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Geneva, 11 September 2013 – Countries around the world are too often stifling political opposition instead of embracing it as a tangible and natural sign of a healthy democracy, says the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) ahead of International Day of Democracy on 15 September.

A UN study of 10,000 men in Asia and the Pacific, released today, found that overall nearly half of those men interviewed reported using physical and/or sexual violence against a female partner, ranging from 26 percent to 80 percent across the sites studied.  Nearly a quarter of men interviewed reported perpetrating rape against a woman or girl, ranging from 10 percent to 62 percent across the sites.  

This year marks Mexico’s 60th anniversary of women’s suffrage, and though the country has made progress in passing reforms to increase women’s political participation, women are still not well-represented in decision-making bodies.

Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka took the oath of office as the Executive Director of UN Women during a ceremony today at UN Headquarters presided over by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. She is the second Executive Director of the organization created in 2010 to lead the UN’s work on advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment. Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka’s appointment was announced by the Secretary-General on 10 July 2013.

Afghan authorities must make every effort possible to ensure the release and safe return of abducted Afghan woman MP Fariba Ahmadi Kakar and to provide greater protection for all women parliamentarians in the country, says the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

We invite to read the full article published August 14, 2013 by IPU

Clark is Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – the first woman to lead the organization – and Chair of the United Nations Development Group.