Advocacy & Lobbying
New York, 24 September 2024 - Since 2014, HeForShe has bolstered a global movement, engaging more than 2 million men and individuals of all genders in championing gender equality. This unique initiative, led by UN Women, has driven 3 billion conversations on topics ranging from closing the pay gap to combating violence against women, reaching more than 36 million people in 2023 alone, including those in crisis-affected areas. In 2023 alone, HeForShe has engaged more than 300,000 employees across multiple member organizations, putting gender equality at the center of the conversations at workplaces, with at least USD 5.7 million in direct investments towards gender equality.
To ensure the HeForShe movement continues pushing for gender equality over the next ten years, UN Women is announcing the addition of four new global leaders who have committed to making advancements within their respective sectors. They are Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister of Spain; Hugh Evans, CEO and Co-Founder of Global Citizen; Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank; and Michelle Terry, CEO of Movember.
Read here the full article published by HeForShe on 24 September 2024.
Image credits: HeForShe
Equal is greater. Equal adds up. When actions deliver for women and girls, everyone benefits. The world has a plan to achieve gender equality and the rights and empowerment of women and girls. That plan is the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA). As the BPfA turns 30, UN Women launches efforts to mobilize action and investment to achieve gender equality, rights, and empowerment of all women and girls. Through six priority areas of action, and by putting youth at the centre of these efforts, equal is achievable.
Find out in this brochure how everyone can take action to achieve an equal world where all voices are heard, all rights are respected, and all people enjoy equal opportunity.
Access here the full report published by UN Women on 22 September 2024.
The Pact for the Future, set to be endorsed at the United Nations Summit of the Future on 22-23 September in New York, is a pivotal framework designed to address global challenges with a long-term vision extending beyond 2030. It includes two annexes: the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration for Future Generations, focusing on digital governance and the rights of future generations. The Pact’s five broad focus areas include: sustainable development; international peace and security; science and technology; youth and future generations, and transforming global governance. This comprehensive framework is critical as it proposes reforms to global institutions like the UN, aiming to tackle issues such as climate change and peace and security amid increasing geopolitical tensions.
However, one of the key global challenges missing from the Pact is the decline of democracy, a pressing issue that has significant implications for the other areas the Pact seeks to address. International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Report 2024: Strengthening the Legitimacy of Elections in a Time of Radical Uncertainty highlights how democratic decline and rising authoritarianism are undermining political rights and civic space, which are fundamental for achieving the Pact’s goals on peace, security, and sustainable development.
Read here the full article published by International IDEA on 22 September 2024
What you need to know:
•The two-thirds gender rule, enshrined in Articles 27(8) and 81(b), remains unfulfilled.
•It’s a promise we made to ourselves, to our daughters, and to the future of our nation.
As I pen this note, I’m struck by the resilience and determination of Kenyan women who dare to dream of political leadership. Their stories are both inspiring and sobering.
They remind us of how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go. The challenges are stark and multifaceted. Our Constitution promised a new dawn for gender equality, yet, over a decade later, we’re still grappling with its implementation.
The two-thirds gender rule, enshrined in Articles 27(8) and 81(b), remains unfulfilled. It’s a promise we made to ourselves, to our daughters, and to the future of our nation. We must ask ourselves: why have we failed to honour it? The answer lies partly in the deep-rooted obstacles that women face when considering a political career.
Read here the full article published by The Nation on 21 September 2024.
Image credits: The Nation
Women's rights advocates are demanding the immediate implementation of a nearly 30-year-old gender equity bill which Ghana’s president signed into law on Thursday.
This ends a process which began in 1998, with the bill shuffling between parliaments until the legislature passed it in July this year. Many campaigners faulted Ghana’s law-making body for the long delay.
Ghana now joins Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Mozambique and others in Africa that have working affirmative action laws.
These countries have a 30% quota for women in decision-making bodies, in parliament and other state agencies.
What changes does Ghana's new law bring in?
Ghana's Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Act 2024 is expected to ensure a critical number of women hold key positions in government, security, commerce and other decision-making spaces.
The law promotes the progressive and active participation of women in public life from a minimum of 30% to 50% by 2030, in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goal of achieving gender equality by 2030.
Read here the full article published by the BBC on 20 September 2024.
Image credits: BBC
Women Aid Collective (WACOL) has charged political party executives to rally support for women participating in politics.
This was as the Non-Government Organisation (NGO) said it has empowerment about 18 political parties to sensitise stakeholders and community members on the need for women participation in politics.
The program coordinator of WACOL on women participation in politics, Barr. Helen Kalu, gave this charge during a one day engagement with political party representatives at Clevero Hotels Abakaliki.
The program was in collaboration with the UN women with support from Canadian government.
Mrs. Kalu however, noted that the meeting was to analyse the outcome of July 20,2024 local government election in Ebonyi state.
He tasked the political party executive to be committed in sensitising the people on the need to support women in politics.
Read here the full article published by Blue Print on 19 September 2024.
Image credits: Blue Print
Inclusive politics remains an elusive goal in Pakistan, which has a history of military interference in governance institutions, unstable elected governments and internecine conflict. Women’s voices, within the corridors of power or as constituents whose interests must be accounted for, have been weak but are growing stronger.
Activism, led by the women’s movement and civil society advocacy groups since the 1980s, has yielded results. The state has opened up democratic spaces to women in elected legislatures and local bodies through an expanded reserved seats quota; and recently legislators revised electoral rules to mandate a minimal level of women’s greater inclusion as candidates and voters.
This paper aims to contribute to the growing body of literature around how feminist mobilisation and political voice leads to progressive policy outcomes. It does this through exploring three questions:
How did the women’s movement lead to the decision to restore and increase the quota for women in elected bodies?
How have women used their elected positions, and worked in caucuses, to promote their interests? What other measures will further strengthen their political voice?
Can we gain insight into pro-women policymaking by looking at women’s activism, political voice, and other factors within a broader contextual framework to identify patterns that may predict further progress?
Click here to see the paper.
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/.