Participation

At the start of August, which is designated as Women's Month in South Africa - as we celebrate the anniversary of the great Women's March of 1956, when women marched to the Union Buildings in protest against the carrying of pass books - it is appropriate to take stock of the status of women in our society.

As Zimbabwe embarks on writing a new constitution with the countrywide collection of public submissions starting on Jun. 23, not all women are upbeat about the process.

While some gender activists see this public comment phase as an opportunity for their voices to be heard, ordinary women remain in the dark about the proposed new constitution and what exactly they are supposed to contribute.

While Aung San Suu Kyi remains the most widely-known woman suppressed for her political views in Burma, the jails in that military-ruled country continue to be filled by lesser-known women dissidents being held on a range of questionable charges.

''My choreography lays out the complex relationship between dance as a form of cultural practice and its significance as created through negotiations with structures of power. It focuses on Indonesia, which has a history of colonialism, dictatorship, genocide and global tourism.'' This is how Dr Rachmi Diyah Larasati, dance scholar, choreographer and cultural theorist, describes her work.

Female voters in Brazil could ensure an easy victory this October for the ruling Workers Party candidate, Dilma Rousseff. But recent polls seem to indicate that it is women themselves who are most reluctant to elect the country's first female president.

Women representatives from Asia Pacific countries shared their experiences on the impact of militarism in their homes at a conference on “Women Resisting Violence And War” held at the Igorot Lodge, Camp John Hay from July 19 to 21.

Women have remained faceless in the supra-national body such as the United Nations with less than 15 per cent of country representatives based at the New York headquarters, according to a UN records released Friday.

An online UNelections Monitor report cited the figures kept by the UN Protocol and Liaison Service that out of 192 permanent representatives at UN Headquarters, only 26 are women.

The Mozambican MP, Luísa Diogo, was impressed on Sunday in Luanda by the process of integration of Angolan women in politics.

The Angolan women's participation in the parliament rose from 12 per cent to the current 38 per cent.

Fifteen years after the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) was adopted, women's voices are still largely absent from the mainstream media. Recognising the powerful role of the media in shaping perspectives, the BPfA makes comprehensive recommendations to improve the visibility and voice of women and promote balanced and non-stereotypical portrayals of women. Some of the recommendations are:

Brigitte Rasamoelina and Yvette Sylla are women with two different approaches to politics in Madagascar. One formed a political party, while the other decided to legalise her organisation as an association. But both women are considering running in Madagascar's November elections.

But they know that it will not be an easy road. ”We'll have to be assertive and prove ourselves,” they each confided separately to IPS.