Women's Leadership
Record numbers of women serve in congressional, gubernatorial, and state legislative offices as a result of the 2022 election. But even when women win public office, equitable power—with men and among women—is not assured.
There is robust evidence that women officeholders disrupt institutional rules and culture as well as alter policy agendas and outcomes. That’s power. But charting the gender disparities among elected officeholders is just a first—albeit important—step in efforts to achieve gender parity in U.S. politics. Creating more equitable political institutions and outcomes requires rethinking political power—and efforts to re-allocate it—in more expansive and complex ways. Important in this work are more explicit discussions of which women are represented and where, which women have more or less political power, and to what end that political representation and power leads.
Click here to read the full article published by Forbes on 1 February 2023.
For the first time, the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are all women, as is the top White House budget official. Can they avert a fiscal disaster? They’re determined to try.
WASHINGTON — Inside a grand committee room in the Capitol on a recent afternoon, Senator Patty Murray paused at the end of the 31-foot conference table to re-enact how, as a rank-and-file lawmaker years ago, she would have to stand up and wave to catch the attention of the men running negotiations from the center of the room.
Now it is Ms. Murray, Democrat of Washington, whose name is etched in gold cursive at the center of the table, set among frescoes of Roman goddesses and a multitiered crystal chandelier, signifying her position as the chairwoman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. These days, she is part of the first-ever all-female team of Republicans and Democrats to lead the congressional committees that control government spending.
Click here to read the full article published by The New York Times on 1 February 2023.
The daughter of an abattoir worker and fruit picker, Sepuloni could have exactly the expertise the PM needs to tackle a brutal cost of living crisis
C armel Sepuloni admits her father, who arrived from Samoa in 1964 unable to speak English, had difficulty taking in the news that his daughter was shortly to become New Zealand’s first Pasifika deputy prime minister.
“To think that he could come here to work on the railways and the freezing works [abattoir] and marry a sheep farmer’s daughter and have a daughter who would become the deputy prime minister of New Zealand is very difficult to comprehend,” Sepuloni said. “But as you can imagine, [he’s] very proud.”
Sepuloni has been the country’s social development minister and is of Samoan, Tongan and Pākehā (European) descent. She says she is humbled to be “smashing glass ceilings” and is now tasked with winning back voters for an election campaign that, if successful, would represent the first time New Zealand had voted a Pasifika candidate into one of its top leadership roles.
Click here to read the full article published by The Guardian on 23 January 2023.
Ardern says she slept soundly ‘for the first time in a long time,’ as colleagues in New Zealand deplore her treatment as PM and race begins to replace her
Jacinda Ardern has said she slept soundly after her shock resignation “for the first time in a long time”, as speculation grows that abuse and threats against the prime minister contributed to her stepping down.
Speaking briefly with reporters outside Hawke’s Bay airport on Friday, Ardern said she was feeling “a range of emotions” and had no regrets about leaving the job.
“I of course feel sad – but also I do have a sense of relief.”
On Thursday, the prime minister said abuse or threats to her and her family had not been a decisive factor in her decision to resign, and that she simply “no longer [had] enough in the tank to do it justice”.
Prominent New Zealand political leaders and public figures, however, say that “constant vilification,” abuse and personal attacks have contributed to that burnout – with some MPs saying the prime minister was “driven from office”, and calling for New Zealand to reexamine its political culture.
Click here to read the full article published by The Guardian on 20 January 2023.
We worry about our families, ourselves, the threats and society’s expectations. When it leads to burnout, can anyone be surprised?
Jacinda Ardern has no gas left in the tank to continue as the prime minister of New Zealand. Her resignation speech was the sort of rare and dignified moment that we have come to expect from her, as a woman who presented the world with the kind of leadership that uniquely leant on her emotional intelligence. I’ll miss her tone and grace. She leaves a legacy she can be proud of.
I have been thinking about what burned the fuel that she relied on to govern.
Firstly I have no doubt that she felt the constant guilt that pretty much every woman in the world feels the moment they evacuate their womb of a child. Even the Mary Poppins-style perfect, Instagram-polished mothers of the world fret that something they do will harm their child in some way. I asked my husband, who has always been our son’s primary carer, if he ever felt guilty for missing a school play or staying late at work. He looked at me baffled; the concept was lost on him. He just thinks, “I had to go to work,” and that’s the beginning and end of that moral maze for him.
