gender equality

IPU has kick-started its priority support to Egypt in its efforts to establish democracy by providing advice and expertise on the drafting on a new electoral law. The law would have to be in place before parliamentary elections can take place, the last step in a series of planned political processes on Egypt’s roadmap to democracy.

Women in Tamil Nadu not only outnumbered men on the voter list, they beat them in the race for getting the indelible mark on April 24. While 73.51 per cent of men (2,02,27,493) exercised their franchise for the Lok Sabha elections, the number of women who cast their votes stood at 73.86 per cent (2,03,27,045).

Of the total number of voters (5,50,42,876), except the Service Voters, 4,05,54,957 cast their votes in this election. With this, the final poll percentage stood at 73.68.

Women’s issues may be high on the agenda for political parties vying for votes in India’s mammoth general election, but few female lawmakers will get an opportunity to implement the policies being proposed.

Less than a fifth of the candidates standing for the front-running main opposition group, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), or the ruling Congress, are women, according to an analysis.

In the current parliament, women hold only 11% of seats in both houses, less than Pakistan at 21% and Afghanistan at 28%, research by the Inter-Parliamentary Union group shows.

ANC Women's League President, Angie Motshekga, has called on young people not to heed calls to boycott upcoming elections. She was speaking at a Freedom Day rally organised by the Young Communist League (YCL) and other alliance partners in Mfuleni on the Cape Flats.

With 59 winners of the total 556 contestants, women candidates seem to have had a dream run in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. May 16 will tell if their success story repeats this time too.

Group and individual proponents advocating for increased participation of women in governance, have been urged to brace up for another round of advocacy, as the local government elections, approaches later this year.

Ms. Esther Tawiah, Executive Director of Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCED) made the call on Tuesday in Ho during a validation workshop on the Local Governance Network’s Position Paper on the participation of civil society organisations (CSO) in local governance.

Egyptian women today still suffer from cultural, social and political discrimination with no indication from policymakers for progress. Though women attained the right to political participation in 1956, significant development has been minimal. The January 25 and June 30revolutions marked a significant change as women were at the forefront throughout.

Nadine Moussa, Lebanon’s first female candidate for the presidency, insists that Lebanon needs a “new social contract,” with women holding half of all parliamentary and governmental posts.

“I know what Lebanese women are capable of, and I know how much they can contribute,” Moussa told The Daily Star.

Moussa, a lawyer who has worked to promote women’s rights for over a decade, is the first female to officially run for president of Lebanon.