Elections
Ahead of the parliamentary elections in Georgia, UNDP and Sweden are supporting political parties to empower women politicians and explore effective strategies for attracting, engaging, and promoting women candidates.
These targeted efforts envision consultations and training on introducing internal gender policies, while also fostering professional development opportunities for party members.
Additionally, UNDP and Sweden assist in strengthening women's wings within political parties and support the establishment of these entities where they are lacking. As of 2023, parties such as “For Georgia”, “Georgian Dream”, “Lelo”, and the “United National Movement”, have initiated the integration of Women's Political Organizations into their structures, with more planning to follow suit in 2024.
Click here to read the full article published by UNDP on 21 February 2024.
In the 2019 general election, Indonesians voted more women into the national parliament than ever before. After the first election of the post-authoritarian period in 1999, women’s representation was a paltry 8.8%, so the rise to 20.9% in 2019 seemed worth celebrating. Indeed, women activists had worked long and hard to reach this point. Disappointed with the results of the first two elections, they had successfully pushed for a candidate quota, requiring parties to nominate at least 30% women.
This will again be tested in next week’s election. But given the barriers women candidates in Indonesia face, is the quota enough to raise representation?
Click here to read the full article published by She The People on 09 February 2024.
Image source: She The People
In the 2019 general election, Indonesians voted more women into the national parliament than ever before.
After the first election of the post-authoritarian period in 1999, women’s representation was a paltry 8.8%, so the rise to 20.9% in 2019 seemed worth celebrating. Indeed, women activists had worked long and hard to reach this point.
Disappointed with the results of the first two elections, they had successfully pushed for a candidate quota, requiring parties to nominate at least 30% women.
This will again be tested in next week’s election. But given the barriers women candidates in Indonesia face, is the quota enough to raise representation?
Click here to read the full article published by The Conversation on 8 February 2024.
Image source: The Conversation
In the bustling political landscape of Pakistan, a resounding call for gender equality echoes through the halls of power. Senior leaders from diverse political factions are emphasizing the indispensable role of women in politics and elections, recognizing it as a cornerstone of democracy.
A Clarion Call for Change
Nafisa Shah, a prominent figure from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), champions the cause with fervor. She underscores the significance of women's participation in the political process, asserting that it is vital for addressing their unique issues effectively.
Shandana Gulzar, an independent candidate, lauds the increasing engagement of women in elections. She views this active involvement as a stepping stone towards achieving gender equality and enhancing Pakistan's international image.
Rehana Imtiaz Dar, another political contender, expresses her commitment to national welfare. With confidence borne out of extensive social work, she voices her belief in her ability to win the elections.
Click here to read the full article published by BNN Breaking on 9 February 2024.
Image source: BNN Breaking
The Pakistan elections are only a day away, on February 8, and candidates of all genders, religions, and political parties are working hard to make their mark in the polls.
Among the thousands of candidates vying for a seat in this election, a few hundred stand out as women who have chosen to challenge traditional gender stereotypes. In fact, women's participation in the country is poor — data reveals that of the 17,000 candidates contesting the February 8 polls, only 839 are women, which is an abysmal 4.7 per cent.
We delve deeper into three women candidates and what they want from these polls.
Click here to read the full article published by Business Standard on 7 February 2024.
Image source: Business Standard
Over 150 women local councillors from across Georgia gathered for their annual conference to discuss the increasing role of women in politics and decision-making, especially in the lead-up to elections.
Supported by UNDP and Sweden in partnership with the Gender Equality Council of the Parliament of Georgia, the Women Councillors’ Political Forum brought together representatives from the Government, Parliament, civil society organizations, diplomatic missions, and international agencies.
H.E. Anna Lyberg, Ambassador of Sweden to Georgia; H.E. Meline Arakelian, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Georgia; and Douglas Webb, UNDP Resident Representative a.i. in Georgia, addressed the participants with welcoming remarks.
Click here to read the full article published by UNDP on 9 February 2024.
Image source: UNDP
NDI collaborated with the Federation of Women Lawyers - Kenya (FIDA-K) to review the performance of women in the 2017 general elections in A Gender Analysis of the 2017 Kenya General Elections. Through an examination of the legal and social environment within which the elections took place, and in comparison to the 2013 elections, the report provides data and analysis on women as candidates during the 2017 elections, and draws conclusions on the barriers to their success. These conclusions form the basis of recommendations for increasing meaningful women’s representation in Kenya’s elective bodies in the future.
