Asia

The Taliban have renewed attacks on girls' schools in northwest Pakistan, stoking fears of a fresh terror campaign against women.

Ashgabat, 13 September 2010 – More than 160 officials from Turkmen governmental institutions and public associations at the local level enhanced their knowledge about the UN human rights system in a series of workshops in all five regions of Turkmenistan from 17 to 28 August 2010.

When Shahrzad Kariman finally saw her imprisoned daughter Shiva Nazar Ahari earlier this month, it was for a brief moment outside the Tehran courtroom where the 26-year-old human rights campaigner had been brought. "We could see her for a few minutes," Kariman told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran last week. "Just enough to hug her.

On Wednesday 8th September, Mu Sochua's team participated in an all-day “Workshop on Achieving MDG3 [in Cambodia] by 2015″, organized by the Technical Coordination Secretariat, in collaboration with the Ministry of Woman's Affairs and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (co-funded by UNDP/Legislative Assistant Project, UNIFEM, UNMC and Action Aid).

As the official campaign season kicked off for national Kyrgyz elections on September 10, 29 parties were officially in the running for seats in the country's parliament.

Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary elections have traditionally been among the most eventful in Central Asia, and the recent ousting of Kurmanbek Bakiev as president and deadly ethnic violence in June suggest this poll could eclipse its predecessors.

With one-fifth of a nation under water and sluggish donations to fund relief efforts for flood victims, there is a fragile element within a drowning, disenfranchised population, a group that has historically and categorically been cast as a lower-grade victim in times of disasters – women.

Cambodian authorities must take sweeping measures to boost the number of women who sit in parliament if the country is to meet a key part of its global commitment to gender equality, advocates say.

President Benigno S. Aquino III received from Socio Economic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga, Jr. the fourth Progress Report on the Philippines' compliance to the United Nations Millenium Development Goals during ceremonies held at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City Wednesday morning.

Interview with Dr. Massouda Jalal, former Afghan Minister for Women's Affairs.

Fawzya Gailani says her husband beat her when she won a seat in Afghanistan's parliament.
He was jealous that she won more than 14,000 votes in the country's first parliamentary election in 2005, while he only polled 160.