Women's Leadership
Countries all throughout the world struggle with providing equal opportunities and positions in regards to women when compared to their male counterparts (Brennan & Elkink, 2015). The People’s Republic of China is not an exception to this trend. In order to combat gender inequality in politics, a quota for women cadres was introduced in 1995. This would ensure that at least one woman holds a head or deputy position in regional governments (Jiang et al, 2023). Despite this quota, women in China still struggle to participate in politics. This statement will be supported by these following arguments; (1) The society and culture in China view women as subordinate, thus lacking support and belief in women when in leadership and political positions, (2) The few women that do end up in positions in government struggle to receive prestigious promotions compared to their male counterparts; and finally (3) In order to attain these promotions these women need to outperform and display similar characteristics to their male colleagues in order to attain similar positions. This issue is important to understand in order to see whether mere gender quotas are sufficient in solving gender inequality in politics or are there other factors we as a society must willingly work to fix.
Click here to read the full article published by Modern Diplomacy on 6 February 2024.
Image source: Modern Diplomacy
This podcast series tells the stories of women as civil society actors, activists, authors, leaders, health and humanitarian workers, youth representatives, traders and entrepreneurs in the Sahel and West Africa. We gather first-hand examples of their outstanding work within local communities as well as their important contributions to advancing gender equality and positive change. These conversations also aim to better connect the Sahel and West Africa Club’s evidence-based analysis with civil society advocacy and action through dialogue and knowledge exchange.
Edith Efua Chidi is co-convener for the CSOs Cluster on Decentralisation and Participation. She is also the advocacy manager for SOS Children’s Village in Ghana.
Our host for this podcast episode is Dr Olajumoke (Jumo) Ayandele. She is a postdoctoral Research Fellow at New York University Centre for the study of Africa and the African Diaspora.
Click here to listen the podcast published by the OECD on 30 June 2023.
Image source: OECD/SWAC - Sahel and West Africa Club
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Click here to read the full article published by MINT on 23 January 2024.
Image by Mint
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In the ever-evolving world of politics, gender representation has become a pivotal conversation. From the United States to Kosovo, the struggle for women’s participation in politics, sports, entertainment, and judicial offices remains a global challenge. However, amidst these obstacles, progress is being made.
The Struggles of Women in Politics
The road to politics is often challenging for women, more so for mothers. Their participation in critical political processes such as Iowa caucuses is hampered by systemic barriers, making it hard for them to maintain a work-life balance. These barriers, however, aren’t insurmountable. With structural solutions like vote-by-mail and telecommuting, there’s potential to modernize outdated political systems, enabling women to participate more effectively.
Click here to read the full article published by BNN Breaking News on 19 January 2024.
Image source: BNN Breaking News
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There’s a scenario in which the presidents of the EU’s main institutions could all be women.
After the EU election in June, the top jobs at the European Council, the Commission and the Parliament — plus the head of the European External Action Service — will be distributed among the main political groups.
Speculating on who will get those jobs is a leading pastime in the Brussels bubble (as well as here at POLITICO); so many female politicians are being linked with those roles that some diplomats are starting to connect them.
POLITICO is hearing a lot of talk about four names — all women — in connection with the jobs: Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen staying on as Commission chief; Malta’s Roberta Metsola remaining in post at the Parliament; Mette Frederiksen, the current prime minister of Denmark, becoming president of the European Council; and Kaja Kallas, the Estonian PM, taking over as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (the EU’s foreign policy chief, for short).
Click here to read the full article published by Politico on 18 January 2024.
Image source: Politico
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Promoting inclusivity in all aspects of governance is very necessary to spur economic growth and reduce marginalisation. However, making this a reality despite many efforts by various CSOs, women-led organisations and advocates for PWDs in the country seems difficult. The trend, if not properly addressed, could lead to democratic deficit.
Research has proven that different groups contribute significantly to making better decisions, therefore there is the need to as a matter of urgency ensure all persons, irrespective of their gender and physical appearances, receive the necessary support needed to pursue their ambitions of getting involved in local governance.
Click here to read the full article published by the Ghanaian Times on 16 January 2024.
Image by Ghanaian Times
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This policy brief shows that while much remains to be explored, there are clear links between anti-corruption and women's political participation that are important to understand for politicians, anti-corruption advocates, and those working on increasing women’s representation in political office.
Click here to read the full report.
RepresentWomen's Arab State Brief reviews the extent to which women are represented in Arab countries, the history of Arab independence and revolutions - and their impact on women's rights and representation; and country-specific information that covers the history of systems reforms and their impact on women's political rights and representation in the region.
Click here to read the full report.
This article is the first in a two-part series examining the impact of gender quotas. The second article discusses the impact of quotas in Sweden and India.
Gender quotas exist in a shockingly high number of countries. More than 130 nations have modified their constitutions, electoral laws, or party rules to specify a threshold of women to be selected or nominated to a political body.
Quotas have had a massive impact globally on the number of women in politics, explaining the variation in women’s political representation by country. Between 1995 and 2012, many countries implemented quotas globally, and one study found a correlation between quotas and women’s political representation. Women’s political representation jumped from 11 percent to 21 percent during that time. Quotas are also associated with women being elected to government positions even more so than democratic ideals, economic development, or religious norms.
Click here to read the full article published by Harvard International Review on 29 November 2021.
Black women are a powerful force in the American political system, and their political power continues to grow and garner recognition for the force it is.
As we look ahead to the midterm elections, which offer greater opportunities for Black women’s gains in statewide offices where they remain especially underrepresented, it’s important to take stock of Black women’s political successes, the persistent hurdles they faced in the 2020 cycle, the outlook for the 2022 election, and the current levels of Black women’s representation nationwide. In this update, we outline the status of Black women in American politics as of fall 2021, one year ahead of the 2022 election.
Click here to download the full report.
In July 2021, UN Women convened the global conference “Gender-inclusive peace processes: Strengthening women’s meaningful participation through constituency building”, in partnership with CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, and with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The conference attracted the participation of more than 320 peace practitioners from 70 countries worldwide, with a focus on the MENA region.
This report on the conference proceedings explores current challenges, best practices, and recommendations on how best to leverage the practice of constituency building to further gender-inclusive peace.
Click here to read the full report.
In December 2020, the European Commission released its third Gender Action Plan (GAP III), which lays out how the European Union should promote gender equality in its external relations over the following five years. Just like its predecessor, the new plan highlights women’s equal political voice and participation as one of the EU’s central gender-equality priorities.
The EU’s renewed commitment to women’s equal political participation comes at a critical time. Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic fallout have deepened existing gender inequities. At the same time, women in most societies—including in the EU—remain woefully underrepresented in political decisionmaking, particularly at the highest levels. Their continued marginalization violates women’s rights to equal political citizenship and representation. It also weakens the legitimacy and effectiveness of democratic institutions: women bring distinct policy priorities to the table and raise the likelihood that political decisions respond to the needs of all citizens, including women and girls.
Click here to read the full article published by Carnegie Europe on 6 December 2021.