Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of United Nations (UN) Women Michelle Bachelet (C) of Chile dances with women upon her arrival at Ushafa pottery village during an official visit to Nigeria's capital Abuja January 11, 2013. Picture taken January 11, 2013.

UNITED NATIONS | Fri Mar 15, 2013 10:25pm EDT

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. policy-making body agreed upon a declaration Friday urging an end to violence against women and girls despite concerns from conservative Muslim countries and the Vatican about references to women's sexual and reproductive rights.

Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Libya, Nigeria and Sudan, along with Honduras and the Vatican, expressed reservations about the declaration of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, but did not block adoption of the 18-page text.

While the declaration of the commission, created in 1946 for the advancement of women, is non-binding, diplomats and rights activists say it carries enough global weight to pressure countries to improve the lives of women and girls.

"People worldwide expected action, and we didn't fail them. Yes, we did it," Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile and head of U.N. Women, which supports the commission, told delegates on Friday after two weeks on negotiations on the text.

Shannon Kowalski, director of advocacy and policy at the International Women's Health Coalition, said the declaration was a victory for women and girls, but could have gone further to recognize violence faced by lesbians and transgender people.

"Governments have agreed to take concrete steps to end violence," she said. "For the first time, they agreed to make sure that women who have been raped can get critical health care services, like emergency contraception and safe abortion."

Earlier in the talks Iran, Russia, the Vatican and others had threatened to derail the declaration with concerns about references such as access to emergency contraception, abortion and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, activists said.

A proposed amendment by Egypt, that would have allowed states to avoid implementing the declaration if they clashed with national laws, religious or cultural values, failed. Some diplomats said it would have undermined the whole document.

But on Friday, Egypt's delegation said it would not stand in the way of the declaration for the sake of women's empowerment. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Islamists had warned on Thursday that the declaration could destroy society.

'FREE OF FEAR'

The United States welcomed the declaration but lamented that references were not made to lesbian and transgender women and that the term "intimate partner violence" was not used to capture the range of relationships in which abuse can happen.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice last week boasted that all 50 U.S. states have laws treating date rape or spousal rape as equal to that of rape by a stranger. In contrast Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood decried the idea of allowing women to prosecute their husbands for rape or sexual harassment.

Last year, disagreements over sexual and reproductive rights issues prevented the commission from agreeing upon a declaration of a theme of empowering rural women. The commission was also unable to reach a deal a decade ago when it last focused on the theme of ending violence against women and girls.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said states now had a responsibility to turn the 2013 declaration into reality.

"Violence against women is a heinous human rights violation, global menace, a public health threat and a moral outrage," Ban said in a statement. "No matter where she lives, no matter what her culture, no matter what her society, every woman and girl is entitled to live free of fear."

Germany's U.N. Ambassador Peter Wittig said the declaration was balanced and strong. "It sends a much-needed message to the women around the world: your rights are crucial," he posted on Twitter (@GermanyUN)

The full declaration of the Commission on the Status of Women can be seen at: www.unwomen.org

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Todd Eastham)

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) reacts during the commemoration of the new 380-kV high voltage power line between Schwerin and Hamburg, in Schwerin December 18, 2012.

BERLIN | Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:24am EST

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet agreed on Wednesday to accelerate the construction of 2,800 km of new high-voltage power lines to push forward the country's shift to renewable energy.

However, in a sign of the complexities of formulating energy policy in Europe's biggest power market, two of her ministers said they had failed to agree a common position on a proposed reform of Europe's system of permits to cut carbon emissions.

Under the nationwide grid plans, the new transmission lines will be completed within four years from a previously planned 10 years and cost about 10 billion euros ($13.21 billion).

The cabinet agreed to mainly prioritize the construction of lines to transport power from wind turbines near the coast and offshore to industrial areas in southern and western Germany.

Germany's ambitious switch to renewable power sources is the result of a major policy reversal from Merkel last year. After the Fukushima disaster in Japan, she decided to speed up the closure of nuclear plants.

One obstacle in achieving her targets, including a goal for renewable energy to account for 35 of German power production by 2020 from around 23 percent now - is the limited capacity and routing of existing grids.

In addition to the new lines, the draft law envisages expanding existing high voltage grid by about 1,500 km.

"(This agreement) shows that we are absolutely on time with our plans... This is a huge step in the expansion of the grid, a huge step for the switch to renewables," said Economy Minister Philipp Roesler.

In a bid to deal with strong local resistance to grid expansion, the planned law sets limits on the legal options opponents can pursue.

Another important contribution came from Germany's 16 federal states who signaled they would let the federal grid operator Bundesnetzagentur coordinate plans, rather than insisting on individual processing, which causes delays.

However, more needs to be done: Distribution grids that take power from high voltage networks served by big power stations and transport it to consumers must also be adapted to cope with an increasing number of wind and solar power installations.

CO2 PERMIT ROW

At a news conference to discuss progress on Germany's "green revolution", Roesler and Environment Minister Peter Altmaier said they were still at odds on EU plans to reform carbon emissions permits but vowed to talk again next year to try to find common ground.

The dispute between the ministers, who share responsibility for energy policy, has been a major factor in holding up any agreement on an EU proposal to withdraw some emissions permits from the market to stop a price slump.

Altmaier said he expected the European Commission to make a new proposal after the European Parliament had dealt with the subject in February.

"As soon as this proposal is on the table, the German government will take a view on it," said Altmaier.

Roesler also signaled a willingness to talk.

"We both have the goal that we want a well-functioning emissions certificate market," he told reporters.

Altmaier backs the EU proposed reform of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), a main pillar of the bloc's efforts to cut CO2 emissions, but Roesler opposes meddling in the market.

Benchmark EU carbon prices were up 1.44 percent at 7.03 euros a metric ton at about 1150 GMT. ($1 = 0.7568 euros)

(Additional reporting by Markus Wacket, Vera Eckert; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Noah Barkin and David Cowell)

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