Advocacy & Lobbying
In Africa, several initiatives seek to increase women’s visibility in digital spaces. Africa Wiki Women is one of the projects actively involved in advancing African women’s participation in online knowledge creation and sharing.
Women across the continent still face many obstacles in accessing technology and participating in digital knowledge spaces. Previous reports from Global Voices show that online abuse and harassment of women are significant barriers limiting their participation in and contribution to collaboration platforms and information networks. These obstacles lead to a representation bias, where African women’s achievements often remain unseen and undocumented in digital spaces.
From these access barriers emerged Africa Wiki Women, a collaborative project between three women: Ruby Damenshie-Brown from Ghana, Bukola James from Nigeria, and Pellagia Njau from Tanzania, who came together to empower women through training, contribution campaigns, and mentorship programs. This organization encourages women to document the countless remarkable achievements African women make, and increase the content about women and their initiatives on collaborative knowledge platforms.
This post is part of Global Voices’ April 2026 Spotlight series, “Human perspectives on AI.” This series will offer insight into how AI is being used in global majority countries, how its use and implementation are affecting individual communities, what this AI experiment might mean for future generations, and more. You can support this coverage by donating here.
As a Nigerian who has spent years on X (formerly Twitter), I’ve seen a lot. I’ve witnessed trends come and go, policies shift, and communities build and dissolve. For a long time, I considered myself a “conscious” internet user. I curated my timeline carefully, avoided unnecessary engagement, muted triggering keywords, and accepted the uncomfortable truth that the internet, especially for women, was never designed with our safety in mind.
My work at Superbloom (a design non-profit and studio) — particularly on human-centered design projects and the tech policy design lab playbook on online gender-based violence — was my first real exposure to the scale and intensity of violence occurring online. I came to see how these forms of violence persist online: Victims remain scared and vulnerable, while perpetrators are rarely held accountable. A temporary ban is often the extent of the response, and they soon return with a new account and a new victim. Social media, once a place for connection, community-building, and entrepreneurship, has now become a battleground and hostile environment, with women often bearing the brunt of unprovoked abuse. Furthermore, according to UN estimates, only 40 percent of countries have legislation protecting women and girls from online abuse, leaving much of the global population exposed.
This post is part of Global Voices’ April 2026 Spotlight series, “Human perspectives on AI.” This series will offer insight into how AI is being used in global majority countries, how its use and implementation are affecting individual communities, what this AI experiment might mean for future generations, and more. You can support this coverage by donating here.
In November 2023, a group of parents from a school in Rio de Janeiro reported to the police that teenagers were creating and sharing nudes created using Artificial Intelligence (AI) featuring other classmates. Less than a year later, in September 2024, in the state of Bahia, another group of teens was also suspected of using AI to create pornographic images of other classmates, while in Mato Grosso state, students were expelled after sharing AI images featuring a teacher and other students in pornography communities on social media.
These are some recent cases reported on Brazilian media and mentioned in a technical note published by the independent research center Internetlab in early April, 2026. The document aims to discuss “ways of combating online violence against girls and women in Brazil” and recommend regulatory discussions within the country’s context.
Even as the debate surrounding reservations to women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies is once again in the spotlight, some serious concerns are being raised: Will the reservation being promised by to-be promulgated legislation truly reach women from all sections equally or whether the benefits will be limited primarily to the affluent and socially empowered.
India has a strong patriarchal political culture. This is clearly evident in Panchayat elections. Reservation for women in Panchayat elections in India came through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act in 1993, which reserved at least 33 per cent (one-third) of seats for women at all levels.
Currently, this reservation has been increased to 50 per cent in more than 20 states, with Bihar leading the way in 2006. India is the only country where more than 1.4 million elected women are actively participating in local self-government institutions (panchayats and municipal bodies). This has, albeit slowly, significantly transformed the status of women.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the African School of Governance (ASG), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), today opened applications for the inaugural cohort of the African Academy for Women in Political Leadership, a continental programme designed to build the next generation of women who govern Africa.
Thirty women will be selected for a fully funded, four-week blended programme combining virtual learning with a residential convening in Kigali. Nominations are now open to government institutions, political parties, AU member state bodies, and civil society organisations across all five African regions.
Why the Academy
Africa’s political representation of women remains critically low. Where women do hold office, they often navigate systems that were not designed with their leadership in mind. The African Academy for Women in Political Leadership was built to change that — by equipping women leaders with the skills, networks, and strategic resources required to lead, govern, and shape reform agendas at the highest levels.
The Academy is anchored in African leadership and ownership, and is positioned as a continental public good. It builds on the curriculum framework developed and validated through an inclusive co-design process held in Kigali in October 2025.
What Participants Will Experience
The four-week blended programme combines high-impact virtual learning, an immersive residential convening, mentorship from senior African leaders, and applied leadership practice. The curriculum covers:
- Political leadership and governance
- Strategic communications
- Coalition-building and legislative processes
- Campaign and political financing
- Ethical leadership and inclusive governance
All programme costs, including tuition, travel, and accommodation for the residential convening, are fully covered for selected participants.
