An all-female delegation of women from Paktika province convened for the first time April 25, 2011. Influential female Afghan representatives, like the director of women's affairs, or DoWA, for Paktika, attended.

"It is my responsibility to reach out and help the women and to let them know they have rights," said Bibi Hawa, Paktika director of women's affairs.

She gave voice to the voiceless -- women, lower castes, the exploited -- when the entire country cowered to Rana rulers. She married thrice when widow marriage was an unpardonable offense.

Sadly, it is not surprising that Afghanistan is again ranked as the worst place in the world to be a mother, according to Save the Children's annual State of the World's Mothers report, released Tuesday.

The former CIA chief in Algeria has been sentenced to jail for raping an Arab woman.

Andrew Warren, regarded as a leading CIA official based in the Middle East, was sentenced to five years and five months for sexual and drug abuse. Warren, 43, pleaded guilty to drugging an Algerian woman and then raping her.

The world today seems rife with conflict and catastrophes, both natural and man-made, and governments and international institutions are rightly focused on people's needs caught in these events.

Sen. Edgardo J. Angara said there should be equal opportunities in the labor force after a recent study reported that women are more at risk of losing their jobs amid the ensuing economic crisis.

“The government and private sector institutions should develop and strictly implement gender-fair policies that protect women workers as well as promote opportunities for women's economic empowerment,” he said.

The historic May Day is being observed in Bangladesh along with the rest of the world today, with the pledge to establish the rights of workers. The day is observed in commemoration of the struggle by workers in Chicago, USA over a century ago to establish the rights of workers to a eight hour working day.

She looked down and laughed nervously. “ I have a bunch of friends,” Bineta Diop said when I asked how she was selected as one of TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2011. “But I share this award with the women in Africa.

Bangladeshi women are pushing government to implement the recently approved National Women Development Policy (NWDP) 2011, which has met with strong resistance from Islamic clergy.

Leaders and activists of the Jatiya Mahila Sangstha (National Women's Organisation) recently held rallies and formed human chains across major cities demanding the policy's immediate enforcement.

The push for equality stopped years ago. Women need to wake up to what has really happened.