Click here to read the report published by NDI on 28 February 2018.
Pakistani women face unique and frequently more severe challenges to their political participation than men do. In particular, the violence faced by Pakistani female political candidates, and voters is a serious barrier to their full participation in civic life. These challenges are especially difficult to address because they often go unrecorded and unreported. Security actors and public bodies such as Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) may struggle to respond to protect and promote women’s public participation because of the absence of documentation and understanding of the nature and magnitude of the problem, as well as lack of specific programming responses that may be appropriate to the context.
The present study seeks to fill this knowledge gap by documenting the distinct challenges to women’s political participation in Pakistan, specifically examining the issue of violence against women in politics (VAWP) during electoral processes. The aim of the study is to produce an evidence base and identify the types of VAWP in Pakistan to encourage appropriate policy measures through legislative reforms by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), and other key stakeholders. Specifically, the aim of this baseline study is to identify the forms of VAWP and to document its prevalence and magnitude in the country.
Based on this analysis, the study offers a number of policy options to address the issue of VAWP as well as providing recommendations to develop effective measures for eliminating VAWP in consultation with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), media, political parties, women candidates and voters, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and ECP. The study concludes with recommendations for the development of mechanisms to monitor incidents of VAWP ahead of elections.
Click here to read the report.
Abstract
Proportional electoral systems tend to be more beneficial for women's descriptive representation than majority systems. However, within proportional systems the gender equality of election outcomes differs, highlighting the importance of studying the actual use of electoral provisions in proportional representation (PR) systems. Therefore, we investigate the determinants of voting for female candidates in Belgium's local elections. This case is particularly interesting given the equal number of men and women on the candidate lists due to quota regulations, the possibility to cast multiple preference votes (lowering competition), and the high visibility of these local elections and its candidates. At the individual level, we find that women are more likely than men to vote for several women, yet same-sex voting is more common among men. Politically sophisticated respondents vote more often for candidates of both sexes. Against our expectations, a left-wing orientation does not increase the likelihood of voting for women. At the electoral district level, a larger supply of women at the top list position increases the chance to vote for this top woman, but there is no spillover effect to women lower on the list. District magnitude affects the number of preference votes but, against expectations, not the likelihood of voting for women.
Click here to access the paper.
The National Conference on “Gender and Electoral Reform: Making A Difference” in Malaysia was envisioned to look at current debates and obstacles as well as innovative strategies and alternative models in women’s representation in the Malaysian electoral process. This Conference introduced a panel of scholars and specialists to share their experiences and expertise, leading the discourse into the Malaysian context in hope of facilitating electoral reform together for a higher representation of women in politics.
This report covers the conference background and then explores the following areas: current debates, alternative models, the Malaysian context, experiences of politicians, barriers and strategies, and finally the conference recommendations.
Click here to access the report.
The research presented in this paper provides useful insights into how increasing women’s descriptive representation within a legislature affects citizens’ interest and engagement in the political process, or their symbolic representation. Uruguay’s first quota law was implemented in the 2014 elections, resulting in significant increases in the number of women serving in both houses of Uruguay’s Parliament. Surveying citizens before and after the elections, the research team found strong evidence that increases in women’s descriptive representation had a positive effect on citizens’ symbolic representation, and that this effect was stronger for women than for men. Before election day, women were significantly less likely than men to say they were interested in politics, less likely to state that they understood political issues in Uruguay, and less likely to report having trust in elections; after election day, these differences disappeared and women were as likely as men to be interested in politics, understand current political issues, and trust the electoral process.
This publication was produced by USAID in partnership with Arizona State University and the Institute of International Education as part of the Research and Innovation Grants Working Papers Series.
Click here to read to read the study.
The Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) has cited violence as a leading factor discouraging young women from actively participating in politics.
Zimbabwe will hold general elections next year, and women participation is pivotal as they constitute 52% of the population.
In a recent report titled “Do middle class women defend democracy?” RAU noted that young women shied away from politics mainly because of violence, polarization, corruption and nepotism.
“The general consensus was that political participation is risky and violence is too frequently a part of the contest; and politics are strongly associated with corruption and nepotism,” read part of the report.
Other reasons given for poor participation of young women in politics were difficulties encountered in registering to vote.
“The young women want to participate but are failing to find spaces they are comfortable in to express themselves politically, and it is important for them to see that sitting out is also a political statement.
Click here to read the report.