During Egypt’s revolution, thousands of women joined men in the streets to promote democratic reform. Now, as the country prepares for its first post-revolution parliamentary elections this fall, women are seeking to participate equally in the challenges of governing.

In Europe’s Balkan region, where citizens are trying to overcome ethnic conflict, political polarization and struggling economies in hopes of joining the European Union, women are seizing a larger role in democratization efforts. Increasingly, they are working together across ethnic and partisan lines to inject new life into stalled politics.

More than 60 political and civil society representatives are calling on the Afghanistan government to carry out critical reforms to improve the electoral process before the country’s next round of voting in 2013.