- 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
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In Africa, access to positions of political responsibility remains an exception for female politicians. But this is changing. In 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first woman elected at the head of a country: Liberia.
Testament to an ongoing process of increasing gender equality, Khadra X. Ismail Yonis has been elected Somaliland’s first female mayor.
Source: allAfrica
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissesar and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will join other prominent women leaders for a high-level dialogue at the United Nations in New York on 19 September.
Source: The Chronicle
History was made on Saturday, when the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), after a series of postponements of its National Delegates Congress, elected three women for the party's topmost positions, to manage the affairs of the party for the next four years.
Source: This Day Live
Over the years, women across the world have cried out loudly over their perceived marginalisation by the men. In the build up to the last general elections in Nigeria, the womenfolk introduced into the electioneering campaigns a new battle cry known as Affirmative Action.
Among the findings of a 2009 study by the Zambia National Women's Lobby Group (ZNWLG) was that even though political parties espoused gender parity they rarely implemented it.
Source: The New Dawn
The United Nations Mission in Liberia or UNMIL has pledged support to a bill, seeking 30% women involvement in public offices here.
Source: Guardian Global Development Network
At this week's conference on Libya in Paris, the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) and the international community talk about "inclusiveness" in the new country's future. It seems strange, then, that half of the population - women -
Source: RNW
The presidential elections in Cameroon are due to be held in October 2011. Conscious of the high stakes, women's organisations are actively mobilising women to participate in this important political process.
Source: This Day Live
Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina, has said the Federal Government had concluded plans to institutionalise a forum for Female Ministers and Advisers in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to provide
Source: Nairobi Star
The constitution must be amended for the two-thirds gender principle to work, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has said. Kalonzo said neither the Cabinet nor the government has the intention to deprive women of their fair share of positions in institutions.