Women's Leadership
Claudia Sheinbaum’s election as Mexico’s president has captured global attention for several reasons. Mexico is the world’s 12th largest economy. Sheinbaum secured a decisive victory, garnering nearly 60% of the vote; she is the first woman to assume the presidency in over 200 years of Mexican independence—all within the context of a deep national crisis of gender-based violence.
In recent decades, the world has seen a rise of women to power, with gender quota laws in Latin America and 13 of the world’s 20 largest economies having witnessed female leaders. Although Sheinbaum was not Mexico’s first female presidential candidate, her presidency has sparked diverse reactions in Mexico, ranging from unfortunate instances of sexism to critical feminist perspectives, as well as the enthusiastic support of younger generations and women’s organizations who see Sheinbaum´s rise to power as a moment of direct representation in government.
Although the presence of a woman in leadership does not automatically ensure positive change, empirical evidence underscores the broader impact of having more women in public decision-making roles. This shift is associated with higher economic growth, improved gender equality, and greater social investment in education, healthcare, and environmental protection.
Read here the full article publsihed by the Wilson Center on 13 December 2024.
Image by Wilson Center
Significant and, arguably, profound changes took place in Baltic high politics over the past four years. The peak pandemic years — 2020 and 2021 — proved quite pivotal for both Lithuania and Estonia, as both saw the emergence of the first most gender-balanced cabinets in the history of these countries, with Latvia following in 2022. The Estonian parliament elected the first woman prime minister, Kaja Kallas, whose cabinet had the largest number of women ministers. For almost a year, Estonia’s top political positions — the presidency and prime ministership — were held by two women, making Estonia the only parliamentary democracy ruled by elected women. Meanwhile, the Lithuanian prime minister, Ingrida Šimonytė, was the second woman to hold this position. Unlike her predecessor, Danutė Prunskienė, who served as the first woman prime minister of Lithuania more than 30 years ago (1990-1991) and was the only woman in her all-male cabinet, Šimonytė’s cabinet was the most gender-balanced in the modern history of the country. With the election of Evika Siliņa in September 2023 as Latvia’s prime minister, all three Baltic prime ministerships were held by women for about ten months — a historical first in the Baltic states’ politics.
Read here the full article published by the Foreign Policy Research Institute on 19 December 2024.
Image by Foreign Policy Research Institute
Ghana made history when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) nominated Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as the running mate to former President John Dramani Mahama for the 2020 general elections. Her nomination marked a significant milestone in Ghanaian politics, as she became the first female to run for vice presidency on a major party ticket. This bold move by the NDC proves a progressive shift towards gender inclusion and amplified discussions around women's representation in governance.
Nomination by the NDC
The selection of Professor Opoku-Agyemang was met with widespread praise from various quarters of society. As a former Minister of Education and an accomplished academic, her nomination was seen as a strategic and progressive decision by the NDC. John Mahama, in his announcement, highlighted her integrity, leadership, and commitment to national development as key reasons for her selection. The party’s decision to choose a woman of her caliber sent a strong signal about its commitment to promoting gender equality and diversifying leadership.
Read here the full article published by My Joy Online on 9 January 2025.
Image by My Joy Online
MOST often during political elections in Tanzania and across the world, women face a number of gender-based barriers to leadership, something which contributes to their defeat.
Recently, the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) in collaboration with the Coady International Institute brought together a number of women who vied for different leadership positions in last year’s civic polls.
On November 27th, 2024 Tanzanians voted for their leaders at local government level whereas posts being vied for included 12,280 village chairpersons, 4,264 street chairpersons, 63,886 hamlet chairpersons, 230,834 village council members and 21,320 street committee members.
The facilitator of a two-day training on psycho-social support, Mayasa Kalinga mentioned several factors which contributes to women being defeated in elections including gender inequality, harassment, psychological torture, cultural norms and stereotypes.
Traditional beliefs often prioritize male leadership, placing women primarily in domestic roles. This perspective limits women's opportunities in leadership positions.
Read here the full article published by IPP Media on 8 January 2025.
Image by IPP Media
Introduction
Gender equality has been a point of debate in the recent past. This is based on the ability to accord equal rights and opportunity for both genders where discrimination and prejudice are prevented. In Nigeria, gender equality and related issues are prevalent in different cases.
