After more than a year of intensive effort, female activists in the Kurdish region of Iraq have achieved substantial progress in their campaign to secure for women the constitutionally-mandated freedom to travel.

The four women elected to Kuwait’s parliament are listed here. The vote figures are initial returns, with ranking and vote totals subject to change as results are finalized.

Massouma Al Mubarak
1st District, first place, 14,247 votes

On May 16, 2005, the women of Kuwait, standing together, won a prize they had been working toward for years – the right to vote and run for election. On May 16, 2009, the promise of that achievement came to fruition. Four women, running competitive, professional campaigns, won seats in Kuwait’s 50-member parliament.

The withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somalia last January and the return  of the president, prime minister and parliamentarians to Mogadishu at the end of February created an opportunity for Somali women seeking to play a greater role in the new unity government. To aid in this effort, NDI organized a two-day study tour to Uganda and a four-day workshop in Mogadishu to help women members of parliament (MPs) and civil society representatives plan legislative and advocacy initiatives. The programs resulted in the creation of the Somali Women Parliamentarians’ Association (SOWPA).

Women in Burkina Faso have ascended in political prominence across local councils, both rural and urban, and now they’re working to increase their reach on the national level.

Over the past three years, Burkina Faso has seen tremendous growth in local government as a decentralization process created councils for small regions, called communes, across the country. Women, who were largely spectators in the past, now occupy 35 percent of those new seats.

By Masih Alinejad

PML-N Vice President Senator Syed Zafar Ali Shah has called for quotas for tickets for general election for women in national/provincial elections in addition to seats already reserved for women. 

Since the early 1990s, women in Latin America have significantly increased their political participation and successes. But while the number of women legislators has increased, advances have not been uniform across countries and women are continuing to seek more recognition of their interests. In some countries, women legislators have formed committees on gender; in others, more informal groups have been created to address specific issues. But the strength and effectiveness of these groups differ from country to country.