When Amra Babic walks down the streets of the central Bosnian town of Visoko wearing her Muslim headscarf, men sitting in outdoor cafes instantly rise from their chairs, fix their clothes and put out their cigarettes.

The respect is only natural: Babic is their new mayor.

INCREASING representation for women in parliament is important, but the legislative body should also mold its codes, ethics and practices to truly ensure equitable treatment of women, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania, Ms Anna Makinda, has said.

Mrs Vivian Kakie Tetteh, Progressive People’s Party (PPP) Parliamentary Candidate for Sunyani East, has observed that threats and frustrations from activists of other political parties are the challenges that prevent women from participating in politics.

Osun State Government has assured women in the state of its readiness to create a conducive atmosphere to allow them take active role in politics.

Women are closing the gender gap with men in health and education but struggle to get top jobs and salaries, data from a study of 135 countries showed on Wednesday.

Egypt's national body for women's issues, the National Council for Women, held a conference on Monday entitled "Egyptian women reject the draft constitution."

According to the Council's head, Mervat El-Tellawy, the draft constitution has not taken into consideration various international charters and agreements which Egypt has signed. Furthermore, the Al-Azhar document of suggested principles for all parties to abide by while writing the constitution has not been incorporated into the draft.

Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia described the fatwa issued by the Scientific Council of the Ibadi Confession in Ghardaia forbidding the nomination of women in local elections in the province as an “internal fatwa that concerns a particular community.''

Brazilians will return to the polls next week less than a month after voters elected a record number of women as mayors, but gender equality is still a distant goal in a political culture long dominated by men.

Only one female candidate will participate in the 50-city mayor run-offs on 28 October, which means Brazil will continue to lag behind most other Latin American states in terms of the gender balance among elected officials.

The elections are seen as a test of stability 10 years after its civil war, with no women standing for president despite a push to register more female candidates.

"All presidential candidates nominated by nine out of the 10 officially recognised political parties are 100% male, and of the nine vice-presidential candidates, five are males," chief electoral commissioner Christiana Thorpe told journalists.

All-China Women’s Federation ( ACWF) Vice President Meng Xiaosi said Thursday that Chinese women would be more than happy to join hand with women of East Asia countries to promote gender equality and environmental sustainability.

Meng made the statement during the ongoing fourth meeting of the ASEAN plus Three Committee on Women (ACW+3) held in Lao capital Vientiane.