International IDEA secretary general Vidar Helgesen said his organisation is committed to addressing this challenge where women are not adequately represented in spheres of power. IDEA is in Botswana to discuss the audit report on Botswana's general elections held last year.

Helgesen met opposition politicians and ruling party politicians with a view to strengthening cooperation between Botswana and IDEA and discuss the African Union Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.

Nepalese women are playing a greater role in politics and economics these days, but their participation in politics is far from the 50 percent that would represent equal and fair representation. More than 95 percent of Nepalese women have been affected by the violence.

Women's organizations nowadays encourage women to participate in political affairs, but they are still held back by the parochial culture, particularly in the villages. It is a positive sign that women are being recruited for the army and other posts, but still women's participation in politics remains nominal. This applies to both urban and rural areas.

Groups representing Afghan women warned the international community on Wednesday against pursuing a peace deal with the Taliban, fearing a return to the austere Islamist rule that saw women banned from education and work.

Women from a United Nations agency, the Institute for Inclusive Security and other rights' groups told reporters in London that the progress made since 2001 should not be jeopardised by courting conservative elements.

The Iraqi lawmakers unanimously agreed on Sunday on new version of the electoral law that would govern the country's parliamentary polls early next year.

The parliament held an extra-ordinary session late on Sunday night after a long day of haggling among the political blocs about the amendments needed to the electoral law in an attempt to avoid a second veto to the law by the Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi.

According to the approved version, the number of seats in the coming parliament will be 325 instead of the 275 in the current parliament. 310 of which will be allotted for the country's 18 provinces and the remaining 15 seats will go as eight seats reserved for the Iraqi minorities and seven for the blocs who garnered national support.