Women's political participation

The Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre (Gender Centre) has trained 40 women in human rights and leadership to enhance their performance.

The training is to sharpen the women's leadership skills for management of their future endeavours, Ms Joyce Lena Danquah, Project Officer of Gender Centre, said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Friday.

Nigeria has committed itself to accelerate the national and regional implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions, especially on women, peace and security, Women Affairs Minister Zainab Maina has said.

Maina disclosed this when she addressed member states during the Third Committee of the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday.

"Nigeria is making progress in implementing resolution 1325 as follow-up of the regional workshop on the resolution that took place in Dakar, Senegal, in April 2013.

With only three female aldermen on the last council and just one woman running for mayor, some people are wondering why more women aren’t interested in seeking public office. According to Druh Farrell, who has represented the people of Ward 7 for 12 years, part of the answer is in how women are treated in politics. We invite our users to read the complete article published October 11th 2013 here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/sexist-attitudes-discourage-women…

India had a woman Prime Minister long before the West elected one, but there have been very few women Cabinet ministers to date. Preneet Kaur of the erstwhile royal family of Patiala has been one of the few lady Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs.

With Janet Yellen slated to become the next chair of the Federal Reserve, the nation is abuzz with the implications of her historic nomination. But while Yellen is the 28th woman Obama has chosen for an executive role, the percentage of women entering top political positions is still disproportionate to the percentage of women in the country. This is abundantly clear during election season. Though 2012 saw a record number of women elected as public officials, few women make it to the ballot in the first place. Why?

President Obama's nomination of the qualified, prescient, and eminently deserving Janet Yellen as the chairman (chairwoman?) of the Federal Reserve yesterday will make her — if confirmed — the first woman in history to hold the position. It's far from the only D.C. office never to be occupied by a boss with two X chromosomes: Just seven women are currently serving among the Obama administration's 23 cabinet-level jobs, and only 45 women have held such spots in the history of the country.