GOVERNOR General Sir Patrick Allen says more women should become involved in Caribbean politics and entrusted with leadership roles in order to soften the harsh and aggressive view of politics in the region.
"Our politics has sometimes been too muscular, too aggressive, too lacking in compassion, empathy and balance. It has been scientifically confirmed that greater gender balance in politics and greater empowerment of our female parliamentarians would work wonders in addressing these deficits," he said.

A bill to guarantee Indian women a role in national-level politics may come to a vote soon, after being debated and shaped for nearly two decades.

The so-called Women's Reservation Bill would be a first step toward amending India's constitution to reserve one third of the country's parliament seats for women.

Similar quotas are already in place in municipal and local levels around the country.  Supporters of implementing a national quota say it would go far in furthering gender equality and women's empowerment.

The bill was passed by India's Rajya Sabha, or upper house, two years ago.  Supporters are hopeful it may come to a vote as early as this month in the lower house, the Lok Sabha.  It would not guarantee women's representation forever, just for three election cycles, 15 years.

U.S. Under Secretary of State Maria Otero delivers the keynote address at the conference.

 

2 May 2012 - For the first time, a broad and diverse gathering of civil society representatives from 37 countries convened in Washington this week and established a shared commitment to advocate for strong, open parliaments that embody citizens' voices.

The conference, which ran from April 30 to May 2, provided an opportunity for parliamentary monitoring organizations (PMOs) from all regions of the world to share their experiences and good practices on a host of topics, from monitoring political finance to advocating for greater transparency of parliamentary information. The conference was co-hosted by the Latin American Network for Legislative Transparency, the Sunlight Foundation and NDI. 

After Sunday's (May 6th) elections, more women are expected to take seats in parliament than previously after a push by the country to meet European standards.

The 2008 elections were held according to different regulations, with parties and coalitions required to have at least 30% of female candidates on their election tickets. The result increased the number of women MPs to about 22%, or 55 seats in the 250-member parliament.

In Sunday's elections, the two parties being given the strongest chances of forming a government -- the Serbian Progressive Party and the Democratic Party -- have announced they will most likely nominate a woman for the post of prime minister.

Margaret Loko, veteran contender of Papua New Guinea elections, says key campaign issues for women election candidates are reducing poverty through the delivery of basic services, transparency and accountability.

24 April 2012 - While women remain close to parity with 49.1% representation in local councils, the upcoming national elections may also bring an increase in women's representation in governance structures at the national level.

Women and men will contest for parliamentary seats in the upcoming national elections on May 26. Women are currently only 23.5% of the members of Parliament, but Lesotho delegates to the third annual Gender Justice and Local Government Summit in Johannesburg, expressed optimism that women will gain more seats. Gender Links (GL) convened the summit under the banner "365 days of local action to end violence and empower women."