Elections

“The forthcoming elections is a decisive turning point for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), because if we really do have these elections despite the fact that it has long dragged out, it will be the first democratic transition ever in the DRC”  –Justine Masika Bihamba, founder of Synergie des femmes pour les victimes des violences sexuelles (Synergie of Women for Victims of Sexual Violence; SFVS), a member of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP).

Two powerful women – Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia – have dominated Bangladeshi politics for decades, but the South Asian country's women are still underrepresented in parliament and are politically marginalized.

Nazla Ibtesham, an 18-year-old student, was hugely disappointed when election officials turned down her voter ID due to some "technical issues." She and her friends wanted to make their voice heard in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

United Nation Women and United Nations Development programme (UNDP) on Monday launched a programme guide to prevent violence against women in the 2019 general elections.

The launch which was organised by UN Women and UNDP took place in Abuja.

Ms Comfort Lamptey, UN Women Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said that the launch included 16 days of activism to end violence against women and girls.

A record number of women have been elected in Bahrain's elections in what officials say is an historic achievement that has broken the glass ceiling of representation in the country's parliament.

By the election's second and final round of voting on Sunday, a total of six women were voted in, doubling the number of female legislators in the tiny Gulf kingdom.

In the build up to the 2019 general elections, Nigerian women have thought it wise that if nothing is done urgently, the few women that were lucky to secure their party tickets may not get the kind of publicity they deserve to win during the 2019 general elections thereby being extinct from governance. To achieve this feat, they have called the media to make more visible their good character is capacities, competence and integrity since they do not have money for many adverts.

By Sylvester Kumwenda

Lilongwe, November 27. Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe has called upon political parties that have not yet conducted their primary elections to support women aspirants in order to have more women in political leadership positions.

The 2018 midterm election included a wave of victories for female candidates and major upsets across the country.

When he got to beat me, first he was grabbing my hair to hold me still, so he could beat me harder. I was trying to protect my belly, so he couldn’t hurt the child I was carrying. But when I got to the eighth month of pregnancy, he beat me so hard that three days later I gave birth to my baby.” This is how Cristina Petrov describes her life until recently and the time she carried Dumitru in her womb, a child who, guarded by his mother, was born healthy about a year ago.