Women in Sri Lanka won the right to vote in 1931, seventeen years before independence. In the post independence period, Sri Lankan women made rapid progress in relation to health, education and employment, and their human development indicators are still considered a model for South Asia.

In the western world the greatest triumph of spin in the last century is reflected in attitudes to feminism. Our struggle for emancipation and equality has been surreptitiously rewritten as a harpy bra-burning contest while elsewhere, in less affluent parts of the world, the response is altogether different.

While hundreds of women protested on International Women's Day against Albania's Prime Minister Sali Berisha, others joined him in a party to mark the occasion.

During the protests held in front of Berisha's office, which was organised by the opposition, on Tuesday, Socialist MPs accused Berisha of abusing their rights.

The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo Ambassador Werner Almhofer called on March 8 for the enhanced participation of women in political and social life, on the occasion of the 100th International Women's Day.

The Cambodian government should reverse its decision to refuse a permit to the Cambodian Women's Movement Organization (CWMO) for a rally in central Phnom Penh, Human Rights Watch said today. The rally was intended to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day on March 8, 2011.

Each year around the world, International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8. Not only on this day but throughout the month of March, hundreds of events ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatrical performances, fashion shows and more take place around the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements of women.

One hundred years after more than a million women poured out onto the streets around the world on the first International Women's Day, the United Nations used the anniversary today to warn that despite the gains made much remains to be done to eliminate gender discrimination.

As reports by Human Rights Watch and formal documentation from the UN Human Rights Commission decry the worsening human rights situation in Côte d'Ivoire, many Ivoirians IRIN spoke with in Abidjan are appalled by recent acts of gruesome violence.

An outside observer of Burmese politics might assume women in Burma have made progress towards equality in a way that hasn't happened in many countries.

One of the most prominent women's organizations in the world has written a letter to the UN Secretary General, calling for an end to the Iraqi government's abuses and threats against the residents of Camp Ashraf.

Camp Ashraf, Iraq, is home to 3,400 members of the main Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).