High court judge and human rights advocate Katerina Sakellaropoulou has been elected Greece's first female president by parliament on Wednesday.

In many African countries, it is time for elections this year. Sadly, many of the continent’s social “social structures, such as those in politics, religion and culture, sometimes constitute real obstacles in the promotion of female leadership,” says Cote d’Ivoire SMA theologian. (…)

The UN says there is some improvement, but progress is slow. Very slow.

The nomination of Betty Maina as Industrialisation CS has cast a ray of hope for a gender-balanced Cabinet.

President Uhuru Kenyatta also appointed 15 new chief administrative secretaries, eight of whom were women.

With Maina's nomination, the Cabinet now has seven women members.

Marlène Schiappa, Minister of State for Gender Equality and the Fight against Discrimination in France, attended the 25th year Regional Review Meeting of the Beijing Platform for Action for the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Region. She highlighted why this meeting is key for advancing the gender equality agenda and the priorities for the Generation Equality Forum in 2020, a global gathering for gender equality, convened by UN Women and co-chaired by France and Mexico.

Men still dominate the most senior roles in public life and the UK is “generations away” from achieving gender equality, according to a report published on Monday. The 2020 Sex and Power Index compiled by the Fawcett Society, a charity campaigning for gender equality, showed that women are missing from the top ranks of business, politics and law. The index also highlighted an “alarming lack of women of colour” in senior positions and what it lamented as a “dismally slow” pace of change.