Women's political participation

A revision to Nicaragua’s law on municipal elections last year required political parties to put up equal numbers of women and men as candidates for mayor and city council. It also increased the number of city council seats in each municipality. The result has been more women than ever winning races for mayor and city council.

One of them was Antonia Rizo, a city councilor in San Sebastian de Yal. “When I arrived at my position, I was afraid to speak,” she said, because of lack of familiarity with the city’s legal system.

The Muslim Sisterhood, which remains under-reported, is a wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. But is it an organization that has a weight similar to that of the Brotherhood, or does it merely support the Brotherhood in times of need?

Advocates for women in Fiji say they are still hoping for special measures mandating women’s representation in parliament.

Fiji’s new constitution does not contain temporary special measures for women, a mechanism some countries use to speed up progress towards gender equality.

But a spokesperson for the Fiji Women’s Forum, Sharon Bhagwan Rolls, says there is still time for this to happen as the state has an end of year deadline to make changes to the constitution.

When I arrived at the Capitol in 2007 to take my oath as a new member of the U.S. House of Representatives, I had the privilege of filling the seat held for so long and so well by my friend Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress. I was so grateful to her.
I felt Patsy’s presence when I cast my first vote in Congress, which was to elect Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House. I rose and said, “In memory of Patsy Mink, I cast my vote for Nancy Pelosi.”

Almost 10 years ago, in early spring 2004, I was one of 14 women appointed to the House of Lords. At the same time, 33 men were appointed.

The 1,110 affidavits filed by candidates during the nomination process till Saturday throw up some interesting figures and information about those who want to represent Delhiites in the Assembly. 

Socialist Michelle Bachelet handily won a first round of Chile's presidential race Sunday, with voters putting her on track to replace the country's conservative leader following a runoff in December.

Bachelet, Chile's first woman president 2006-2010, is now eyeing a non-consecutive second term as leader of the South American nation with the highest per capita income.

Camila Vallejo, who helped spearhead Chile's student uprising in 2011,has been elected to Congress alongside three other former university leaders, underscoring a generational shift in the country's politics.