On 5 October 2009, the UN Security Council held an Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security entitled “Responding to the needs of women and girls in post-conflict situations for sustainable peace and security”. Viet Nam, the current President of the UN Security Council, invited the Council, Member States and other organizations to exchange and discuss the implementation of Resolution 1325 (2000) and related documents.

More than 1000 participants signed the Congolese Women’s Declaration at the AWID Forum, Cape Town, 15 November 2008.

“We ask all nations across the globe to take note of the holocaust of the millennium which is happening right now in the DRC, with total indifference and lack of concern from the international community. Six million of deaths, two millions internally displaced, thousands of raped women and girls”, the Declaration says.

Young women from civil society organisations are invited to participate in the Women Peacemakers Program (WPP) International Orientation. WPP’s International Orientation is a 6 weeks annual orientation at the IFOR International Secretariat and its Women Peacemakers Program. The deadline for application is 15 December 2008.