- 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:
There is no way one can have a conversation with Linette Olofsson without being dragged into her collection of images about her community agricultural project in central Mozambican Province of Zambezia.
Zambians head to the polls sometime before October and civil society groups are working hard to ensure their voices are heard.
"The Botswana Caucus for Women in Politics has failed to realise the objectives it was intended for, but we will not give up on it just yet," says Margaret Nasha.
Source: Times Live
The Nigerian woman with a famous last name is now 64 and could be home with her grandchildren, but she is here instead, at a dilapidated police barracks urging officers' wives to take a stand.
Source: United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO)
Some 50 women leaders from the North and South Ubangi districts of Equateur province held a round table discussion at the office of the UN Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO) in Mbandaka on 23 March to establish ways and means of empowering the womenfolk in the society.
Source: Myjoyonline
Former First Lady and President of the 31st December Women’s Movement, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings says emerging democracies will only grow from strength to strength if women are supported to participate in political leadership and conflict management.
Source: Ansa Africa
Some women's rights groups have expressed their disappointment at the recent national constitutional review conference organized by the Constitution Review Commission in Accra recently.
Source: WomenEnews
Egyptian women fought for the overthrow of Mubarak alongside men. But now the male-domination of transitional politics is like going backwards, writes Nadya Khalife of Human Rights Watch.
Source: IPS
Elizabeth Phiri was so incensed when she was overlooked as a parliamentary candidate for the Patriotic Front in a 2008 by-election on the basis of her gender that she quit the party. Four years on, she has rejoined the party but remains pessimistic - but other women politicians see reasons to hope the 2011 elections will be different.
Source: Al-Masry Al-Youm
Despite their noticeable participation in pro-democracy protests that toppled the former regime and paved the way for a new era in Egypt, Egyptian women are still finding themselves relatively excluded from the current political scene.
Source: Ghana News Agency
The Member of Parliament for Agona East, Mr John Kwesi Agyabeng, has urged women associations and groups to form "think tanks" to fight for gender equality and economic empowerment.