Participation

South Africa ranks highest in the SADC region in terms of representation of women in parliament with 45 percent, and is third in the global ranking, surpassed only by Rwanda at 56 percent and Sweden 47 percent. Mozambique comes second.

An official at the National Electoral Commission (NEC) has called upon women leaders to sensitize their compatriots countrywide to compete in the upcoming local authorities' elections. The elections are scheduled to take place in February and March 2011.

What challenges do women face in politics?

There have been many constraints on women entering into politics. This is why in 2002 the affirmative action plan was put in place, which reserved 60 seats for women in the National Assembly and 17 in the Senate.

After helping resettle Cambodian immigrants in the United States and earning a master's degree in social work from the University of California at Berkeley, Mu Sochua returned to Southeast Asia in 1981 to work with the 300,000 Cambodian refugees living in camps along the Thai border.

UN Secretary-general Ban Ki- moon is in Central Asia following recent unrest in the region to discuss empowerment of women and the UN's contribution to building stability and peace with regional leaders, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said here on Tuesday.

Rumbek — The Lakes state Advisor for Gender and Human Right Affairs in the government of Ms. Adak Costa Mapuor is concerned that men are discouraging women from voting in south Sudan's referendum on independence has improved throughout the states eight counties.

Bangladesh is historically and traditionally a highly patriarchal society. All the processes, values and institutions that are associated with the construction of the country are gendered. The institutions and values of this gendered state always privilege masculinity.

The Southern Sudan Human Rights Commission on Friday staged a march on the streets of Juba mobilizing women to go and register for upcoming referendum. The march started from Women Union to the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly where a number of speeches were delivered.

Society's relentless endeavors is vital to ensure equal participation of women in all domains, stated the head of NUEW branch in Adi-Keih sub-zone, Ms. Meaza Sibhatu.

In a meeting conducted with female government employees, Ms. Bisrat Elias, said that most of them are actively organized in the different branches of the union, and that a number of campaigns have been conducted in which encouraging outcomes were achieved.

Women are still “mainly construed as clichés of sexual attraction to be shown on television,” Information Minister Tarek Mitri said Thursday in his opening address at this year's New Arab Woman Forum (NAWF).

The two-day, forum in Beirut is seen by female activists as an opportunity to assess the progress made in championing women's rights, while addressing the various obstacles that continue to impede change.