Nobel Women's Initiative

On September 16, the Nobel Women's Initiative and the Paley Center for Media will host "Burma and the Media: Amplifying Voices for Democracy" in New York City.  

This panel discussion--featuring Nobel Laureates, Burmese and international journalists, documentary filmmakers and Paley Center President and CEO Pat Mitchell--will examine how global and social media are transforming Burma's democracy movement.

Click here to buy tickets.

The Nobel Women's Initiative welcomes the United States' support for an United Nations commission of inquiry into human rights abuses in Burma.

The U.S recently announced that it will join Britain, Australia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in actively supporting the inquiry, to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Burmese military regime.

As the world marks the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire repeated calls this week for global nuclear disarmament and the creation of a nuclear free Middle East. 

The Middle East continues to be one of the world's most politically volatile regions. In his 2010 Nobel acceptance speech, President Obama warned of the dangers of an arms race in the region, saying that "those who seek peace cannot stand idly by as nations arm themselves for nuclear war."

Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi has written a letter to her dear friend and colleague Narges Mohammadi, who was arrested in her home by Iranian officials on June 10.

The letter describes the events leading upto Mohammadi's arrest and what has happened to her during and after her detention. She was detained for 3 weeks in Tehran's notorious Evin prison and released on July 1. The arrest is viewed as an attempt to impede her work as a human rights defender. 

Click here to read the complete letter in Persian.  

The Nobel Women’s Initiative is calling upon Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to ensure that Canadian companies uphold the rights of the indigenous communities in which they operate.

The letter, sent last week, draws attention to the human rights violations and environmental contamination that are occurring in relation to the Canadian-owned Marlin gold mine in Guatemala. 

This week, a group of diverse Sudanese women leaders is meeting at a conference in Juba, Sudan organized by My Sister's Keeper and supported by the Nobel Women's Initiative.  

In addition to providing support for women's participation in the event, Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai alsopersonally reached out to the women of Sudan with a special message on the need to work together and to take their place in Sudan's peace processes.

On August 1, the Convention on Cluster Munitions will enter into force, banning the use, production, and trade of cluster bombs under international law. It is the most significant legal instrument for disarmament since the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty campaigned for by Nobel Laureate Jody Williams. 

The ban will require State Parties to declare and destroy stockpiles of cluster munitions within eight years, clear land contaminated by the bombs within 10 years, and provide comprehensive support to the survivors of cluster munitions, their families and communities. 

Cambodian women are joining with politician and rights defender Mu Sochua in a fight for judicial reform. Mu Sochua, a sitting member of parliament, has exhausted her appeals against a conviction for defaming the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen.

The case stems from comments made by the Prime Minister about Mu Sochua, which were derogatory to her as a woman. When she announced her intention to sue him for defamation, she herself was convicted of defaming the Prime Minister.

Wangari Maathai is calling on the African Union to recognize the vital role of women in the ongoing Sudan peace process at the summit in Kampala, Uganda later this month.

In an opinion editorial published in Daily Dispatch and the Deccan Herald, Maathai urges African leaders to ensure that women play a key role in the upcoming referendum on the secession of Southern Sudan.

Read the full editorial

International outcry saved a 43-year-old Iranian woman from death by stoning last week, but her life remains in jeopardy. Iranian officials announced on Friday that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani would not be stoned, but she may still be executed by other means.

Women activists, politicians, and celebrities mobilized this week calling for Ashtiani's release and an end to stoning. Iranian Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi, online publisher Arianna Huffington, and Yoko Ono joined an urgent online petition that recieved close to 1,000 signatures per hour on Thursday night.