Video: Engendering Political Leadership

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Over the last 50 years, many African countries have established national gender machineries and implemented quota systems to accelerate the entrance of women representatives into formal political institutions. The results of this are striking: while in 1960 only 1% of Africa’s political representatives were women, in 2009, this figure is closer to 20%. The video profiles comprise the stories of African women politicians who, under different conditions, political systems, and in their own way, have tried to use their political platforms to advance women’s rights.

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Struggle for equality: Sexual orientation, gender identity and human rights in Africa

- November 19, 2010 -

The conference sought to analyse the challenges faced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) communities in Africa. It provided a platform for the discussion of strategies aimed at creating an environment on the continent where sexual minorities can enjoy the full range of human rights and are recognised as full citizens.

Kristin Palitza more»

Nigeria's Electoral Reform And The Prospect For Women's Participation In The 2011 Elections.

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Historical analysis of constitutions and electoral laws and processes in Nigeria are incontrovertibly gender insensitive. Beginning from 1922, when the first Constitution in Nigeria was made to the 1999 constitution, which purportedly gave legitimacy to the third republic, aspirations and concerns of women, who represent majority of the population, have been undisputedly discarded.

Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi more»

Women in the executive: Can women’s ministries make a difference?

- In December 2007, at the ANC’s Polokwane Conference, a resolution was accepted to create a Ministry of Women’s Affairs. While there have been many women in cabinet since the transition to democracy in 1994 (today women make up to 45 % of the deputies), this would be the first time that there would be a ministry tasked solely to deal with gender issues. Will the shift to a Women’s Ministry be integrated into the existing gender machinery in South Africa or is this the beginning of its dismantling? more»

What the State of the Nation Address 2011 means for women in South Africa

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On 10 February 2011, President Zuma presented his State of the Nation Address (SONA) to a joint sitting of parliament in Cape Town. The writers of this response to SONA look at the ‘road map‘ set out by Government for the next year, assessing it against progress on promises made (or not made) last year and how this will affect the social and economic status of women.

Women’s Legal Centre more»

Further articles from Africa

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The situation in Bahrain calls for human rights activism - Interview with Maryam Al Khawaja

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Maryam Al Khawaja is a 23 year-old human rights activist from Bahrain. She has been the Head of Foreign Relations at the Bahrain Center for Human Rights since September 2010. Read about the human right situation in Bahrain.

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Working Group's 'No Justification for Polygamy' Campaign Sparks Discourse Nationally

- The Working Group for Equality in Personal Status Issues, a coalition of women's and human rights groups that works to promote the status of Palestinian women citizens of Israel, has just concluded the first round of its campaign against polygamy ─ a project supported by the Heinrich Boell Stiftung Israel office since 2008. Yotam Keduri more»

Short film: I will not talk

- The campaign Combating Violence Against Women “Life without Violence and Discrimination is Possible” has been started by ten women organizations and hundreds of activists in eight Arab countries in cooperation with Heinrich Böll Foundation. Young directors were targeted as agents of change using alternative social media to lobby for combating violence against women in Egypt. See one of these produced short films here. more»

Tahrir Transformation

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A testimony from a young woman who was in Midan Al Tahrir in Cairo during the revolution in Egypt.

Fatima more»

The Post-Oslo Palestine and Gendering Palestinian Citizenship under Occupation

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The article describes both the difficulties and opportunities confronting women’s organisations in the after math of the first Palestinian Authority after the signing of the Oslo Agreements on 1993.

Islah Jad more»

Time Will Tell - The Impact of the Katzav Ruling from a Feminist Perspective

-  On the morning of December 30, 2010, the transformation of Israeli consciousness reached one of its peaks. That morning, the district court convicted former state president Moshe Katzav of serial sexual violence. After four consecutive years of struggle by women's organizations, after a struggle that began with a dubious glance at the complainants against the serial sex offender from the presidential residence, the head of the judges' panel declared that the man is a rapist and a sexual harasser. By Dorit Abramovitch more»

Jewish and Jewish-Palestinian Feminist Organizations in Israel

- This report published by the Israel office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation is a first of its kind in-depth exploration of the contemporary feminist movement in Israel. The report focuses on Jewish and joint Jewish-Palestinian feminist organizations in Israel and includes a mapping section of 46 organizations (available in Hebrew only) and an analysis of the trends and characteristics of the feminist NGO field in Israel (available in Hebrew, English and Arabic). more»

