The International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics) held a two-day workshop on Women in Politics: Overcoming Barriers to Participation in Oslo, Norway. The workshop brought together over 30 women politicians, activists and development sector practitioners, including two iKNOW Politics Experts from each region of the world. The workshop was also attended by the representatives of the Norwegian civil society and Norwegian government officials. iKNOW Politics graciously thanks the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their financial contribution that made the workshop possible.
The topics of each panel and roundtable discussion at the workshop reflected existing barriers to women’s political participation, and were followed by the lessons learned from the Norwegian experience. In this workshop, iKNOW Politics staff highlighted the barriers that were identified by iKNOW Politics members and experts in discussion circles and forums on the website. Some of the most frequently cited barriers included:• Lack of money: inadequate political party financing legislation; lack of fundraising skills; fewer links to corporate and other sources of funds;• Lack of time: women continue to bear most of the burden for family and domestic responsibilities while balancing the demands of a political career, including long hours, late-night meetings and frequent travel;• Political party structures: many political parties do not have internal access points for women and other excluded groups; women are frequently given “token” responsibilities without real power in party hierarchies; party nominations and selection of party lists is often male-dominated;• Exclusion from existing informal political networks: men who seek to enter politics often have a number of informal networks to draw upon, which have often excluded women; women do not have similar networks to assist one another. What public spaces are open to women to facilitate their entry into politics?Below is the synopsis of discussions and recommendations provided in each of the six panels. I. Discussion Panel on Fundraising for Women in Politics: Follow up on iKNOW Politics E-Discussion Forum
The session on Fundraising for Women in Politics was a follow up discussion to the iKNOW Politics E-Discussion Forum on Financing Women in Politics held from October 22-29, 2008. The E-Discussion Forum raised multiple questions around the following five topics: fundraising strategies for women candidates; finance laws for women's political participation; the role of political parties; women's financial independence and access to public office; and women's participation in local governments and local elections. As a result of a week-long discussion, iKNOW Politics received 38 comments from its members and experts from over 15 countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, USA, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, Kenya, Panama, Canada, Czech Republic, Morocco and Sierra Leone.To follow up on the E-Discussion, the workshop participants highlighted the importance of fundraising in political campaigns and particular difficulties women face while fundraising. Several experts highlighted the importance of creating networks specifically for women that would help them to advance in politics at any level, which includes raising funds for their campaigns. Such networks will also allow women to build relationships amongst each other and with male counterparts supporting them. Among the key issues, experts also highlighted the increasing costs of campaigning, which make campaign financing a big issue not only for women but also for men. However, everyone agreed that women face more problems raising large amounts of money for their campaigns and can rarely compete with their male counterparts. It was mentioned that public money and party money are not equally distributed because often men are in charge of the funds distribution. Additionally, the experts pointed to the increasing rates of vote buying that empowers political leaders who possess the most money, and fraud in financing. Some of the recommendations from the panel discussion and the iKNOW Politics E-Discussion Forum included:• Impose spending limits on political campaigns and make campaign spending more transparent;• Build capacity of women who have the ticket or got a party nomination to mobilize resources;• Establish trust funds for women within political parties;• Create tax exemptions for campaign expenses such as child care costs, etc;• Understand donor motivations, and target donors strategically, including women donors;• Ensure that women can be financially independent, including having rights to own property and equal access to jobs and businesses;• Provide financial incentives to political parties to place women higher on the party lists;• Establish strong links with constituents to gain trust and to fundraise for campaigns;• Form financial networks including women supporters and constituents to fundraise at the local level;• Build transformative communities that define politics and political agendas.II. Discussion Panel on How Civil Society Can Promote Women in Politics The workshop participants highlighted the role and unique position of civil society in mobilizing citizens and organizations around key societal issues, including promoting women in politics and public life. It was highlighted that the strength of civil society is in its diversity and ability to represent a specific issue of their choice. Experts noted that women, once elected, have broader accountabilities than those in civil society, and that women’s groups need to recognize this and provide constructive pressure. The participants pointed out the instrumental role of civil society in promoting women’s political agendas and political campaigns at local and national levels. For instance, it was highlighted that many women politicians