In India, impressive victories scored by two women in regional elections have increased the number of women in the top rungs of politics. But women's political empowerment is only making slow progress in a country where they occupy a tiny number of seats in parliament and state legislature
Political parties in Indonesia have to involve more women in politics, and not just encourage their appearance only during campaigns, a former deputy speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly says.
Mali's president, Amadou Toumani Toure, has appointed Cisse Mariam Kaidama as prime minister to replace Modibo Sidibe, who resigned last week, an official statement said.
In other circumstances, many women in Peru would be celebrating the possibility of a female president for the first time in the history of their country, or the alternative: the triumph of a candidate who promises to improve things for the poor. But both candidates taking part in the Jun.
"She got a divorce because of her ambition and love of money," shopkeeper Dulce Álvarez told IPS, about Guatemalan former First Lady Sandra Torres' decision to end her marriage in order to sidestep the legal bar to the president's family members running for the presidency.
Ahead of this month’s G8 summit in France, parliamentarians from 35 countries have issued a strong call for leaders of the world’s major economies to focus on the role of women and girls in development.
In Los Angeles as elsewhere, fewer women seek election. More may be looking at careers in business, and they may dislike the coarseness of campaigning.
This month's state assembly elections in India has been welcomed as a vote for democracy but has also resulted in the consolidation of female politicians in prominent positions.
South Africans will take to the polls on May 18 to vote in the country’s fourth local government elections but women’s issues are glaringly absent from many of the party manifestos, observers say.