Giving a push to the people-to-people contact between India and Pakistan, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is set to visit Islamabad for a five-day visit from February 21. Top officials claim this will be the first-ever official visit by an Indian LS speaker to Pakistan's National Assembly. Kumar's trip is aimed to forge better ties between the two parliaments and the people across the border.

Both India and Pakistan currently have women speakers in their Parliament's lower house.

The Timorese-born Australian Angelita Pires recently declared her nomination in East Timor's Presidential election and is now preparing to begin her campaign. Pires says she's running to address problems in the justice system and to help provide universal access to justice.

"My candidacy was mostly due to the request of many, many people, many poor people and many of those youths and women who felt that they don't have access to justice and they felt that they wanted a change. Until today they insist that they want a new face and new ideas," said Peres in this interview.

An elections panel Monday affirmed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's candidacy for Myanmar's Parliament in another step toward political openness in a country emerging from nearly a half-century of iron-fisted military rule.

A victory in the April 1 by-elections would be historic. Suu Kyi could have a voice in Parliament for the first time after spending most of the last two decades under house arrest.

A National League for Democracy spokesman confirmed the commission had approved her candidacy. "There is no objection to her nomination and we can say that her candidacy is officially accepted," Nyan Win said.

The National Assembly in Pakistan passed a new bill unanimously on January 19 to protect women’s rights in the region,allowing the work of Pakistan’s National Commission for Women to have ‘more teeth.’ The new bill is expected to pass easily through Pakistan’s Senate.

The goal for the bill is to hold back the tide in the growing incidence of domestic violence, honor crimes and acid violence in the Pakistan regions. Basic human rights for women under the law and in court will also be an important part of the goal as the National Commission for Women. Once the bill has been approved by the Senate, the Commission will be given the freedom to act as an autonomous agency with the power to inspect conditions for women in prison. It will also be given the power to act on complaints of justice against women in civil court.

The Thai prime minister Yingluck Sinawatra said that women were a strong symbol of non-violence and would play important roles in bringing about political reconciliation in Thailand as part of her opening remkarks at the 42nd World Economic Forum (WEF). 

She called for an end to women's inequity and violence in society. She said women had positive features that could better society - such as attention to details and good understanding, and attention to children and youth.

Speaking to hundreds at the international WEF audience, Yingluck said that her government had set up a fund to support women and to promote universal education for girls.

Neither the Islamist nor liberal parties fielded a significant number of female candidates on their lists in the recently held parliamentary elections, a report revealed.

The report, issued by a program at Nazra for Feminist Studies, showed that the average Islamist party list was made up of 16 percent female candidates, while “civil” parties — often considered more liberal — averaged 17.5 percent women on their lists.

In its report, Nazra’s Academy for Women’s Political Participation program investigates why so few women were successful in their bid for parliament and explains how few women ran in the first place.

After many years of advocacy, women’s groups and activists watched as the Parliament of Papua New Guinea (PNG) voted to amend the constitution and create an additional 22 reserved seats for women. The 22 seats will be added to the current seats in parliament, held by 108 men and only one woman. Parliament also needs to pass an organic law on the reserved seats by a super majority of 73 votes. Parliament also needs to pass an organic law on the reserved seats by a super majority of 73 votes in order for it to go into effect.

IFES conducted a lobby training program for 25 activists as part of the U.S. State Department’s Women Advocating for Voices in Government project, working closely with the National Council for Women (NCW). One of the highlights of the training was a presentation by Dr. Eric Kwa, professor at the PNG University Law School, on how a bill becomes a law.  Many participants did not understand the legislative process and few knew that the constitution was the supreme law of the land or that parliament could suspend rules and pass a law in one day.