women in politics

It may not have occurred to you, but 85 per cent of Canadians now have a woman as premier. Only five smaller provinces -- the three Maritimes plus Manitoba and Saskatchewan -- don't.

The latest round of national head-scratching about why there aren't more women in politics makes me want to poke out my own eyes with a rusty toasting fork.

For the first time in Habitat Toronto history, over 35 female politicians, from all levels of government, will set aside their political differences and come together to help build six Habitat homes in support of the 2013 Women Build. Dubbed Women in Politics Build Day, this milestone event will provide City Councillors, MPs and MPPs the opportunity to cross party lines and swing hammers alongside each other to show their common support and belief that affordable homeownership helps break the cycle of poverty.

Analysts say a spate of attacks on high-profile Afghan women has heightened fears that the limited gains for women’s rights will be reversed after NATO forces withdraw next year.

Fariba Ahmadi Kakar, who represents the southern province of Kandahar in the Afghan parliament, was freed by Taleban kidnappers on September 8 in exchange for a number of insurgent prisoners and their relatives.

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection is calling on media organizations to empanel more women for political discussions. This is part of a campaign for increased women’s participation in governance.

The Director at the Ministry, Patience Opoku, is highly disappointed at the low representation of women in decision making even though they form more than 50 per cent of the Ghanaian population.

Last May, Afghanistan’s upper house of parliament quietly removed an electoral law that stipulated that a quarter of all provincial council seats should be allotted to women. When women politicians found out nearly a month later, they fought to have the bill recalled. In July, the lower house reinstated the law, but lowered the allotment to 20 percent.

We invite our users to read the full article published September 18 2013

The Lib Dems could introduce positive discrimination to redress the party's gender and ethnic imbalance, one of its cabinet ministers has said.

Seven of the the Lib Dems' 57 MPs are women - numerically and proportionally the fewest of the three major Westminster parties. All of the party's MPs are white.

We invite our users to read the full article published September 19 2013

High-profile mayoral elections this year have already proved that the steps to City Hall remain steep for female candidates.

Only one of the nation's 10 largest cities is run by a woman: Annise Parker of Houston, who faces re-election in November. Just 12 of the 100 largest cities have women in the top job, including Fort Worth, Baltimore and Las Vegas.

We invite our users to read the full article published September 19 2013