Five impressive women. Five stories from around the world, where these important people made a direct effect on democracy in their nations.

Broadcast in January 2018 to mark the 100th anniversary of the very first time Uk ladies won the vote, this fascinating series sees BBC Key International Correspondent Lyse Doucet travel throughout the world, meeting women from Northern Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Iceland, Afghanistan and Liberia. She hears reflections from some of the world’s most influential women’s about Amazing: Five women who dared to produce a difference privileges activists, including former presidents, and shares her own encounters of reporting from some of the most troubled regions.

In Belfast Lyse speaks to Monica McWilliams, who was simply one of only two local women who were at the table during negotiations which resulted in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. She after that travels to Saudi Arabia to meet Madeha Al Ajroush, who battled for 30 years to obtain women the right to drive.

In 1980, Iceland did something no other nation had done: they elected a lady head of state. Lyse Doucet moves to Reykjavik to meet up Vigdis Finnbogadottir. Right now 87, she was president for specifically sixteen years and continues to be the longest-serving elected female head of state of any country to date.

Lyse then matches the formidable Shukria Barakzai, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Norway. Shukria was one of only a small number of feminine MPs to speak up for women’s privileges in Afghanistan, and experienced death threats for her views. Finally, Lyse Doucet travels to Liberia to speak to Chief executive Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the initial elected feminine head of state in Africa.

These inspiring in-depth interviews reveal the behind the moments stories of key occasions in our global background, and show the triumph of 1918 for women in Britain has continued to resonate through the last century.

Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2018 simply because Her Story Made History.

Maker: Ben Carter

Researcher: Louise Byrne