Iraqi women have been angered by the new government formation in their country, which sorely lacks female representation, wrote Meead al Taei in an opinion piece for the pan-Arab daily Asharq al Awsat.

Iraq's female parliamentarians refused to control the single ministry they were offered so far in the hope of leading some of the more important ministries.

The prospects of a new dawn for Tanzania are higher, now that President Jakaya Kikwete has announced the formation of a commission to start the process that is expected to lead to the new Constitution. This is good news to women, who feel the current laws do not protect them enough, or give them the same opportunities as men.

Advocating greater participation of women in the areas of conflict prevention, peace negotiations, peace keeping and post conflict reconstruction, India wants UN organs to do more against sexual violence.

The official spokesman for the 13th congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) stated Tuesday the assembly members have agreed to allocate 10% quota to female members for the leadership of the party.

Earlier this month, much of the world turned its attention to Brazil for the inauguration of the country's first woman president, Dilma Rousseff . Rousseff joined Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica and Cristina Kirchner of Argentina as one of the region's three female heads of state in Latin America.

NAIROBI, 10 January 2011 (IRIN) - At 75, Aagan Mahamud is at an age when, in Somali culture, her children should be taking care of her. Instead, Mahamud is looking after six grandchildren.

Every morning, she roasts peanuts for sale at the roadside. Sometimes she washes clothes to earn enough to provide for the children.

There should be no impunity for the perpetrators of rape and it is important for Zimbabwe to set up a multi-sectoral investigation into politically motivated rape, a human rights group has said.

In 2009, Tcell launched a special tariff plan for women in Tajikistan, to empower and enable women to stay better connected with family and friends, improve their safety, and help them obtain paid work.

A member of Kurdistan Blocs Coalition (KBC), called on Tuesday on her coalition to give women the ministry of Trade or civil society as a legal benefit.

Alaa Talabani, told AKnews that several names of candidates for the remaining ministries of her coalition were mentioned for the post, but none of them have yet been chosen, noting that the final candidates will be chosen within the coming days.

Dekemhare — A training program was offered to 60 women in the villages of Belesto, Dengel and Awlie-Tseru, Dekemhare sub-zone, with a view to enabling them become economically self-supporting, according to Ms. Miliete Adhanom from the Agriculture Ministry's branch in the sub-zone.