Women's Leadership
In the heart of Athens, beneath the watchful eyes of history, a groundbreaking event is set to unfold that promises to reshape the landscape of political leadership across the globe. From April 19-21, the Women Political Leaders (WPL) network will convene for its annual summit, a gathering that not only honors the strides taken towards gender equality in political arenas but also, under the patronage of President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, aims to dismantle the longstanding barriers still facing women in politics today. Organized in collaboration with Greece's Ministries of Tourism and Cohesion & Family Affairs, this summit isn't just a meeting; it's a testament to the country's commitment to leading by example in the quest for a more inclusive political discourse.
Empowering Women Leaders: The Agenda
The Athens summit is more than a ceremonial congregation; it's a beacon of hope and a call to action. With over 200 delegates expected to participate, the discussions will pivot around not just celebrating past achievements but forging new pathways to ensure women's voices are not just heard but are influential in shaping policies and decisions. The highlight of the event is an awards ceremony that pays tribute to women politicians who have been instrumental in breaking down stereotypes and challenging the discrimination that has historically sidelined women from political leadership roles. Among the awardees is none other than Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, whose own career reflects the summit's core mission of elevating women to positions of power and influence.
Click here to read the full article published by BNN Breaking News on 26 February 2024.
Image source: BNN Breaking News
In a parliamentary democracy like Namibia, all power shall be vested in the people through freely elected representatives exercising this power.
Some 51 % of Namibia’s population are women who still face many injustices based on their gender.
Namibia has a long history of many types of social inequality, including gender inequality.
Many challenges women face in Namibia today have been influenced by the historical imbalance of power between women and men, social structural factors such as poverty, unemployment and related social problems.
This includes economic inequalities, like no acknowledgement of unpaid domestic work women disproportionately often do in their households, being exposed to gender-based violence, or being single mothers without any or insufficient support from children’s fathers.
Some of these inequalities are based on political, cultural, traditional or religious beliefs that promote gender inequality.
For example, the cultural concept of the alleged supremacy of men over women.
This makes it even more important that women are represented in parliament and have a say in who makes decisions in Namibia by participating more in the election process and casting their votes.
The voices of women must be present and respected in decision-making at all levels.
Click here to read the full article published by The Namibian on 22 February 2024.
Image source: The Namibian
Discover how the University of Tasmania's Pathways to Politics for Women program is empowering aspiring female politicians in Tasmania. Supported by political vanguards, this initiative is reshaping the political landscape and fostering inclusive representation.
Imagine a political landscape where the voices of women are not just heard but amplified, where the halls of power resonate with the diverse experiences and perspectives of over half the population. This vision is on the cusp of becoming a reality in Tasmania, as the University of Tasmania steps into the spotlight with its groundbreaking Pathways to Politics for Women program. Supported by a formidable alliance of Tasmania's political vanguards, this initiative is poised to dismantle the barriers that have historically sidelined Tasmanian women from political arenas.
A Unifying Endeavor
The Pathways to Politics for Women program, originally kindled in 2016, has burgeoned into a beacon of hope and action for aspiring female politicians across Australia. Its expansion into Tasmania, facilitated by the Trawalla Foundation's generous funding, is a testament to its remarkable success in catalyzing political careers. The program's ethos, championed by figures like Tasmania's first female premier Lara Giddings, former Greens leader Christine Milne, and past premier Will Hodgman, transcends partisan lines, emphasizing the universal benefit of diversifying political representation.
Click here to read the full article published by BNN Breakings News on 22 February 2024.
Image source: BNN Breakings News
Discover the impactful conversations and calls to action from the Women's Rights Conference 2024 in Malaysia, addressing the critical issues of female political representation and the collective efforts towards gender equality.
In the heart of Nairobi, a seismic shift in the narrative of law enforcement is underway. The Kenyan government, in a move as bold as it is necessary, has announced a substantial 40% salary increase for National Police officers, a decision set to roll out in July this year.
This initiative, born from the recommendations of the Maraga-led committee, is not merely a financial adjustment; it's a beacon of hope, signaling a transformative era for police welfare and institutional reforms within the police and prisons departments.
Click here to read the full article published by BNN Breakings News on 24 February 2024.
Image source: BNN Breakings News
Auckland, New Zealand – Numbers speak volumes, and in the Pacific, they tell a concerning story: less than 7 percent of parliamentarians are women.
Serving as the impetus for further collective action, women leaders from parliaments across the Pacific have convened on Auckland for the Pacific Women in Power Forum.
The three-day forum – supported by the people of New Zealand, Australia and Japan – sees women members of parliaments as well as parliamentary officials coming together to discuss opportunities for improving women’s representation, approaches to improving inclusivity, and the effectiveness of parliaments in tackling gender inequality.
The forum will discuss the many challenges women in politics face, including persistent online harassment fueled by the anonymity of social media; abuse that unfortunately dominates the daily lives of many women MPs worldwide.
Despite women's representation in politics still languishing as the worst in any region across the world – and progress sitting somewhere between stalled and gradual – a shift in attitudes across the Pacific is demanding change.
Click here to read the full article published by UNDP on 21 February 2024.
