(CNN) Today, the investigation led by the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar presented its findings to the Human Rights Council.The mission's exhaustive report defines human rights violations and abuses committed in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan states as "shocking for their horrifying nature and ubiquity" and calls for the investigation and prosecution of senior military officials for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

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Women human rights defenders meet at the 2017 Nobel Women's Initiative Conference. Credit: author.“It’s just inspiring to have this in our city,” says Jana. She’s 16 years old and has come from Dusseldorf with her mother to the public talk by five female Nobel Peace Prize laureates hosted at the historic Kaiser-Friedrich-Halle in Mönchengladbach, Germany.

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“We want all the barriers down,” declared Nobel peace prize winner Mairead Maguire yesterday, opening the 10th anniversary of the Nobel Women’s Initiative gathering in Dusseldorf, Germany. She was, incidentally, joking, referring to the fact that – due to variations in height and levels of jet leg –  some of the five Nobel peace prize winners at the summit would be standing to deliver their opening address, while others would be sitting. But as the laureates spoke, the room moved from laugher to respectful silence as each laid out her vision for what a world without barriers to feminist solidarity might look like.

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