This is where the female gender is facing different inequalities and challenges, which are making it hard for them to cope and become effective in community participation and development (. This is based on the rise of various forms of conflict in the region, such as the Boko Haram and Harder-Farmer conflicts.
These are negatively impacting the country’s economy, and they are also affecting women and gender dynamics in the area. Therefore, this research outlines the way such conflicts have led to issues impacting women, such as gender-based violence, and also impacts the roles of women in society. Also, the discussion outlines the relationship between conflict and political participation of women in the country and the post-conflict challenges and opportunities available in the case of women in Nigeria.
Read here the full article published by The Vanguard on 7 January 2025.
Image by The Vanguard
Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has officially assumed the role of Vice President of Ghana following her swearing-in on Tuesday.
The ceremony took place at the iconic Independence Square in Accra, where Chief Justice Her Ladyship Gertrude Torkornoo administered the oath of office.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, who served as the running mate to President-elect John Dramani Mahama during the 2024 general elections, has made history as Ghana’s first female Vice President.
Running alongside President-elect John Dramani Mahama, her historic win under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) banner in the 2024 elections has been widely celebrated as a groundbreaking achievement for gender representation in Ghanaian politics.
Read here the full article published by New National Star on 8 January 2025.
Image by New National Star
The report looks at whether women’s capabilities and actions in different spheres lead them to have more presence and influence within private and public decision-making. Based on a review of over 400 sources, the report is organised around thematic chapters on women's:
- political participation, including in peace processes, constitutional reform, political parties and through quotas;
- social activism, through social mobilisation and social accountability processes; and
- economic empowerment, through access to financial and productive assets and the labour market.
Overall, it is known much more about women’s exercise of voice, than about when and how they are effective leaders and influencers. A large body of research clearly shows that a woman’s ownership of assets and employment can increase her power within the household, but little is known about how this effects her public power. While increases in the number of women in leadership positions is itself a measure of gender equality, there is no automatic link between increases in the power of individual women and more equitable political settlements or improved outcomes for women more broadly. However, the evidence is unequivocal that women women’s collective action through social movements, political coalitions and economic associations has driven legal, policy and social norm change in many countries. What is less understood is how different political settlements shape women's power and influence, and how women in public navigate and reshape gendered institutions, relationships and networks.
Click here to see the report.
The government's disposition toward citizens' rights and freedoms is a measure of its openness and an indicator of the type of relationship it holds with them. The constitution stands as the most powerful reflection of that relationship. Egypt certainly has a long-standing tradition of drafting constitutions as a political process. Throughout that tradition, granting certain rights or consolidating some forms of government were constantly pursued and this is evident in Egyptian constitutions since 1923. Citizen participation has always been an integral part of drawing Egyptian constitutions up, with advocacy playing a role in guaranteeing rights for all, men and women.
Egyptian women played a major role in the country’s transformations throughout history, especially in drafting constitutions. Since Egyptian women participated in the 1919 Protests, their rights have become a key issue in the public sphere. Demands were put forward to include some rights for women in Egyptian constitutions.
Nazra for Feminist Studies is issuing this paper in February 2019, after the Egyptian Parliament’s general session of February 14, when Parliament referred the Constitutional Amendments Proposal (suggesting amendments to several articles in the 2014 Egyptian constitution) to the Constitutional and Legislative Committee for review. In this paper, we shall discuss the overall state of women’s rights in Egypt in light of the proposed amendments, as we attempt to answer some basic questions: will amendments to the 2014 Constitution benefit women? Do the proposed amendments include more rights for women? Do Egyptian women in 2019 need constitutional amendments that would extend the president’s term, hence detract from the principle of separation of powers and other rights and freedoms (including women’s rights), already guaranteed by the 2014 Constitution? Finally, would raising women’s quotas in Egyptian elected councils be conducive to women’s right to participate in politics or is women’s limited participation attributed to more complex factors?
Click here to see the report.
