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Parliaments and Representatives

Democracy and the equal participation of men and women in the political arena are closely intertwined. No parliament or any decision-making body can claim to be representative without the participation of both men and women. As stated in the Universal Declaration on Democracy adopted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s Member Parliaments in 1997, "The achievement of democracy presupposes a genuine partnership between men and women in the conduct of the affairs of society in which they work in equality and complementarity, drawing mutual enrichment from their differences."

Recent years have seen a steady increase in the number of women in parliament, though the world average of less than 22 percent remains far from the goal of parity between women and men. The election of women to the highest positions of state and government in several countries has also contributed to the changing face of politics.

While the road to election is a difficult one, the challenges for women do not stop there. Once women enter parliament or other bodies, they are faced with many new challenges. Parliament is traditionally a male-oriented domain where the rules and practices have been written by men. It is, therefore, an ongoing challenge to transform parliament into a gender-sensitive environment, to ensure that actions are gender-sensitive and to guarantee that gender is mainstreamed throughout the legislature.

May 13, 2014
Women need to organise as a pressure group, India

There is a need for women to organise themselves as a pressure group to be able to carve a niche in the political sphere, three Delhi-based women journalists said Saturday.

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May 13, 2014
Women may get 79 House seats, fewer than 2009, Indonesia

Women may get 79 or 14 percent of the total seats in the House of Representatives following April's legislative election; a figure that was lower than the historic high of 18 percent or 103 seats in the 2009 election, researchers said Monday.

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May 13, 2014
Women in politics, Fiji

WOMEN will continue to be an integral part of the society, says Fiji Labour Party.

Party assistant general secretary Kini Marawai says FLP, since its inception almost 29 years ago, always advocated and championed the rights of women.

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May 13, 2014
Women On Capitol Hill Reach Across Party Lines To Get Things Done

There's a long-held assumption that women are more likely than men to collaborate. As the number of women in Congress has increased, however, so has the partisanship and gridlock. So does a woman's touch actually help on Capitol Hill?

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May 9, 2014
The Nation That Elects The Most Women Is ...

As Rwanda began to rebuild itself from the ashes of the 1994 genocide, something unexpected happened: Women began playing a much more influential role on many fronts, including politics.

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May 8, 2014
Women’s Coalition protests money politics

Female legislative candidates grouped under the Women’s Coalition staged a rally on Saturday to protest rampant vote-buying during the recent legislative election, which they say caused many female candidates to lose.

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Egypt women: Rights on paper, not yet on ground

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May 8, 2014

Egypt women: Rights on paper, not yet on ground

Women activists say they won a major step forward with Egypt's new constitution, which enshrined greater rights for women. But months after its passage, they're worrying whether those rights will be implemented or will turn out to be merely ink on paper.

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Women activists say they won a major step forward with Egypt's new constitution, which enshrined greater rights for women. But months after its passage, they're worrying whether those rights will be implemented or will turn out to be merely ink on paper.

May 7, 2014
Support to Egypt begins on fulfilling roadmap to democracy

IPU has kick-started its priority support to Egypt in its efforts to establish democracy by providing advice and expertise on the drafting on a new electoral law.

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