women leaders

Iranian president Hasan Rouhani on Monday appointed Elham Aminzadeh, a law and public policy professor at Tehran University, as Vice-President of Legal Affairs, effectively making her the first woman in the Islamic Republic’s history to hold the influential position.

Rouhani’s nomination of Aminzadeh, who holds a degree in international law from the University of Glasgow, will still have to be officially approved by the Iranian parliament.

“I have always wanted to represent the people in my area as a ward councillor, but l gave up this dream because I was afraid to contest against men, thinking that I cannot win.” Sarah Kulemeka of the Ntcheu district also gave up on this dream because she could not afford the nomination fee.

Whenever she's asked why she chose to study something as terrible as war, Joana Cook's response is always the same: Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding.

Cook's PhD research - Increasing women's political representation: A new approach to developing security policy in Mali and Yemen - explores the unique and positive role that women in politics can play in addressing critical human security issues.

American political dynasties historically have been built on power passed from fathers to sons, brothers to brothers, even husbands to wives: the Adamses, the Kennedys, the Bushes, the Clintons. Now, it is the daughters' turn.

Hillary Rodham Clinton took to a Toronto stage in June before about 5,000 supporters, many of them women and many looking for a hint that she might run for president in 2016 — and she gave them one.

“Hypothetically speaking, I really do hope that we have a woman president in my lifetime,” Clinton said coyly, making an implicit nod to the history she might make herself. “Our country,” she added, “has to take that leap of faith.”

“The hosting of festivals and gatherings is important, but more important is the assurance of the safety of not only women, but young girls as well,” Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Mulder said in a speech prepared for delivery.

“In this regard, the government of South Africa is failing women from all communities". Mulder was speaking at a Women's Day event in Henneman in the Free State.

On the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, UN Women calls for the promotion and protection of the human rights of indigenous women and girls. 

Despite indigenous peoples’ extensive contributions to society, their communities continue to be among the most marginalized and discriminated against in the world. Indigenous women across their lifetime, including girls, adolescents and widows, face multiple layers of violence, discrimination and inequality that must be addressed in a more robust, inclusive and comprehensive manner.