Participation

The Prime Minister and Head of Government, Philemon Yang has received in audience, the new Central African Regional Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Diana L. Ofwona.

She was in Cameroon to update the government of Cameroon on the recent mutations within the organisation.

Kaleme website reports that Rahnavard has called on the parliament to leave the evaluation of this bill of law to a "group of expert and progressive men and women."

Last week, Iranian media reported that the family protection bill of law, after three years of delay, will be put in the parliament's agenda.

Opponents of this legislation thus organized gatherings and issued articles to protest against it.

A record number of women are running in Afghanistan's critical parliamentary elections next month despite many being inundated with threatening phone calls, including death threats from insurgents.

Amid ever-rising violence, which some people fear could foster a repeat of last year's catastrophic presidential election, women are struggling to campaign at all outside a few areas, poll monitors say.

"Weapons were silenced so women and people can speak" and "My body is my house, my house is my territory. Do not deliver the keys" are the slogans that indicate the direction of the discussions of the "International Meeting of Women and Peoples of the Americas Against Militarization," which begins next Monday (16th), in Colombia.

A group of women human rights defenders has appealed to President Benigno Aquino III to “heed the call for justice” and release a jailed nursing mother in the case of 43 health workers who were arrested in Morong, Rizal.

"The mother and child's detention speaks of the continued injustice against Oliveros and the rest of the Morong 43,” said Cristina Palabay, convenor of Tanggol Bai.

More than 1,000 women from twelve different countries will march from Barrancabermeja in the Santander department to the Palenquero military base in Puerto Salgar, Cundinamarca, to protest against a military pact signed between Colombia and the U.S.

The Solomon Islands epitomize all that one associates with a Pacific paradise - sparkling blue sea and miles of pure white beaches fringed by palm trees, free from the rush and clamor of city life. August has been a significant month for the islanders who have been voting in a general election for a 50-member parliament. The candidates were drawn from nine provinces and the capital territory of Honiara.

With a date now set for elections in Burma, the 40 parties that have been approved to run are out on the campaign trail. A brief look at candidate lists however shows a conspicuous lack of women in Burmese politics, a sign of a sexually conservative society and heightened male chauvinism, says Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein.

The UN recently reaffirmed its commitment to increasing women's participation in peacebuilding and conflict-resolution with specific targets set for the organization's police force: By 2014 the UN hopes to double the number of women serving globally as UN police officers (UNPOL). In response to the UN's call, Bangladesh plans to send an additional 10,000 female officers.

Sisterhood Is Global Institute/Jordan and WLP are launching the second Youth Tech Festival for 150 youth from across Jordan with a focus on preparing youth to participate in upcoming elections in November 2010. I am really excited to see what the outcomes of this year's Youth Tech Festival will be! Last year's Youth Tech Festival in Jordan was a resounding success as youth created campaigns and videos to combat violence against women.