Fifteen years ago, delegates from 189 countries met in Beijing for the UN Fourth World Conference on Women. It was a call to action to the global community to work for the laws, reforms and social change necessary to ensure that women and girls have the opportunities to fulfill their God-given potential...

Fu Ying is a rare specimen in the ranks of Chinese diplomacy. She is female, she comes from an ethnic minority. She is set to take up a new post in Beijing as only the second female vice-foreign minister since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.

In the realm of intercultural dialogue, too, equal rights for women and men must remain a top priority, Minister of State Cornelia Pieper urged on International Women’s Day.

This article originally appeared on Diplomatic Traffic.

The largest defeat of British-Indian forces in the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880) came through the leadership of a heroic Afghan woman: Malalai of Maiwand. Malalai courageously inspired dejected Afghan troops and carried the Afghan banner into the battle that would end her life.