Women's Leadership

• Mabel Chinomona, President of the Senate, Zimbabwe,
• Claudia Roth, Vice-president of the Bundestag, Germany, 
• Tone Wilhelmsen Troen, Speaker of the Parliament, Norway,
• Mmatlala Grace Boroto, Member of Parliament, South Africa,
• Eliane Tillieux, President of the House of Representatives, Belgium.

New reports published ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow in November show  that decision-making and technical panels under UN Climate Change (known as “constituted bodies”) are increasingly integrating a gender perspective into their work, but that male overrepresentation on constituted bodies and on government delegations still remains an issue of concern.

Equal and meaningful participation and leadership of women is vital to achieve climate goals. While women and girls around the world are demanding more climate action at the national and international level and have received increasing recognition for their leadership, in the international climate decision-making process, women’s voices are not yet equally represented.

Click here to read the full article published by UN Climate Change on 12 October 2021.

This working paper is part of UN Women’s research efforts to highlight the importance of women’s leadership and participation in decision-making during the pandemic and beyond. The working paper tackles the question of how women leaders at the national and subnational levels of government managed COVID-19 response and recovery during the pandemic’s first 15 months, from January 2020 through March 2021.

The paper finds that women leaders placed premiums on effective leadership, rapid response, and socially inclusive policies as they understood that the effects of the pandemic would reach far beyond public health, affecting every aspect of society and disproportionately harming women and girls.

The publication also maps out lessons learned and recommendations on how to ensure women participate in and influence decision-making during the pandemic response and recovery.

Click here to read the report.

By Rajan Murty 

As a build-up to the Annual National Forum on Women in Politics to be held on 27 October 2021, International IDEA’s Asia and the Pacific Regional Programme organized a webinar entitled “Challenges faced by Women in the Path of Politics”. This topic is relevant considering Fiji will go to polls some time in the second half of next year.

The sixth webinar in the Melanesian webinar series 2021 had speakers from two political parties in Fiji that have been active in politics for more than two decades. The two speakers shared their experiences and lessons learnt within their respective parties over the years. The third speaker, Dr Kerryn Baker, an expert in Government and Politics of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University, shared her research knowledge on women’s participation in politics in the Pacific.

Click here to read the full article published by International IDEA on 25 October 2021.

Au Kirghizstan, le grand nombre d’hommes en politique est un problème. Mais cette histoire est celle de « petites » femmes qui font de grandes choses. Celles qui s’impliquent dans la vie politique des zones rurales racontent leurs difficultés et leurs engagements.

Le soir est déjà tombé sur le village de Kyzyl-Sou, dans la province d’Issyk-Koul. Dans les rues sombres et vides tombent des flocons de neige. Ce n’est qu’au travers des fenêtres de l’hôpital du district qu’il est possible de distinguer une lumière allumée : c’est là qu’Aïnoura Omorova, la cheffe du service des maladies infectieuses, est assise à son bureau. Elle semble extrêmement fatiguée, mais elle continue de remplir rapidement des dossiers médicaux. Les piles de papiers passent progressivement d’un bord à l’autre de la table.

«Je me souviens de la première fois où j’ai gagné les élections et où je suis entrée à l’aïyl kenech, l’assemblée représentative locale. Tout le monde m’avait félicitée, il y avait une telle agitation… Puis un homme était venu vers moi, m’avait serré la main puis m’avait remerciée d’avoir sauvé son enfant», raconte Aïnoura Omorova avec une voix calme, avant de se figer une seconde, comme si elle revivait silencieusement ce moment chaleureux. Puis elle retourne à ses dossiers

Cliquez ici pour lire l’article publié par Novastan, le 24 mars 2021.