Women's Leadership
MEXICO CITY — Mexico inaugurated its first female president on Tuesday, reaching the milestone before its northern neighbor. Even if the United States elects Kamala Harris as president in November, it will lag well behind this traditionally macho country on broader gender parity.
The new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, will govern with a cabinet that is half female and a Congress evenly divided between men and women. Women head the Supreme Court and central bank and run top federal ministries.
Read here the full article posted by The Washington Post on 01 October 2024.
Image by The Washington Post
First of a series
MASS and social media have recently been inundated by a slew of news, "tsismis" and fake news involving Filipino women of diverse status, political color, different persuasions and atypical motivations. But these women have several distinctive traits in common. The first cluster is strong-willed and wields political influence either by fiat as occupying a singularly powerful elective post, as in Vice President Sara Duterte, or the first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, unelected, nonetheless in a position of vast influence and potential for manipulation by virtue of being married to a perceived weak spouse. Some of these women maneuver around the periphery of power and are themselves powerful but refuse to brandish the same, like Sen. Imee Marcos, in whom many among those who lived and survived the martial law regime of the dictator see the traits of the father. For bad or good, those nostalgic for the old regime regret the Filipino voter's choice of the wrong Marcos. And then there are women who have been unseated from power through the whims of dysfunctional government institutions like the fugitive and suspected Chinese sleeper agent Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac.
The other category is women who, by their notoriety and their strategic personal relations, took advantage of their 15 minutes of fame, attempting to tear to shreds the reputations of the powerful and the mighty as in the disgruntled paramour revealing juicy tidbits about her former Davao politico-businessman lover who has long been removed from power and tale-telling distasteful exposés about the Malacañang "polvoron"-snorting crowd. And these anecdotes are given credence through female internet personalities who rule social media, providing pulpits through their YouTube video blogs. These "Marites" with thousands of followers lap up any scraps of gossip thrown their way, propelling the same to go viral. This is gossip in the fringes providing entertainment to the inane. These women of the second cluster are not the subjects of this column ("The spy and the paramour," The Manila Times, Aug. 14, 2024).
Read here the full article published by The Manila Times on 25 September 2024.
Image credits: The Manila Times
Launched during the 79th session of UN General Assembly, the UN Women Leaders Network unites a global intergenerational and intersectional group of women leaders advocating for gender-equal participation in leadership and decision-making.
The UN Women Leaders Network was launched this week on the sidelines of the 79th UN General Assembly. It is the first permanent network of its kind, composed of intergenerational and intersectional women leaders, and its members represent the change needed in the traditional image of leadership today.
The network includes both emerging and more established leaders across ages, regions, and professions. The network will work together to promote the increase and advancement of women in leadership and decision-making spaces worldwide, and functions as a platform to a diverse group of women leaders to discuss and exchange ideas, solutions and experiences as leaders, community-builders and decision-makers.
Read here the full article published by UN Women on 27 September 2024.
When Japan’s ruling political party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), votes on Friday for its next leader, it will effectively be choosing the country’s next Prime Minister.
A slew of scandals have plagued the tenure of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who announced in August he would step down after assuming power in 2021. From his son throwing a party at an official residence to alleged fundraising misconduct by party members, the scandals in addition to underwhelming economic reform have dented the LDP’s popularity and forced a reset.
A record nine lawmakers are standing in the intra-party election, competing for majority support among the party’s 368 members of parliament and 368 representatives of its more than a million dues-paying rank-and-file members. Most candidates, according to AP, have vowed to call for a general election, which isn’t due until October 2025, shortly after being elevated within the party, to try to capitalize on their fresh image.
Read here the full article published by the Time Magazine on 26 September 2024.
Image credits: Time Magazine
On March 14, 2024, rural women from communities in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria expressed concerns over women’s low inclusion in politics. The women lamented neglect and financial constraints as problems in assessing political and leadership positions. The outcome of the 2023 general elections is evidence of low women’s political leadership representation. The low participation of women in political leadership results in less development for the nation since not all capable human resources are utilised.
To build women’s capacity for greater inclusion in leadership, the Nigerian government should foster avenues for knowledge acquisition and networking. The mass media should also commit to projecting the effects of disadvantageous cultural beliefs. Sharing content that influences and shapes cultural beliefs would boost inclusivity. The Nigerian government should likewise invest in initiatives that fund and encourage women’s political dreams and aspirations.
A significant number of Nigerian women still face a lot of social and financial challenges despite having fundamental political rights. These social challenges are exemplified by disadvantageous cultural beliefs. Cultural beliefs such as early girl-child marriage disrupt girls’ education, affecting their political aspirations and dreams. A report by Save the Children International reveals that Nigeria homes 23 million girl-child brides which inadvertently results in the low representation of women. Addressing disadvantageous cultural beliefs such as this requires the full leverage of the media.
Read here the full article published by The Guardian Nigeria on 25 September 2024.
Image credits: The Guardian Nigeria
As global instability mounts, the stakes are high for the 79th United Nations General Assembly high-level debate, which begins Tuesday in New York City.
While tensions in Europe and the Middle East continue to dominate the diplomatic agenda and shake up the global order, all eyes will be on the Big Apple for leaders to set the diplomatic agenda for the coming year. This year, once again, the U.N. General Assembly high-level debate will be dominated by men speaking at the rostrum.
A provisional list of speakers published earlier in September - which is likely to change until the very last moment - revealed that less than 10 of the leaders set to speak at the high-level week are women, showing the hill remains steep for women in politics, especially in the top job. There were only 27 countries where 28 women served as Heads of State and/or Government globally as of June, and gender equality in the highest positions of power will not be reached for another 130 years, according to UN Women.
While, so far, only around ten women prime ministers or presidents are set to travel to New York for the event, there is a bright side: the first woman to speak comes earlier than usual.
Read here the full article published by Forbes on 23 September 2024.
Image credits: Forbes
With many positions left to fill, President-elect Trump has already tapped several women for important positions in his administration. They include: Governor Nikki Haley as U.N. ambassador and charter school advocate Betsy DeVos as secretary of education (The Washington Post); former labor secretary Elaine Chao as secretary of transportation (The New York Times); Fox News commentator K.T. McFarland as deputy national security advisor (The New York Times); and health care consultant Seema Verma to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (NPR).
Seven women currently serve in the Obama administration in cabinet or cabinet-level positions. Forty-eight women have held a total of 54 cabinet or cabinet-level appointments in the history of the United States. Of the 48, 30 had cabinet posts, including two who headed two different departments. Three more women held both a cabinet post and a position defined as cabinet-level, and one held two cabinet-level posts. Thirty-one of these women were appointed by Democratic presidents and 17 by Republicans. Ten presidents (four Democrats and six Republicans) have appointed women to their cabinets.
Want to know how many women past presidents have appointed? See CAWP's fact sheet about women in presidential cabinets.
This mapping is made for the benefit of researchers who want to learn about Gender Studies in the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden on the theme of women/gender in public life. Most of the research literature - especially from the first decades of Nordic Women’s Studies/Gender Studies - was published in the native languages, and is therefore not included in this mapping. But with the development of Gender Studies, an increasing number of publications are available in English. Click here to access the full list.
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.