Women's Leadership
Globally, history has shown that politics is predominantly male dominated, where women were not expected to hold significant political views or opinions. This reality is also evident in Africa, where men occupy most major political positions in African countries.
However, in South Africa, the political landscape has evolved significantly toward greater inclusivity since the end of Apartheid.
While there have been advancements in terms of inclusivity, women are still under-represented in nearly all major political parties and top positions in South Africa, perpetuating gender inequalities across various sectors of the country.
Increasing women’s participation in politics will help address and advocate for women’s rights, challenge gender stereotypes, and promote gender equality.
There is a common misconception that women are incapable of effective leadership due to perceived weaknesses in decision-making, leading to unreliable outcomes.
However, women’s political participation is crucial for a healthy democracy, and it is time for women to step up and claim their rightful place in the political arena. Women in politics can also serve as role models for young girls, inspiring them to aspire to leadership positions.
Factors such as age, education level, influence, financial strength, and access to health facilities encourage women to engage fully in political activities. Conversely, illiteracy, lack of capital, and discouragement from spouses, among others, can hinder women’s political participation.
Read here the full article published by The African on 9 August 2024.
Image by The African
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reportedly resigned and fled the country in the face of ongoing protests.
The longtime leader of the country has boarded a military helicopter, an aide told Al Jazeera, after crowds ignored a national curfew to storm the prime minister’s palace in Dhaka.
Close to 300 people have died amid weeks of protest the authorities have sought to crush. Following a night of deadly violence that killed close to 100 on Sunday, tension had remained high on Monday as protesters called for a march on Dhaka and the army prepared to address the nation.
By early afternoon, however, media reported that the mood on the streets had turned to one of celebration after the news of Hasina’s departure spread.
Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman has cancelled his planned address and is instead holding talks with major political parties, including the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
Images on national television showed thousands of people breaking into the prime minister’s official residence. It also showed large crowds of protesters out in the street in scenes of jubilation as the news of the departure of Hasina started spreading.
Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury, reporting from Shahbag Square – the epicentre of the student protesters – said he has “never witnessed something like this” in the capital.
Read here the full article published by Aljazeera on 5 August 2024.
Image by Aljazeera
A long time ago, there were almost no female political prisoners in Russia.
At that time, there were not many male political prisoners either, but gradually they started to appear. And when the number of men increased, the authorities began to target women as well.
Everything followed the classic rules of repression. First, they came for some people, then for the others. It was gradual, creeping – and then it turned out that everyone was imprisoned, and there were no more rules or safeguards.
In the early Putin years, particularly troublesome women, such as journalists, were dealt with without the help of judges and investigators. For example, the world-famous Anna Politkovskaya was shot – and, like in a classic Soviet film, it was done by "people not from our district." Everything was blamed on the Chechens. Who ordered it is another question, which the Russian Federation wisely did not pursue to avoid implicating itself.
Then the regime began to indulge in classic repressions and started imprisoning women who could be labeled as marginal activists in the public opinion. For example, Darya Polyudova went through all the circles of the Dantean criminal correctional system of the Russian Federation. She was accused of separatism, extremism, and anything else, all just for her words. The local justice in Kuban broke her life, like an arm, in several places.
But society swallowed it because who knew where Kuban was or who these activists with a march for its federalization were? Society was unclear.
Read here the full article published by MEMRI on 5 August 2024.
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Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, has emphasised the need for greater inclusion of women in politics and governance, acknowledging their crucial role in the country’s socio-economic development.
The Minister made this statement at the closeout and dissemination ceremony of the Women’s Voice and Leadership (WVL) project in Abuja, the nation’s capital. The WVL project, a five-year initiative funded by Global Affairs Canada and supported by ActionAid Nigeria, aims to empower women and promote gender equality in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Represented by the Principal Social Welfare Officer of the Ministry, Mr. Alake Olaniran, the Minister reiterated the ministry’s commitment to supporting women’s rights and helping them achieve their goals.
“Women’s Voice and Leadership, WVL has increase women participation in leadership and key decision making process in respective states driven by this project, as women have been able to utilize their leadership and negotiation skills to address overwelming issues of governance in their community in their state and the country in general,” Ohanenye stated.
She expressed gratitude to ActionAid Nigeria and their implementing team for their significant achievements and urged continued support to ensure gender equality.
The President of the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Aisha Ibrahim, highlighted the project’s aim to tackle barriers to gender equality and empower women and girls by providing financial and technical resources to local feminist and women’s rights organisations in Nigeria. She noted that the initiative had yielded positive results.
Read here the full article published by News Central TV on 4 August 2024.
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The personal is political” is a popular feminist slogan that emerged in the late 1960s and became central to the feminist movements of the 1970s. This concept fundamentally changed how personal experiences and societal structures were perceived, arguing that personal experiences are often rooted in broader social and political contexts.
Often attributed to Carol Hanisch, a feminist activist who wrote an influential essay of the same title in 1969, Hanisch herself noted that the phrase was coined as a rallying cry during feminist consciousness-raising sessions. These were gatherings where women shared their personal experiences, realizing common patterns that highlighted systemic issues rather than isolated personal problems. This sharing helped uncover the political nature of seemingly personal issues, like domestic labour, childcare, and reproductive rights.
