International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics)

Myanmar/Burma: Amid Threats, Women Dissidents Stick to Political Beliefs

While Aung San Suu Kyi remains the most widely-known woman suppressed for her political views in Burma, the jails in that military-ruled country continue to be filled by lesser-known women dissidents being held on a range of questionable charges.

Mid-February saw the latest group of female political activists thrown into jail with a two-year prison term, including hard labour, for a "crime" they committed four months ago – donating religious literature to a Buddhist monastery, an act that the junta deemed as "disturbing the peace."

United Nations: RP Senator Presides Over UN Session for Women Parliamentarians

Senator Pia Cayetano left the campaign trail in the Philippines momentarily to preside a special meeting of parliamentarians at the United Nations and to take part in another meeting with American legislators in Washington, DC.

Cayetano was elected President of the Coordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the highest position ever achieved by a Filipino in the 119-year-old IPU, considered as the United Nations of parliamentarians around the world.

India: Grand Mufti urges Muslim women to enter politics

A top Islamic cleric Wednesday welcomed the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha, describing it as ‘a great step towards women’s empowerment’.

‘This is a great step towards women’s empowerment. I would urge Indian Muslim women to enter politics and get themselves elected to parliament and state assemblies. They will have to empower themselves,’ the Grand Mufti of Kashmir, Maulana Bashir-ud-Din, told reporters here.

India: India's Upper House Passes Bill Reserving a Third of Legislative Seats for Women

Indian lawmakers approved a historic bill Tuesday that would set aside one-third of all legislative seats for women, a move aimed at overturning six decades of male-dominated decision-making in this country.

The bill, which drew fierce opposition before its passage in the upper house of parliament, would guarantee seats for women in the national legislature and all state assemblies in the world's largest democracy, where women have been largely kept on the sidelines of the legislative process.

China: Chinese Women Lag Only in Politics

Despite remarkable progress in improving the status of women in social and economic terms, China lags the rest of Asia in empowering women politically, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) study has found.

But some six decades after Mao Zedong famously declared “women hold up half the sky”, women in China fare far better overall than their counterparts in India and the rest of the Asia-Pacific on almost every economic indicator, according to the report.

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Combating Trafficking in Persons: A Handbook for Parliamentarians

Jointly produced by the IPU and UNODC, the Handbook on Combating Trafficking in Persons is intended to encourage parliamentarians to take an active part in stopping human trafficking.

Empowering Parliaments through the Use of ICTs

The study, published by the United Nations Development Programme, has developed an analytical framework that focuses on the three core functions of Parliaments - legislation, representation and ove

Assessing Legislation - A manual for legislators

It aims at providing the legislators with the necessary tools that would help them in assessing legislations and proposing them to promote social and democratic change in their countries.

A Parliamentarians’ Handbook on the Small Arms Issue

In a landmark step, parliamentarians from countries in Central, East and the Horn of Africa, gathering at a conference organised by UNDP and AWEPA on 26-28 November 2003, reached an agreement on a

Enhancing Women’s Political Participation: A Policy Note for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States

This Policy Note presents a set of pragmatic recommendations that will enable policy makers to enhance women’s political participation in the region.

Women's leadership in Haiti

We are interested in information, blogs, news posts and success stories from Haiti about how women are contributing to the reconstruction of democratic processes in Haiti.

Women in Politics 2010 (Poster)

This poster-sized map is a "snapshot" of the presence of women in executive and legislative branches of government as of January 2010.

Integration of Women in Industrial Development

The history of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) towards the integration of women in its activities is described, from the International Women’s Year in 1975 to the pre

Gender Based Violence in Rural Communities

The women in the rural communities are facing high levels of aggression inflicted on them mostly by Men. The abused women i interviewed the time i was compiling footage for my documentary Luapula...

2010 Election in Costa Rica

Dear iKNOW Politics members, You may be interested in knowing that on the iKNOW Politics network we have started an Election Talk. Where members from different parts of the world can share their...

Experience from Cameroon

the first place at rural areas is to look at those traditional practices that serve as a barrier to women to hold leadership positions that they look it as a taboo. The women them selves should...

Gender in the Malestream – Acceptance of Women and Gender Equality in Different United Nations Organisations

The author outlines changing approaches to women’s issues and gender equality in the
UN system both before and since the International Women’s Year in 1975 and describes

Nominating for Change: Strengthening Women's Position in Political Parties

This manual was prepared as a Training of Trainers tool to prepare participants to deliver workshops that help increase women’s skills to get themselves nominated by their political parties.

Monitoring Electronic Technologies in Electoral Processes

This guide aims to increase the understanding of civic and political activists regarding what transparency measures to demand in establishing safeguards concerning electronic electoral technologies

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Featured Interview

Interview with Regina Mundi, the Director General of Hoseana Enterprises Ltd.

Regina Mundi "All through the years I have fought to have women’s talents recognized and for women themselves to be interested in politics. We have through seminars encouraged women to participate actively in politics, not only by going out to vote but also by adhering to political parties."