More than a hundred women leaders from across Latin America are preparing to advocate for greater political will and more resources to secure the development of a cohesive HIV and Aids strategy for the region at a conference in San Pedro Sula in Honduras this week.

More than a hundred women leaders from across Latin America are preparing to advocate for greater political will and more resources to secure the development of a cohesive HIV and Aids strategy for the region at a conference in San Pedro Sula in Honduras this week.

“Kyrgyzstan would not have prosperity without women’s support, Omurbek Tekebayev, deputy head of the interim government said Monday at the National Conference “Women political participation in constitutional reform and parliamentary elections”.

Some 200 people took to the streets in a northern Kyrgyz province earlier this week to protest the longstanding practice of bride kidnapping. The custom -- in which single young men kidnap their bride of choice and pressure them to agree to marriage -- is not uncommon in Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyz female civil-society activists called on the supporters of the second- and third-place presidential candidates Kamchybek Tashiyev and Adakhan Madumarov to stop demonstrations in the south.

President Michelle Bachelet expressed pride in realizing a “lifelong cause” Thursday when she sent a bill to establish a ministry that would champion the country’s women and contribute to diminishing the gender inequality that runs deep and wide across Chilean society.

Socialist Michelle Bachelet was swept back into office Sunday as Chile’s next president, on a platform of narrowing the gap between rich and poor.

“In Chile, the skirt’s in charge,” blared the headline of Santiago tabloid La Cuarta the day after Michelle Bachelet and Evelyn Matthei advanced to a second round in the country’s presidential race.

When Chileans vote Sunday for their next leader, they will choose between a former president seeking to expand access to higher education broadly and a staunch conservative opposing tax increases aimed at reducing Chile’s high levels of inequality.

The leader in the race for president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet took 47% of the vote in November 17th elections. She will face a run-off against opponent Evelyn Matthei of the ruling center-right Alliance on December 15 who received 25% of the vote.

Socialist Michelle Bachelet handily won a first round of Chile's presidential race Sunday, with voters putting her on track to replace the country's conservative leader following a runoff in December.

Camila Vallejo, who helped spearhead Chile's student uprising in 2011,has been elected to Congres

Chile holds a presidential election on Sunday and both frontrunners are women - the socialist Michelle Bachelet and her right-wing rival Evelyn Matthei.

Chilean presidential candidate for the ruling party Evelyn Matthei was the target of her competitors’ criticism during a televised debate in which she brushed aside hopefuls’ aspirations arguing that it was obvious that the race was between her and Michelle Bachelet, who did not participate.

One of them is the privatized education system, the subject of regular student protests, which former president (2006/2010) and currently running for another four years next November, Michelle Bachelet has pledged to reform.

“There’s something sexist about saying that the candidates are two women.

President Sebastián Piñera’s center-right National Renovation (RN) party celebrated one year of their “

Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet announced on Friday she would step down from a key U.N. post amid high expectations that the popular politician would campaign again for the top job in her homeland at a November election.

Women activists in Chile say that Bachelet's criticism is unfair and is due to male chauvinism.
For more information, please see IPS News .

Chile's President Michelle Bachelet gave her full support Monday to legislation creating a new General Law of Education, replacing the existing Pinochet-era law, known as the L.O.C.E.

"Chile - Growing in Equality" is the name of the campaign launched by the government of Michelle Bachelet to advertise its programme "Iguala.cl", aimed at certifying state and private companies that comply with gender equity standards for their employees.

The study, conducted annually by the Regional Center of Human Rights and Gender Justice, or Humanas, asked 1,135 women in Chile about a variety of topics, including politics, important issues, the role of women in society, cultural attitudes toward women, and different types of discrimination.

At a gathering of more than 300 women, Chair and Co-Founder Melanne Verveer highlighted 10 years of Vital Voices involvement and engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean, opening the Women Leadership Summit.

Si bien a menudo se afirma que no puede haber democracia sin partidos políticos, es igualmente cierto que no puede haber partidos sin una participación activa de las mujeres.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet's approval rating rose in March to 62.2 percent, the highest level since taking office in 2006, on support for how she is tackling global economic crisis.