During a visit that concluded today, Inés Alberdi, Executive Director of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, part of UN Women) and UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman have called for the urgent need to address gender-based violence among affected populations, and stressed the critical need to support long-term initiatives that advance women’s livelihoods as part of the rebuilding efforts. In Haiti, Ms. Alberdi and Ms. Kidman met with survivors of violence living in a temporary camp, with Haitian and UN officials, and with national non-governmental organizations working to support women’s needs in recovery efforts after the devastating earthquake.

“During this trip I saw first-hand how this humanitarian disaster is impacting women and girls. The lack of shelter and security makes them more vulnerable to violence, in particular sexual violence,” UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman said. “Yet, I have also seen the determination and resilience of women and men in Haiti to rebuild their country. Today I visited a temporary shelter for women and girls who experienced sexual violence or are at risk, where women leaders work to make sure there are medical and legal services as well as counselling and livelihood training. This needs to be done on a large scale and they need our support.”

Even before the earthquake hit, violence against women and girls was pervasive. A national census in 2006 found that one in three women in Haiti had experienced violence. Women in Haiti also carry the disproportionate burden of care for children and other family dependents. Some 45 percent of households are headed by women, many defined by stark poverty, due to lower educational levels and lack of opportunities on the formal labour market. The average annual income of women in Haiti is US$626, compared with US$1,695 for men. Meetings with women advocates during the visit highlighted women’s economic empowerment as a priority, including the immediate need to integrate women in jobs creation programmes and provide access to credit and training opportunities for sustainable livelihoods.

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Our Nicole was out on official duties today, attending the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Installation Luncheon in Beverley Hills. Nicole looked pretty in a green dress with her classic red curls. She was pictured having what appears to be a rather lively chat with Glee‘s queen of mean Sue Sylvester herself (for those not familar with the show, that’s wonderful actress Jane Lynch ), as well as talking to Eva Longoria and Annette Benning. The first few HQs have been added to the Gallery, and many more photos will be added later today/tomorrow.

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association Annual Installation Luncheon – High Quality x9

Running from September 9 to 19, the Toronto International Film Festival has announced a partial line up of 15 Galas and 35 Special Presentations including 25 World Premieres. In its 35th year, the festival has cineastes the world over rubbing their hands together at the exciting selection of films on offer.

The 11 day event is set to ‘drop the puck’ with a premiere screening of Score: A Hockey Musical, written and directed by Michael McGowan, starring Australian musical icon Olivia Newton-John. Following this very Canadian opener, the festival will feature premieres of films from Denmark, France, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Darren Aronofsky, Francois Ozon, Robert Redford, Mark Romanek, Michael Winterbottom, Julian Schnabel, John Cameron Mitchell, and Woody Allen will join an impressive assembly of renowned directors whose works will feature at the festival.

A couple of the most hotly anticipated movies include John Cameron Mitchell’s Rabbit Hole, which features Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman, and Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan starring Natalie Portman as a jealous ballerina.

The program, announced so far, also includes Robert Redford’s The Conspirator, Guillaume Canet’s Little White Lies, John Curran’s Stone, Francois Ozon’s Potiche, Ben Affleck’s The Town, Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Alain Corneau’s Love Crime, Julian Schnabel’s Miral, Mike Mills’ Beginners, Rowan Joffe’s Brighton Rock, Tony Goldwyn’s Conviction, Susanne Im Sang-Soo’s The Housemaid, Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech, Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go, and Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip.

Director and CEO of TIFF, Piers Handling, says the festival is thrilled at the selection of films. “The richness and diversity of this year’s Galas and Special Presentations programmes reflect the abundance of exciting works from established and emerging filmmakers in the world of cinema,” he says.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 9 to 19. For more information, visit the festival website.

Just a quick note to let you all know that forum registration is open again! I’m so sorry it’s been closed so long, and I’m sorry to those of that have emailed me and asked about it! I hope those of you that did email are still interested in joining. Forum registration is only closed because of spam posters, and the fact that controlling and stopping all the spam is hard. But we LOVE meeting new Nicole fans there, so pay us a visit, register and say hi!

EDIT: Forgot to add, registrations need to be approved by me before you can post. So you can register straight away, and I will approve your account asap. I’ll be approving accounts every couple of days.

Well this is quite a shock to me! A big thanks goes to our observant forum member ‘nic_the_great‘ for pointing out the following:

Nicole’s new official site! Knowing the internet, I’m always very wary of sites claiming to be official, but this looks to be real – don’t you think? It looks to be mainly to promote her work with UNIFEM, and she’s left a couple of messages there encouraging people to sign the Say No – Unite To End Violence Against Women petition. There’s also an accompanying Facebook page. So make sure you visit the site (which you obviously will) to hear from Nicole, and to support her and her work with UNIFEM!