Women's Leadership
Some female politicians in Sunyani have described the late Akua Donkor, the leader and Election 2024 Flagbearer of the Great Freedom Party (GFP), as an inspiring and courageous role model for women in politics, irrespective of their party inclinations.
Madam Akua Donkor passed away at the Greater Accra Reginal Hospital, Ridge, on Monday, October 28, 2024, at the age of 72 years.
Reacting to her sudden death in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, the women also described her death as a “big blow” to womanhood, especially in a period where civil society organisations and actors are pushing for more women representation in active politics.
“Some of us admired her from afar. She was indeed an icon in our multi-party democracy and her death is very sad,” Ms Leticia Gyan, a staunch member of the New Patriotic Party stated.
Read here the full article published by Ghana Web on 31 October 2024.
Image by Ghana Web
Women have been on the front lines of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Their suffering has been disproportionate and relentless, with women and children making up almost 90 per cent of people fleeing the war. But that is not the whole picture. Women are also humanitarian actors, community leaders, and providers for their families. One in every two businesses in Ukraine is founded by a woman. Ukrainian women are also taking on more roles in traditionally male-dominated professions, such as the security sector, transit, and demining.
Since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, women’s rights organizations and women leaders have been providing humanitarian assistance, advocating for women’s rights, taking on leadership roles in business and in politics, and many have joined the armed forces.
Read the stories of Ukrainian women on the front lines of the war and recovery efforts.
Read here the full article published by UN Women 21 October 2024.
Black women have long played a key role in protecting voting rights and urging their communities to cast ballots. This three-part series highlights their work as they build political power and demand a seat at the table.
ATLANTA ‒ Mary-Pat Hector headed one recent afternoon down the promenade that connects historically Black colleges here, stopping at a table draped with a bright blue tablecloth. “Rise” was emblazoned across the front.
The 26-year-old leader of the nonpartisan organization checked in with organizers who had spent hours urging students at Clark Atlanta University to register to vote.
“Excuse me, queen. Are you registered to vote?’’ one organizer asked a passerby.
Before she left, Hector had collected the 263 cards from students who pledged to vote and seven forms from students who'd registered. The stop was one of many in the organization’s effort to connect with thousands of students across the country.
“It always felt like this was something I just needed to do,’’ said Hector, whose passion to protect voting rights grew during the 2016 presidential election. “I knew that there was a sense of urgency, that we were like beating down the clock ‒ the same feeling that I feel right now.”
Read here the full article published by USA Today News on 20 October 2024.
Image by USA Today News
Over half of Arizona’s voters were women in 2020, according to a CNN exit poll.
This is not a recent phenomenon. Women in the U.S. have had a higher voter turnout than men since the 1960s when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was put in place to prohibit discrimination, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Women have longtime made significant impacts on politics, and students expect this year will not be an exception.
However, the path to gender equality in voting has not been easy, and some women still face challenges when trying to be politically active.
Why women are active voters
Ashlyn Mickelson, a junior studying sociology and the secretary of Young Democratic Socialists of America at ASU, said issues on the ballot this year have prompted more women to vote.
"Women tend to prioritize healthcare, education and reproductive rights," Mickelson said. "So one of the reasons women have been more active in politics recently is because those things are more at danger."
Read here the full article published by The State Press on 21 October 2024.
Image by The State Press
Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Lenora Qereqeretabua said it is important for the Fiji government to be represented at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2024 Samoa.
Speaking to The Fiji Times, Ms Qereqeretabua said it was a great time for Fiji’s inclusion as it was important to be heard as a country.
“It is important for us to be here and to be one of the many voices in the Pacific in particular when Fiji wanted to be a leader within the region,” Ms Qereqeretabua said.
“With the Ocean of Peace, it is important that the government of Fiji is represented at the CHOGM with nearly 60 other members of the Commonwealth here.
“When the Minister’s Forum begins this Thursday, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka will be here, but in the meantime it is great to be heard as a country.”
The Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is expected to arrive today and will be meeting with the Fijian diaspora in Samoa.
According to the Fijian community in Samoa, Mr Rabuka will be meeting with them at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
Read here the full article published by the Fiji Times on 23 October 2024.
Image by Fiji Times
The We Women Want Festival And Awards by NewsX, was a power-packed session, featuring accomplished women from various fields, sharing their experiences and perspectives on empowerment.
The We Women Want Festival And Awards by NewsX, was a power-packed session, featuring accomplished women from various fields, sharing their experiences and perspectives on empowerment.
Hosted by Priya Sehgal, the panel included prominent voices like Kaveree Bamzai (Senior Journalist & Author), Naina Lal Kidwai (Chair of India Sanitation Coalition & Rothschild India), Shaifalika Panda (Trustee & Founder CEO, Bansidhar & Ila Panda Foundation), and Shama Mohamed (Congress National Spokesperson).
Read here the full article published by NewsX World on 14 October 2024.
Image credits: NewsX World
List as of 7 June 2018.
Spain joins a handful of countries where women hold at least half of ministerial portfolios.
