Promoting women into leadership does not mean women are taking over men's role.

This was the response of Ms. Val Stanley, UNIFEM facilitator during a media forum organized by UNIFEM yesterday.

The Media Forum on 'The Role of Women in Maintaining Political Balance' was aimed at highlighting the importance of women in politics. With a significant number of women standing for the 2010 National Election, the event was organized to provide an opportunity to hear how women in politics can make a real difference.

SIX women candidates yesterday attended a second workshop organised by the Women in Shared Decision Making (WISDM) to help them prepare for the August 4 elections.
WISDM member Josephine Teakeni, who is also Director of Vois Blo Mere, said the workshop is to help women candidates have the required skills to be able to go about their manifestos during their campaign.
She said the workshop is also to help the women candidates look at issues of gender so that when they talk about issues they know what they are talking about.

Over two decades later, Australian women are still under-represented in leadership and decision-making roles in both the public and private spheres despite comprising 50.6 percent of the country's total population and 45 percent of the country’s total workforce.

"In recent years, the percentage of female candidates and members of parliament has been falling, as I believe women look at the success rate and decide to give it a miss," said Troeth, who was first elected to the Federal Senate in 1993 at age 52.

The Chief Executive of Civil Resources Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC), Mrs. Oby Nwankwo, has called on political parties in Nigeria to remove all barriers militating against the participation of women in politics.

She argued that the relationship between the parties and civil organizations should be strengthened for the purpose of promoting and sustaining the country’s democracy.
Addressing participants at a one-day political parties’ summit on affirmative action organized by the non governmental organization in collaboration with Heinrich Boll Foundation in Abakaliki, Nwankwo said there was need for synergy between the civil society organizations, political parties and officials of government to ensure that equity was entrenched in the polity.

After years of stymied efforts, the reform focus in Saudi Arabia is centering on women’s rights. A recent survey by the Researchers Center for Women’s Studies in Riyadh examining Saudi newspapers and websites showed that from mid-January to mid-February 2010 some 40 percent of articles in print media and 58 percent of articles on websites treated women’s issues. Empowering women has become a priority for local activists and various initiatives are springing up to secure their basic rights. The most recent and ambitious of these efforts is a national campaign, driven by local actors, calling for women’s participation in municipal elections scheduled for autumn 2011.

Prominent human rights activists, women’s rights activists, writers and elected municipal council members are spearheading this national campaign for electoral participation, which was launched in March 2010. The goal is to coordinate activities on this issue throughout the kingdom, including advocacy and media coverage, public meetings and speeches, writing to officials, and training candidates. The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has not yet ruled on the issue of allowing women to vote or to register as candidates.

President Paul Kagame has praised Rwandan women for their role in the development of the country, adding that empowering women and ensuring gender equality were yardsticks for development.

Kagame, made the remarks, yesterday, while opening a two day International Conference on the "Role of Leadership in Promoting Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment."

"Empowering women and ensuring gender equality ultimately enriches communities and entire nations. Both historically, during our liberation struggle and even more recently, in reconstructing our country, women have contributed greatly and have been at the forefront of political, economic and reconciliation initiatives," Kagame said.