Participation

New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS): An all-women police unit provided by India, as part of a UN peacekeeping force, inspired many Liberian women to join the West African nation's police and security services.

NIGERIA is set to launch national action plan for full implementation of the United Nations' Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on women, peace and security.

On a sunny day in early May, in Ndu, northwest Cameroon, a group of women, many of whom have taken the day off from work on their farms, are evaluating the performance of an aspiring politician. One suggests smiling more, another that the candidate project her voice more and not look at her feet while talking. The women are here in the Bishop Shanahan Centre to improve their public-speaking skills and learn more about electoral procedures.

Thirty-seven women expect to run for mayor or head of local councils in municipal elections to be held on Oct. 22, while dozens more will try for council membership. If only a quarter of the contestants for the various positions will be elected, the results will still be considered a real revolution regarding the representation of women in local politics that is currently controlled by men.

During the 2012 race for the Iowa United States House of Representatives, there were 12 candidates running, one woman and 11 men.

Christie Vilsack was the only woman to run but was defeated by incumbent Steve King.

Vilsack is not the first woman to run and be defeated. A woman has never served as an Iowa representative in Congress or as Iowa's governor, which brings to question the struggles women in politics face today.

It was aimed at strategising and building the capacity of women for effective participation in decision making in the local governance system.

It was on the theme: Strategising for effective participation of women in decision making:”The role of civil society.”

An international human rights group is urging Yemen to ensure that its new constitution has adequate protections for women.

Human Rights Watch addressed Yemen's National Dialogue in its Tuesday statement. The conference brings together political and religious leaders and other representatives to decide on the country's political system before writing a constitution.

The Secretariat-General of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) took part in a training project on raising awareness on women's political participation, organised by the Arab Women Organisation (AWO) in Abu Dhabi from August 31 to September 4, 2013.

In the context of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and of the genocide in Rwanda, reports of sexual violence appeared regularly in the global media.

With parliamentary elections due in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region later this month, female politicians are hoping to have more women in the regional legislature, despite what they say is an uneven political arena that is unfair to women.