Women's political participation

The two biggest parties have chosen their candidates: Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, of the center-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP), and Anne Hidalgo of the Parti Socialiste (PS).

Two other women are also widely expected to fight for the mayor seat against candidates from several smaller parties: Marielle de Sarnez of the centrist MoDem and the Green party leader Cecile Duflot.

A civil society group, Gender Studies and Human Right Documentation Centre (GSHRDC) is calling on Government to fulfill its promise of having majority of women occupying decision-making positions in the country.

The call was necessitated by the failure on the part of both present and past governments to give more woman chance in government.

We invite you to read the full article published August 16, 2013

Amnesty International reports that especially in Zimbabwe's rural areas, away from any accountability, allies of Mugabe have been targeting opposition's female political activists.

An election victory by Robert Mugabe and his party usually means trouble for opposition supporters in Zimbabwe, especially those living in remote rural areas.

A cross section of Nigerian women on Thursday in Abuja expressed optimism that the government would ensure increased women representation in  governance.

They spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the women rally on Peace and National Development held at Eagle’s Square.

They said the present administration had shown that women are capable of meeting the aspirations of all Nigerians.

We invite you to read the full article published August 15, 2013

In an extremely aggressive speech in the aftermath of primaries defeat, Argentine president Cristina Fernandez blasted the media for misinterpreting electoral results, charged against the Mayor of Tigre Sergio Massa who was the big winner on Sunday, pressed for full commitment from her allies and promised more of the same in support of the ‘socially inclusive model’.

Today we continue our series Women in Politics, with Michaelia Cash, the Senator for Western Australia (Liberal), who hit the headlines back in June when she attacked Senator Penny Wong for betraying Julia Gillard and ‘the sisterhood’.

Despite being in office for just one term, Senator Michaelia Cash, has already proven to be a dynamic force in the Australian political scene.

At 38, Julie Bishop had achieved what many young lawyers aspire to do. Having worked as a barrister and a commercial litigation solicitor, she was managing partner of a national law firm’s Perth office.

She was at the peak of her career, or so she thought, until a business trip to Burma led to an hour-long meeting with Burma’s then opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest.

“If you want to be influential in the political arena, you need to influence policy,” Ms Betty Murungi, a social justice advocate, recently told female entrepreneurs and corporate managers in Nairobi.