women's participation

With constitutional quotas for interest group seats in their favour and all political parties legally bound to respect women's quota of at least 30 per cent of their parliamentary nominees, women may retain or even widen their majority in the Chamber of Deputies after the upcoming September elections.

Jordanian female parliamentarians have come a long way in the ten years since the quota system was first introduced for the 2003 elections. Crucially, the quota system has succeeded in changing society’s attitudes, to the extent that women are now being directly elected to parliament without the help of a quota seat.

'Maybe women deserve men setting the agenda," a conservative female politician said Friday as emotions ran high over a study that showed men know more about politics than women, and that the gender gap was wider in Norway than in comparable countries such as Australia.

Once upon a time, all a woman had to do to stand out in the crowd of Canadian premiers was to sport a red jacket or a skirt. Now that female leaders constitute half of the exclusive club membership, the salient question has become not what is she wearing, but what difference will all that female energy make?

Notably, the six women present at this year’s annual premiers’ gathering represent very different political parties, have remarkably diverse life experiences and are at different ages and stages of their lives.

WITH more countries around the world voting in female prime ministers, Fiji's women are also being encouraged to add a female face to the words "Prime Minister".

Such a change will obviously be accompanied by numerous challenges, explained Minister for Women Dr Jiko Luveni, who said women were important agents of change.

"They have the ability to make effective leaders that serve the people as parliamentarians and should run for the elections next year," Dr Luveni said.

Some women see Libya's transition as a prime opportunity to improve their standing in society and gain political power, but societal norms still stand in the way.

A Libyan woman flashes the victory sign at Tahrir Square, during the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi in Benghazi, Libya, Feb. 17. Libyan women have been energized by revolution and see the country’s transition as a chance to raise their status in a society that has long excluded them from positions of authority.

A key player in the European Union, Catherine Ashton caps her turn as a diplomat by orchestrating an impossible seeming peace between Serbia and Kosovo.

They make up one-fifth of the body. It doesn’t look anything like parity (or America), but they believe they can do what the men can’t — namely, get things done.

We invite you to read the article published July 12 2013