainab Hawa Bangura, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict at a recent meeting in London Bangura spoke about the horrific reality of war for women and girls, where war has been waged not just […]
Read more on ‘They have taken my life without killing me.’ | Reply (1)