in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa have emerged from organized women’s movements and organizations. Such support is essential due to the glass ceiling that women face in politics. Some of the highlighted barriers were traditional roles of women as caretakers, impact of poverty, financial dependence of women on their male relatives, lack of resources and confidence, and some forms of religious extremism propagating to exclude women from public life. The participants also stressed the importance of civil society organizations to stay involved in women’s issues and to support and back up women in politics who take political risks to empower women. Civil society can create positive images of women leaders and candidates in the media, help them to campaign in local communities, provide educational campaigns among voters on issues championed by women candidates, etc. Participants cautioned that in Europe, the women’s movement has been in decline in recent years. Several workshop experts suggested that civil society should work to create a critical mass of women voters who are aware of their democratic rights and use the ballot strategically. One of the strategies implemented in Central and Eastern Europe is a “sandwich strategy” where there is pressure from the bottom (civil society) and also from the top (international organizations and European women’s groups). The “sandwich strategy” can be used to pressure local democratic institutions to create gender-sensitive policies and promote women in politics. By providing women with knowledge, skills and access to information, civil society organizations can also be a vehicle for empowerment of women candidates. They can serve as a resource for building and strengthening women’s self-confidence to stand up for themselves and their political agendas. By supporting certain policy issues promoted by women politicians, civil society organizations can be instrumental in making women feel important about their work and their abilities. The workshop experts also suggested that civil society organizations, and women’s organizations in particular, should be involved in organizing parallel electoral campaigns. The role of civil society organizations in such parallel measures can be of a watchdog of women’s rights and freedoms. In this regard, experts highly praised and highlighted the work of Dr. Asha Elmi Haji from Somaliland, who created the 6th clan that had identified itself with women’s needs and rights. The 6th clan has successfully advocated for including more women in politics and post-conflict reconstruction processes, as well as raising a new cohort of women politicians in Somalia. Furthermore, the workshop participants underlined the importance of women to unite forces in their efforts to enter politics. Women can make good use of civil society organizations and networks available through them to create relationships and to provide support to one another. Some of the recommendations included:• Create and foster home-grown strategies and approaches promoting women’s political participation;• Empower women through providing trainings aimed at increasing skills and knowledge of women candidates and aspirants;• Create coordinated and vibrant civil society that is pro-active in promoting women’s issues;• Inspire women members of parliament and other elected officials to speak for women’s movements and women’s organizations;• Create stories about women leaders and showcase them widely in their communities and countries;• Continue pressure from the international community to create gender-sensitive policies and promote women in politics; • Use civil society organizations as platforms of oversight over public policies;• Involve civil society organizations in training women to run parallel electoral campaigns and in helping them to organize such campaigns;• Women should move in and out of civil society and elected politics to ensure continued understanding and dialogue between the two. III. Discussion Panel on Work-Life BalanceThe experts highlighted the importance of work-life balance in women’s professional careers, specifically women seeking careers in politics. Experts pointed out that women in politics face such challenges as extensive traveling to meet their constituents, long working hours, a large number of roles and responsibilities, late evening meetings or parliamentary sessions, etc. Women in public life lose the assumption of privacy, for instance, making it acceptable for media to call them at home late on a Sunday night and subjecting them to scrutiny about their private lives. It was also highlighted that many women in politics also risk their and their family’s personal safety. For instance, in some countries in Africa women politicians undergo physical abuse and humiliation. The above-mentioned barriers create disincentives for women to enter politics, especially young women in very male dominated societies. According to a survey held by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) over 60% of the surveyed women Members of Parliaments were above 50 years old.Several workshop participants who have been in politics mentioned the pressure that women experience in politics trying to prove that they are as good as or better than their male counterparts. This applies to all women, not just those with young families. In fact, one young woman MP who does not have children also noted that she faces expectations from other women that she will carry a greater workload so that her colleagues with family responsibilities can go home to their children. It was also noted that in many countries the difficulty juggling work and home responsibilities can be a class-related issue, with women from upper classes who are accustomed to managing household help finding less difficulty adjusting. Experts noted that regardless of background, women take on too many responsibilities and have a hard time saying no. One participant