Women in Politics

Security Council Vow on Women Lives Mostly on Paper

By Thalif Deen
When the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) adopted a landmark resolution numbered 1325 back in 2000, it was supposed to integrate gender into its core mandate: the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security.

Tough Foreign Policy Challenges for Somalia’s “Iron Lady”

By Abdurrahman Warsameh

As little-known politician Fauzia Yusuf Haji Adan was sworn in as Somalia's first female foreign minister and deputy prime minister on Monday Nov. 19, the stateswoman who hails from the unrecognised, self-proclaimed republic of Somaliland is tipped to become the country’s “Iron Lady”.

Q&A: “They Demanded I Behave. I Decided Not To”

By Julia Kallas
Khadija Ismayilova has been threatened with blackmail by her own government. She has been branded an "enemy of the state", mainly for her exposés of official corruption.

It Was the Demographics, Stupid

By Jim Lobe
Twenty years ago, Democratic pol James Carville immortalised the phrase “It’s the economy, stupid” in explaining how former Arkansas governor Bill Clinton would unseat President George H. W. Bush, who was riding high off his smashing military victory in the first Gulf War.

Brazil Emerging as Key Player at U.N.

By Thalif Deen
When a U.N. member state agrees to hold an international conference in its capital, the host country is not only offered the privilege of chairing the mega meeting but also given pride of place as the keynote opening speaker.

Keeping the Veil on Women’s Electoral Participation

By Ngala Killian Chimtom
Cameroon’s new biometric registration of voters may end up disenfranchising many potential voters, especially women in the country’s predominantly Muslim north where cultural practices may prevent them from having their photos taken.

Sierra Leone – Women Shoot Themselves in the Foot in Elections

By Mohamed Fofanah
Only 38 women - of a total of 586 candidates - will contest parliamentary seats in Sierra Leone’s November elections, and the blame for this can be laid squarely on the shoulders of the current group of female lawmakers, according to Barbara Bangura, the director of the women’s organisation Grassroots Empowerment for Self Reliance.

Q&A: Exposing the Good, the Bad and the Lack of Media Freedom

By Stanley Kwenda
Pansy Tlakula, the African Union's Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, has done her best to address the continued harassment of journalists in the Gambia.

Q&A: Kenyan Women Set to Take on Men in Elections

By Brian Ngugi
As Kenya gets ready for voter registration this month, ahead of the country’s Mar. 4, 2013 polls, women’s rights organisations are hoping that the provisions for gender equality in the new constitution will mean significantly increased representation in the government.

Algeria Skips the Revolutionary Spring

By Giuliana Sgrena
As the Arab Spring continues to rage across the Middle East and North Africa, the gaze of the international media has largely passed over a country that was once known for its restive population, its long and bloody decolonisation struggle and revolutionary zeal.

Egypt Revolution Makes It Worse for Women

By Cam McGrath
During the uprising that toppled Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak women stood shoulder to shoulder with men in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, pressing the revolution’s demands for freedom, justice and dignity. But those who hoped the revolution would make them equal partners in Egypt’s future claim they may be worse off now than under Mubarak’s authoritarian rule.

Entrepreneurs and Women: Keys to Growth in Africa

By Sabine Clappaert
The international financial crash of the late 2000s created more than a global economic recession: it accentuated popular doubts about the paradigms on which our economies are built and prompted a closer look at two crucial drivers of economic growth: women and entrepreneurship.
Saquina Mucavele, executive director of MuGeDe - Mulher, Genero e Desenvolvimento (Women, Gender and Development), a non-profit based in Mozambique. Credit: Sabina Zaccaro/IPS

Cooperatives Help Women Farmers Tighten Ranks

By Sabina Zaccaro
It is a tried and tested truth that when women come together in groups they can address their issues more powerfully than they can as individuals.

Violence Against Women Surging in India

By K. S. Harikrishnan
As gender-based violence across India becomes more frequent, and more savage, increasing numbers of women are speaking out against the cruelty.

Q&A: Disaster Resilience Starts with Grassroots Women

By Julia Kallas
Women and girls can be powerful agents of change, but they are disproportionately affected by disasters because of social roles, discrimination and poverty.
Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s first female president, has helped paved the way for women’s growing participation in politics. Credit: redebrasilatual CC BY-SA 2.0

Brazil’s Gender Quota Law Off to Underwhelming Start

By Fabiana Frayssinet
Brazil’s new law requiring that 30 percent of candidates must be women made a less than impressive debut in Sunday’s municipal elections, although female candidates for mayor made better headway than women running for town councils.

Q&A: Colombia’s FARC Guerrillas “Took Up Arms to Make Ourselves Heard”

By Patricia Grogg
It's hard to imagine her in guerrilla fatigues, carrying a 25-kg backpack and firing shots to repel an enemy attack, or diving for cover from aerial bombardment. She is known as Sandra Ramírez, and she has left the field of battle in Colombia to come to the Cuban capital to talk peace.

Penang’s Women Lead Local Democracy

By Anil Netto
A unique electoral exercise in Penang state, promoting  participatory and gender-responsive decision-making at the grassroots level, may serve as a cue for the revival of local elections in Malaysia.  

U.N. Women Demands End to Impunity for Wartime Rape and Violence

By Becky Bergdahl
At a high-level event at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday, U.N. Women, the United Nations body for female empowerment and gender equality, called for stronger action from world leaders to prevent and punish sexual violence in conflict.
Lilia Sales.

Q&A: “Women’s Participation in Peace Processes Is Still Very Small”

By Becky Bergdahl
Friday is not just any day – it's the International Day of Peace. Concerts, debates and moments of silence will be held all over the planet to commemorate the ideal of global truce and tolerance.
"Unless women are in the forefront of this culture of peace, long-term solutions will elude us," says Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, the prime mover of the 1999 General Assembly resolution that adopted the U.N. Declaration and Programme of Action on the Culture of Peace. Credit: UN Photo/Ky Chung

World Needs to Build a Culture of Peace, Says Ex-Envoy

By Thalif Deen
Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed, says the preamble to the constitution of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
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