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National and international election observation has become a central mechanism for ensuring the integrity of elections in post-conflict and transitional countries. Election observation has the benefit of nearly universal acceptance, and the presence of observers ensures that the electoral process is conducted according to international standards. Observation can raise voter confidence and serve as a useful indicator of the legitimacy of an electoral process and outcome. In addition, election observation can assess the role of women in the electoral process and determine whether women candidates are granted equal access to the media, public funding and other essential resources.

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Ghana: Official appeals to women to participate in politics

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Thu, 2010-03-18 12:54
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Mrs. Melonin Asibi, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of the Department of Women, has appealed to women to get actively involved in district assembly elections. She said since women were in the majority, there was the need for them to get active in politics especially at the grassroots level.

She expressed concern about the low participation of women in the region in district assembly elections and said only 234 women contested in the 2006 district assembly election and 58 were elected.

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To read the complete story please visit The Ghanaian Journal.


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iKNOW Politics celebrates its Third Anniversary

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Thu, 2010-03-18 09:10
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The International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics) Project celebrated its third anniversary on February 27th, 2010. Since its launch at the 51st session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York in February 2007, iKNOW Politics has become the premier online network serving the needs of women politicians and their supporters around the world.

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iKP Anniversary Banner iKNOW Politics was born of a commitment to enhance women’s contribution to politics and to increase their participation in political life by offering access to a wealth of resources and information. The partnership between the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has successfully positioned iKNOW Politics as a key knowledge and information center on women in politics that provides its users access to resources, expertise, dialogue, and knowledge creation on women’s political participation through Discussion Circles, online library, world news, events calendar and quarterly E-Discussions, all continuously updated in four languages – English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

In 2009, iKNOW Politics launched its network in Arabic language to increase reach and provide valuable services to members from the Middle East and North Africa region. The Arabic site launch took place in Amman, Jordan. About 150 women leaders, political candidates, activists and representatives of women’s organizations from the Middle East and North Africa region attended the two-day launch event, which focused on the impact of media and information technology on the number and effectiveness of women in politics in the region.

Today, iKNOW Politics has over 7,500 members worldwide from 150 countries, 70 percent of whom are from transitional and developing countries. Within the three years of its existence iKNOW Politics has hosted over 600,000 visitors, with an average of 700 visitors a day. Driven by a high demand and popularity among its users, iKNOW Politics not only enhanced its existing tools and services, but also initiated new features on the site such as, Election Talk and Peer Groups.

iKNOW Politics has also continued providing free of charge expertise and advisory services through Ask the Experts, the unique tool that allows iKNOW Politics members to seek advice and recommendations from internationally-recognized experts with the goal to advance women in politics and public life. iKNOW Politics has responded to close to 50 'Ask the Experts' queries, empowering women leaders and their supporters with critical knowledge and information. At iKNOW Politics we interview women leaders from around the world whose stories are both inspiring and a testament to the significant work women leaders are doing around the world to promote gender equality. Since its inception iKNOW Politics has interviewed 43 such women. Each month we feature one of those woman leaders under “featured interview”.

iKNOW Politics has expanded the tools available on the website for interactive discussions to fulfill its goal of creating a global discussion and networking space for women in politics and their supporters. Since inception iKNOW Politics initiated five global E-Discussions on issues relevant to women’s political participation such as Eliminating Violence Against Women, Gender Quotas As a Mechanism for Promoting Women in Politics, Financing Women in Politics, Working with Men to promote Women in Politics and Women in Local Governments. iKNOW Politics also held its first regional E-Discussion in Arabic on Role of Media and Technology in Increasing the Number and Effectiveness of Women in Politics.

