- 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:
Election of women members of Parliament by adult universal suffrage is unconstitutional, Dickwitington Kimeze and Sisimuka Uganda, a non-governmental organization, claim in an April 18 petition filed at the Constitutional court. The petitioners want only women voting for women MPs and have attached the Electoral Commission and the attorney general as respondents. The petitioners say that section 8 (4) (II) of the Parliamentary Elections Act and the Local Governments Act in providing for the election of district women MPs and Local Government women councilors under universal adult suffrage are inconsistent with articles 78 (2), (3)& (4) and articles 180 (b), (c) and (d) of the Constitution.
The balance between the sexes in the Senate looks set to remain tilted in favour of men as only 23 women have asked to be nominated for election as senators at the next General Election. No woman was elected to the Senate in the last General Election, which resulted in the 18 who got there having to be picked from the lists of would-be nominees submitted to the electoral commission before the polls.
The fearless Gambian human rights activist won New African Woman magazine’s Woman of the Year Award at the their Award ceremony that took place in Dakar last night.
Khadra Hussein Mohammad, 28, made history by becoming Somaliland’s first female National Deputy Prosecutor, dealing with a range of cases including theft, gang-related violence and terrorism.
Source: Global Citizen
As women around the world continue to fight for equal representation in government, Kenya just took a major step forward as a global leader.
Source: Leadership
Following weeks of public nominations from across the African continent and its diaspora, the final nominees for the much-anticipated New African Woman Awards 2017 have been announced.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
NAIROBI - Kenyan activists on Monday welcomed a High Court ruling giving parliament 60 days to ensure a third of lawmakers are women or face dissolution. The ruling follows a lengthy struggle to increase women's political representation in the patriarchal society. Kenya's 2010 constitution guarantees women a third of seats in parliament, but its male-dominated assembly has repeatedly frustrated efforts to pass legislation needed to enact the quota.
Source: allAfrica
Dodoma — FORMER First Lady, Salma Kikwete, made a history in the country's political atmosphere here yesterday when she took oath as a Member of Parliament (MP) of the United Republic of Tanzania before the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Source: cajnews
As the watershed votes approach in largely sexist Zimbabwe, women are wary of participating because of the violations that peak against females at election time. This is according to findings by a research thinktank ahead of polls set for 2018 when President Robert Mugabe is for the first time set to come up against a female candidate.
Source: Daily Nation
Despite gains made toward gender equality in the country, women still lag behind in political engagement with few men ready to support women in their quest for political leadership, a study has revealed.
Source: Daily Nation
In the 2013 General Election, a notable outcome was that voters decided not to elect any woman to the position of governor in all the 47 counties.