Women empowerment

Due to the government shutdown and debt ceiling debate, Americans have paid particularly close attention to Congress and its members. This new attentiveness to the legislative branch has raised a valid observation: most members of Congress are men. That is why on Wednesday, Oct. 16, Rhode Island College hosted a discussion panel featuring local female politicians as part of its Congress to Campus program. 

No less than 35 percent of the newly elected MPs in Zimbabwe are women, thanks to a special electoral quota system to increase women's representation in Parliament. At age 29, Tionei Melody Dziva is the youngest of them. She has a strong desire to uplift the lives of women and youths.

Courtesy of the proportional representation of women in parliament, brought about by the new Zimbabwean constitution that came into effect in March this year, women's representation in the country's parliament more than doubled after the 31 July elections.

As Ontario's first female and first lesbian premier, Kathleen Wynne was an obvious choice for keynote speaker at the Leadership Summit for Women.

Addressing the (almost entirely) female crowd, she shared her personal experiences in politics — as a woman, as a lesbian, and as a mom.

Ruth Colian was that close to becoming the first ultra-Orthodox woman to run for Petah Tikva city council in Tuesday’s municipal election. But she fell a few dozen signatures short of the number required to register as a new political party when the deadline rolled around last month. So now she’s taking her political activism to another battleground: the courts.

Four decades after the election that shattered the glass ceiling for women in the Minnesota Legislature, gender equality is still elusive at the state Capitol.

Women hold 34 percent of the 201 seats in the Legislature, giving Minnesota the fourth-highest share of female state lawmakers in the nation.

But as the candidate recruiting season intensifies a year before the 2014 election, more men than women step forward to run, and female candidates still face more barriers than their male counterparts.

In a state infamously governed by “three men in a room,” three women want to take the helm of upstate cities.

Rochester and Albany can elect their first female mayors in November, when Lovely Warren and Kathy Sheehan will lead the Democratic ticket in the respective cities. In Syracuse, Stephanie Miner became that city’s first woman mayor four years ago and is seeking re-election without a major-party opponent.

If they’re elected, it would mark a historic first for New York: Three of its six largest cities would have women in the mayor’s office.

The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Welfare Mary Clara Makungwa has called on the media in the country to promote women aspirants in politics in order to achieve the 50-50 women representation campaign.

The newly appointed Minister said this in Blantyre on Friday during a media conversation for 50-50 campaign and conflict sensitive reporting with the editor's forum.

Makungwa said government recognizes how media shapes the views of the masses and as such the media should create a space for women to express their views.

Even though Kyrgyzstan has had a female president and women hold 23 percent of the seats in its 120-member parliament, women are still struggling to carve out leadership roles in the legislature and political parties.

But a local women’s group is trying to change that. Formed shortly after the 2005 Tulip Revolution, the Women’s Discussion Club of Kyrgyzstan has played a major role in promoting public policies that benefit women.

For the fourth year, a campaign school to encourage women to consider a role in municipal politics will be run in Brantford.

The event — which generally attracts up to 100 women — is aimed at getting more women to run for public office or to support the campaigns of other women running for office.

“We want to provide information and enlightenment about the demands of the role,” said Helen Mulligan, one of the organizers.