The E-Discussions created knowledge bases reflecting recommendations that emerged from the iKNOW Politics members and experts on strategies to overcome barriers to women’s political participation. These E-Discussions brought together women leaders and candidates, researchers, employees of development organizations, civil society representatives, and other interested groups from over 50 countries and received over 250 comments in English, Spanish, French and Arabic, allowing iKNOW Politics to create a truly global depository of knowledge and information on issues faced by women in politics and public life.

iKNOW Politics plans to continue its work in advancing women in politics and to make the network even more accessible to women across the world. Drawing on its successful experience in the Latin America and the Caribbean region, the network expanded its regional presence in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. This has enabled iKNOW Politics to provide its services to regional and grassroots organizations, and to reach out to women with limited access to technology.

iKNOW Politics would like to thank its partners and donors for their generous support over the past two years, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, the United Nations Democracy Endowment Fund (UNDEF) and Irish Aid. iKNOW Politics is also grateful to its members and experts worldwide for their active participation in the network’s activities and their contribution to increasing women’s political participation worldwide.

Please click on the Add New Comment link to leave your wishes for the iKNOW Politics’ third anniversary and feedback on its work. We are always happy to hear from our members!


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World: Open Forum: Will the U.S. follow India's example?

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Thu, 2010-03-18 04:07
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The leadership of women in politics took a new turn in 1993 when India put into place a 50 percent quota for women at the level of local governance. From 1993 onward, more than 1 million women have served on Indian village, block and district-level councils.

On March 8, the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, a bill was proposed in the Indian parliament -- and successfully passed the next day -- imposing a 33 percent quota for women in India's federal and state assemblies.

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To read the complete news piece please visit SFGate.


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Philippines: Reproductive Health Tests Candidates’ Political Guts

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2010-03-17 20:35
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Filipino voters who have yet to make up their minds about their choice for their next president are being advised: look at each aspirant’s stance on reproductive health to help them gauge the candidate’s leadership mettle and political guts.

A candidate’s position on issues like reproductive health, which has a long history of opposition from the Catholic Church in this mainly Catholic country, reveals clues regarding his or her capacity for governance, says Ramon San Pascual, head of the Philippine Legislative Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD).

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To read the complete news piece please visit IPS News.


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Tanzania: Donors push gender agenda

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2010-03-17 09:09
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The European Union (EU) delegation in Tanzania revealed its "Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Tanzania for the period 2010-2012," which will be presented in Dar es Salaam. It is the first of its kind, representing a collective effort by EU member states to "strengthen and coordinate action on gender issues at country-level." The EU collectively by large is Tanzania's biggest donor.

The new action plan is to promote the establishment of gender-sensitive domestic accountability mechanisms as an integral part of good governance. This is set to hold the government accountable to its citizens and empower women and men to voice their interests and needs, especially at local level. The new EU Gender Action Plan aims at capacity building of key stakeholders, strengthening accountability, monitoring and evaluation systems using gender-sensitive performance indicators and supporting concrete actions to redress situations where women and girls are particularly disadvantaged.

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To read the complete story please visit Afrol News.


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India: Women get one-third share in Gadkari team

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Tue, 2010-03-16 16:10
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Women have got their place under the sun in Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari’s new team of office-bearers and an effort has been made to take forward the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat’s ‘diktat’ on the need to give the party a youthful look.

The 121-member new National Executive Committee has as many as 40 women members, nearly one-third of the total, as mandated by the party constitution amended during the tenure of the outgoing BJP president Rajnath Singh.

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To read the complete news story please visit The Hindu


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Egypt: Supreme Court backs women judges

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Mon, 2010-03-15 15:14
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Egypt's Constitutional Court backed the right of women judges to sit on the bench in the state's administrative courts, despite opposition from conservatives, state media reported Monday. The ruling follows a dispute within the State Council, the top administrative court, over whether women should be appointed.

The body's general assembly voted overwhelmingly against female judges, reigniting a debate within the country over women holding senior government posts, particularly in the judiciary.

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To read the complete story please visit SFGate.Com.


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India:DMK to train women cadres in governance

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Mon, 2010-03-15 15:06
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As the bill reserving one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies awaits to be passed by parliament, Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK party is planning to hold camps across the state to empower its women cadres in governance.

