iKnow Politics

Noorzia Atmar is the human face of women's rights in Afghanistan, her unbridled and open enthusiasm now bruised and sheltered from the public eye.

Today her voice has been muted, and her existence in a home for battered women epitomizes the rapid unraveling of what advancements had been made.

Two years away from the general elections, Nigerian women who converged under different organizations and auspices at a two-day summit organized by Nigerian Women in Parliament with the support of United Nations Development Programme and Democratic Governance for Development (UNDP/DGD), have started strategizing on how to gain more political relevance ahead of 2015.

The NGO Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL) has welcomed the decision by Congress to reserve seats on the 60-member Constitutional Commission for women and ethnic minorities but has criticized the amount set aside for the former. 

It says that the allocation of six seats for women is “insufficient where women represent 49 percent of the population”. It also fears that “the measures outlined in the Election Law to fulfil the quota may have a negative impact on women’s participation”.

Serbia has made "certain progress", officials concluded at the session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

During the session, the Serbian government delegation presented the report on the implementation of the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Speakers stressed on the need for education, awareness and training to enhance participation of women in the electoral politics. They were speaking at a conference titled ‘Enhancing the Role of Women for Participation in Electoral Process’ organised by the UN Women in collaboration with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday.

The Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State (Foreign Affairs and Consular), announced Canada's contribution to two projects that will encourage the participation of women in the political process in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Director of Appropriate Communication Techniques for Development (ACT) in Cairo, since 1990 Kamel has prepared Egyptian women to run for political office while advocating laws that uphold women's rights and criminalize domestic violence.

When Diah Pitaloka took over the youth wing of Indonesia’s third-biggest political party two years ago, her male colleagues addressed her as “Pak,” which in Indonesian means “Mr.”

The world’s most populous Muslim country will now penalize political parties that fail to meet a requirement for females to make up at least 30 percent of candidates in the elections as it seeks to halt a widening divide between the sexes.

Indonesia ranked 97th of 135 countries last year on the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index, down from 90th in 2011.

Pengerang Member of Parliament (MP) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said has been selected as the Chairperson of the Malaysian Women's Parliamentary Caucus.

Azalina said as the chairperson of a women's caucus, she would definitely ensure that women-related issues would continue to be raised in the Dewan Rakyat.