Advocacy & Lobbying
This report was written by researchers from the Organization for Justice and Accountability in the Horn of Africa (OJAH) and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).
The report benefited from reviews by members of PHR staff, the PHR Advisory Council, and the PHR Board of Directors, as well as members of the OJAH Board of Directors.
The research team would like to recognize the strength and resilience of the survivors whose experiences and stories are reflected in this data, as well as the dedication of the health professionals who provided services and documented these violations—often at grave risk to their personal safety.
About Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) uses medicine and science to document and draw attention to human rights violations. PHR was founded on the belief that physicians and other health professionals possess unique skills that lend significant credibility to the investigation and documentation of human rights abuses.
In response to the scourge of sexual violence, PHR launched its Program on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones in 2011. The program works to confront impunity for sexual violence in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kenya, Myanmar, and Ukraine.
PHR has conducted research to understand the scale and scope of conflict-related sexual violence in various conflicts and contexts, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Myanmar, and Sierra Leone.
About the Organization for Justice and Accountability in the Horn of Africa (OJAH)
The Organization for Justice and Accountability in the Horn of Africa (OJAH) is an independent and impartial organization dedicated to strengthening justice and accountability mechanisms in the Horn of Africa through evidence collection and preservation.
The organization’s mission is to deter war crimes, crimes against humanity, conflict-related sexual violence, and other severe human rights abuses across the Greater Horn of Africa. It pursues this mission by conducting documentation and investigations, advancing the environment for justice and accountability, preserving and analyzing materials, and supporting international justice and accountability actors and efforts.
Full report here.
This report advocates for thorough protection of human rights in the digital age, emphasizing the strength of constitutional safeguards over ordinary legislation. As digital technologies increasingly influence civil and political rights, online as well as offline, robust constitutional frameworks are essential to address new challenges such as unwarranted surveillance, censorship and data monopolies. Ensuring adequate constitutional protection helps anchor fundamental rights in an evolving digital landscape.
Click here to read the full report.
It’s been six months since the latest spark ignited mass protests in Iran — the death of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa (Jina) Amini in morality police custody after she was arrested for allegedly failing to wear her hijab properly.
The outrage over her killing resulted in women-led protests. Their slogan “woman, life, freedom,” originally a Kurdish manifesto, has helped fuel the Iranian protesters’ demands for radical change.
Read more: Iranian women keep up the pressure for real change – but will broad public support continue?
The perseverance, bravery and determination of the Iranian protesters, particularly women and girls, have been heroic. Despite risks to their lives and freedoms due to a brutal government crackdown, many remain active in publicly articulating their grievances in a variety of ways.
In recent months, while some street presence has continued in Iran — for example, in response to the poisonings of schoolgirls in cities across the country — protesters are also organizing strikes, sit-ins, boycotts and publicizing their demands in the form of manifestos, charters and bills of rights.
In fact, a key distinguishing factor between the recent protests and the previous ones is that Iranians have been forming coalitions to advocate for important structural and institutional changes in support of equality, human rights, democracy and freedom.
More than 40 representatives from civil society organizations (CSOs), women’s rights groups, gender advocates, and key national institutions have completed a three-day capacity-building workshop aimed at strengthening coordination and advocacy for increased women’s political participation in Liberia.
Jointly organized by UN Women and UNDP under the Liberia Electoral Support Project (LESP), the training was supported by the European Union, Ireland, and Sweden, with technical assistance from the UN Electoral Assistance Division (EAD) of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.
The workshop gathered participants from the National Elections Commission (NEC), the Women’s Legislative Caucus of Liberia (WLCL), the Law Reform Commission (LRC), the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, youth and disability organizations, and election observers. It focused on enhancing knowledge, practical advocacy skills, and strategic coordination to promote women’s leadership and political inclusion.
Expert Insights and Interactive Learning
Mr. Maarten Halff, Senior Political Affairs Officer and Electoral Systems Expert at the UN EAD in New York, facilitated virtual sessions on Obstacles to Women’s Participation in Liberia: An Analysis of the 2023 Results, Quotas in Context: An ABC of Electoral Systems, and Quotas and Quotas in the Liberian Context: Options and Implications.
These sessions offered comparative insights into how gender quotas operate across various electoral systems and their potential to enhance women’s representation in Liberia.
Additional sessions were led by Ms. Rindai Chipfunde-Vava, an international consultant from Zimbabwe, and Mr. Zage Filiposki, UNDP Liberia Electoral Specialist, using the BRIDGE (Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections) curriculum.
Topics included Women’s Participation in Politics: Targets and Numbers, Sex and Gender Definitions, Equality, Level Playing Field, and International Standards of Elections, Advocacy, Campaigning, and Lobbying for Women’s Political Empowerment and Strategic Planning, Stakeholder Mapping, and Message Delivery Methods.
UN Women India Country Representative Kanta Singh has launched a new think-tank aimed at advancing women’s equity.
New Delhi based thriWe – The Hub for Research and Innovation on Women’s Equity is a think tank committed to advancing women’s equity through research, innovation, and collaboration. It aims to bridge the gap between policy and practice by focusing on evidence-based research, policy advocacy, and capacity building to support gender equity across sectors.
Singh highlighted India’s success in various fields and increased participation of girls and women.
“However, there still is a lot to do,” she added and emphasised the need to further increase women participation in the labour force and representation in political leadership.
Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, is representing South Africa at the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women (GLMW 2025), being held in Beijing, China, this week. The high-level forum brings together heads of state, ministers, and global advocates to accelerate efforts toward achieving full gender equality and women's empowerment worldwide.
The two-day gathering, which concludes on Tuesday, is convened under the theme "One Shared Future: New and Accelerated Process for Women's All-Round Development." Supported by UN Women, the meeting marks an important milestone in global dialogue on women's rights, inclusion, and leadership — echoing the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), which remains the world's most comprehensive blueprint for advancing gender equality.
Reaffirming South Africa's Commitment to Gender Equality
Minister Chikunga is expected to deliver South Africa's progress report on implementing the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, outlining the nation's achievements and ongoing priorities in empowering women across social, political, and economic spheres.
According to the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD), South Africa continues to make measurable strides in integrating gender equality principles into public policy, governance, and legislation.
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.