"We plan to train DMK party women in various aspects of governance. We want to groom our party women so that they are ready as and when the 33 percent reservation for women comes into effect," Kanimozhi, party Rajya Sabha member and daughter of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi, said.

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To read the complete news story please visit Sify News.


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Iraq: Foreign Policy: Iraq's Forgotten Women

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Mon, 2010-03-15 14:07
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Economically, women are vastly underrepresented in the work force as employment is still limited to mostly the army and the police. The Women's Ministry barely has any budget allocations, which has led to the resignation of ministers (most notably, Nawal al-Samaraie, minister for women's affairs, tendered her resignation in February 2009). Girls have a high rate of illiteracy and often drop out of schools due to economic and security reasons. Domestic violence is increasing, as is trafficking in women, and the Iraqi government estimates there are up to 3 million widows in Iraq today.

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To read the complete news story please visit NPR.


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Myanmar: Amid Threats, Women Dissidents Stick to Political Beliefs

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Thu, 2010-03-11 22:08
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While Aung San Suu Kyi remains the most widely-known woman suppressed for her political views in Burma, the jails in that military-ruled country continue to be filled by lesser-known women dissidents being held on a range of questionable charges.

Mid-February saw the latest group of female political activists thrown into jail with a two-year prison term, including hard labour, for a "crime" they committed four months ago – donating religious literature to a Buddhist monastery, an act that the junta deemed as "disturbing the peace."

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To read the complete story please visit IPS News.


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United Nations: RP Senator Presides Over UN Session for Women Parliamentarians

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Thu, 2010-03-11 20:24
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Senator Pia Cayetano left the campaign trail in the Philippines momentarily to preside a special meeting of parliamentarians at the United Nations and to take part in another meeting with American legislators in Washington, DC.

Cayetano was elected President of the Coordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the highest position ever achieved by a Filipino in the 119-year-old IPU, considered as the United Nations of parliamentarians around the world.

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To read the complete story please visit Asian Journal.


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India: Grand Mufti urges Muslim women to enter politics

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2010-03-10 09:03
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A top Islamic cleric Wednesday welcomed the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha, describing it as ‘a great step towards women’s empowerment’.

‘This is a great step towards women’s empowerment. I would urge Indian Muslim women to enter politics and get themselves elected to parliament and state assemblies. They will have to empower themselves,’ the Grand Mufti of Kashmir, Maulana Bashir-ud-Din, told reporters here.

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To read the complete story please visit Calcutta Tube.


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India: India's Upper House Passes Bill Reserving a Third of Legislative Seats for Women

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2010-03-10 00:19
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Indian lawmakers approved a historic bill Tuesday that would set aside one-third of all legislative seats for women, a move aimed at overturning six decades of male-dominated decision-making in this country.

The bill, which drew fierce opposition before its passage in the upper house of parliament, would guarantee seats for women in the national legislature and all state assemblies in the world's largest democracy, where women have been largely kept on the sidelines of the legislative process.

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To read the complete news piece please visit The Washington Post.


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China: Chinese Women Lag Only in Politics

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Tue, 2010-03-09 20:40
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Despite remarkable progress in improving the status of women in social and economic terms, China lags the rest of Asia in empowering women politically, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) study has found.

But some six decades after Mao Zedong famously declared “women hold up half the sky”, women in China fare far better overall than their counterparts in India and the rest of the Asia-Pacific on almost every economic indicator, according to the report.

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To read the complete news piece please visit
The Hindu.


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Philippines: Asia-Pacific Women Have Long Way to Go–UN

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Tue, 2010-03-09 03:32
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Women in the Asia-Pacific region have little economic and political power, impacting economic growth prospects of developing nations, the United Nations said in a report released Monday.

According to the UN Asia-Pacific Human Development Report to mark International Women’s Day, the region ranked near the worst in the world on issues such as protecting women from violence or upholding their rights to property.

“The key message [of the report] is that to meet any development goals that a society sets, you need the full participation and involvement of women,” Helen Clark, head of the UN Development Program (UNDP), said.

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To read the complete news piece please visit Inquirer Politics.


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