Women's Leadership

Meeting in Tbilisi Wednesday at their sixth annual conference, more than 150 members of the Women Councillors’ Forum of Georgia sought a greater say in economic and political issues at the local level. Participants called for municipal public services to pay greater heed to the needs of women, for example in expanding childcare options, and advocated better vocational training opportunities to help women succeed in the labor market.

On Sept. 6, 1870 — Election Day — officials in Wyoming were concerned. The previous year, a violent mob in South Pass had attempted to prevent African American men from voting. And since then, the territorial Legislature had granted full political equality to its women citizens. It was not clear how this latest change would be met.

Commonwealth women’s affairs ministers will assemble in Nairobi on 19 and 20 September for their triennial meeting to consider a robust strategy to achieve gender equality goals in all 53 member countries by 2030.

The strategy will include provisions to help increase women’s access to leadership, to achieve a minimum number of years of free quality education, to boost family planning and health services and to ensure legal protection from violence.

Sweden on Tuesday named a new foreign minister, appointing trade minister Ann Linde who vowed to press on with the country's "feminist foreign policy".

Linde, 57, replaces Margot Wallström 64, who made headlines in 2014 when she put gender equality at the heart of Sweden's international agenda.

Wallström resigned last week to spend time with her family.

Tunisia has long been seen as a pioneer for women's rights in the Arab world, but on the eve of presidential elections, women are calling this reputation into question.

"Men promise a lot to women. But when Mr Moustache arrives in power, nothing happens," said Feryel Charfeddine, head of Calam, an association fighting violence against women.

Sudan swore in its first cabinet since the removal of former president Omar al-Bashir in April following nationwide protests against his rule.

The 18-member cabinet led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, which includes four women, took the oath at the presidential palace in Khartoum on Sunday.

Since the unification of Italy in the late 19th Century, the country has had 58 prime ministers - every one a man.

No woman has come close to leading this country. Female politicians in Italy have often been used either as decoration or as tokens of an equality that doesn't yet exist.