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The empowerment of young women is key for advancing development around the world, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, adding that it is a priority for the United Nations to encourage their active participation in society.

“The lack of women’s representation – of women’s empowerment – affects individual women’s rights – and it holds back whole countries,” Mr. Ban toldparticipants at the first World Congress of Global Partnership for Young Women and Second Global Partnership Forum in Seoul, Republic of Korea (ROK).

When Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was elected in late June, he promised to represent all Egyptians by forming a government inclusive of women, Christians, youth and even artists and intellectuals.

Although the president said he heard the voices of all Egyptians, the much-anticipated government announced last week has proven to be a disappointment for many as a setback to the ideals that propelled the revolution that last year toppled Hosni Mubarak.

This thematic report addresses the topic of gender-related killings of women. Rather  than a new form of  violence, gender-related killings are the extreme manifestation of existing forms of violence against women. Such killings are not isolated  incidents that arise suddenly and unexpectedly, but represent the ultimate act of violence which is experienced in a continuum of violence. Women subjected to continuous violence and living under conditions of gender-based discrimination and threat are always on ―death row, always in fear of execution‖. Globally, the prevalence of different manifestations of gender-related killings is reaching alarming proportions. Culturally and socially embedded, these manifestations continue to be accepted, tolerated or justified—with impunity as the norm.  States‘ responsibility to act with due diligence in the promotion and protection of women‘s rights is largely lacking as regards the killing of women. 

 So-called honour killings by families who believe their daughters have disgraced them are increasingly common in Pakistan. But the gunning down last week of a woman by her brother, a lawyer, in front of dozens of witnesses in a packed courtroom in the bustling city of Hyderabad marks an alarming new low.