South Asia Young Women’s Empowerment Academy

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) is organising a three-day Young Women´s Empowerment Academy in South Asia. The academy will include six South Asia countries namely, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. The Young Women´s Empowerment Academy is organised in the framework of the European Union (EU) funded Women and Youth Democratic Engagement (WYDE) Women’s Leadership Initiative which is implemented in partnership with UN Women, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) under the overall coordination and leadership of UN Women. 

The WYDE Women’s Leadership Initiative is anchored in the EU Gender Action Plan (GAP) III which identifies advancing equal participation, representation and leadership as a key area of engagement for the EU in its external action. The first-ever EU Youth Action Plan in EU external action also includes increasing the voice and leadership of young people in policy and decision-making, especially young women, as a priority in line with the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020–2024. Within this framework, the EU launched the Women and Youth Democratic Engagement (WYDE) which seeks to strengthen the rights, empowerment, and participation in public and political life of youth and women as key actors of democratic development.

The main aim of the Young Women’s Empowerment Academy is to promote additional empowerment strategies and capacities development for young women to participate and be represented in public political life and to advance transformative gender social norms in their communities and beyond. While gender equality and women’s participation and representation in public life have made notable progress in South Asia over the past three decades, disparities persist, especially for women in rural areas and those entering political leadership for the first time.

Specific Objectives of the South Asia Young Women's Empowerment Academy:  

• Promote transformative gender social norms by enhancing awareness on how gender norms affect the individual, community, institutional and socio-cultural levels and strengthen young women’s capacities to address them.  

• Build young women’s skills and capacities to engage in public and political life and inspire the empowerment of young women.  

• Strengthen knowledge, continuous learning and sharing of good practices /strategies among young women. 

• Foster mutual support and networking of young women in politics across South Asia countries.  

This is a closed event and attendance is strictly by formal invitation only.