Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail's childhood ambition was to become a doctor and cure disease. Now that she is Malaysia's most powerful female politician, she says her mission is to improve women's rights.

The 65-year-old made history this month when she was named Malaysia's deputy prime minister. She is the first woman to hold the post, and one of only a handful of female politicians in high public office in Southeast Asia.

Female lawmakers, in a country where women make up 52 percent of the population, account for around 10pc of the overall MPs in both the national and regional legislatures.

As the 2019 election is approaching, more women are beginning to express interest in contesting the presidential election on different political platforms.

One of such women, Princess Oyenike Oyedele Roberts, who recently expressed willingness to run for the apex political post in the country on the platform of the major opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said Nigeria would do better under the leadership of a female president.

The Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) yesterday expressed concern over attacks on female politicians in the country, which has manifested in many forms, including psychological violence.

A case in point being the attempted murder of MDC-T president Dr Thokozani Khupe by MDC Chamisa faction supporters at the burial of party founding president Mr Morgan Tsvangirai in Buhera in February; and the subsequent verbal abuse she was subjected to in her tussle for leadership of the party.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has decried low participation of women in political processes.

The Commission said despite the fact that women constitute 48 percent of the population, only 5.8 percent  of them hold political offices.

The Commission also revealed that since the commencement of CVR in 2017, only 1,362,293 women have registered compared to men who have 1,560,823 registration.

Former MDC-T deputy president Thokozani Khupe in February spent most of Morgan Tsvangirai’s funeral holed up in a hut, fearing for her life, as party youths threatened her with violence.

That same month, Zanu PF’s Zalerah Makari, the Epworth National Assembly member, escaped death by a whisker when thugs pelted her with stones while campaigning.

As a response to gender norms that continue to work against women’s entry into politics, 50 women across the eight provinces of the Solomon Islands are currently gathered in Honiara for the Second Practice Parliament for Women.

According to the International Parliamentary Union (IPU), these gender norms lay stronger emphasis on women’s role in the unpaid, domestic sphere.

Democratic state Comptroller Susana Mendoza says the party’s panel on sexual harassment issues will go beyond that subject to look at ways to recruit more women to run for public office.

Mendoza serves on the panel dealing with “anti-harassment and equal access” that House Speaker Michael Madigan appointed months ago amid harassment and bullying complaints in the party that he chairs.