gender equality

Morocco's Islamist-led government on Friday presented a new European Union-funded plan to promote women's rights and equality, but without earlier measures to legalize abortion and support single mothers.

The plan, which is funded with 45 million euros (about $58 million) from the EU, contains 150 measures to improve women's equality in the health and education sectors, and access to government employment, Minister of Women, Family and Social Development Bassima Hakkaoui said.

More female candidates are needed in local elections, along with better gender equality programmes in the FYR of Macedonia's local government, NGOs say. This is why the Macedonian Women's Lobby prompted 100 NGOs to sign a declaration demanding more female mayoral candidates for the March local elections. Currently, Macedonia does not have a female mayor.

Egypt's revolution is now often described as hijacked and women's legal rights are seen as vulnerable to an Islamic-style promotion of marriage and family. But in a show of their own force, women keep braving the deadly dangers of street protests.

We invite our users to read the complete article published May 11th 2012

Last month, Rwanda achieved something no other country had ever done before: produce a legislature in which women outnumber men. The results of last month's parliamentary elections gave women 45 out of the 80 seats in the chamber of deputies, or 56%. This surpasses Rwandan women's near parity in the outgoing parliament, already the highest proportion in the world.

The engagement of women in Iraq’s political process has been a major focus of NDI’s efforts in the country since 2006. Through the Women’s Empowerment Program (WEP), the Institute has conducted extensive training programs for women activists that have inspired engagement from the grassroots to the Iraqi Parliament.