put it succinctly: “if you want to be in politics, you need to accept that someone else will be washing your floors”. Some of the recommendations included:• Arrange better sitting hours in Parliaments;• Decrease the number of late night party meetings or parliamentary sessions;• Engender rules regulating the work of parliaments, government institutions, and parties; • Parliaments should create budget lines to provide flexible childcare options for Members of Parliament;• Engender family and childcare laws to create equal responsibilities and rights between men and women, including parental leave;• Consult men on how to improve work-life balance both for women and men; • Involve men in domestic responsibilities and make it part of the regular life schedule;• Women should not be afraid or ashamed to ask for help when they need it, including with domestic chores.IV. Discussion Panel on the Role of Political Parties in Promoting Women in PoliticsThe workshop participants agreed that political parties are gatekeepers of elections in democratic societies and that the inclusion of women into party candidate lists are one of the most important steps in increasing women’s political participation. Among the barriers that women face in being members of political parties and getting nominated by political parties are: lack of resources, especially financial, to run as candidates; lack of networks supporting women candidates and leaders; lack of political will to promote women; political parties that do not see women as key constituents; lack of confidence among women to compete with their male counterparts; and lack of long term strategies. In addition, different kinds of electoral systems – such as First-Past-the-Post - can preclude parties from nominating more women even when there is political will at the top.Experts agreed that women need to build networks and maintain them even after they are elected. This not only will help them win an election, but also to get re-elected and to provide access to these networks to newcomers. Women’s parliamentary caucuses and women’s sections of political parties were highlighted as one of the most important networks that women parliamentarians can rely on to push their policy agendas and build coalitions. Another agreement was to provide training to women and political parties. Women should receive skills oriented training sessions that respond to their needs such as building skills in public speaking, self-confidence, working with media, etc. Many of the participants said that women should stop seeing each other as rivals, and denounced the tendency of some women to “pull up the ladder after them” once they reach to top. Instead women in politics should be encouraged to become role models for women trying to enter politics. They also pointed out the problem of incumbency where most powerful positions belong to men and women need to fight through male dominated institutions and traditions to get those positions. Some of the recommendations included:• Implement and enforce internal quotas within political parties;• Form women’s wings in political parties with an autonomous budget;• Decrease membership fees for women;• Grant women scholarships to participate in trainings and political events;• Have gender balanced staff within political parties;• Allocate party resources equally between men and women party members and candidates;• Appeal to women voters through party platforms; • Create a women-friendly culture within political parties by promoting inclusive party structures;• Promote women in winnable seats;• Avoid tokenism and paternalism in nominating women candidates; • Use women political leaders as political capital to advance other women in politics;• Create reserved seats for women in parliaments and have women-only shortlists;• • In First-Past-the-Post electoral systems, demand strong women on the ballot before calling a nomination meeting which will put onus on a local board to recruit women;• Women on local boards should help other women to get elected;• Bring women and men together to discuss and explain voting rights and voting system in the country;• Create a dialogue between political parties and women’s movements. V. Discussion Panel on Women and Informal Networks The participants acknowledged the high importance of informal networks for promoting women in politics and public life. The discussion panelists mentioned that informal networks may be based on kinship, information-sharing, business, faith, and party affiliation. Some of the highlighted barriers that women face in entering and maintaining relationships with informal networks were time constraint, money, culture, and lack of access to sufficient information. The participants also highlighte
that the existing networks are very male dominated and do not provide women with the same access level. Some of the domination and exclusion techniques include making women invisible, withholding information from women, and shaming and ridiculing women. Due to such exclusion, women do not get a chance to build relational ties to these networks and to maintain their access to them. The participants have also mentioned that women can get caught in fighting against pre-existing values and cultures of informal networks that are not gender sensitive. The experts also pointed out the importance of building relationships between informal networks and civil society organizations advocating for women’s advancement in politics. This will create an external pressure on such networks to involve women in their activities and share some of the available resources with them. The larger issue discussed by the workshop participants, was how to help women to network with one another and with external groups. It was mentioned that many women network for specific tasks, such as fundraising or pushing for a certain policy reform, while men network to build long-term relationships. Experts also noted