Advocacy & Lobbying
On International Women’s Day, March 8, women in major cities across Pakistan, including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Multan, took to the streets for the seventh consecutive year to advocate for gender equality, justice, and safety against patriarchal norms.
Aurat March is a feminist collective that unites to speak out against discrimination and inequality. The march was attended by hundreds of women, girls, transgender people, and male allies across Pakistan.
The theme of the Aurat March was the liberation and support of Palestine, with each chapter also presenting manifestos on topics related to gender equality.
Unrest in the Islamabad March
The women marchers of Islamabad’s Aurat March carried placards with messages of solidarity with oppressed communities, such as the apartheid happening in Gaza and the forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan, Pakistan.
Placards also highlighted women's desire to walk home safely without the fear of being harassed. This is a very common concern for women in Pakistan, as they often face sexual harassment and violence in public spaces.
Throughout the march, the women chanted slogans about Gaza, showing their support for Gaza, where over 25,000 women and children have tragically lost their lives in Israel's conflict with Gaza since October 7, 2023. The atmosphere was charged with emotion and determination as the women raised their voices for justice and equality.
However, the march faced challenges from the police and authorities.
Read here the full article published by Global Voices on 19 March 2024.
Image source: Global Voices
Many advocates, gender activists, development agencies and civil society organisations have been making a strong case for the inclusion of women in high level politics and empowering them economically. A clear case is ongoing advocacy for political parties in Ghana to nominate women as the running mates of the former President John Dramani Mahama and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
Last week John Mahama retained Prof Naana Opoku Agyeman as part of the affirmative action to give voice to women in politics. The electorate is now waiting for Dr. Bawumia to announce his running mate. So far, the discussions in the media space suggest that the Vice President may opt for a male candidate. But in politics anything can change. In the 2020 elections, John Mahama settled for Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyeman, the first female to become Vice Chancellor of a university in Ghana. Whether the female professor’s inclusion provided any gains for John Mahama’s bid to become president again remains debatable. However, there is enough evidence to demonstrate that when women are empowered political and economically, they become a voice for the vulnerable. Therefore, investing in agriculture and supporting women to thrive in agriculture value chain. This is an agenda for the African Union members to implement.
Click here to read the full article published by the Business & Financial Times on 18 March 2024.
Image source: Business & Financial Times
The German government in collaboration with a non-governmental organisation, Hope for Family Development Initiative (HFDI) is set to train 300 women in three Southwest states on campaign strategies, leadership skills, and political engagement.
The project, tagged ‘Advancing Women’s Political Participation through Female Elected Candidates in South West Nigeria’, would be held in Osun, Oyo, and Ekiti states.
Speaking during a media parley held at NUJ Press Center, Osogbo, HFDI Program Manager, Adeola Falana, said the region still faces significant disparities in political representation despite the increase in the number of women holding political positions in the country.
Falana said the NGO would be implementing capacity-building training for women aspirants, town halls meeting with community stakeholders, consultative meetings with stakeholders, and sensitization workshops for young girls on the importance of women’s involvement in politics.
She called on stakeholders to work collectively to support women’s leadership and ensure women have an equal voice in shaping the future of our communities and nation.
Read here the full article published by the Nigerian Tribune on 12 March 2024.
Image source: Nigerian Tribune
Russian singer Monetochka (Liza Gyrdymova), who lives in exile after the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022, released a song in honor of the International Women's Day titled “Mom Has a Secret.”
All of the women featured in the video for the song, as well as Monetochka herself, are mothers but also high profile and vocal activists who oppose the war and the current Russian regime.
The released video features journalists Katerina Gordeeva, who has her own popular opposition YouTube video channel and currently lives in exile, Anna Mongait, a journalist for Russia TV Rain, banned in Russia, TV host Tatiana Lazareva who had also, as other women from the list, expressed her firm anti-war stance and lives in exile, and Pussy Riot member Nadya Tolokonnikova who spent several years in prison and is strongly against war and Putin's regime. It shows very popular actresses Chulpan Khamatova who features in a lot of anti-war videos and plays, currently in exile, Varvara Shmykova, who also has anti-war stance and had to leave her career and country because of it, and Maria Shalaeva who was detained at the opposition rally together with her son and had to leave Russia. The video includes politician Yekaterina Duntsova, who tried to run against Putin in the upcoming elections and has an anti-war stance (she is still in Russia), lawyer Mari Davtyan, who fights against domestic violence in Russia, and Yulia Vanalnaya, the widow of opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
Read here the full article published by Global Voices on 11 March 2024.
Image source: Global Voices
On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2024, 8 March, Congress Thematic Spokesperson on Gender Equality Eirini Dourou (Greece, SOC/G/PD) has made the following statement:
“On this year’s International Women’s Day, we echo the words of the Reykjavik Principles for Democracy and call for full, equal and meaningful participation in political and public life for all, in particular for women and girls. We cannot “inspire inclusion” if women and girls are not fully represented in our democratic institutions. This is a shared battle to be embraced by all.
“As local and regional authorities, we have a key role to play in accelerating women’s political careers. Helping them to develop their capacities and bolster their representation and visibility at regional and national level is a sure way to see their numbers increase in our parliaments and governments.
Read here the full article published by The Council of Europe on 7 March 2024.
Image source: Council of Europe
Mali, a landlocked country in West Africa, has one of the world’s fastest growing populations. The country houses more than nine million women, yet the state of women’s health remains a critical issue. Women in Mali face significant challenges. A lack of awareness and respect for human rights, especially for women and children, continues to drive disparities in education, governance, economic independence, and security. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranks Mali in a low human development category, placing it 186th out of 191 countries and territories globally.
