Participation

Another political event takes place in Iraq without much mention of women. And in the rare occasion that women are mentioned, it is often with the token spirit about how wonderful it is that they now have 25 percent of political seats in the Iraqi parliament.

Prior to the US-led invasion of Iraq, women working in the public and government sectors were entitled to receive a year's maternity leave under family laws enforced by the former Saddam Hussein leadership.

In the seven years since the US-led invasion which ousted Saddam, however, maternity leave has been cut to six months.

While “some progress” in advancing gender equality has transpired over the last 15 years, much work remains to be done in eradicating violence and lack of opportunities for women and girls across the world, U.S. Secretary-of-State Hilary Clinton said on Friday, March 12.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is taking steps to sensitise women about elections. The initiative is meant to enlighten women on participation in elections.

The IEC held a workshop under the theme 'Your vote matters' at Adansonia Hotel in Francistown yesterday to educate the women.

Women's rights activists in Zimbabwe are outraged by the low representation of female politicians in the new unity government. Only four women are part of the 35-member cabinet, laughably short of the equal representation of women in decision-making that Zimbabwe signed onto at a regional summit in September 2008.

THE formation of an inclusive Government in Zimbabwe has been welcomed by many people in the country who see it as the best framework within which to tackle the country's social and economic development.

However, it clearly falls short of addressing gender equality.

Five WOZA activists who were arrested last week were finally released on bail on Monday, after spending six days in police custody. WOZA released a statement saying the individuals were released on US$50 bail each and remanded out of custody to March 19th.

THE strategic nous of African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma is evident when one unpacks the party's top 100 list of candidates to be deployed to the government. That is, if the means test is confined to what is in the immediate short-term interest of a governing party reeling from internal strife and a constant haemorrhage of leaders to the breakaway Congress of the People (COPE).

Michiel van BalenSurveying the range of manifestoes and political stances offered by South Africa's political parties, Liepollo Lebohang Pheko exposes a common paternalistic thread underpinning parties' approaches to women's representation and rights.

As Zimbabwe celebrates 29 years of independence, Nyaradzai Mugaragumbo-Gumbonzvanda honours the ordinary women who fought for freedom and life with dignity, and reflects on the meaning of the liberation struggle both for her late mother Mbuya Rozaria Dizha and for Zimbabwean women of different generations.