Women's political participation

Puntland’s new minister for women affairs and Family Development Anisa Abdulkadir Haji Mumin has today officially taken over office in a ceremony held at the Ministry’s headquarters in Garowe.

Former Minister Halimo Haji Hassan handed over to the new minister documents containing the recent developments achieved by the previous team of the ministry and pending plans.

It’s official: Before adjourning yesterday, the Senate formally approved the shift in chairmanships following Max Baucus’s departure that leaves Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu atop the Energy and Natural Resources Committee as Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden moves to the Finance Committee. But don’t expect any sudden action: Landrieu has repeatedly said she wants to meet with committee members before drawing up an agenda for the rest of the year. And in the short term, the Senate has adjourned until Feb. 24.

Hillary Clinton told a packed auditorium of New York University students Thursday that the most important tip she could offer women in public life was a lesson she took from one of her role models, Eleanor Roosevelt: “Grow skin like a rhinoceros.”

In 1967, Shirley Temple Black ran for Congress in California, attempting to become the first woman in the Golden State’s congressional delegation.

“I think men are fine and here to stay but I have a hunch that it wouldn’t hurt to have a woman’s viewpoint expressed in that delegation of 38 men,” she said, according to an Associated Press dispatch of her press conference. “One congresswoman among 38 congressmen is not unfair, fellows.”

While we women welcome the initiative of talks taken by the government and stand in full solidarity with them, we would like to clearly state that women will not be a negotiating chip this time.

We have dealt with the Taliban for over a decade and with the traditional feudal mindset and patriarchal system for centuries. Whether it is in the name of Islam or in the name of tradition, it all falls on our heads.

It is worth saying again: Prejudice against women fulfilling their professional promise is one of the most pernicious discriminations still tolerated in the UK.

Women can and do run for office, but their path to politics differs from the one most men follow. Women are generally asked to run and likely to have been recruited. Men tend to initiate their own candidacy, and worry less about if they are qualified or not. Women tend to feel under qualified, regardless of their background and experience.

We invite you to read the full article published February 11, 2014