Click here to read the full article published by The Guardian on 20 January 2023.
Nominating and electing more female politicians can help to diffuse polarisation and reduce levels of hostility and distrust across party lines, a study shows.
Political parties that elect a greater number of women representatives are viewed more favourably by voters who support opposing parties.
Political polarisation, or animosity towards opposing political parties, takes many forms.
There is growing concern about the link between political polarisation and increases in hostility and distrust across party lines in countries around the world.
Researchers used data on women’s presence in 125 political parties over 20 Western democracies from 1996 to 2017, combined with survey data on how people rated opposing political parties,
Click here to read the full article published by Eureka Alert on 18 January 2023.
Like many countries around the world, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan faces risks from “violent radicalization,” often defined as a process through which a person comes to embrace the use of violence to serve an ideology, religion or political goal. Violent radicalization may lead to violent extremism and terrorism, therefore threatening the rights and well-being of citizens. The ways in which violent extremism affects women—both as victims and participants—are rarely discussed and remain underexplored. As Jordan moves toward taking new efforts to combat violent extremism within its borders, it is necessary for all involved to have a deeper understanding of how women in Jordan play roles in preventing or promoting such radicalization.
2015 was UN Women’s fifth year. As we marked this milestone, the United Nations celebrated 70 years of fostering human rights, and governments and civil society assessed 15 years of implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, and of Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. Informed by these reviews, we looked ahead to the world we want with the Paris Agreement on climate change, and saw the transformative power of women and girls set at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Unexpected and transformative revolutions broke off in North Africa and quickly spread to the Middle East and the rest of the world in 2010 and 2011. Spontaneous, leaderless, youth-driven, and backed by social media, these revolutions called for karamah (dignity) and democracy. Centering on women’s movements before, during, and after the revolutions, Women’s Movements in Post-“Arab Spring” North Africa highlights the broader sources of authority that affected the emergence of new feminist actors and agents and their impact on the sociopolitical landscapes of the region. Until recently, studies of North African women’s movements have focused on single aspects of women’s achievements at a time. By providing a comparative analysis, this book for the first time sheds light not only on the role that these superstructures play in shaping women’s experiences in North Africa, but also on the rich variety of women’s responses to authority, and their potential contributions to African and global feminist thought. From the pre-history of the revolutions to their aftermath, the far-reaching historical and national scope of this collection expands the study of women’s movements in North Africa beyond national borders, while still paying close attention to local characteristics. Click here to access the book.
Gender equality is both an essential development goal in its own right and a driver of human development. International law recognizes that everyone has a right to participate in public life, but it remains an ongoing challenge to achieve women’s equal participation, especially in decision-making. The importance of advancing women’s leadership in politics has continued to gain traction. Although much remains to be done, advances are being made slowly but surely. Unfortunately, less attention and support has been given to promoting women’s leadership in public administration. In response, UNDP developed a joint research and policy development initiative titled Gender Equality in Public Administration (GEPA) to help fill this gap. This global report reflects extensive research based on available national data, and provides analysis of the obstacles in the way of women’s equal participation and decision-making in public administration. It highlights examples of approaches which can work, and offers recommendations for further action.
This study report on Women in Power and Decision-Making in the Eastern Partnership Countries, 2015 is part of the project Short term high quality studies to support activities under the Eastern Partnership – HiQSTEP, carried out by an international consortium under the leadership of Kantor Management Consultants.
This study has been carried out to support the activities of Platform I - ‘Democracy, Good Governance and Stability’ – of the Eastern Partnership at the request of the Government of Sweden, supported by Georgia and Moldova. Gender has been identified as priority area by the EaP Platform I Work Programme 2014-2017. The Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), the European Union External Action Service and the European Institute for Gender Equality are the driving forces in cooperation with EaP partner countries on this theme. The European Institute for Gender Equality has provided methodological support to the present Study to ensure comparability between the EU-28 and Eastern Partnership data.
