Being a civil servant in this country is a unique challenge. Moving from a 20-year civil service career to becoming a government minister – and becoming the first democratically elected female minister of the country in the process – could be seen as even more of a challenge, but it’s one that Dorji Choden has taken on with ease. For Choden, an engineer by training, being in the service of her country is something she is glad to take on – and it beats the year she spent doing a master’s degree in Syracuse, New York state, where she was desperately homesick.

China has unexpectedly released five women activists on bail, two lawyers said on Monday, after a vocal campaign against their detention by the West and Chinese rights campaigners.

The women were taken into custody on the weekend of March 8, International Women's Day, and detained on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble". They had planned to demonstrate against sexual harassment on public transport.

Alianza por la Solidaridad is looking for a consultant to generate evidence on response to gender based violence in the context of the Syrian Crisis in Lebanon and Jordan. 

The purpose of the consultancy is to generate evidence as to the extent, types and response to gender based violence in the context of the Syrian Crisis in Lebanon and Jordan in order to improve prevention, protection and survivor support, particularly with regards to sexual violence.

The research should:

Members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) have committed to taking the necessary action to carry forward proposed new sustainable development goals (SDGs) due to be adopted later this year. The success of the SDGs would transform the world and the lives of its people.
 
Parliaments from across the world reaffirmed their vision of sustainable development based on human rights, poverty eradication, peace and security in the Hanoi Declaration, adopted at the conclusion of the five-day 132^nd IPU Assembly in the Vietnamese capital.