The personal stories of the displaced women living in the Bogota area, however, demonstrate how difficult it could be for the law to serve this purpose.

FORBES: Colombians Doubt a Law Can Get Them Home Again

The official Pakistan Television Corporation only showed brief footage of Mr Zardari at the flood barrier, and of him visiting a camp for 2, 500 displaced people at a women's college in Sukkur.

BBC: Pakistani president visits flood relief camp in Sindh

Still, the situation is never certain, and we always worry that many of our women have been displaced and lost all their belongings, or even worse, have once again become victims of violence.

FORBES: Connect

We should be training the young men and women who have been displaced as a consequence of Katrina to provide basic services like environmental cleanup and construction work.

NPR: Sen. Barack Obama on Poverty and Katrina

Neil Buhne, the organisation's humanitarian co-ordinator in Sri Lanka, said after a visit to camps for displaced civilians that he had seen infants with dysentery, malnourished children and women with untended wounds.

ECONOMIST: Sri Lanka

Angela Merkel, the first woman to become chancellor of Germany, has displaced Condoleezza Rice as No. 1 on our list of the 100 Most Powerful Women.

FORBES: The World's Most Powerful Women

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon struck a personal note in his opening remarks, as he recalled his childhood as a displaced person at the close of World War II when his mother, like other women enjoyed little help bringing children into the world.

UNESCO: World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)