- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – President of the Republic of Liberia
- Joyce Banda – President of the Republic of Malawi
- Catherine Samba-Panza – Interim President of the Central African Republic
There is progress here and there on the continent regarding women's rights . We must go much further to ensure greater gender equality in Africa. It is not just a matter of justice....When women take their rightful place at the negotiating table, in the parliament and in leadership positions across society, we can unleash Africa’s enormous potential..." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
To learn more about women's political participation, please visit the following websites:
Source: The Guardian
When it was decided that 50% of parties' candidates should be women, many saw it as trying to wrong-foot An-Nahda. If so, it failed spectacularly, and the Islamist party met the quota. In the 217-seat assembly, there are 42 An-Nahda women, out of 49 women elected. An-Nahda's chair Rached Ghannouchi said: "Women have a special status in our party's project, in accord with their elevated status in our religion." Hhe pledged they will be ministers in the national unity government.Some of its prominent MPs are:
Source: IPS
Women make up just 12 percent of the roughly 18,000 candidates who will stand for election to parliament in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Nov. 28 elections.
Source: AfricaNews
In the African context, traditional leadership is a preserve of males while women are restricted to the kitchen and the house chores. It is not by design that women find themselves in such marginalized areas of everyday lives but the African society has socialised them into believing that they are subordinated to their male counterparts.
President Sirleaf also commended those who voted for her during the first round, as a sign of appreciation for the level of work that has been carried out by her administration during the past six years.
TINY Tunisia, where a fruit seller’s suicide sparked the Arab Spring, held its first free elections on Sunday. Over 90 percent of registered voters turned out, far exceeding expectations. Lines of beaming blue-fingered voters poured out of polling places, proudly posting photos of their freshly inked hands on Facebook.
Source: Voice of America
In Kenya, a Cabinet task force is grappling with how to implement a constitutional requirement that women comprise at least one-third of the country’s Parliament.
Source: SomalilandPress
A one day dialogue regarding skilled women’s role on the development and political issues was today (Saturday) held in Imperial Hotel in Hargeisa.This dialogue which was organized and cooperated by WIJA and Dalmar Foundation was attended by 50 members from civil society, government and community members.
Almost a year since one of its citizens, in a desperate gesture, ignited the Arab Spring, Tunisia once again is setting an example to the rest of the Middle East.
Honorable Mrs. Adenike Agnes Shobajo is the Managing Director of AS+, a communication, public relations and event management company. She is a seasoned Public Relations practitioner with a wealth of experience in the corporate terrain and a proficient politician.
Jane Wanja, 35, says she doesn't know exactly how the new Kenyan Constitution will change her life, but she knows that, thanks to it, no women will be forced to leave their marital homes when their husbands die, as she was.
Women organisers of the various political parties in the country have welcomed the idea of increasing women’s participation and representation by pledging their support for the Affirmative Action Bill.