Machinga — Member of Parliament for Machinga Likwenu, Mwalone Jangiya has provided K150,000 to five women groups from Kaudzu Village at Liwonde in the district to enable them venture into small businesses to improve their livelihoods.

At a small discussion at Thursday’s World Economic Forum on Africa, the issue of gender equality in African politics took centre stage.

Africa’s second female president, Dr Joyce Banda of Malawi, has attributed progress of women in politics and positions of power to men who gave them an opportunity to prove themselves.

Malawi government has pledged to help female parliamentarians retain their seats in 2014 tripartite polls.

NGO Gender Network says it will start meeting women aspirants across the country to strategise on their ambitious plan to have a representation of more than 40 percent of women in Parliament during the next year’s general elections.

As the country gears for the 2009 presidential polls, Women in Politics, a gender coordinating network, is strategising on how best to lobby and increase the representation of women in Parliament.

There cannot be sustainable women empowerment in development and politics if women lobby groups leave out culture in their campaigns, Chikwawa District Commissioner Lawford Palani has said.

The Norwegian embassy in Malawi has provided a grant to women's organizations to enhance the skills and confidence of women candidates so they can run effective campaigns and overcome gender based discrimination, and for civic awareness campaigns on the need for more women in decision-making posi

MCP, the country’s major opposition party, has said it will not give any special treatment to its women aspirants for parliamentary seats—to fulfil the 50/50 Sadc declaration. But Malawi still has the lowest representation of women in decision-making position in the region.

Executive Director for Gender Support Programme (GESP), Cecilia Mussa said on Saturday most political parties were favouring men to women to stand as aspirants, a situation she described as detrimental to achieving 50-50 representation in the National Assembly.

An unprecedented number of Muslim women are stepping forward onto the political scene and contesting the upcoming legislative elections, which many of them see as a chance to change misconceptions about women rights in Islam.About 5.8 million Malawians are expected to vote in the country's fourth

The May 19 presidential and parliamentary elections in Malawi will have more women candidates than ever. Statistics indicate that there are about 243 female candidates this year compared to 154 in 2004 elections.

Malawians have for the first time elected the first woman vice-president Joyce Banda, 47 years after independence. This was after the Electoral Commission announced on May 21 that incumbent president Bingu wa Mutharika had won the May 19 Presidential election.

Machinga — Member of Parliament for Machinga Likwenu, Mwalone Jangiya has provided K150,000 to five women groups from Kaudzu Village at Liwonde in the district to enable them venture into small businesses to improve their livelihoods.

At a small discussion at Thursday’s World Economic Forum on Africa, the issue of gender equality in African politics took centre stage.

Africa’s second female president, Dr Joyce Banda of Malawi, has attributed progress of women in politics and positions of power to men who gave them an opportunity to prove themselves.

Malawi government has pledged to help female parliamentarians retain their seats in 2014 tripartite polls.

As the country gears for the 2009 presidential polls, Women in Politics, a gender coordinating network, is strategising on how best to lobby and increase the representation of women in Parliament.

NGO Gender Network says it will start meeting women aspirants across the country to strategise on their ambitious plan to have a representation of more than 40 percent of women in Parliament during the next year’s general elections.

There cannot be sustainable women empowerment in development and politics if women lobby groups leave out culture in their campaigns, Chikwawa District Commissioner Lawford Palani has said.

The Norwegian embassy in Malawi has provided a grant to women's organizations to enhance the skills and confidence of women candidates so they can run effective campaigns and overcome gender based discrimination, and for civic awareness campaigns on the need for more women in decision-making posi

MCP, the country’s major opposition party, has said it will not give any special treatment to its women aspirants for parliamentary seats—to fulfil the 50/50 Sadc declaration. But Malawi still has the lowest representation of women in decision-making position in the region.

Executive Director for Gender Support Programme (GESP), Cecilia Mussa said on Saturday most political parties were favouring men to women to stand as aspirants, a situation she described as detrimental to achieving 50-50 representation in the National Assembly.

An unprecedented number of Muslim women are stepping forward onto the political scene and contesting the upcoming legislative elections, which many of them see as a chance to change misconceptions about women rights in Islam.About 5.8 million Malawians are expected to vote in the country's fourth

The May 19 presidential and parliamentary elections in Malawi will have more women candidates than ever. Statistics indicate that there are about 243 female candidates this year compared to 154 in 2004 elections.

Malawians have for the first time elected the first woman vice-president Joyce Banda, 47 years after independence. This was after the Electoral Commission announced on May 21 that incumbent president Bingu wa Mutharika had won the May 19 Presidential election.

Keynote Speech by Helen Clark on
The Effect of the Global Financial Crisis on Women
At the International Conference
Celebrating the Centenary of Women’s Right to Vote in Norway
Oslo, Norway

'Maybe women deserve men setting the agenda," a conservative female politician said Friday as emotions ran high over a study that showed men know more about politics than women, and that the gender gap was wider in Norway than in comparable countries such as Australia.

Norway created its first ever female-majority government Friday with a reshuffle caused by the resignation of the country's Oil Minister, the government said.

Norway now leads the globe in gender equality at board level, with a higher percentage of women at the uppermost echelons of its firms than any other country.

Norway boasts the highest proportion of women on boards anywhere in the world, up from 6% in 2001. By comparison, in the UK 11.5% of FTSE 100 directors were female in 2007 and the proportion among the US's Fortune 500 firms is 14.8%.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller says not enough progress has been made to increase the number of women involved in parliamentary decision-making since adult suffrage in 1944, arguing that the pace at which they are being integrated leaves much to be desired.

Sandrea Falconer, the minister with responsibility for gender affairs, in a statement in the Senate on Friday, said that women have broken the glass ceiling in politics but there is need for more to be involved in the process.

Women in politics should not allow themselves to be distracted by negative criticisms, St. Lucian Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Tessa Mangal says.

Female candidates, who make up less than 20 per cent of those vying for a seat in Wednesday's local government election, say they are hoping to making a difference.

THE Jamaica Women's Political Caucus (JWPC), through its Institute for Public Leadership (IPL) programme, has organised a training seminar for active and aspiring women in politics.

The Government is currently exploring the adoption of a quota system to increase women's level of representation in the Senate, to at least 30 per cent.