In the Eastern Partnership Countries, women are remarkably absent from the structures of power. In politics, 17 women are currently appointed to Senior Minister posts out of 136 such posts, women elected as Parliament Members constitute 16 per cent and 3 political parties are led by women. Only 17 per cent of women managed to break the glass ceiling to reach the highest ranking civil servants positions. Small bright spots can be found in the judiciary, were women judges count for 29 per cent of the Supreme Courts posts, and in Local Assemblies, where their share reached 27 per cent.
Looking more closely at some countries, timid but possibly real gender-related advances can be identified, such as in Ukraine where two women were appointed to the most important financial positions of the Minister of Finance and the Head of the Central Bank. However, the Minister of
Finance is the only woman in the Ukrainian cabinet. In Moldova, a different approach led to the appointment of 6 women out of 22 as Senior Ministers1, the highest number in the EaP, and to the attribution of socio-cultural portfolios to 4 of them. In Georgia, a system of exams based on qualifications resulted in a higher number of women judges than men (51 to 49 per cent respectively). Women are even less present in positions of economic power. They represent 9 per cent of members of the boards of central banks, 15 per cent of members of the governing bodies of trade unions and 10 per cent of members of the governing bodies of employers’ organisations. Women in the boards of companies registered on the stock exchange are less than 15 per cent. Ukraine, however, stands out again as the only EaP country with two women Presidents and two women Vice-Presidents in two of its organisations representing workers.
These results are not surprising when one analyses the social and economic situation endured by women in the EaP Countries, where they often face severe horizontal and vertical segregations that constrain them in low-paid and informal jobs – predominantly in services sectors such as retail trade, education and health care. Protective regulations that prohibit the employment of women in dangerous or harmful conditions can further deprive women of jobs, which is the case in Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine. Despite their higher levels of education than those of men across EaP Countries, gender pay gaps for women can be as high as 50 per cent, as is the case in Azerbaijan. Except in Belarus2, women’s unemployment is higher than men’s and they are more exposed to poverty.
The combination of these factors drives large numbers of women to entrepreneurship, such as in Belarus where women are 63 per cent of all individual entrepreneurs3. Access to credit or even micro-credit is difficult and the span of women’s activities remains limited. Women will often be excluded from the trade networks that facilitate the launch and development of businesses and companies for men. Many women, especially in rural areas, work in the agricultural sector of countries, such as Georgia, where land is mostly owned by men. Their work is not registered and they cannot benefit from allowances nor can they apply for compensations, thereby limiting their capacity to engage in society and politics.
When all other possibilities fail, women resort to emigrating: this is the case of Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Not only has Moldova the lowest level of labour participation amongst the EaP Countries, but it also experiences a continuing decrease of the active female labour force, losing 7 per cent of its active female population in the 2004-2014 decade. The lack of social services is particularly critical, when one considers that child-care services were more readily available prior to the current transition period. This is compounded by the fact that men are rarely involved in children’s education.
Women are scarcely present at the highest echelons of universities, with an average of 12 per cent women rectors in the EaP Countries, or in media, although some more women are appointed in positions at the second level of power. Their capacity to influence the public discourse appears therefore limited. All Eastern Partnership Countries are affected by different forms of violence against women including human trafficking and harmful practices. Violence against women negatively affects women’s general well-being and prevents them from fully participating in society.
From a legal standpoint, women in the Eastern Partnership Countries benefit from virtually all the gender equality requisites. All EaP constitutions, adopted between 1994 and 1996, rigorously impose parity between women and men and all legislations provide for equal rights, albeit in varying degrees. In contrast, however, legislation on violence and harassment against women remains insufficient. All these factors have direct and indirect implications on women’s roles in leadership and decision-making.
Summary record of the Joint Biennial Meeting of the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) and the OECD-DAC Network on Gender Equality (GENDERNET)
“Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: A game changer for gender equality, women's empowerment and women's human rights”
12-14 January 2016, Kampala, Uganda
KEY MESSAGES
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with its comprehensive standalone goal on gender equality (SDG5) and gender-specific targets across the other goals, provides an ambitious framework to transform the lives of women and girls everywhere. However, it will only be a game-changer if it is fully implemented (...).