The government of Indonesia recently endorsed a law which states that all political parties should include a minimum of 30 percent of women among their candidates for members of parliament.
60 Acehnese power women, supported by a delegation of their "sisters" from Finland, took part in a seminar on political participation of women in Banda Aceh recently.
It was diplomacy at the highest level, from one woman to another. When India’s first woman president Pratibha Patil met her Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet, the chemistry was instant - and the cheer was evident to all.
The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) unveiled a new initiative to hold government and political leaders accountable for violence committed against women in their countries by signing a virtual book displaying their pledge in public.
The rotation of seats reserved for women in the Panchayati Raj institutions should be discontinued as only 15 per cent of women are re-elected from a de-reserved seat, an official study has suggested.
None of 27 female candidates who contested the previous general elections in June 2006 was successful, but a number did make an unexpectedly strong showing despite having little time to prepare for the polls.
Civil society organisations (CSO) engaged in promoting gender equality and women's rights issues are worried that the new modality of aid - defined as a partnership between donors and recipients is affecting their work.
Despite all the measures to enfranchise women and ensure equal representation, women still aren't securing many bums on seats. In the London assembly elections, of 151 candidates across all parties, just 52 of the candidates are women.
Women all over Nigeria have been enjoined to actively participate in politics and its various processes at all levels of the society, to help improve livelihood of women, reduce social inequalities among grassroots women and the girl-child.