Advocacy & Lobbying
Democracy begins in parties, gender equality begins in parties, and the very fact that we have that percentage of women in Parliament shows that politics in Montenegro is a place where women are not very welcome, said Member of Parliament in the Parliament of Montenegro Jevrosima Pejović at the round table "Women in the Political Life of Montenegro", announced "Promotion&Consulting" (PROMOCON).
A round table "Women in the Political Life of Montenegro" was held today at the European House in Podgorica, organized as part of the project "Political Representation of Women in Politics - From Reforms to Equality", implemented by the Sociological Center of Montenegro - SOCEN.
As announced during the event, the goal of the project is to empower young women in Montenegro to become more actively involved in political processes, participate in decision-making and affirm themselves as holders of public office at the local and national levels. The project is simultaneously aimed at decision-makers and the general public, with the aim of raising awareness about the importance of gender equality and more consistent implementation of legal solutions in this area.
Ahead of the 2027 general election, a coalition of faith-based and civil society organisations has called for urgent reforms to enhance women’s political participation and leadership inclusion in Nigeria.
The coalition made the call in Abuja while addressing journalists on the persistent underrepresentation of women in governance.
Mother Leone-Martha Okaraga of the African Faith and Justice Network expressed concern that women remain significantly excluded from political leadership, despite constituting about half of Nigeria’s population.
She called for reforms of political party structures and stronger enforcement of laws that penalise electoral violence against women.
According to her, the current political environment remains unconducive for women’s active participation in politics.
“There are no guardrails”, says Karen Davila about popular social media platforms. “AI, like anything, can be used for good – but it can also be abused.”
Davila, an award-winning broadcast journalist and UN Women National Goodwill Ambassador for the Philippines, describes her experience coming face-to-anonymous-faces with online abusers in sophisticated – and disturbing – digital abuse campaigns.
Immediately following her moderation of a 2016 presidential debate in the Philippines, in a deliberate campaign to bully the press, tens of thousands of vulgar and threatening comments appeared in Davila’s social media feeds – every hour. Although it was clear the commenters were bots, the misogynistic attacks were designed by humans to damage her credibility and her sense of safety.
The campaign of online violence was a message to the country and to journalists. “They want to push you to silence so that you don’t criticize the actions of the administration”, says Davila.
In Sudan, the crisis is staggering. After three years of conflict, humanitarian systems have collapsed. Sudan now has the highest number of internally displaced people in the world, and nearly half of Sudan’s population, 19 million people, face acute hunger. Women, girls, and historically marginalized groups are bearing the brunt of the crisis and make up the majority of those needing lifesaving assistance. Conflict and displacement deepen existing inequalities and often increase loss of income and education, and exposure to gender-based violence while limiting their access to medical assistance, caregiving support, and safe shelter.
Our partners in Sudan are providing food, shelter, and safety for women and girls daily in areas few other organizations can reach. Since 1989, Global Fund for Women has provided more than $1.2 million in flexible funding to more than 50 feminist organizations in Sudan.
A Global Fund for Women grantee partner shared what life looks like in Sudan today, and what it takes to sustain feminist organizing amid ongoing war and displacement. To protect her safety, we are keeping her name and organization anonymous.
Women leaders, journalists, and lawmakers in South Sudan on Thursday warned that online harassment, cyberbullying, and AI-generated misinformation are becoming growing threats to women’s political participation ahead of the country’s planned December 2026 elections.
The concerns were raised during a two-day workshop in Juba on communication, public speaking, and digital political outreach, organised by the Female Journalists Network (FJN) with support from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
As South Sudan prepares for what could become its first post-independence elections, participants said digital platforms were increasingly shaping political debate while also exposing women leaders and journalists to abuse, intimidation, and disinformation.
“Public opinion is shaped online. Policies are debated online. Campaigns are mobilised online,” said Oliver Mori, spokesperson of South Sudan’s National Assembly. “But while the digital space has opened opportunities, it has also introduced challenges, especially for women.”
This post is part of Global Voices’ May 2026 Spotlight series, “Global crisis, local solutions.” This series will offer stories of resistance and successful climate action, insight into how communities in the Global South are fighting back against the crisis, analysis of what this might mean for future generations, and more. You can support this coverage by donating here.
Tibetans have become frontline defenders against climate change in China’s Sanjiangyuan region, known as the “Water Tower of Asia,” after three decades of domestic and international interventions to establish a co-management model for ecological conservation.
Sanjiangyuan (三江源), located in China’s western Qinghai province, is the source of the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and the Lancang (or Mekong) River, which provide freshwater for China and the Indochina Peninsula. Approximately 90 percent of the 600,000 population that resides there are Tibetan herders.
Multiple studies show that the use of social media has a negative impact on the political leadership of women and girls in Latin America. Social media is one of citizens' most used tools in the region to get information and communicate with others, with a high level of internet penetration, and raising a series of issues related to the low level of digital literacy in the countries.
One of the biggest problems with the massive penetration of social media in Latin America is that users don’t have the knowledge nor the tools to know what is real and what is not. Identifying gender political violence online, including disinformation and fake news, is particularly difficult considering that lies spread faster than truth , making them more vulnerable to disinformation.
