United Nations Radio

Women: a weekly 14-minute news magazine that looks at issues affecting women around the world.

Asatu Bah Kenneth

In 2003 a group of Liberian women held peaceful protests, dressed in white, to demand an end to the decade-long bloody civil war. Asatu Bah Kenneth was one of their leaders. A police officer at the time, she was inspired by the work of the Christian women's peace initiative and formed the Liberian Muslim Women's Organization to work for peace. As Deputy Chief of Police she is now overseeing the expansion of the recruitment of female police officers.

Miriam Makeba

Mama Africa: a voice for women and against injustice

The South African singer and human rights activist Miriam Makeba passed away in November at age 76. For nearly a decade she served as a goodwill ambassador for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in its campaigns to end hunger. In her last mission in March she visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she spoke out forcefully against sexual violence. Throughout her life, Mama Africa as she was known, was a voice for the poor and the oppressed.

Milena Kadieva

Organization works to end violence against women in Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation recently completed a project funded with a grant from the UN trust fund to end violence against women. It helped to mobilize professionals and civil society in implementing a 2005 domestic violence law passed in the country. Milena Kadieva, a human rights lawyer, working with the organization explains how the project led to a deeper understanding of the problem of violence against women in Bulgaria.

Producer: Bissera Kostova

(duration: 14'00")