Twenty-two parties recently signed a document making proposals for Armenia's electoral code, to broaden women's access to politics. It suggests a 25 percent quota for women in party lists, up from the current provision of only 3 percent. But the chances of any real change emerging may be slim, given lack of support from two of the largest factions in government.

Since the first two years following the invasion of Iraq, when many women attained positions of political power and recognition, Iraqi women have seen a dramatic reversal in their fortunes. For a recent high-level international conference at Wilton Park on women's participation in peace-building and decision-making, Iraq is a crucial case where United Nations Resolution 1325 should be making a difference to women's involvement in security and politics. But Hanaa Edwar Busha, one of the founders of the Iraqi Women's Network (IWN), describes a constant struggle on the ground, from obstruction at the highest political levels to violence and intimidation in the streets.

Maysoon al-Damluji was sitting in a Bayswater coffee-shop, being hailed and hugged by a succession of friends, when Rosemary Bechler met her for this interview. Their greetings had the air of a conversation satisfactorily regained after a short, frustrating interruption. But there was nothing brief about it.

Less than two months after 11 September 2001, and a few weeks after the beginning of the US bombing campaign in Afghanistan, President George W Bush made an urgent plea to see Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s Kandahar. He encouraged US citizens to watch it as well.

Adopted in 1979 by the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) – the most far-reaching international commitment of governments working for gender equality – was the first international human-rights instrument to explicitly define all forms of discrimination against women as fundamental human-rights violations. As of April 2005, 180 states have ratified CEDAW, interpreting their treaty obligations in diverse ways ranging from reluctance to active incorporation.

UN Resolution 1325 on women and peace-building presents a complex challenge for the international community. It identifies two distinct groups of women with a role to play in peace-building and reconstruction: those on the ground in areas of insecurity and those in global discussions on security issues, in positions of influence and who are peace-builders from the outside.

Sexual violence is arguably one of the most challenging human rights violations to address in peace and security work. There is no vaccine to prevent it; there is no ‘cure’ for its effects. Girls and women are dying from the violence, and its long-term emotional, psychological and physical effects are profound and far-reaching.