FRIDAY FILE - The 2012 London Olympics was a remarkable moment for women in sports, chronicling the achievements of female athletes, while highlighting their continued struggle against sexism and stereotypes.

Maria Bobenrieth, Executive Director of Women Win, an organisation that uses sports as a tool to advance women’s rights globally, spoke to AWID about what women’s participation in the London Olympics and sports in general means for women’s rights and development.

By Amanda Shaw

FRIDAY FILE: From 5-6 July 2012, AWID, together with other civil society organizations (CSOs), participated in the 2012 United Nations Development Cooperation Forum (DCF). The DCF is one of the new functions of a strengthened Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and a component of ECOSOC’s High-level Segment, which focuses on a range of issues relevant to the implementation of the internationally agreed development goals (IADG), including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

FRIDAY FILE: As first-time participants, AWID and FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund share reflections on the recent Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and ask readers to reflect with us on engaging in global agenda-setting spaces like CGI.

By Angelika Arutyunova, Lydia Alpizar and Amina Doherty

FRIDAY FILE: As the dust settles on the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), it is important to look at what was agreed on paper and to ask: what do the conference outcomes mean for the future of the planet and for women’s rights in particular? In this extended Friday File, AWID offers a women’s rights analysis of the most important Rio+20 outcomes and how they are shaping discussions in key development policy processes, including the post-2015 development agenda.

FRIDAY FILE: This October 11, United Nation Member States, international organisations, and civil society celebrated the very first International Day of the Girl Child.

FRIDAY FILE: Discussion about the implications of the proposed United Nations (UN) Fifth World Conference on Women in 2015 reveals diverse opinions on the challenges, opportunities, purpose and conditions for the proposed conference, but with some common threads.

By Susan Tolmay[1]

FRIDAY FILE: The World Urban Forum 6 (WUF6) took place in Naples from 1-7 September 2012.

AWID spoke to Carmen Griffiths, Executive Director of the Construction Resource and Development Center (CRDC), and leader and organizer of GROOTS Jamaica[1]about grassroots women’s participation at this important global urban planning event.

By Susan Tolmay

AWID spoke to Maria Veronica Reina, Executive Director of Global Partnership for Disability and Development to examine how women with disability are faring in terms of economic rights.

FRIDAY FILE: Six months after the 4thHigh Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4) took place in Busan, a new Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) was launched, but civil society organizations have expressed concerns about the inclusiveness of the process and scepticism that any real change will take place.

FRIDAY FILE - Threats and violence against women journalists are on the rise in many regions of the world. In their work exposing injustices and bearing witness to human rights violations, women journalists are women human rights defenders and as such are in need of better security and protection mechanisms.

By Katherine Ronderos