This paper is part of a Gender Briefing Series to support women’s meaningful participation and the integration of gender perspectives in peace processes that aim to end violent intrastate conflict. The key target audience of these series of papers is women, gender equality advocates, and others engaged in peace processes, who wish to influence negotiations with a view to:
- addressing the particular experiences of women during conflict, and
- achieving lasting peace process outcomes that will improve women’s lives and the lives of those around them
This Brief presents the different forms of territorial power-sharing that arise in peace agreements, and the potential opportunities and risks for women’s inclusion that these can entail. It proposes critical questions that women could ask of peace processes if territorial power-sharing is likely to be negotiated, and highlights strategies and tactics that women and allies have used in conflict-affected contexts to navigate inclusion issues.
Click here to see the paper Gaining ground: Women and territorial power-sharing in peace processes.
This paper is part of a Gender Briefing Series to support women’s meaningful participation and the integration of gender perspectives in peace processes that aim to end violent intrastate conflict. The key target audience of these series of papers is women, gender equality advocates, and others engaged in peace processes, who wish to influence negotiations with a view to:
- addressing the particular experiences of women during conflict, and
- achieving lasting peace process outcomes that will improve women’s lives and the lives of those around them.
This brief sets out the various contexts in which different forms of political power-sharing are established in peace agreements. It indicates the challenges for women but also for other groups who are not at the centre of conflict, who may be useful allies in any struggle for greater inclusion.
Click here to see the paper Women and political power - sharing in peace processes.
History will be made in America on 3 January when a record number of women are sworn in as part of the 116th Congress.
It will be the culmination of two years of resistance to President Donald Trump - primarily led by women - following his unexpected victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
The day after his inauguration, millions of women joined protests against him across the country.
As the mid-term elections approached, Democrats saw a surge of women who wanted to represent the party - a stark contrast to previous years when they appeared reluctant to enter politics.
This led to suggestions that 2018 could become another “Year of the Woman” - a reference to the 1992 elections in which the number of women in Congress nearly doubled.
That jump 26 years ago was put down to a controversy over claims of sexual assault against a Supreme Court nominee - a situation similar to the case of Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
Here's how the mid-term results have changed the make-up of Congress and a look at some of the women leading that change.
Click here to see the BBC report.
As the world becomes increasingly connected online, our reliance on social media platforms such as Twitter has also become increasingly important. But the online world, and social media platforms like Twitter are not immune to many of the human rights abuses that women face offline.
Over the last 16 months, Amnesty International has conducted qualitative and quantitative research about women’s experiences on social media platforms including the scale, nature and impact of violence and abuse directed towards women on Twitter, with a particular focus on the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA). Such abuse includes direct or indirect threats of physical or sexual violence, discriminatory abuse targeting one or more aspects of a woman’s identity, targeted harassment, and privacy violations such as doxing or sharing sexual or intimate images of a woman without her consent.
(…) Many of the women who spoke to Amnesty International about the violence and abuse they experience on Twitter emphasized how important the platform is to them – both professionally and personally. Women rely on social media platforms like Twitter to advocate, communicate, mobilize, access information and gain visibility.
Pamela Merritt, a US blogger and reproductive rights activist, told us,
“I am a bit of a Twitter addict. I wake up, I check Twitter. I have two cups of coffee, and I check it again. Being online is important for my work. I want to know what’s going on. I want to know what people are saying and I want to weigh in, so I’m on Twitter through the day”.
Seyi Akiwowo, UK Politician and activist, talked about how Twitter makes her feel part of a movement and ‘puts words to her experiences’ of being a woman of colour. She told us,
“I feel torn. I love Twitter. The platform has connected me to people I will probably never see in my entire life and they are amazing, successful and inspirational people. There is now a massive movement of women of colour online. We express our beauty and confidence and talk about self-care and intersectional inequality…and so some of my life changing moments and development into womanhood has happened because of and via Twitter. I remember finding my first international job through Twitter. The possibilities and opportunities on that platform are endless.”
(…) Politicians themselves agree. Scottish Parliamentarian and Leader of the Opposition, Ruth Davidson, emphasized how important Twitter is as a tool to communicate and listen to her constituents and the wider public. She notes.
“Social media platforms are where a lot of political debate now happens, particularly as we see the divide in age range of voters. For a lot of younger voters, actually – they don’t want to be told things – they want to be able to discuss them.”
Click here to see the report.