1. Spain
The new government of Spain includes 11 women ministers and five men in addition to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. After the announcement of the cabinet on 6 June 2018, Sanchez said it is the first time since Spain returned to a democratic system in the 1970s that there are more women minsters than men. Key ministries such as those of justice, economy, defense and education went to women. See more here.
2. France
Fulfilling a campaign promise, President Emmanuel Macron named a gender-balanced cabinet in May 2017 with 11 of 22 posts taken by women. Women took on the portfolios of defense, justice and sports, among others – areas usually dominated by men. See more here.
3. Sweden
Sweden has the world’s first self-proclaimed feminist government and is the only other country, besides Spain, that has a majority of female ministers with 12 women and 11 men. See more here.
4. Canada
Qualifying it as a “cabinet that looks like Canada,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formed in November 2015 a young and ethnically diverse cabinet with 15 women and 15 men who are mostly aged under 50. See more here.
The global average for women holding ministerial positions is 18.3% (as of January 2017). See UN Women and the Inter-parliamentary Union’s 2017 Map on Women in Politics for more information.
Did we miss something? Please let us know at connect@iknowpolitics.org.
The rapid expansion of electoral gender quotas in the past few decades has been met with considerable scholarly and public attention. Despite this, there has been little empirical work examining the global legislative consequences of gender quotas over time. Developing a unique time-series cross-sectional data set from 139 states during the peak period of quota adoption and implementation (1995–2012), we test whether and how quotas are associated with subsequent changes in government spending priorities. We find that substantial quota shocks—those associated with a large increase in women’s parliamentary representation—are followed by increased government expenditures toward public health. Further, we find that increases in health spending are offset by relative decreases in military spending and other spending categories. Our findings provide strong evidence that quota policies influence government priorities in historically feminized policy areas but principally when they are complied with and have substantial numerical consequences.
Click here to see the report.
One hundred years ago, on February 6 1918, the UK Parliament passed an act that granted the vote to women over the age of 30.
They had to meet certain qualifications - such as being householders, the wives of householders, occupiers of property with an annual rent of £5, or graduates of British universities - but it was a start that allowed 8.4 million women to vote, after a decades-long fight.
Later that year, Parliament passed another act that meant women could be elected to the House of Commons.
But even now, a century later, we still don't have full female representation in Parliament. Just 208 of the UK's MPs are women - under a third of the 650 who sit in the Commons.
Around the world, things aren't much better. The UK ranks 38th for female representation in each countries' respective Parliaments, according to the World Economic Forum's data for 2017.
Click here to read the full article published by The Telegraph on 5 February 2018.
The objective of this study is to generate evidence-based policy recommendations for Arab States, in order to help them scale-up efforts to meet their commitments as relates to goal 5 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), pertaining to gender equality, in particular target 5.5, which aims to ensure women’s equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political and public life.
A thorough desktop review was conducted to develop the conceptual framework for the study and establish a knowledge base on the status of women’s presence in decision-making and public life. This was supported by a survey completed by member States on the status of women’s political representation, as well as national measures to enhance it. Interviews were carried out with women who sought to participate in public life, regardless of whether they were successful or not. Case studies were conducted in four countries in the region, in order to establish an in-depth understanding of the status of women’s representation within their national political context.
This study examined women’s representation in the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches, as well as in local councils, with the understanding that the analysis was incomplete in certain cases due to data limitation. Regional analysis was conducted to showcase new forms of women’s representation, such as their participation in peace talks, national dialogues and constitutional committees, which challenge traditional roles and representations.
Click here to access the report.
[[{"fid":"12899","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"2"}}]]
[[{"fid":"12898","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"1"}}]]
Gender equality and the political empowerment of women are key elements for the consolidation of sustainable democracies worldwide.
Global and regional organizations play an important role in the development of legal and policy frameworks, as well as in the design of effective action plans to better support the advancement of the gender equality agenda at the global, regional and national levels.
This report presents key instruments for promoting gender equality and political empowerment of women that are currently in place at the global and regional levels, highlighting the challenges, opportunities and successes that each organization has encounter in the implementation within their respective regions.
International IDEA, the Community of Democracies and UNDP present this report as an instrument to inform policymakers and relevant actors on what is the current situation of gender equality, what has been done in terms of the political empowerment of women, and what is expected from the global community in order to successfully advance Sustainable Development Goal 5 to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by 2030.
Click here to access the report.
Why are women still under-represented in politics? Can we speak of democracy when women are not fully included in political decision-making? Some argue that we are on the right track to full gender equality in politics, while others talk about women hitting the glass ceiling or being included in institutions with shrinking power, not least as a result of neo-liberalism.
In this powerful essay, internationally renowned scholar of gender and politics Drude Dahlerup explains how democracy has failed women and what can be done to tackle it. Political institutions, including political parties, she argues, are the real gatekeepers to elected positions all over the world, but they need to be much more inclusive. By reforming these institutions and carefully implementing gender quotas we can move towards improved gender equality and greater democratization.
Click here to access the book.