LATIN AMERICA: Still a Long Way to Go for Black Women

At the age of 17, Meybelin Bernárdez is clear about the future: "When I finish my studies, I'll return to help my community get on its feet," the young Garifuna woman from Honduras, who is studying medicine in Cuba, says without hesitation.

COLOMBIA: Not Enough Just to Be a Woman

BOGOTÁ, Mar 29, 2010 (IPS) - Noemí Sanín, the presidential candidate of Colombia's Conservative Party, who is running second in the polls, has a few advantages over her main rival, the right-wing Juan Manuel Santos, such as extensive experience in foreign relations and in running programmes for poor families and children.

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan Women's Rights Advocate Suraya Pakzad among TIME's 2009 Top 100 People

TIME Magazine has recognized Afghan women's rights advocate Ms. Suraya Pakzad as one of its top 100 people in 2009. The international news magazine praised Ms. Pakzad, who founded the Voice of Women Organization (VWO) and works in close cooperation with UNIFEM Afghanistan, for her courageous and tireless work in providing Afghan women with shelter, counseling and job training, and raising awareness on gender-based violence in her country.

KUWAIT: Woman Elected in Kuwait Says Gender in Politics is 'History'

Rola Dashti is one of four women who won parliamentary seats in the recent elections in Kuwait.As one of the first four female lawmakers ever elected to Kuwait's parliament, Aseel al-Awadhi knows she has a tough road ahead in the conservative Gulf state's male-dominated legislature.

AFGHANISTAN: The Military Hides Under the Skirts of Women to Justify War in Afghanistan

For eight years, many Americans have justified the war in Afghanistan as a moral battle to "protect" Afghan women. But Afghan women tell another story: more U.S. war will bear them more suffering.

YEMEN: Kuwaiti Elections and Yemeni Women Quota System

The first time Kuwaiti women ventuered into parlimentarian elections as candidates, they won four seats hands down. Yemeni women have been participating in all sorts of elections as candidates and the number of successful candidates in next to none.

Where did we go wrong?

YEMEN: Women Political Participation Workshop Starts in Sana'a

A training workshop on women's effectual political participation organized by Yemeni Women's Union (YWU) and Club of Madrid for Promoting Democracy in the World started here on Sunday.

The two-day workshop, which comes as an extension for the last meeting held in February 2009, aims to increase the political participation of Yemeni women, Fathiah Mohammed, Deputy Chairwoman of YWU said in her speech.

IRAQ: Iraqi Crisis Report: Combating Female Circumcision

I became an activist to stop female genital mutilation last year after reading a shocking survey from a secondary school in Rania, a town in Sulaimaniyah province. Every single one of the girls in the school reported that their genitals had been cut.

IRAN: Iranian Activist Nominated for Student Peace Prize


Bahareh Hedayat

Bahareh Hedayat, Iranian student activist was nominated for the 2010 Student Peace Prize by the European Students' Union, an umbrella organization of 45 national unions comprised of students from 35 different countries.

LEBANON: A Dwindling Show by Women in Lebanese Politics

A seductive woman looks out from the billboards that line Beirut's highways proclaiming, "Be Beautiful and Vote," one political party's appeal to women in this beauty-obsessed nation's upcoming parliamentary elections.

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