women's empowerment

Women across Afghanistan risk being unable to vote in next year's presidential elections because of a severe shortage of women in the security forces, the country's election monitor said on Wednesday.

Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) said that there were just 2,000 of the required 12,000 women needed to carry out body searches required for voters entering polling stations set aside specially for women.

It was just fifteen years ago that one woman dazzled the Anambra political establishment to its foundations. Mrs. Joy Emodi, the young, beautiful and articulate lawyer who had won recognition on account of her political prowess was set to upturn the apple cart in the 1998 governorship election having become the most formidable candidate on ground.

The court has also ordered the ECP to withhold the notification of results from these constituencies till re-polling is completed.

Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, may have pledged to promote women's rights and recently nominated a female vice president. But, if a striking image captured during Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif's introduction is any indication, Iran still has a long way to go when it comes to gender equality.

In the photo taken earlier this month, female journalists sit on the floor and take notes during the inauguration. They are surrounded by men, many of whom are seated in chairs.

International donors and state authorities need to stop merely supporting charitable activities for Malayu Muslim women in the deep South and start properly engaging them in the peace dialogue, it has been claimed.

Panellists at the launch of the "Strengthening the Role of Women Peacemakers" report argued that women's voices are being overlooked amid attempts to tackle insurgency in the region.

A Solomon Islands politician says women in her country are fed up with not benefitting from any of the money that passes through the hands of her male counterparts.

Rhoda Sikilabu is a former deputy premier of Isabel province and now a provincial assembly member who is standing in next year’s general election.

She has just completed an exchange to Melbourne under the Pacific Women’s Parliamentary Partnerships scheme - something she says is proving vital in helping her to improve the lives of her constituents.

 Liberal MEP Ramona Manescu was named Transport Minister, after Romanian president Traian Basescu approved the proposal made by the Prime minister Victor Ponta earlier on Monday (August 26). Manescu was already sworn in, and will start her mandate on Tuesday, August 27.

Romania’s National Liberal Party PNL recently made two nominations for the Transport Minister position, namely Liberal MP Nini Sapunaru and MEP Ramona Manescu (in picture).

The women are mostly non-Ogun indigenes.

A group of women in Ogun West senatorial district of Ogun State under the banner of ‘Yewa Wives in Diaspora’ said on Saturday that they would contest for key positions in the next political dispensation in the state.

The women’s position was made known at the inauguration of the association held at Iwe-Iroyin Press Centre, Abeokuta. The women argued that by virtue of marriage they were qualified for political offices at the zonal as well as state level.

To eliminate gender discrimination, the political parties should ensure 33% of the positions allotted to women in their party hierarchical structure by 2015, and include this in their election manifesto ahead of the 2014 general elections.

The call came at a meet the press on Saturday organised by Bangladesh Alliance for Women Leadership (BDAWL) at the National Press Club.

The Election Commission has a vital role to play in ensuring women’s participation as well as achieve the target by 2015, they said.