Further articles from Middle East

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“Our mission is not accomplished yet"

- Wanda Nowicka, a Head of the Federation on Women and Family Planning, in a Interview on pregnancy abortion in Poland, why the Polish Government restricted abortions and why Polish didn't resist and which follow-up this policy had. Wanda Nowicka and Agnieszka Grzybek more»

Some Thoughts about International Women’s Day

- How do feminists in Serbia perceive March 8? Do they believe that International Women’s Day is still relevant, especially in the country with socialist legacy? Do feminists in Serbia feel that March 8 is “the day of their own”? - A summary of the research by Adriana Zaharijević and Katarina Lončarević more»

100 Years of International Women’s Day: Gender, Leadership and American Foreign Policy

- 100 years ago the emergence of International Women’s day, and its importance in the political history of the time, reflected women’s determination to gain rights for themselves. But how is the situation of women today? Heather Hurlburt on women and politics in the United States of America. And the question of whether women make a difference. more»

Videointerview: Tajana Broz, member of the women's oganization CESI (Center for Education, Counseling and Research)

- Tajana Brotz, member of CESI, about March 8th in Croatia: memories, the weight of March 8th, the activities by CESI and about political participation of women in decision-making bodies. more»

Memories of the Future

- This jubilee year of marking International Women’s Day and women solidarity within Montenegrin context sharpens a painful paradox lived by women wedged between socrealistic past and democratic future in, as it seems, intransient transitional present. Paula Petričević more»

March 8th in Russia: From Marxism to Sexism

- In Russia, Women’s Day was observed for the first time in 1913, in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The following article tells the development of the Women's Day from its beginnings to our days. Yelena Maksimova more»

Cultural stereotypes – the “Holy Vessel”, the “Porcelain doll”, the “Caramel candy” and the “Bitch”

- The "Georgian woman " is a joint product of the earth and the sky, and that makes her unique compared to every other woman in the world. She is a moral project, which is different from all other existing biological-psychological projects. In her essay, the author describes the four possible roles of women in the present Georgian society. Ani Chankotadze more»

Video documentary: Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina

- The video documentary "Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina" by the NGO Infohouse and the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation reports about the current situation of women in Bosnia and Herzegovina. While gender equality isn't wide spread in society, things change on March 8th. So: Where in fact are women in Bosnia and Herzegovina today? more»

Policy Attitudes towards Women in Azerbaijan: Is Equality Part of the Agenda?

- Since independence, the government of Azerbaijan has been struggling to formulate its policy approach to the so-called “women’s question”. This question in Azerbaijan continues to be challenging since the dominant national discourse primarily regards women as mothers and guardians of national traditions. Yuliya Aliyeva Gureyeva more»

 Further articles from Europe/North America more»

Videodocumentary: Women fighting for Evironmental and Climatejustice

- This videodocumentary shows how women on the countryside and in urban areas try to improve their situation by being geared to ecological principles. Further they are engaged in politics, too. more»

“Soft” feminism via the mass media

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In 1988, five women journalists wanted to go beyond simply producing feminist monthly supplements. They were determined to put the realities of women’s lives onto the front page, and get gender relations taken into account everywhere in the male-dominated country of Mexico.

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Gender democracy: an example that is setting a precedent

-  Under the government of Dr. Hector Silva, the mayor of San Salvador, in 1999 the city council resolved a roadmap for achieving sexual equality. Although a series of measures was adopted and women were appointed to leading political roles, progress was painfully slow. more»

Human rights without machismo

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Human rights violations against women differ from those against men. Realizing that means we can offer more sophisticated responses to the different requirements for protection that women and men citizens will have. The institutionalization of gender mainstreaming in Mexico City’s Federal District Human Rights Commission, the CDHDF, is thus a very important project.

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Feminicide

- In April 1998, Sam Dillon, at the time a correspondent for the New York Times, wrote about a series of murders perpetrated against women in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez. Dillon noted how, as early as 1993, Oscar Máynez, a government criminologist, had pointed out that almost all the victims were slender young women with a cinnamon complexion and long hair. Máynez had suggested a serial killer was at work, but the authorities did not want to know. more»

Further articles from Latin America more»