Guinea-Bissau's President José Mario Vaz has issued a decree appointing a 31-member government including 16 ministers and 15 deputy ministers, among them an unprecedented number of women, reports said on Thursday.

According to the decree issued to APA on Thursday, eight women hold ministerial portfolios and three others are deputy ministers in this new government led by Prime Minister Aristides Gomes.

The Jewish Home party affirmed its support for women in political leadership roles after a prominent religious Zionist rabbi said politics “is no place for a woman.”

A number of Israeli rabbis have signed a letter criticising the possibility of appointing former Israeli Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked, as head of the Union of Right-Wing Parties because “women should not be involved in politics”.

Two women have won the backing of the EU’s leaders to head the European commission and European Central Bank, breaking with more than 60 years of male dominance at the top of the bloc’s institutions.

JOHANNESBURG  - United Nations Women executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, will on Tuesday launch the organisation's flagship report about the current status of females in the world.

While half the ministers in Ramaphosa’s Cabinet are women, this Cabinet as a whole is still slightly skewed towards men.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been hailed for the important milestone of appointing women to half the country’s Cabinet posts for the first time.