Participation

Afghanistan's president doesn't seem to understand that without the inclusion of women there will be no lasting peace.

Even as no woman was elected in the Shura elections held in May 2007, Omani women have resolved not to give up. After waiting in queue in front of the school premises in 2007 to enroll themselves in the elections, 84 seats were won by men candidates. However, this did not deter the women, instead, they firmed up their determination to dream big with a belief “sky is the limit”.

In this interview Marcia talks about achievements and set backs of the Nicaraguan women's movement over the last few years and explains why she feels a bit disillusioned with the direction the movement has taken recently.

The First International Women and Film Festival for Gender Equity drew enthusiastic audiences this month in the Argentine capital, where movies from nearly 40 countries were screened.

On May 3, the Electoral Commission (EC) embarked on a one-month nationwide voter registration exercise hoping to register 3.5 million voters who have attained 18 years and above but who had never registered with the EC, the majority of whom are women. This was preceded by the reorganisation of polling stations that took place early this year.

75% of opinion leaders in Latin America believe that deliberately fomenting gender parity in politics can "strengthen democracy", according to a survey on women's participation in politics carried out by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) from the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010.

For many years we have been witnessing women being prevented to participate in the electoral process both as voters and candidates. Shamelessly, despite their cutthroat competition, the religious and so-called liberal parties engaged in this fraud. And the Election Commission of Pakistan has never taken any action against this clear violation of its code of conduct.

Women in Bangladesh have taken a significant step towards greater equality, chalking up a parliamentary milestone: nearly 20 percent of seats are to be filled by women.

Seventeen directly elected female parliamentarians took up their seats on 25 January, and 45 more are set to join them soon, meaning 62 women out of 345 will sit in the unicameral legislature.

Sonia Gandhi, Jayalalithaa Jayaraman and Mamata Bannerjee will be some of the most influential women in India after the elections. But women are still underrepresented and the criminalization of politics in the country is highlighted as a deterrent to women's participation.

UPA government, in its new beginning, reaffirmed its commitment to women's empowerment by promising not just early passage of the contentious women's reservation bill but also replication of Bihar's landmark measure to reserve 50% of seats in panchayats and urban local bodies for members of the fairer sex.