that women’s networks are often viewed as threatening, while pre-existing men’s networks are accepted as the norm. Experts also cautioned against assuming that informal networks, such as faith-based networks, are completely male-dominated just because the public face is only male. The Muslim sisterhood in Egypt was provided as an example that there are often major social movements of change happening inside such networks before it is visible to outsiders. Some of the recommendations included:• Build working relationships between women’s informal networks and civil society organizations working to advance women in politics; • Do not write off non-traditional public spaces where women are vying for their rights, such as faith-based public space;• Base women’s networks around a common issue;• Mobilize resources and voters through community-based voluntary actions and networks;• Build alliances and networks between women who are already in politics and women entering politics;• Create a favorable environment for women to establish single-gender networks.VI. Roundtable Discussion on Norwegian Experience The panelists representing Norwegian government institutions, civil society and political parties acknowledged the achievements of Norway in championing women’s rights in politics. They mentioned that due to political activism of women in early 1970s it was possible to establish better working hours for women, childcare support, and relative equality in payment. For instance, out of the seven major political parties in Norway, four have women as party leaders and two have women parliamentary leaders. However, Norway also recognizes the need for further improvement, especially in the private sector. The panelists highlighted that Norwegians believe in mass mobilization and activism to achieve women’s rights and gender equality. They also pointed out that the linkages between civil society organizations, government institutions, and women’s movements should not be lost and women’s issues should not be abandoned. The workshop participants also acknowledged a unique socialization process conducted through the educational system in Norway, and in the Nordic countries in general. For instance, text books in schools include information relevant to gender equality and women’s rights, which distills the values of equality into children from a very young age. Additionally, Norway was less impacted by the Second World War, and many more women had access to education right after the war than in many other countries, which allowed them to actively participate in civil movements. It was also recognized that many achievements were possible because Norway already had a political culture of inclusion and transparency even before women’s groups began their campaigns. As an emerging issue in Norway, panelists recognized the gaps in involvement of immigrant women in politics and public life. This has been very apparent in the past ten years and requires immediate attention. The panelists also discussed how to preserve the history of the Norwegian women’s struggle for equality and pass it on to the next generation. Some of the recommendations included:• Introduce a course on Women’s History in universities;• Create public campaigns targeting young people;• Engage civil society to create programs and projects aimed at preserving this knowledge base. List of Participants Ambassador Frederik Arthur, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NorwayAnita Vandenbeld, iKNOW Politics Project Manager, NorwayAnne Havnor, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NorwayAudrey McLaughlin, iKNOW Politics Expert, CanadaBahar Salimova, iKNOW Politics Network Researcher, USABeate Gangaas, Equality and Discrimination Ombud, NorwayBeatriz Llanos, iKNOW Politics expert, Peru Bjoern Foerde, Oslo Governance Center, NorwayDiane Sheinberg, iKNOW Politics Steering Committee, UNDP, USAGro Lindstad, iKNOW Politics Steering Committee, UNIFEM, USAHege Hero, iKNOW Politics expert, NorwayIne Marie Erikssen Soreide, Member of Parliament, NorwayJulie Ballington, iKNOW Politics Steering Committee, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), SwitzerlandKevin Devaux, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), USAKjell Erik Oie, Secretary of State - Children and Equality, NorwayKristin Haffert, iKNOW Politics Steering Committee, National Democratic Institute, USALiv Bremer, Norwegian People's Aid, NorwayLiv Kristensen, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NorwayMireya Reith, iKNOW Politics Steering Committee, National Democratic Institute, USA Niki Johnson, iKNOW Politics expert, UruguayNkoyo Toyo, iKNOW Politics expert, NigeriaNoha El Mikawy, Oslo Governance Centre, NorwayPaavani Reddy, Oslo Governance Centre, NorwayPiyoo Kochar, iKNOW Politics Network Facilitator, USA Rossana Andia, iKNOW Politics Regional Coordinator, PeruRumbidzai Kandawasvika-Nhundu, iKNOW Politics Steering Committee, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), StockholmSalvator Nkurunziza, UNV, GermanSeida Greiss, Member of Parliament, EgyptSilvia Ordonez, iKNOW Politics expert, PhillipinesSonja Lokar, iKNOW Politics expert, SloveniaToiko Kleppe, FoKUS, NorwayTorild Skard, former Member of Parliament and President of the Upper Chamber, NorwayUrsula Gellis, IKFF Norge, Norway
The International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics) held a two-day workshop on Women in Politics: Overcoming Barriers to Participation in Oslo, Norway. The workshop brought together over 30 women politicians, activists and development sector practitioners, including two iKNOW Politics Experts from each region of the world. The workshop was also attended by the representatives of the Norwegian civil society and Norwegian government officials. iKNOW Politics graciously thanks the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their financial contribution that made the workshop possible.
