Women's Leadership

The message seems quite clear that politics in Nigeria is a game for rich, old men, to the detriment of the real change-making demographics - women and youths.

Politics has almost become an exclusive club of male actors, who prevent the participation of women and youths through all sorts of schemes, even in distortion of such significant mileage attained with the NotTooYoungToRun law and movement to enable a freer field of participation in politics by removing eligibility restrictions. For instance, in a number of political parties, the gate-keepers, who are largely rich, old men, have set up ridiculous entry-level requirements, such as the costs of expression of interest and nomination forms, etc.

Almost three decades after the ground-setting decisions of the Beijing Platform of Action, in which the position of women was affirmed positively and there was the determination that, being a very significant half of the world population, they deserve to be at the centre of political decision-making processes that would make the world evolve and grow in a more sustainable manner, it is quite disconcerting what the lot of women, and the youths, remains in Nigeria.

Click here to read the full article published by Premium Times on 7 June 2022.

A new study about women in politics by Professor Parimal Maya Sudhakar, Head of the School, MIT School of Government, MIT World Peace University reported the disparity between the number of male and female politicians in India.

The study revealed that in India, women in politics still struggle to become change-makers and that reform is required to ‘break the glass ceiling’. According to the World Bank, in 2021 the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments was at a disappointing 14 per cent. The highest proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments in 2021 was 61 per cent in Rwanda.

Click here to read the full article published by She The People on 10 June 2022.

Women are more likely to hold interim leadership roles in federal politics, but clinching the top role remains elusive.

INTERIM LEADERS HOLD a strange position in party politics. They’ve advanced to one of the highest offices in the country, but at a cost: these leaders are generally not allowed to run in the following leadership race due to the unfair advantage they would have. Few end up making it to the real top spot in the party at a later date. And, as history has shown, interim leader is as high as most women politicians make it. The brass ring remains frustratingly out of reach.

After Erin O’Toole was ousted as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, on February 2, Candice Bergen was quickly elected interim leader, picking up the reins of a party that seems to be having trouble deciding what it is, what it represents, and how it will take back power from the Liberals. The long-time Manitoba MP for Portage–Lisgar and former deputy leader joined an exclusive list: highly qualified women considered good enough by their parties to put things back together after a crisis but whose names often disappear when a permanent leader is discussed.

Click here to read the full article published by The Walrus on 9 June 2022.

Julia is joined by feminist icon Gloria Steinem. Gloria has been at the vanguard of the women’s rights movement and has been questioning the status quo and pushing against the patriarchy for almost 60 years. They discuss Gloria’s career as a political activist, journalist, writer, and editor, the erosion of reproductive rights in the US, and what feminism means today.

Click here to listen to the podcast on Spotify.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, former Prime Minister of Australia and Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership (GIWL), Julia Gillard was joined by former Prime Minister of the UK, the Rt Hon Theresa May MP for an In Conversation event.

During the discussion between the two former leaders, they shared their experiences at the highest level of politics, the obstacles they faced, and what as a society we can do to improve gender equality and women's political representation.

The event, which was hosted by the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership in partnership with Ipsos UK and held at Bush House, was informed by insights from Kelly Beaver, the new Chief Executive of Ipsos UK and first woman to hold that role. Kelly shared findings from a new global survey looking at women's career progression, attitudes towards feminism, toxic online behaviour and more.

Click here to read the full article published by King's College London on 16 March 2022. 

International IDEA presented its latest data on gender quotas at the Albania 2022 International Forum for Gender Equality “Equality and Me”, which focused on developing a stronger commitment for gender equality. The Forum held on 27 May provided a platform for key national actors/stakeholders to discuss national collective responsibility and explore pathways towards gender equality and inclusiveness in decision-making processes in Albania.

The Women’s Network Equality in Decision Making in Albania requested International IDEA's insights as the Network The Women’s Network Equality in Decision Making in Albania aims to address gender inequalities by focusing on equal opportunities, participation and representation of women and men in decision making at all levels.

Click here to read the full article published by International IDEA on 9 June 2022.