Participation

While virtually the entire world has finally aligned on isolating Iran--including, even, Russia and Gulf states--Turkey is obstinately holding out. On Aug. 2 Bloomberg News reported that "Shipments of fuel (to Iran) are now dominated by Turkish and Chinese companies." Meanwhile, the Turkish police have just arrested a refugee former lawyer for the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning.

President Hifikepunye Pohamba has called for a fair gender representation on the ruling Swapo Party's nomination lists for the November 2010 Regional Councils and Local Authorities elections.

A walk through the inner city – an area highly populated by Joburg's migrant community – is an opportunity to interact with people from almost all countries in Africa.

Most prominent are the women from central and west Africa, in their colourful flowing dresses and head scarves; Mozambican women braid hair on street corners - all have a different story to tell about their lives in Johannesburg.

The Zimbabwe Women in Trade and Development Trust, aimed at bridging the gap between professional women and their counterparts in the rural areas, has been officially launched in the capital.

The non-profit making Trust, which is open to all women in the country from different provinces, seeks to empower marginalised women through capacity building programmes and improving access to loans for income generating projects.

Almost a year after her election, an Indonesian parliamentarian says getting elected was easy compared to working in a male-dominated legislature. After eight months she has yet to be heard in a general floor debate.

On 9 September, the Chairman of NATO's Military Committee, Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, stressed the need to involve more women in peace-building and decision-making at an EU event marking the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.

Cambodia has made strides in increasing the number of women in the Parliament in recent years but a redoubling of efforts will be necessary if it is to achieve its target to have 30 percent women in the legislature as set by the Cambodia Millennium Development Goals.

Seven prominent Filipino women, all achievers all in their respective fields of endeavor, were featured in a forum on women in power and decision-making roles entitled "The Empowered Filipina".

In an historic move, the United Nations General Assembly voted unanimously today to create a new entity to accelerate progress in meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide.

“On March 20, Kumari was accused of practicing witchcraft by the villagers, and was mercilessly beaten up and forced to eat her own excreta in public,” said the Asian Human Rights Commission in an urgent April 2009 appeal letter to Nepal's leading legislators. During the incident the local police did not come to Kumari's aide.