Women's political participation

A flicker of hope for women across Egypt may have been sparked on Friday, after the first female to head a political party in the country was elected.

Breaking through Egypt's political glass ceiling, Hala Shukrallah succeeded former Egyptian Vice President Mohammad ElBaradei to become the Constitution Party’s president.

And her win not only represents women, who are a minority in Egyptian politics; she is also a Coptic Christian, a community that makes up 10 around percent of the country’s population.

Antoinette Fouque, the co-founder the French Women’s Liberation Movement, has died at the age of 77.

She died at her home in Paris between Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

Born in Marseille in 1936, she earned a doctorate in political science, and started out as a teacher. In 1964 became a literary critic and translator.

We invite you to read the full article published February 23, 2014

A heroine of Ukraine's Orange Revolution, Yulia Tymoshenko has been released after spending three years in jail, in one of several dramatic events to have swept the country she once served as prime minister.

The glamorous, fiery orator who helped lead Ukraine's revolt against a corrupt election in 2004, was convicted in 2011 of criminally exceeding her powers when she agreed a gas deal with Russia, seen to have disadvantaged Ukraine. She was given a seven-year sentence.

In anticipation of local government elections, much of the discourse in recent months has challenged the laws put forward by provincial governments under judiciary-induced deadlines, including lukewarm lobbying for the greater inclusion of women at the grass-roots level.

At a seminar hosted by Oxfam, in collaboration with several rights and women advocacy groups, party representatives expressed ambivalence over seats allotted to women in the Punjab, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

Saudi women will have the chance for the first time next year to vote and run in the municipal elections, but they are possibly facing an uneven playing field.

The Speaker of the Tongan parliament, Lord Fakafanua today launched a program, the Practice Parliament for Women. The program aims at encouraging women to enter parliament.

 Lord Fakafanua announced the initiative this morning, and launched a nationwide public awareness program to encourage interested women to apply for a seat in the 30 seats, Practice Parliament for Women. Two seats would be set aside for youths and and the disabilities. All women from the age of 21 upward may apply for a seat in the 30 seats parliament for women.