Image source: UNDP
When will the next general election be? No one knows. Well, perhaps Rishi Sunak does; the Prime Minister not-so-helpfully said he had a ‘working assumption’ that it would take place in late 2024.
As it happens, this will be a busy year in politics. Americans will also be going to the polls – the first time our two countries’ electoral cycles have synced since 1992. Already, there have been warnings about global disinformation campaigns – fuelled by AI and spread on social media – and what they may do to our already fragmented countries.
In total, over 60 nations – from India, Pakistan and Mexico to Taiwan and Ukraine – will be going to the polls before the end of 2024. Just under half of the world’s population is eligble to vote in some form of election this year, making it the biggest year for democracy in history. The world may well be a very different place by the time 2025 comes around.
Click here to read the full article published by Elle on 22 February 2024.
Image source: Elle
Political campaigns online have demonstrated that they can help candidates win elections, include more citizens’ concerns in political debates or allow upcoming parties to gain political exposure.
However, social media can also have a negative effect on political and electoral integrity by attacking an essential principle of democracy: the fundamental right of citizens to access trustable, reliable information to form their political opinions and, ultimately, decide their votes.
In this context of potential manipulation of public opinion through digital information operations, electoral management bodies, monitoring authorities, legislators and political parties face increasing difficulty in protecting the integrity of the political process.
Based on International IDEA’s work in Tunisia, Panama and Bolivia, this Fact sheet seeks to identify some overarching recommendations and a way forward based on how these types of activities may have potentially influenced their recent elections.
Click here to see the fact sheet.
Women made great strides in political representation in 2018. There has been significant media attention devoted to the historic gains women made in Congress, but the shift in political representation the states was equally significant. Women’s representation in state legislatures increased by more than three points in 2018 (from 25.4 percent to 28.9 percent of all state legislative seats). Nevada became the first majority women legislature and Colorado approached gender parity, with a legislature that is 47 percent women.
Although often presented as a non-partisan phenomenon, the gains in women’s representation across the board were due to Democratic women candidates’ victories. Democratic women gained about 300 state legislative seats in 2018, while the number of Republican women state legislators declined by just over 40.3.
More than a year out from the “year of the woman,” the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and Quorum examined the impact of this changing representation in the states. In this fact sheet, we present new data on women’s state legislative achievements, including that women state legislators introduced and enacted more legislation than men over the past two legislative sessions.
Click here to see the factsheet.
In late 2018 and early 2019 UN Women interviewed 87 per cent of the women who ran for Parliamentary election (75 of the 86 women; of the 113 women who registered to run, 86 made it on to candidate lists). This report summarizes their stories and experiences as candidates and looks at issues of: violence against women in politics, financial constraints and campaign management, media and image portrayal, violence harassment and discrimination.
Click here to see the report.
While still far from parity, female representation in politics has continuously increased over the last two decades worldwide. In light of this development, we analyze whether higher female representation has substantive effects on policy choices using the example of child care – a public good arguably valued by women. We hand-collect micro-data for 224,448 candidates running in the local council elections of 2002, 2008 and 2014 across 1,632 municipalities in the German state of Bavaria. Exploiting an open-list electoral system, we run RDD regressions centered around mixed-gender races for the last council seat that accrues to a party. We find that a female victory in a mixed-gender race accelerates the expansion of public child care provision by 40%. Our main strategy to explore mechanisms uses information from hand-collected minutes of 7,721 monthly council meetings. We show that an additional woman changes "the conversation": female councilors speak up more often and child care is discussed more frequently in the council.
Click here to see the report.
Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) have long played a central role in the advancement of human rights. In the fight against impunity and repression, WHRDs have been among one of the most vocal in calling for human rights to be protected and upheld. In recent years, WHRD-led movements have particularly gained traction. Their relentless work calling for justice has, however, exposed them to serious risks and threats.
In this context, the new working paper series of the FORUM-ASIA aims to put WHRD’s perspective at the centre, exploring personal reflections and case studies on how they are experiencing and promoting human rights in an increasingly challenging context.
Ongoing struggles of WHRDs in Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, as well as the coordinated actions of women garment workers advocating for their rights in Cambodia and the testimonies collected by the University of York, showcase the need for stronger support and protection mechanisms, taking into account psychosocial wellbeing. At the same time, reflections on progress made 25 years after the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action, and the advances and developments within the United Nations system indicate that a vibrant civil society is vital for WHRDs’ protection.
Click here to see the report.
Women who seek to participate in peace processes and political decision-making face many obstacles. To achieve sustainable peace and development, societies emerging from conflict must remove these obstacles. In so doing, they must recognize and prioritize that women are fully capable of active participation in all political processes. Women’s equal participation in leadership at every level and in every sector is imperative to eliminating gender-based violence, poverty and enabling sustainable peace.
In this policy brief, Women in International Security examines five main barriers to women’s participation at the peace table and in politics. And presents recommendations to the international community, state actors, civil society organizations, women’s rights defenders, and male champions to help create an enabling environment for the full participation of women in all political processes.
Click here to see the report.
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National Intergenerational Dialogue on Advancing Youth Participation and Representation in Leadership and Decision-Making
The main purpose of the National Intergenerational Dialogue is to promote intergenerational interactions/exchanges to bridge generational divides and to address the causes of…
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