women in politics

A movie star, a beauty queen and a popular model are among candidates running in Sri Lankan's provincial elections on March 29, leading some Sri Lankans to accuse political parties of pushing "sex symbols" in the name of female political representation. 

The arrival of models and actresses onto the political stage, with their pictures splashed across newspapers, is beginning to make voters wonder about the political motivation behind such moves. 

“Men are from Mars and women are from Venus” may have been the title of a best-selling book, but it also emphasizes how women have always been depicted differently to men. It also happens in politics. Physical and psychological differences aside, women are indeed a special group in politics, women’s rights activists say.

We invite you to read the full article pulished March 28, 2014

Egypt has achieved little regarding the United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) third Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of promoting gender equality, said National Council for Women (NCW) Chairman Mervat Al-Tallawi.

Women make up just 9 per cent of Hungarian members of parliament. In this regard Hungary ranks 122nd out of 140 countries. Upcoming parliamentary elections have sparked public discussion of the role of women in politics, family life, and in the country as a whole.

We invite you to read the full article published March 27, 2014

President Michelle Bachelet expressed pride in realizing a “lifelong cause” Thursday when she sent a bill to establish a ministry that would champion the country’s women and contribute to diminishing the gender inequality that runs deep and wide across Chilean society.

Leading female figures from the public and private sector were in attendance at La Moneda as the president officially signed a proposal to create the Women and Gender Equality Ministry. The bill has all cabinet ministers’ signatures, and now faces the journey through Congress.

UN Member states have agreed that gender equality and women's rights must be prioritised in future discussions on what should be included in the next set of sustainable development goals.

Alison Redford’s unexpected resignation has reignited the debate on gender in politics. Some declare that gender had everything to do with it, while others argue as strongly that nothing could be further from the truth. We think that gender was not inconsequential to her experiences as leader, as her experiences follow a pattern we’ve witnessed amongst women party leaders at the federal and provincial levels in Canada. In a nutshell, the pattern is this: The expectations placed on women party leaders are greater, their mandates weaker and their tenures shorter.

The meaningful role women should play in parliament is to have an impact in changing the nature of politics and to create more honest government.

In a bid to achieve gender equality and promote womens rights in Indonesia, the country needs to put more women in parliament, which is responsible for legislating laws that are critical to changing the situation of women.

We invite you to read the full article published March 24, 2014