Civil Society

Photo-Ikenna Ikeotuonye and the Howard University Student Association.

All too often, we measure our progress in the process of gender empowerment by counting the number of woman politicians in Parliament and Cabinet. There is also now a new dynamic in ANC politics with talk of the prospect of a woman leading the organisation and the country next. At first it looked as if President Jacob Zuma was merely being politically correct by saying South Africa could have a woman as president sooner than we think. He repeated the sentiment last week during a briefing with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

Europe’s security body has released a strongly-worded statement voicing concern over the targeting of prominent Turkish journalist Amberin Zaman by presidential hopeful Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Many lessons can be learned from South African women who rose as leaders even when it was dangerous to do so, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela said on Thursday.

In a speech prepared for delivery at a women's leadership conference in Cape Town, she said the lessons were on how to lead with courage and integrity.

Madonsela said leading examples were the lives of anti-apartheid activists Victoria Mxenge, Helen Joseph, and Helen Suzman.

Women in public/leaderships position in the Toledo district have begun a series of workshops on capacity building.

Project coordinator Sheena Gentle explains that the during the course of the training, which is expected to last eight days, the women will be taught about leadership, community mobilization, strategic planning, political campaigns among others.

The objective of the training is to empower women by helping them to confront many of the issues they face on a daily basis whether it be in the home, on the job or working in the community.

Women should not laugh out loud in public, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has said while complaining about “moral corruption” in Turkey. 

Speaking during an Eid el-Fitr meeting on July 28, Arınç described his ideal of the chaste man or woman, saying they should both have a sense of shame and honor.

Former first lady and Mozambican education minister Graça Machel’s advocacy work in women’s financial inclusion will not extend to a return to active mainstream politics.

She was speaking exclusively to Independent Newspapers on the edges of the African Development Bank’s Women’s Economic Summit in Lusaka, Zambia, on Friday.

Since the death of her husband Nelson Mandela, Machel has returned to public life.