Participation

On July 22, 2011 the newly appointed Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, a Harvard-trained professor of economics, announced his 49-member cabinet. There are only two women in it: one minister and one vice minister. Yet, Somali women and children are the primary victims of ongoing conflict and deepening drought and famine in Somalia.

DAKAR, 8 August 2011 (IRIN) - When Marie Jalloh first ran for office in 2007, resistance to women in politics in Sierra Leone was so strong she faced harassment and intimidation from local authorities. Now, not only is she a member of parliament; she and other women, along with local NGOs, have brought the country closer to a legal quota for women in decision-making posts.

Women working at the main casualty hospital in Libyan city are seeing attitudes shift, though men still drive them to work.

The female nurses have a simple rule: no crying. No matter what comes through the doors of Misrata's main casualty hospital, there can be no tears.

Rwanda is the first country in the world where women outnumber men in parliament, with women occupying 45 out of 80 seats. However, despite this, experts say that the country still needs a gender equality perspective on how national resources and programmes are implemented.

Zimbabwe is a fragile state. The whole country has been plunged into a humanitarian crisis and all social, economic, and political fundamentals are deteriorating faster than they would in a country at war.

Association for the development of Saharawi Women, led by Salma Buha Mint Bubacar Lecuara, president of the association and Fatma Ahmed Essbiti, its secretary, held a conference on july 21, 2011 at The Emperor hotel in Madrid. Ana Camacho a senior journalist with El País intervened in support of the two speakers. Also attended the ceremony Mohamed Salem jaddou a member of the association.

What do driving, voting, wearing pants, and protesting have in common? They are forms of political expression for many women in the Arab world right now. This political expression is often a basic effort to participate in political systems and give voice to simple needs like getting to work, or taking a child to school, as well as more powerful human needs of influencing a movement for major political change.

On her recent trip to Lithuania, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted that many women have achieved success in Central and Eastern European countries. Lithuania, for example, has a woman president, a woman speaker of parliament, a woman finance minister and a woman defense minister. But unfortunately, there are too many countries where women still struggle to attain full political, economic, and social rights.

Is justice necessary for the empowerment of women? Does it enhance their position in society? The report, Progress of World's Women (2011-2012): In Pursuit of Justice produced by the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) released this week, suggests that the answer is a yes.

Seventeen years ago last Sunday, the Rwandan genocide came to a bloody end. In one of the of the most horrifying 100 days in human history, inter-ethnic tensions stoked by political propaganda escalated into full-scale civil war between two tribes, the Hutus and the Tutsis. Over the span of 100 days, more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.