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The women’s training programme, led by the national Electoral Management Body in cooperation with International IDEA, earned an Honorable Mention in the Gender Equality category in the first edition of the Global Network on Electoral Justice Awards for meeting the main criterion of contributing to a concrete and measurable increase in gender parity in public life.

It’s no secret that women have had to put up a tenacious fight to be seen and heard in  politics worldwide. As late as 2005, the number of women in parliament speaker posts stood at just over 8 per cent worldwide, reflecting a considerable lack of female representation. Although that number has increased, women still account for just 23 per cent of parliamentary speakers around the world today according to the latest IPU figures.

On 21-22 August, women leaders, politicians and civil servants from all provinces of Kyrgyzstan gathered at the second National Forum Women's Leadership – A Breakthrough into a New Era. The forum served as a platform for dialogue about the importance of women's contribution to the development of society, rethinking women's leadership factors and creating a joint strategy for the development of the country.

Just a few years before she was elected as a Member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives (ZHoR), Zawadi Amour Nassor didn’t have political aspirations, but life had bigger plans for her. Today, she represents the Konde constituency of Northern Pemba, where the Representative seat had previously only been held by men. 

Through roundtable discussions, capacity-building workshops, and seminars targeting women from across Sudan, UN Women Sudan empowers young women to learn skills in alliance-building and participation in political processes.

International IDEA Sudan’s programme celebrated the graduation of the first batch from the Young Women Democracy Academy (YWDA) on 9 August 2022. The event took place in the International IDEA office, and it was attended by the Swedish Ambassador to Sudan, Signe Burgstaller, who gave the opening remarks.  Members of the Sudanese civil society and academia and people of interest were also present at the event.

On this International Youth Day, the IPU congratulates all the young MPs making a mark in their respective parliaments. They are the future of democracy but with less than 3% of MPs under 30, young people remain severely under-represented. Increasing their ranks continues to be a major focus for the IPU.

I Say Yes to Youth in Parliament! campaign

Honorable Rose Obigah is a politician from Uganda and a newcomer to the legislature. During the just completed 2021 Uganda general elections, she was chosen to serve as a woman member representing Terego district.

Rose had worked as a social worker and government official, and her desire to join the Ugandan parliament was pushed by the struggles that the women in her region experienced and how they overcame them.

A nationwide rollout of training on sexual and gender-based violence has recently concluded across Kenya to better equip law enforcement officials prevent and mitigate sexual violence during the country’s 2022 General Election.

A joint project from UN Women and OHCHR Kenya entitled has trained 141 police commanders on election security management. This four-day training specifically highlighted electoral-related sexual and gender-based violence and their specific role when dealing with these cases.