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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Office in Fiji has launched a new webinar series, to highlight and promote parliamentary innovation and response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Bangladesh ranks 7th in the world in the political empowerment of women.

Bangladesh has emerged as a shining global model of women leadership when women take leading positions at every sphere of its political and social arena with them performing duties as prime minister, parliament speaker, and cabinet ministers simultaneously.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union condemns the imprisonment of 43 Members of Parliament around the world, saying they lack legal recourse to attain justice. The IPU is focusing especially on MPs detained in overcrowded, cramped cells in Venezuela, Ivory Coast and Turkey. The IPU says they are at particular risk of infection from COVID-19 and should be released immediately.

"Women in Turkey do five times as much domestic and care work than men. The Covid-19 crisis will likely deepen inequalities," says a guide by UN Women.

On 21 February 2020, the people of Iran went to the polls to vote for 290 seats in the Islamic Consultative Assembly.

The Icelandic Prime Minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, participated in a UN conference on the impact of COVID-19 on gender equality and the status of women, Fréttablaðið reports. She highlighted the increased risk of domestic violence, the pivotal role women play in the healthcare system and the additional economic and social pressures women are facing during the pandemic.

From patrolling checkpoints to answering emergency calls, women serving in security sector agencies continue to undertake vital work across Jordan alongside their male colleagues, supporting citizens and carefully applying critical mitigation measures against the spread of COVID-19.

• The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way societies function.
• Social distancing measures have presented physical barriers to activism, but UN Women suggest 9 ways that you can keep up your support for gender parity from the safety of your own home.

The presence of women in parliaments across the Caucasus and Central Asia has risen in the last 25 years, albeit slowly: in most countries in the region, between 15 and 25 percent of their MPs are women.

That is the conclusion of a newly released project by the United Nations Development Programme, Equal Future.