gender equality

The Fiji Women's Rights Movement acknowledged women candidates, young women voters, the elderly and those living with disability who were part of the election on Wednesday.

The organisation congratulated all the candidates on their individual success particularly the 44 women candidates contesting under the six political party banners as well as independent candidate.

To read the full article published on September 19th 2014, please click here.

The Women’s Campaign School is teaching women how to run a successful campaign.

Photo-Reuters

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday was due to host a three-day conference on women in the workforce, as the country grapples with boosting a low female participation rate,AFP reports.

When one turns on the television, reads the newspaper or listens to the news on radio, one cannot help but notice that much of the news is focused on the negative events that are happening to our country. Thus, it wouldn’t be a surprise if many Filipinos have already made a conclusion that we no longer have government leaders who are committed to promoting good governance and leadership with integrity in our country.

Photo-Al Jazeera

After years of activism, Amal Basha's demands for guarantees of greater representation for women in the political system has finally edged closer to reality.

"Women have been fighting for it for a long time," said the prominent Yemeni human rights advocate, referring to the more than decade-long battle she and others have waged to secure women representation in public office in Yemen.

The recent upheaval in Selangor over the post of Menteri Besar (MB) has suddenly led the country to a situation where we might soon be witnessing a major breakthrough for women in politics.

Over the years we have seen women slowly occupy positions in the political arena. Data from the Ministry for Women, Family and Community Development shows that in 2013 women made up only 13.1% of local councillors, 28.8% of senators, 11.3% state legislative assembly members, 10.4% members of parliament and 12.3% of cabinet ministers and deputy ministers.

All too often, we measure our progress in the process of gender empowerment by counting the number of woman politicians in Parliament and Cabinet. There is also now a new dynamic in ANC politics with talk of the prospect of a woman leading the organisation and the country next. At first it looked as if President Jacob Zuma was merely being politically correct by saying South Africa could have a woman as president sooner than we think. He repeated the sentiment last week during a briefing with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

Women in politics are just as big of a target as Hollywood celebrities. They find themselves perpetually plagued by their looks, be it because they are beautiful or because they are not. Either way, a single comment about a female politician's looks can be extremely harmful for their careers, according to new research conducted by the Women's Media Center.