Elections

Two years away from the general elections, Nigerian women who converged under different organizations and auspices at a two-day summit organized by Nigerian Women in Parliament with the support of United Nations Development Programme and Democratic Governance for Development (UNDP/DGD), have started strategizing on how to gain more political relevance ahead of 2015.

When 2013 began, there was a fair amount of hope that women could make up for their relatively measly representation in local offices nationwide by capturing the mayoralty in three of the nation's five largest cities.

In all the U.S. cities with populations above 30,000, only 17 percent have women serving as mayor. EMILY's List, the political action committee that seeks to elect pro-choice women, hopes to change that.

Political parties in Liberia have been asked to ensure that at least 40 per cent of all elected positions at the district, regional and national levels are occupied by women.

The electorates have also been advised to vote for women to occupy political positions instead of always giving preference to men.

The Executive director of Women NGOs Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL), made the call at the start of a three-day workshop in Gbarnga themed "Reinforcing Women's leadership in key positions in 2014 and 2017".