In order to understand if the safeguards in place are efficient, it is essential to identify the state of implementation of the institutional incentives for women to participate in politics, in addition to looking at the existing safeguards and legislation to counter online gender-based violence and disinformation in Latin America. Specifically, we look at the current state of affairs in four countries of the region. Our research question is: What is the state of implementing the institutional incentives for women to participate in politics, the existing safeguards to counter gender-based violence online, and the existing legislation against disinformation in Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil?
Access here the full report published by Fundación Multitudes.
A research study by Voice of Women Radio has shown why women don’t vote for female political aspirants in Nigeria.
The reasons ranged from their ignorance of the existing female political aspirants to beliefs that existing female political aspirants are inexperienced. Similarly, many women in the grassroots believe that men are better leaders than women.
There is also the issue of culture, inaccessibility of campaign funding for women as their male counterparts, and family upbringing, which favour males taking up leadership roles. However, higher among the reasons is female electives’ inability to connect with or impact their female electorates once elected into office.
The report detailing the research carried out in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria reveals that only 31 percent of 83 percent of female voters (that is, 8 out of 10 women possessing permanent voters’ cards) voted for women at the last elections.
Read here the full article published by Leadership News Nigeria on 8 October 2024.
Image by Leadership News Nigeria
Implementation Of The Beijing Declaration And Platform For Action (1995) And The Outcomes Of The Twenty Third Special Session Of The General Assembly (2000) In The Context Of The Of The Thirtieth Anniversary Of The Fourth World Conference On Women And The Adoption Of The Beijing Declaration And Platform For Action 2020
Read here the full country report published by UN Women Africa on 30 September 2024.
The 2nd Global Progress Report on SDG16 Indicators represents a unique and pivotal UN inter-agency effort toward supporting the realization of the 2030 Agenda. This report reveals critical trends that, if not reversed, could jeopardize the achievement of all goals set by the international community, leaving an increasing number of people behind.
Released in 2023, the first joint Global Progress Report on SDG 16 served as a wake-up call for action on strengthened efforts towards justice, peace, and strong institutions. The report portrayed a sobering picture, revealing that progress toward the 2030 Agenda was alarmingly off track, with advancements on goal 16 worryingly slow. In some instances, even moving in the wrong direction. The report, however, acknowledged some significant strides towards supporting countries in addressing data gaps through partnership, technical assistance and production of evidence.
This report, the second dedicated to Goal 16, compiles contributions from all indicators in a single document providing the best regional and global data that the UN system can offer across all targets. The data, statistics and accompanying analysis spotlight trends that have and will continue to shape our world, policy options and underscore the urgent need for action to reverse negative trends and to foster a more just and sustainable future.
Click here to access the full report published by UNDP on 17 July 2024.
Men in politics as agents of gender equitable change examines why men in politics decide to support gender equality, how they explain and frame their allyship, and how their actions are perceived by women politicians, activists and students. Drawing on evidence from three countries: Colombia, Liberia and Malaysia, this research contributes in-depth, qualitative and cross-country analysis of how gender norms are influencing decisions of men politicians to support gender equality in the Global South.
As key stakeholders in changing norms around political masculinities and representation in politics, the project responded to feminist calls for a better understanding of how more men can be motivated to take an active role in addressing gender inequalities. Despite their diverse histories, social, political and economic contexts, all three countries had senior government officials expressing support for feminist foreign policy and a greater public discourse on gender equality or feminist politics among men politicians.
Based on key informant interviews and focus group discussions with politicians, activists and university students, the study explores how personal motivations, political institutions, social norms, and global gender equality regimes help to shape men’s engagement – or lack of it – with gender equality, while being mindful of the risk of the appropriation of feminist principles to maintain patriarchal inequalities and intersecting systems of oppression.
This cross-country analysis, together with the three country reports, tease out the implications for politicians, international donors, civil society and researchers on how best to engage with men in positions of power to promote the sustainable transformation of unequal gender norms.
Read here the full report published by the ALIGN Gender Norms Platform on 28 May 2024.
Despite overall progress in terms of more women participating in political decision-making worldwide, gender equality in political participation remains elusive. Deeply entrenched discrimination continues to hinder women’s full participation in political and electoral processes. In its efforts to advance women’s rights and gender equality, UN Women recognizes women’s political participation as a key area of focus.
UN Women’s initiatives to advance women’s political participation include:
¨promoting supportive legislative and institutional reforms;
¨building the capacity of women political aspirants and leaders;
¨monitoring, preventing and mitigating violence against women in politics; and
¨encouraging social norms change to recognize women’s political leadership.
UN Women is also actively engaged in promoting women’s political participation through coordination and advocacy efforts across the UN system.
In 2023, UN Women’s Independent Evaluation Service conducted an evaluation of UN Women’s support to women’s political participation. The primary focus of the evaluation was the impact of UN Women’s efforts to support women’s political participation at the national (and subnational) level. The evaluation also identified lessons learned; examined the contribution of regional and global-level support/guidance; and tracked both positive and negative unintended consequences, including cases of backlash against women’s political participation.
The evaluation included a retrospective view of results achieved during the UN Women Strategic Plan 2018–2021 period, as well as a forward-looking view to support implementation of the UN Women Strategic Plan 2022–2025. The geographic scope covered UN Women’s programming across all six regions through a representative sample of 12 country offices.
Read here the full report published by UN Women on 18 May 2024.