women's empowerment

Hodan Ahmed and her family were forced to flee Somalia in 1991. The civil war that drove them from their home would go on for two decades. Ahmed live abroad in India and then in Kenya, where she got her education and began her career, but her dream was to return to Somalia to give her children the chance to grow up where she could not.

We invite you to read the full article published July 2 2013 by our partner, NDI

Women in the Labor caucus have come under fire from the ‘sisterhood’ for siding with the men who brought down Julia Gillard. By comparison, the men who actually orchestrated the rise and fall of our first female Prime Minister, got off relatively easy.

Senator Penny Wong got the worst of it, with Coalition Senator Michaelia Cash, launching a scathing attack on the Finance Minister in the Senate this afternoon. Senator Cash captured the attention of the media when she accused Penny Wong of stabbing Julia Gillard in the back and betraying the sisterhood.

The guest instructor in a Philadelphia University classroom got right to the point: You can do what you're thinking of doing, and you can make a difference. Just be prepared for the brutality.

"It is a dirty business, there is no doubt," Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane said. "It is distasteful. They call you every name in the book. They try and put you down as much as they possibly can - and sometimes that's your own party, just to get you out of the race so their buddy can run."

(CNN) -- Early in Dara's career, she was told by a coach that "honey attracts more bees than vinegar," so she took pains to rein in her natural candor and soften her opinions. But when she started her present job as vice president at a national retailer, her boss told her she was too nice. "Where's the balance?" Dara muses. "Do they want me to be harder or softer? With men or with women? With my superiors or my subordinates? It's tricky to figure out."

A political lobby group is pushing for a female candidate to replace long-term Labor MP Martin Ferguson when he steps down from politics in September.

The 59-year-old announced that he would not contest his safe inner-Melbourne seat of Batman at the upcoming election on Wednesday, prompting calls from Emily’s List, a group pushing for greater representation of women in parliament.

National co-convenor Tanja Kovac told Fairfax Media it was important to have a woman step up for the role, which has been held by Ferguson since 1996.

Wafa Bani Mustafa had already won a seat in Jordan’s parliament. But as she prepared to run for reelection, she wanted to learn more about fundraising techniques, which are not widely used in the region. So last December, ahead of her campaign, she participated in an NDI training program on advanced campaign skills for experienced politicians from 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

“As a woman of Zimbabwe, I personally wanted a Constitution that is fit for me,” said Zimbabwe’s Deputy Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development and Member of Parliament, Jessie Majome, who participated in Zimbabwe’s Constitution-making process as part of the Select Committee of Parliament that facilitated the process.

As countries across West Africa transition to democracy following years of autocratic rulers, civil unrest, and sometimes civil war, women are frequently left out of the process. Though they make up more than half of the population, women are often excluded from politics by rigid social norms, opaque party structures and other societal hurdles.

Yet democracies with more women in power have been shown to yield more equitable societies, have less corruption, and make more advancements in education, infrastructure and health standards.

In Pakistan, where instability, distrust, violence and political rivalries can impede interaction among political parties, women and young people — the majority of the population — often have difficulty making their voices heard.

According to some estimates, more than 60 percent of Pakistanis are under the age of 35. Yet women and young people seldom have leadership opportunities or seats on decision making bodies.