Who Should Apply
Applications are open to women who are currently holding, or credibly pursuing, elected or appointed political office anywhere in Africa. Eligible profiles include:
- Electoral Cycle Leaders: Women from countries scheduled for presidential or parliamentary elections within the next 12–36 months, including declared candidates, parliamentary candidates, senior campaign strategists, and MPs seeking re-election or higher office.
- Sitting Political Leaders: Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament or Senate, Speakers and Deputy Speakers, Mayors and Governors, and senior political party leaders such as Secretaries General and Women’s League Leaders.
- Young Women Leaders: Women aged 21–35 with strong political leadership potential, including aspiring candidates at the local and national level and emerging leaders within political parties or public institutions.
The Academy strongly encourages nominations of women with disabilities and women from fragile or transitional political contexts.
Baseline Eligibility
- Female citizen of an African Union Member State
- Aged 21 or older at the time of nomination
- Demonstrated active engagement in political leadership or political ambition
- Formal endorsement from a government institution, recognised political party, NGO or relevant stakeholder
- Commitment to full participation in the programme and to post-Academy alumni engagement and peer mentoring
Selection: Merit-Based and Continentally Balanced
The 30 participants will be selected through a competitive, merit-based review by a joint panel comprising UNDP, the AUC, AWLN, and ASG. Selection is designed to ensure fairness, regional balance, political inclusivity, and strategic impact across the continent.
The inaugural cohort will reflect:
- Representation from all five African regions, with a maximum of two participants per country
- At least 60% of participants from countries facing elections within 12–36 months
- At least 40% young women leaders aged 21–35
- Linguistic diversity across Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone, and Arabophone Africa
- Balance between executive, legislative, and party leadership roles, and between ruling and opposition parties
How to Apply
Government ministries, political parties, AU member state institutions, and civil society organisations are invited to submit nominations. Self-nominations supported by an institutional endorsement are also welcome.
Each nomination package must include:
- An official nomination or endorsement letter, signed by an authorised senior official, political party leader, NGO or recognised stakeholder
- The nominee’s curriculum vitae (maximum two pages)
- A personal statement from the nominee (maximum 1,000 words)
Africa’s next generation of women political leaders starts here. Apply online: Submit your application
Deadline for applications: 15 May 2026
Lusaka, Zambia | 21 April 2026 — The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Gender Division, the Non‑Governmental Gender Organizations’ Coordinating Council (NGOCC), the Spotlight Initiative, the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), the Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue (ZCID), and UN Women convened a three‑day High‑Level Conference on Accelerated Women’s Political Participation and Leadership in Zambia, ahead of the 2026 General Elections.
Anchored within UNDP’s Africa Facility for Women in Political Leadership (AFWPL), the conference provides a national platform for evidence‑based dialogue, political commitment, and coordinated action to address the structural barriers hindering women’s participation in politics. These include patriarchal norms, gender‑based violence, limited access to campaign financing, exclusion from political party decision‑making structures, and inadequate media visibility.
With just four years remaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Zambia faces a critical challenge in achieving women’s full, equal, and effective participation in political leadership. Despite progressive policies and legal frameworks, women remain significantly underrepresented in decision‑making positions across the country.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Minister of Justice, Hon. Princess Kasune, the Republican President, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, emphasized that inclusive governance is impossible without women’s leadership. The President noted that “when women participate fully, governance becomes more responsive and reflective of the realities of our people. When women lead, nations do not merely grow; they advance with purpose, balance, and vision.”
Across the globe, deliberate illiberal strategies that exploit entrenched gender inequality are increasingly being used to weaken democratic institutions from within. The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was not simply a byproduct of chaos at the beginning of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term. Rather, it followed a well-documented authoritarian strategy in which attacks on gender equality are used to consolidate power, narrow civic space, and make democratic governance harder to defend. While the process of dismantling the agency that administered U.S. government foreign assistance has been well documented, significant gaps remain between what insiders witnessed and what the broader public understands. This gap in understanding is not benign. When the public perceives these events as isolated policy shifts rather than coordinated institutional erosion, it diffuses accountability, obscures the impact, reduces resistance, and allows similar tactics to be redeployed without scrutiny.
The administration’s early actions targeting gender equality, women’s empowerment, LGBTQI+ initiatives, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility functions operated not as peripheral policy disputes but as frontline tactics that weakened foreign assistance infrastructure, government institutions, and democratic norms. Trump has used this approach since at least 2016. It was mapped out in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. Drawing on firsthand experience and technical analysis, this report situates these actions within an effective authoritarian pattern of leveraging patriarchal norms and cross-ideological gender bias to justify institutional retrenchment, create administrative compliance, and accelerate structural dismantling. Ultimately, the strategic sidelining of gender equality functions increased institutional vulnerability. Although the Trump administration’s targeting of those functions did not create the vulnerability, it recognized, exposed, and exploited it as part of a wider effort to erode democratic norms. Rebuilding democratic systems and foreign assistance architecture, therefore, will require treating gender equality as a core resilience safeguard rather than a peripheral policy concern. Its strategic targeting is central to the broader authoritarian assault on democracy. Democracy stakeholders must name that pattern, examine the decisions that enabled it, and learn from what unfolded.