The topics of each panel and roundtable discussion at the workshop reflected existing barriers to women’s political participation, and were followed by the lessons learned from the Norwegian experience. In this workshop, iKNOW Politics staff highlighted the barriers that were identified by iKNOW Politics members and experts in discussion circles and forums on the website. Some of the most frequently cited barriers included:• Lack of money: inadequate political party financing legislation; lack of fundraising skills; fewer links to corporate and other sources of funds;• Lack of time: women continue to bear most of the burden for family and domestic responsibilities while balancing the demands of a political career, including long hours, late-night meetings and frequent travel;• Political party structures: many political parties do not have internal access points for women and other excluded groups; women are frequently given “token” responsibilities without real power in party hierarchies; party nominations and selection of party lists is often male-dominated;• Exclusion from existing informal political networks: men who seek to enter politics often have a number of informal networks to draw upon, which have often excluded women; women do not have similar networks to assist one another. What public spaces are open to women to facilitate their entry into politics?Below is the synopsis of discussions and recommendations provided in each of the six panels. I. Discussion Panel on Fundraising for Women in Politics: Follow up on iKNOW Politics E-Discussion Forum The session on Fundraising for Women in Politics was a follow up discussion to the iKNOW Politics E-Discussion Forum on Financing Women in Politics held from October 22-29, 2008. The E-Discussion Forum raised multiple questions around the following five topics: fundraising strategies for women candidates; finance laws for women's political participation; the role of political parties; women's financial independence and access to public office; and women's participation in local governments and local elections. As a result of a week-long discussion, iKNOW Politics received 38 comments from its members and experts from over 15 countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, USA, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, Kenya, Panama, Canada, Czech Republic, Morocco and Sierra Leone.To follow up on the E-Discussion, the workshop participants highlighted the importance of fundraising in political campaigns and particular difficulties women face while fundraising. Several experts highlighted the importance of creating networks specifically for women that would help them to advance in politics at any level, which includes raising funds for their campaigns. Such networks will also allow women to build relationships amongst each other and with male counterparts supporting them. Among the key issues, experts also highlighted the increasing costs of campaigning, which make campaign financing a big issue not only for women but also for men. However, everyone agreed that women face more problems raising large amounts of money for their campaigns and can rarely compete with their male counterparts. It was mentioned that public money and party money are not equally distributed because often men are in charge of the funds distribution. Additionally, the experts pointed to the increasing rates of vote buying that empowers political leaders who possess the most money, and fraud in financing. Some of the recommendations from the panel discussion and the iKNOW Politics E-Discussion Forum included:• Impose spending limits on political campaigns and make campaign spending more transparent;• Build capacity of women who have the ticket or got a party nomination to mobilize resources;• Establish trust funds for women within political parties;• Create tax exemptions for campaign expenses such as child care costs, etc;• Understand donor motivations, and target donors strategically, including women donors;• Ensure that women can be financially independent, including having rights to own property and equal access to jobs and businesses;• Provide financial incentives to political parties to place women higher on the party lists;• Establish strong links with constituents to gain trust and to fundraise for campaigns;• Form financial networks including women supporters and constituents to fundraise at the local level;• Build transformative communities that define politics and political agendas.II. Discussion Panel on How Civil Society Can Promote Women in Politics The workshop participants highlighted the role and unique position of civil society in mobilizing citizens and organizations around key societal issues, including promoting women in politics and public life. It was highlighted that the strength of civil society is in its diversity and ability to represent a specific issue of their choice. Experts noted that women, once elected, have broader accountabilities than those in civil society, and that women’s groups need to recognize this and provide constructive pressure. The participants pointed out the instrumental role of civil society in promoting women’s political agendas and political campaigns at local and national levels. For instance, it was highlighted that many women politicians in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa have emerged from organized women’s movements and organizations. Such support is essential due to the glass ceiling that women face in politics. Some of the highlighted barriers were traditional roles of women as caretakers, impact of poverty, financial dependence of women on their male relatives, lack of resources and confidence, and some forms of religious extremism propagating to exclude women from public life. The participants also stressed the importance of civil society organizations to stay involved in women’s issues and to support and back up women in politics who take political risks to empower women. Civil society can create positive images of women leaders and candidates in the media, help them to campaign in local communities, provide educational campaigns among voters on issues championed by women candidates, etc. Participants cautioned that in Europe, the women’s movement has been in decline in recent years. Several workshop experts suggested that civil society should work to create a critical mass of women voters who are aware of their democratic rights and use the ballot strategically. One of the strategies implemented in Central and Eastern Europe is a “sandwich strategy” where there is pressure from the bottom (civil society) and also from the top (international organizations and