UNITED NATIONS, Mar 07 (IPS) - Despite calls for a ceasefire, violent clashes have continued and humanitarian access remains limited in Syria's Eastern Ghouta, leaving the international community extremely concerned.

Since the Syrian government intensified its attacks in recent weeks, more than 700 civilians, many of them children, have been killed in Eastern Ghouta.

NEW DELHI, Mar 07 (IPS) - This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds launched by IPS on the occasion of this year's International Women's Day on March 8.
 
 
Lakshmi Puri is a former UN Assistant Secretary-General & Deputy Executive Director of UN WomenWhen we celebrate the International Women's Day (IWD) this year we shine the brightest light on the vast majority of women - especially in developing countries that live and work in rural areas and whose empowerment is about bringing the farthest left behind to the forefront of being the prime beneficiaries and drivers of sustainable development, peace and security, human rights and humanitarian action.

PARIS, Mar 06 (IPS) - Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCOInformation and communication technologies have the potential to open up new worlds of ideas and the media - television, newspapers, advertising, blogs, social networks, film – is increasingly omnipresent in the lives of many of us. In line with one of the major themes of this year's Commission on the Status of Women, UNESCO is assessing how the media and ICTs shape the lives of women.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 06 (IPS) - This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds launched by IPS on the occasion of this year's International Women's Day on March 8.
 
 
Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury is former UN Under-Secretary-General & High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.In the next seven days two of the biggest events that drive the women's equality agenda will energize all well-meaning people of the world. The first on 8 March the International Women's Day will assert renewed energy for women's activism for peace, rights and development.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 06 (IPS) - This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds launched by IPS on the occasion of this year's International Women's Day on March 8.
 
 
Peter Kagwanja is former Adviser Government of Kenya (2008-2013) and currently the President and Chief Executive of the Africa Policy Institute.
Siddharth Chatterjee is the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya. March 8, 2018 International Women's Day offers another opportunity to reflect on the progress made towards gender equality and women's political rights.

SEOUL, Mar 06 (IPS) - Dr. Frank Rijsberman is Director-General, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).

This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds launched by IPS on the occasion of this year's International Women's Day on March 8.The world has seen tremendous economic growth over the last decades, which has led to poverty reduction and increased welfare for millions of people. Environmental sustainability and social inclusiveness are key to the resilience of these gains and continued growth. "Leaving no one behind" as we navigate a shift towards green economies must be woven throughout the growth and development agendas.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 06 (IPS) - This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds launched by IPS on the occasion of this year's International Women's Day on March 8.
 
 
Richard Barathe is Director of UNDP's Regional Hub for Latin America and the CaribbeanWomen's role in the workplace is at the heart the International Women's Day commemoration. Even though it first celebrated a demonstration by women workers in New York in 1857, it was the killing of nearly 150 young women workers in a sweatshop, engulfed by a massive fire in just 20 minutes, which marked the modern celebration of International Women's Day, in New York's Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on 25 March 1911.

TORONTO, Mar 06 (IPS) - Laila Malik is Production Coordinator and Inna Michaeli is Coordinator at the Women Human Rights Defenders program at AWID: Association of Women's Rights in Development

This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds launched by IPS on the occasion of this year's International Women's Day on March 8. Since its explosion onto the social media landscape at the end of 2017, the #metoo movement has continued to gain global traction. Initially centred on powerful Hollywood women breaking decades of silence about sexual abuse and harassment in the industry, the conversation soon spread across global regions and sectors, from #YoTambien in the Spanish-speaking world to #balancetonporc in French.  From China to أنا_كمان# in Arabic. From national governments to universities to international development, the stories are grim, and their pervasiveness has been jarring.

JAMMU, India, Mar 06 (IPS) - This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds launched by IPS on the occasion of this year's International Women's Day on March 8.In the semi-lit makeshift tent covered with strips of cardboard, five women sit in a huddle. As their young children, covered in specks of mud and soot, move around noisily, the women try to hush them down. Hollow-eyed and visibly malnourished, all the women also appear afraid.

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 06 (IPS) - This article is part of a series of stories and op-eds launched by IPS on the occasion of this year's International Women's Day on March 8.From the Argentine slogan "Ni una menos" (Not one less)" to Colombia's "Now is not the time to remain silent", activism against gender violence has grown in Latin America since 2015, with campaigns that have social and cultural differences from the "MeToo" movement that emerged later, in 2017, in the United States.