In a representative democracy, political parties function as a link between state institutions and local grassroots organizations. It is political parties that aggregate interests, present political alternatives and nominate candidates. As such, political parties play an essential role for the advancement of women and the promotion of equality. In this section, you will find information on the role of political parties in promoting women's political participation.
Even though women represent more than half of the voting population in many countries and have been widely incorporated into the economic sphere over the last decade, reality tells us that there is still an important gap between these advances and women's access to elected or political party posi
Human Dimension Seminars are organized by the OSCE/ODIHR in accordance with the decisions of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) Summits in Helsinki (1992) and Bu
Drawing on her extensive experience working with women in Cambodia and throughout Asia, Cambodian parliamentarian and former cabinet minister Mu Sochua will discuss why politics matter to wome
The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the persistent obstacles to women’s and ethnic minority representation in politics, and to examine conditions and strategies across various countries that appear to facilitate better political representation of these groups.
Numerous behavioral studies have found women to be more trust-worthy and public-spirited than men. These results suggest that women should be particularly effective in promoting honest government.
A Joint Gender Review of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was commissioned by Sida together with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Irish Aid. The Review was carried out by Indevelop's Gender Experts between 1 April 2010 and 7 July 2010.
Democracy and the Challenge of Change: A Guide to Increasing Women’s Political Participation was created to be used by National Democratic Institute staff and other practitioners to develop, implement, monitor and evaluate women’s political participation programs across a variety of te
The African Union Commission and International IDEA launched a 5 year Joint Activity Plan (JAP) in 2008. The Joint Activity Plan is designed to support the African Union Commission in implementing its mandate related to the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance that was ad
This table gives mechanisms on how to promote gender equity. It was presented at the workshop on Strenghening women's participation and Leadership in Political Parties, Pretoria, 1-5. NDI South Africa