The Lebanese Parliament should adopt proposed domestic abuse legislation as soon as possible, UN representatives urged on Friday. The call was made at the closing session of a three-day event “Implementing the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and ending violence against women” which was jointly organized by the Lebanese Parliament and the UN Development Program (UNDP).

Brigitte Rasamoelina and Yvette Sylla are women with two different approaches to politics in Madagascar. One formed a political party, while the other decided to legalise her organisation as an association. But both women are considering running in Madagascar's November elections.

But they know that it will not be an easy road. "We'll have to be assertive and prove ourselves," they each confided separately to IPS.

At the start of August, which is designated as Women's Month in South Africa - as we celebrate the anniversary of the great Women's March of 1956, when women marched to the Union Buildings in protest against the carrying of pass books - it is appropriate to take stock of the status of women in our society.

As Zimbabwe embarks on writing a new constitution with the countrywide collection of public submissions starting on Jun. 23, not all women are upbeat about the process.

While some gender activists see this public comment phase as an opportunity for their voices to be heard, ordinary women remain in the dark about the proposed new constitution and what exactly they are supposed to contribute.

While Aung San Suu Kyi remains the most widely-known woman suppressed for her political views in Burma, the jails in that military-ruled country continue to be filled by lesser-known women dissidents being held on a range of questionable charges.

The levels of violence against women are shocking and show that two out of three women have experienced violence from their partners during their life time.

The statement was made by Honiara City Council Mayor Andrew Mua who was the guest of honor at the Media for Campaign on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Children last Friday with the theme ‘NAF NAO'.

''My choreography lays out the complex relationship between dance as a form of cultural practice and its significance as created through negotiations with structures of power. It focuses on Indonesia, which has a history of colonialism, dictatorship, genocide and global tourism.'' This is how Dr Rachmi Diyah Larasati, dance scholar, choreographer and cultural theorist, describes her work.

Female voters in Brazil could ensure an easy victory this October for the ruling Workers Party candidate, Dilma Rousseff. But recent polls seem to indicate that it is women themselves who are most reluctant to elect the country's first female president.

Women representatives from Asia Pacific countries shared their experiences on the impact of militarism in their homes at a conference on “Women Resisting Violence And War” held at the Igorot Lodge, Camp John Hay from July 19 to 21.

Six children under the age of two have reportedly been raped or sexually molested in the Lubumbashi area, as part of apparent rituals in which the perpetrators believe they will acquire good fortune as result of the abuse.The new cases come in the wake of a number of similar well documented incidents of sexual violence against infants over the last year, which have alarmed activists and sparked calls for the introduction of the death penalty f