I'd be grateful for any information (documents, case studies) on the process by which gender is mainstreamed into legislation in any South - East Asian country.

Somaliland is preparing for its local government elections to be held in July 2008. Nagaad, an umbrella organization for women plans to support women candidates. The biggest barrier to increasing women in leadership postions in Somaliland has been the issue of clan support, which is rarely accorded to women. Currently, there are only 3 women out of 330 elected councillors. What strategies can Nagaad apply to help women gain the support of the clan and be endorsed for leadership positions?

I am interested to know what factors best explain the rise of women in parliaments in Sub-Saharan Africa?

What are the factors and challenges impeding political participation of Nigerian women?

I'm a Nigerian lawyer and I am interested in International Law. I have joined IKNOW Politics this year to learn more about issues related to women, human rights, international humanitarian law, and international law. I've always been interested in what is happening in the Middle East region, especially in post-conflict developments. I was wondering if you could let me know where to find articles and resources on developments in the Middle East. Thank you, Jumoke.

How many women hold ministerial postions in Africa and the Middle East (by country)?

Dear colleagues:   As you may aware, Bhutan is currently preparing for Parliamentary Democracy, which will be introduced in 2008.   The National Council Elections will be held in December 2007 and the nationwide Parliamentary Elections will be held in March 2008. So far two political parties have been formed, and they are likely to contest in the upcoming elections in 2008. Both the Parties are planning to launch a Women and Youth Wing. We would greatly appreciate if colleagues could share with us any information (i.e., web links etc.), and comparative experiences on the activities and mandate of such wings/sections in other countries. Such lessons learned and experiences would be useful both for these newly formed political parties and, other potential political parties in future.     Lily Wangchhuk UNDP Bhutan

The government of Kenya is trying to increase the number of women representative in the national parliament by up to 50 seats. Bearing in mind that there are nine provinces in Kenya, what would be the most democratic way to elect women MP's?

It is a widely held view that women in prominent government roles will represent the needs and concerns of women. Many also view the election of greater numbers of women as critical to development and social change. - How essential is women's equal participation in political life to the advancement of women, accountable government and sustainable development? - Has women's advancement into political leadership positions, kept pace with other advances that many women throughout the world have experienced? - As the number of women in leadership positions increase, has the understanding of leadership change? Are their styles different? Has it made a difference in the lives of women that women are in these positions?

The Gender Advocacy Programme launched the 50/50 Campaign in South Africa in 2001. The Campaign focused on political parties using voluntary quotas. After an assessment it is clear that we have to advocate and lobby for a legislated quota as only one party has a voluntary quota. We are looking to see if any country has ever managed to succeed in legislating a 50% quota of particpation for elected officials. If you have any information around this issue please share it with our organisation. The information must be centred around Campaigns to push for quotas. As of yet we have been unable to find a case study on this issue. Thanks for the help.