Participation

While Aung San Suu Kyi enjoys iconic status in Myanmar (also known as Burma), women remain invisible in this country steeped in Buddhist tradition and emerging from decades of military rule.

After two decades of civil war and being subjected to violence and unthinkable hardships, Somali women are now expected to have a voice in the country's government, Press TV reports.

If the African nation's constitution draft is passed into law, Somali women will be given 30 percent of the seats in the new Constituent Assembly and will be a part of the permanent Somali government set to take office at the end of August.

The fate of a gender equality bill pending in Indonesia's parliament and aligned with the United Nations convention on the elimination of all forms discrimination against women (CEDAW) has become uncertain after falling afoul of powerful Islamist groups.

Quietly and against the odds, women are stepping up the political ladder in Latin America, moving ahead of the United States when it comes to political empowerment and closely matching much of Western Europe.

"What is the future for democracy in the Middle East, following the Arab Spring?"… "Depends how you define democracy", says Mahmoud Salem, a political activist from Egypt.

Female aspirants for the November 17th General Elections drawn from all four Districts of Bo, Moyamba ,Pujehun and Bonthe have benefited from a two day training under the sponsorship of the National Democratic Institute.

The most pressing global problems simply won't be solved without the participation of women. Seriously, guys. On a trip to Afghanistan in the summer of 2009, not long after my appointment as the U.S. State Department's ambassador at large for global women's issues, I stopped for dinner with a group of Afghan women activists in Kabul.

The impact of Iranian doctrines in the region is apparent throughout history. At one time Iran had a constitutional monarchy, which affected the entire region. Then it had a campaign for modernization during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi (1925-1941), the effects of which were felt throughout the region, once again. Nationalization of the oil industry in the 1950s also brought nationalism to the entire region.

Women from across Zimbabwe have celebrated the launch of a strategic high-level women's coalition. The voluntary group will lobby to ensure that the new constitution, currently being drafted, will deliver on gender equality and empowerment for women in the country.

They held their first summit in Kadoma last month, convened by Gender Links, the Zimbabwe Local Government Association and the Women in Politics Support Unit.

Zimbabwe has signed and ratified the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Gender and Development, committing itself to create mechanisms for ensuring women's equal participation in all areas of decision-making by 2015.