Gender-based violence and female genital mutilation persist as major issues for women in Mali, further undermining women’s health and well-being. Legal avenues for justice are often inaccessible to women due to social pressures and a lack of awareness of their rights. Moreover, Mali’s political landscape has become very unstable in recent years, leading to a humanitarian crisis and the displacement of more than 470,000 people in the country.
Click here to read the full article published by The Borgen Project on 19 February 2024.
Image source: the Borgen Project
Given that 2018 is the centenary of some women gaining the vote in the UK, the British Council has commissioned this research to map and understand the key developments in women’s role in politics in the UK and around the world over the last 100 years, contrasting the UK’s progress with international examples.
This report will form a basis for developing international discussion and debate about these vital issues and generating opportunities to do even more to support women’s political participation. This is in furtherance of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5.5 – ‘Women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life’ and supports the British Council’s role of creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust as the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.
The research engaged a range of participants from the UK as a whole, the nations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and internationally through 40 individual interviews; six roundtables with 77 stakeholders and over 60 talking head short films to reflect many different experiences and a range of expertise. There was a desire to understand the direct experiences of participants, and their voices and views were drawn on directly throughout. Participants were mainly women and ranged from those with direct experience as politicians, to those who are experts as academics, international consultants and activists in the field of women’s political participation.
Click here to read the full report.
Today’s political landscape poses complex global challenges to democracies.
The landscape is shaped by globalization, geopolitical power shifts, changing roles and structures of (supra)national organizations and institutions, and the rise in modern communications technologies. Transnational phenomena such as migration and climate change influence the dynamics of conflict and development, citizenship and state sovereignty. Rising inequalities, and the social polarization and exclusion they generate, skew political representation and voice, reducing the vital moderate centre of the electorate.
These dynamics have contributed to a widely contested view that democracy is in decline. Events around the world continue to challenge the notion of democracy’s resilience and make democratic systems appear fragile and threatened. Yet democratic values among citizens, and within institutions at the national and international levels, continue to be expressed and defended.
This Overview of International IDEA’s The Global State of Democracy 2017: Exploring Democracy’s Resilience outlines the key current challenges to democracy and the enabling conditions for its resilience. Based on newly developed Global State of Democracy indices as a key evidence base to inform policy interventions and identify problemsolving approaches, the publication presents global and regional assessments of the state of democracy from 1975—at the beginning of the third wave of democratization—to 2015, complemented by a qualitative analysis of challenges to democracy up to 2017.
A single moment can spark a revolution, collective actions can transform laws, creative expression can change attitudes and an invention can alter the course of history. It’s these threads that weave together to propel the women’s movement — even in the face of obstacles. Discover how some of these strands, big and small, have shaped your lives, and the rights and lives of women and girls worldwide.
Explore women’s activism from generations past and present with this UN Women interactive platform.
This report is based on the discussions held during the International Forum on Women’s Political Empowerment, held on 7 September 2017 in Budapest, Hungary. It is a short summary of views expressed by experts, guest speakers and participants, as highlighted in their remarks and group discussions that followed.
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Hungarian Women’s Lobby, and the Embassy of Finland in Budapest organized the forum, in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Corvinus University of Budapest and the Embassy of Estonia in Vienna. The forum was also supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Budapest and the Council of Europe.
The International Forum on Women’s Political Empowerment aimed to raise awareness and facilitate dialogue on women’s participation in political and public life in Hungary and beyond. The forum gathered around 200 participants (165 women and 35 men), including politicians, civil servants, gender equality advocates, representatives of civil society, academia and youth organizations, as well as students. Thirty Hungarian and international experts (23 women and 7 men) shared their knowledge on the topic, including guest speakers from Austria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway, and Portugal.
The forum served as a platform to exchange good practices for advancing women’s political participation. It explored persisting and emerging challenges as well as opportunities and good practices for political parties, civil society and youth to strengthen gender equality, women’s rights and women’s access to decision-making.
Click here to access the report.
Using data to bridge the gender gap
Globally, women make up 49.7% of the population but hold only 22% of public offices. The Women in Public Service Project Data Portal seeks to answer why this is so, and how to increase the percentage of women in public office to 50% by 2050.
Click here to visit the data portal http://data.50x50movement.org/.
This policy guidance provides a range of good practice options for advancing gender equality in the content of constitutions. It contributes to, and complements, the capacity-building support that United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) staff in country and regional offices provide to a range of national partners and stakeholders for different aspects of constitution-making (which includes but is not limited to support for the drafting of new constitutions and the revision of existing constitutions). Other UNDP initiatives provide guidance and support for the process of constitution-making. This policy guidance is designed to build the capacity of UNDP staff to advocate for the advancement of gender equality and women’s human rights in the content of constitutions. It is intended to provide technical support for a range of partners and national stakeholders involved in constitution-making, including; legislatures, constituent assemblies, constitutional review committees or commissions, governments, civil society organizations and legislative drafters. Through the inclusion of numerous examples from existing constitutions, it aims to foster UNDP entry points for pursuing South–South exchanges through which countries can benefit from, and utilize, the good practice constitutional provisions of similarly situated countries. It also aims to raise awareness of the importance of advancing gender equality in the content of constitutions. With this in mind, examples have been chosen based on the de jure constitutional formulation rather than the record of gender equality in the particular country.