women's rights

Tonga (Matangi Tonga, April 7, 2014) –Tonga's first "Practice Parliament for Women" is a crucial milestone and marks a very positive step forward for Tonga, said Queen Nanasipau'u Tuku'aho in opening the event today, April 7, in Nuku'alofa at the Faonelua Convention Centre.

Afghan women represented a third of the vote and a historic number of provincial candidates at the weekend's elections. Aid workers say that women are defiant in the progress of democracy and rights, and won't be deterred by violent insurgency.

We invite our users to read the complete article published April 7 2014 

The women form the majority of the electorate in Arunachal Pradesh but when it comes to contesting elections the numbers are at the odds with their population, with only 6 of them joining the fray for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls and Assembly elections. 

The state has 3,77,272 women electorate against 3,75,898 males, with several assembly constituencies having more women voters than males. 

The are in fray in only six Assembly seats in the state and in none of the two Lok Sabha seats.

Twenty years ago tonight, the assassination of Rwanda’s president set in motion the most gruesomely efficient genocide in modern history. The anniversary reminds us of the brutality of those 100 days — 800,000 people killed because of their Tutsi ethnicity, or because they stood up for their neighbors.

But we are also reminded of the less-known stories of the extraordinary women who took the lead in rescuing Rwandan society over the past two decades.

On International Women's Day last month, Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani held a rally in Kabul attended by several thousand women. While they were all wearing headscarves, there was not a full-length burqa to be seen in the crowd. And did something highly unusual in Afghanistan: He let his wife, Rula, a Lebanese-American Christian, address the crowd.

We invite you to read the full article published April 3, 2014

In the halls of Leinster House, Constance Markievicz cuts a lonely figure as the only portrait of a female parliamentarian in the entire building.

When I pass her portrait, I often think this trailblazing woman would be horrified that the party she helped establish doesn’t have a single female TD today.

Electoral research shows once women get on the ballot paper they have the same chance of getting elected as their male counterparts.

Thirty representatives will take part in Tonga's first “Practice Parliament for Women” on April 10-11 in Nuku'alofa, a two-day event that aims to encourage women to run for parliament in the upcoming 2014 General Election in November.

Lord Fakafanua the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly last week announced the names of 28 candidates picked from a pool of applicants. They include nine “noble's representatives”, 17 “people's representatives” and two representatives elected by the Prime Minister from outside.

The campaign for Saturday's presidential election in Afghanistan is featuring women in a more prominent role than ever before. One front-runner has a female running mate, and another has let his wife address campaign rallies—major departures from established practice in a conservative, Islamic country where women have long been kept out of politics.

Activists say the relative prominence of women in the election campaign underlines the progress Afghan women have made since the U.S. ousted the Taliban regime in 2001.