Civil Society

Najiba Ahmadi is quiet and unassuming – mild-mannered even. She is far from your typical revolutionary. Last week, Ms Ahmadi was among the suited government officials gathered in Britain to discuss Afghanistan’s future.

For the past five years she has been working to improve the lives of women and girls. The 32-year-old runs a shelter in Bamyan province where she offers legal advice.

Should politicians be appearing on programmes like the X Factor to reach new audiences?

Or should they be breaking down complex political subjects and putting them in simpler terms to get more potential voters interested?

These were some of the ideas being bandied around at an event in Portcullis House in Westminster to mark the end of Parliament Week.

Photo-Toan Trinh

In a perfect world, there would be no need for a media platform highlighting groundbreaking women in history. But if history has taught us anything, it's that female achievements are often forgotten or filtered out. Female journalists, spies, investigators, pilots, soldiers, and even cinematic pioneers are only now being rediscovered and added back into the historical narratives where they always belonged.

The Girl Guides once taught young women to cope away from civilisation with camping trips and nature skills.

Now, they are more concerned with helping them face the challenges of modern life.

The youth group yesterday took its first step into politics, demanding school lessons in body confidence and equal numbers of men and women in Parliament.

Photo-Al Jazeera

After years of activism, Amal Basha's demands for guarantees of greater representation for women in the political system has finally edged closer to reality.

"Women have been fighting for it for a long time," said the prominent Yemeni human rights advocate, referring to the more than decade-long battle she and others have waged to secure women representation in public office in Yemen.