women's empowerment

If women are to achieve equality, they need a voice and a seat at the table. It's time to set measurable goals to affect change.

When I was first elected in 1987, I was part of an increased number of women in the UK parliament, but we still comprised only 5% of MPs. Even now, more than a quarter of a century later and in a country that has long prided itself on a commitment to equality, only one in five MPs is a woman. Far from leading the way, we are languishing at the global average.

What is the appropriate role of women in political life?

Are women fundamentally different than men? How does “femininity” qualify or disqualify women from political participation?

As the deadline for the finalization of Turkey's local election electoral lists draws closer, an association of women's groups has launched a campaign to entice political party leaders to nominate more women as candidates in 2014 elections.

The leader in the race for president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet took 47% of the vote in November 17th elections. She will face a run-off against opponent Evelyn Matthei of the ruling center-right Alliance on December 15 who received 25% of the vote.

We invite you to read the full article published November 24, 2013

The Egyptian Feminist Union (EFU) announced Sunday the initiation of a 16 week campaign to raise EGP 30m to support female candidates running for the 2014 House of Representatives elections.

The campaign’s aim is to help 100 female candidates. The House of Representatives is expected to be formed in April 2014.

We invite you to read the full article published November 24, 2013

The Review of the Practical Implications of UNSCR 1325 for the Conduct of NATO-led Operations and Missions was commissioned by Allied leaders at the 2012 Chicago Summit. The aim was to take stock of efforts to integrate a gender perspective in the planning, conduct and assessment of operations, and to develop recommendations for strengthening future work in this area.

Women voters outnumbered male voters in Bhaktapur district in the CA election that concluded on Tuesday with the highest voter turnout in the country's electoral history. According to data provided by Bhaktapur district office, 88.94 percent female voters cast their vote in the election, with the corresponding figure for male standing at 84 percent.

We invite you to read the full article published November 21, 2013

Fifteen years after the assassination of Russian MP and human rights activist Galina Starovoitova, those who masterminded her death are yet to be brought to justice. Starovoitova was shot to death in the lobby of her apartment in St. Petersburg on 20th November 1998. Four men have been serving jail sentences since 2005 as perpetrators and accomplices in the murder with progress on identifying those actually behind the killing remaining slow.

A revision to Nicaragua’s law on municipal elections last year required political parties to put up equal numbers of women and men as candidates for mayor and city council. It also increased the number of city council seats in each municipality. The result has been more women than ever winning races for mayor and city council.

One of them was Antonia Rizo, a city councilor in San Sebastian de Yal. “When I arrived at my position, I was afraid to speak,” she said, because of lack of familiarity with the city’s legal system.