As humans, we are all products of our socialization. Hence, personal experiences often reflect the political structures that we belong to and the ideologies that we project. Personal experiences, particularly those of women, are often shaped by broader social, political, and economic structures. For example, issues like domestic violence, workplace discrimination, and reproductive rights are not just individual concerns but reflect systemic inequalities and power imbalances.
Read here the full article published by the Nigerian Tribune on 1 August 2024.
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Executive Summary
In August 2013, RepresentWomen launched the Gender Parity Index (GPI) to help researchers and advocates track progress toward gender-balanced governance and identify opportunities for increasing women’s political representation in the U.S. Each year, we assign all 50 states a Gender Parity Score, letter grade, and ranking according to their proximity to parity. One of the key takeaways from this exercise is that progress toward gender balance is slower and less stable than it first appears.
In the first GPI, 40 states earned a “D” grade (< 25.0) or worse (< 10.0); the remaining 10 states were split evenly between “Cs” (< 33.0) and “Bs” (< 50.0), and no state achieved an “A” (50.0 and above). Eleven years later, two states (Oregon and Maine) have earned “A” grades, 22 states have earned “Bs” and “Cs,” and 26 states received a “D.” For the first time ever, no state has received an “F.”
However, great improvements in women’s representation often overshadow smaller changes that occur year-to-year. The 2024 Index reflects our complex political landscape, suggesting progress in women’s political representation may stagnate or even backslide. Every year shows differences both in the changes themselves and the magnitude of change. This Index shows the most movement for women at the state and local levels: Louisiana elected two new woman state executives, and Indiana elected nine new women to local offices.
Overall, women are still underrepresented at every level of government in the U.S., comprising over 50% of the population but holding just under one-third of all elected positions. To make lasting progress in women’s representation, we must take a systems-level approach that creates opportunities for women to enter the political sphere and supports the women already in office.
Read here the full report published by RepresentWomen on 30 July 2024.
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A short piece of research was carried out in Zimbabwe in August 2015, as part of a larger research programme undertaken by Womankind Worldwide to look into the different spaces (explained further in section 7) that had been created for women to promote their political participation at community level in four countries. In Zimbabwe this was the Ward Level, and the women who came represented all of the villages within each Ward. The purpose was to explore how women use these spaces to bring about positive change in their lives, especially the opportunities provided by these spaces to raise issues with women leaders and other decision makers. The research was funded as part of the Funding Leadership and Opportunities for Women (FLOW) programme, by the Dutch Government, which was designed to improve women’s political participation in four countries through training and education, skills-building and working together in order to influence local development plans, get into leadership positions in the community, and to enable the women at the local level to promote their interests and hold decision makers to account. It was also designed to strengthen the accountability from national policy structures to local-level structures and from local-level political structures and personnel to individual communities. The projects had different priorities and different approaches in each country context, though there were many overlaps in implementation.
With a special attention to gender, this four-year regional development project is designed to strengthen the development responses to mitigate the growth of violent extremism in Africa.
This focus is motivated by the ever-increasing presence of violent extremist groups on African soil. Violent extremism is having a devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of populations across the continent - particularly the most vulnerable, and including youth, women and children.
The Independent Commission on Multilateralism (ICM) is a project of the International Peace Institute (IPI). It asks: How can the UN-based multilateral system be made more “fit for purpose”? In answering that question, the ICM has analyzed fifteen topics. These include armed conflict, humanitarian engagements, sustainable development, and global public health, among others (see complete list in Annex 2). The goal of the ICM is to make specific recommendations on how the UN and its member states can improve responses to current challenges and opportunities. The ICM undertook simultaneous tracks of research and consultation for each issue area on its agenda. The Commission initially launched in New York in September 2014, followed by subsequent launches in Vienna, Geneva, and Ottawa. In February 2015, the ICM briefed delegates from the five UN Regional Groups in New York. The Commission also convened meetings with Ambassadorial and Ministerial Boards in New York, Vienna, and Geneva. Global outreach included briefings to officials in Addis Ababa, Berlin, Brasilia, Copenhagen, New Delhi, London, Madrid, Montevideo, and Rome. Civil society and private sector outreach and engagement also constituted an important component of the ICM’s consultative process, including a briefing specifically for civil society in June 2015. The research process began with a short “issue paper” highlighting core debates and questions on each of the fifteen topics. Each issue paper was discussed at a retreat bringing together thirty to thirty-five member state representatives, UN officials, experts, academics, and representatives from civil society and the private sector. Based on the inputs gathered at the retreats, each issue paper was then revised and expanded into a “discussion paper.” Each of these was uploaded to the ICM website for comment and feedback, revised accordingly, and presented at a public consultation. The public consultations were webcast live on the ICM’s website to allow a broader audience to take part in the discussions. This paper is one of the fifteen final “policy papers” that emerged from this consultative process. An overview of participation in consultations on this specific issue area is included in Annex 3. The recommendations from all the policy papers are summarized in the ICM’s September 2016 report “Pulling Together: The Multilateral System and Its Future.” The ICM thanks the three sponsoring governments for their financial support for its operations: Canada, Norway, and the United Arab Emirates. Without their support, the ICM would not have been possible.
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.