Since Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, digital platforms have become central to political participation in the country, enabling female politicians, elections candidates, activists and public figures to mobilise communities and shape public debate.However, this visibility has drastically exposed women in politics to various forms of Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) : Online harassment, sexualised abuse, defamation, threats and coordinated smear campaigns are routinely used to undermine women’s credibility, silence their voices and deter their participation in political life. Beyond the severe harm inflicted on individual women in politics, TFGBV constitutes a structural threat to all women’s political rights, democratic pluralism and freedom of expression. By reinforcing misogynistic norms and normalising sexist intimidation, it erodes hard-won gains of women’s political participation in Tunisia.
What is at stake extends beyond Tunisia. The 2011 Revolution of Dignity which ended the Ben Ali dictatorship marked a historic turning point, igniting the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ and positioned Tunisia as a symbol of democratic possibility in the region and on the African continent. Earlier milestones, from the Personal Status Code of 1956 to progressive reforms including Organic Law No. 58-2017 on the elimination of violence against women and girls (Law 58), have long cast Tunisia as a reference point for women’s rights and legal reform. Tunisia’s trajectory sends signals across Africa and the Middle East about what becomes possible when women’s rights are defended and what collapses when they are politically sacrificed.
This webinar focused on barriers, challenges and strategies pertaining to the issue of gender parity for women in politics. Our guest speaker for the discussion was Dr. Mona Lena Krook.
Applying an intersectional lens the webinar discussion drew on research from Dr. Mona Lena Krook’s book, Elect Women for a Change: The Path to Gender Parity in Politics, Dr. Krook presented a core thesis: the global political community must move beyond aspirational "critical mass" targets (typically 30%) toward a non-negotiable 50/50 parity framework. This shift represents a transition from viewing women’s participation as an elective "add-on" to recognizing it as a fundamental requirement for democratic legitimacy.
Over the past decade Somaliland has seen a worrying convergence of political exclusion for women and active pushback against progressive sexual-offences laws and gender-equity measures. The result is not only weaker legal protection for survivors, but social environments that enable sexual violence and silence victims. This article examines recent examples and reports, connects them to the rollback of protections and low female political representation, and outlines the human-rights and social costs for Somaliland’s women and girls.
This article is released by the Women’s Human Rights, Education & Environment Association (WHEEA), with KOMBOA through the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network. It aims to expose the growing impact of backlash against the women’s rights movement in Somaliland, particularly following the rejection of progressive sexual-offences legislation. By documenting recent cases of sexual violence, political exclusion, and institutional failures, the article highlights how resistance to women’s rights has deepened impunity and vulnerability for women and girls. In addition to analysis, the article provides concrete policy recommendations for lawmakers, religious leaders, civil society, and international partners to strengthen protection, accountability, and women’s political participation in Somaliland.
This brief provides an overview of how the UN system has advanced global efforts to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls (VAWG) over the past five years. Drawing from the contributions of 36 UN entities and mechanisms for the Inventory of United Nations activities to end violence against women and girls, the brief highlights collective progress achieved through coordinated action, joint programming and partnerships with governments, civil society and women’s rights organizations. The brief documents the UN system’s role in advancing global norms and standards, with notable developments in violence in the work environment, technology-facilitated violence, conflict-related sexual violence and harmful practices. It showcases how coordination mechanisms and flagship joint initiatives—such as the spotlight initiative, the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and other inter-agency programmes—have mobilized resources, strengthened laws and policies, expanded access to survivor-centered services, scaled up prevention efforts and improved data and evidence. At the same time, the brief underscores persistent gaps, including uneven implementation of laws, limited financing, fragmented prevention efforts, data challenges and growing backlash against gender equality. It emphasizes the central role of women’s rights organizations and feminist movements in driving sustainable change. Looking ahead to 2030, the brief calls for the UN system to deepen coordination, strengthen accountability, invest in evidence-based interventions at scale and reinforce locally led, whole-of-society approaches to end VAWG.
Mitigating violence against women in politics in Africa – insights from Ghana, Kenya and Zimbabwe
A new book maps how electoral violence affects women in local politics in Ghana, Kenya and Zimbabwe, showing how they are systematically targeted in ways that limit their participation and help maintain male-dominated political systems.
Drawing on 134 interviews with politically active women, this new book – Making politics safer –documents a wide range of violence and abuse, including physical and sexual attacks, psychological pressure, economic manipulation and symbolic humiliation. It also highlights intimidation, online harassment, disinformation and violence within political parties as common tools used to sideline women.
Younger and unmarried women, those from marginalised ethnic groups, and those in opposition parties are found to face the highest risks. Even in countries where gender quotas exist, such as Kenya and Zimbabwe, a higher number of women in elected positions has not resulted in safer conditions.