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Political participation, economic empowerment and ending violence against women emphasized as key to gender equality in meetings with US legislators

The Executive Director of UN Women, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, on Friday commended women for their role in the pro-democracy protest movements that have swept across North Africa and the Middle East. She, however, said their rights and leadership potential must continue to be encouraged.

To read the full text, please visit Afrique en Ligne.  

On 6 April 2011, Dr Essam El Haddad and Dalia Zakhary visited International IDEA as guest speakers at the Institute's Board of Advisers' meeting to discuss developments in the Western Asia and North Africa region.

To listen to their interview, click below.

During her visit to Panama 16-17 April, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet will participate in the meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) General Assembly. Ms. Bachelet will also meet with the President of Panama and Panamanian women’s organizations. The United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the newly established UN Women, Michelle Bachelet, will visit Panama from 16 to 17 April to participate as a special guest of the 124th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentarian Union (IPU), which will be held in the country from 15 to 20 April.

For more information, please visit UNWomen

Since the end of that campaign, NDI has been working with political parties to compile their lessons learned throughout the historic presidential election process of 2010. In the capital of Conakry and across Guinea’s seven administrative capitals, the Institute discussed with party leadership and regional representatives what they hope to do differently in the upcoming campaign, searching for principles that all parties could agree to that would create more efficiently-run elections and more peaceful polls in Guinea’s upcoming legislative elections.

As democratic activists in the Middle East and North Africa have stepped up their fight for freedom, NDI and the government of Bulgaria have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cement their partnership in aiding reform movements in the Muslim world and other transitional regions.

To read the complete article please visit ndi.org.

Ladies and Gentlemen, This year may well mark the beginning of the ‘fourth wave’ of democracy. As we have seen from the dramatic events of the ‘Arab spring’, women have been actively involved in the new wave of demands for political freedoms and dignity. In the streets of Tunis and Cairo and more recently in Sanaa, it has been difficult not to notice that women from all walks of life have joined the ranks of protestors in the streets to raise their voices for democracy and citizenship. As a result, we are already beginning to see gains for some women.

I am pleased to join Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, Vidar Helgesen, Secretary General of International IDEA, and Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, in co-sponsoring today’s roundtable on democracy and gender equality

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a rich body of international human rights law and treaties promote equal rights for people everywhere to freedom, inclusion, and representation. The challenge is to realize these rights for all in practice.