Quotas

The Chairman of the opposition Liberty Party, Atty. Fonati Koffa, said the Liberty is in the lead pushing the gender parity. Speaking at a fundraising dinner organized by Senator Nyonblee Karngar Lawrence and held at the Cape Hotel on Friday July 25, 2014, Atty. Koffa said the party will support women candidates to ensure success in politics.

Following David Cameron’s cabinet reshuffle, the UK government has moved from having three women in the cabinet to five: and these two new members are working mothers, a presence not there before.

This still fails to improve the overall gender equity: according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union the UK currently ranks 65th globally for women parliamentary membership. Women comprise 22.6 per cen of the total UK parliament, compared to 51 per cent of the population.

Political parties that have less than 30 percent female representation in their lists of candidates for the general and regional elections may get less money from the state per mandate gained, according to a draft amendment to the election law, which daily Právo writes about today.

The provision was initiated by Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier (Social Democrats, ČSSD).

The Queensland Legislative Assembly, where women hold the roles of Speaker and opposition leader, has the nation’s lowest female representation at 21.3 per cent, compared with a national average of 29 per cent of all Australian parliamentarians. Women make up a fifth of ministers in state and federal governments.

Somali women leaders met in Mogadishu on Sunday (July 20th) to demand greater representation in national politics and clear constitutional provisions protecting their participation, Somalia's Hiiraan Online reported.

Chair of the Somali National Women's Association Batulo Sheikh Ahmed Gaballe and several of Somalia's women lawmakers attended the meeting.

Afghan parliamentarian and women’s rights activist, Farkhunda Zahra Naderi, has said that the Gender Quota is key to enhance the political participation of women.

Ms Naderi made the suggestion during the Gender Equality Review Conference which was organized in the framework of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Women are taking an increasingly active role as decision-makers in Serbian politics, but some bloggers say more steps should be taken to ensure greater participation at the highest levels of government.

While there were virtually no women in politics in Serbia in the recent past, the situation changed since the democratic changes in 2000 that culminated with the passage in 2011 of the country's election law, which stipulates women must constitute 30 percent of Serbia's parliament.

At present, women constitute 33 percent of MPs.

Nine Bahraini women have confirmed their candidacy for the upcoming parliament and municipal council elections.

However, they said they will reveal their election campaigns closer to the polls, which are expected to take place in November.

Six women will run for parliament including Shura Council Affairs director under the Minister of State for Parliament and Shura Council Affairs Dina Al Fayez, Golden Trust president Dr Lulwa Al Mutlaq and Daskalide director Huda Radhi.