European women’s groups). The “sandwich strategy” can be used to pressure local democratic institutions to create gender-sensitive policies and promote women in politics. By providing women with knowledge, skills and access to information, civil society organizations can also be a vehicle for empowerment of women candidates. They can serve as a resource for building and strengthening women’s self-confidence to stand up for themselves and their political agendas. By supporting certain policy issues promoted by women politicians, civil society organizations can be instrumental in making women feel important about their work and their abilities. The workshop experts also suggested that civil society organizations, and women’s organizations in particular, should be involved in organizing parallel electoral campaigns. The role of civil society organizations in such parallel measures can be of a watchdog of women’s rights and freedoms. In this regard, experts highly praised and highlighted the work of Dr. Asha Elmi Haji from Somaliland, who created the 6th clan that had identified itself with women’s needs and rights. The 6th clan has successfully advocated for including more women in politics and post-conflict reconstruction processes, as well as raising a new cohort of women politicians in Somalia. Furthermore, the workshop participants underlined the importance of women to unite forces in their efforts to enter politics. Women can make good use of civil society organizations and networks available through them to create relationships and to provide support to one another. Some of the recommendations included:• Create and foster home-grown strategies and approaches promoting women’s political participation;• Empower women through providing trainings aimed at increasing skills and knowledge of women candidates and aspirants;• Create coordinated and vibrant civil society that is pro-active in promoting women’s issues;• Inspire women members of parliament and other elected officials to speak for women’s movements and women’s organizations;• Create stories about women leaders and showcase them widely in their communities and countries;• Continue pressure from the international community to create gender-sensitive policies and promote women in politics; • Use civil society organizations as platforms of oversight over public policies;• Involve civil society organizations in training women to run parallel electoral campaigns and in helping them to organize such campaigns;• Women should move in and out of civil society and elected politics to ensure continued understanding and dialogue between the two. III. Discussion Panel on Work-Life BalanceThe experts highlighted the importance of work-life balance in women’s professional careers, specifically women seeking careers in politics. Experts pointed out that women in politics face such challenges as extensive traveling to meet their constituents, long working hours, a large number of roles and responsibilities, late evening meetings or parliamentary sessions, etc. Women in public life lose the assumption of privacy, for instance, making it acceptable for media to call them at home late on a Sunday night and subjecting them to scrutiny about their private lives. It was also highlighted that many women in politics also risk their and their family’s personal safety. For instance, in some countries in Africa women politicians undergo physical abuse and humiliation. The above-mentioned barriers create disincentives for women to enter politics, especially young women in very male dominated societies. According to a survey held by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) over 60% of the surveyed women Members of Parliaments were above 50 years old.Several workshop participants who have been in politics mentioned the pressure that women experience in politics trying to prove that they are as good as or better than their male counterparts. This applies to all women, not just those with young families. In fact, one young woman MP who does not have children also noted that she faces expectations from other women that she will carry a greater workload so that her colleagues with family responsibilities can go home to their children. It was also noted that in many countries the difficulty juggling work and home responsibilities can be a class-related issue, with women from upper classes who are accustomed to managing household help finding less difficulty adjusting. Experts noted that regardless of background, women take on too many responsibilities and have a hard time saying no. One participant put it succinctly: “if you want to be in politics, you need to accept that someone else will be washing your floors”. Some of the recommendations included:• Arrange better sitting hours in Parliaments;• Decrease the number of late night party meetings or parliamentary sessions;• Engender rules regulating the work of parliaments, government institutions, and parties; • Parliaments should create budget lines to provide flexible childcare options for Members of Parliament;• Engender family and childcare laws to create equal responsibilities and rights between men and women, including parental leave;• Consult men on how to improve work-life balance both for women and men; • Involve men in domestic responsibilities and make it part of the regular life schedule;• Women should not be afraid or ashamed to ask for help when they need it, including with domestic chores.IV. Discussion Panel on the Role of Political Parties in Promoting Women in PoliticsThe workshop participants agreed that political parties are gatekeepers of elections in democratic societies and that the inclusion of women into party candidate lists are one of the most important steps in increasing women’s political participation. Among the barriers that women face in being members of political parties and getting nominated by political parties are: lack of resources, especially financial, to run as candidates; lack of networks supporting women candidates and leaders; lack of political will to promote women; political parties that do not see women as key constituents; lack of confidence among women to compete with their male counterparts; and lack of long term strategies. In addition, different kinds of electoral systems – such as First-Past-the-Post - can preclude parties from nominating more women even when there is political will at the top.Experts agreed that women need to build networks and maintain them even after they are elected. This not only will help them win an election, but also to get re-elected and to provide access to these networks to newcomers. Women’s parliamentary caucuses and women’s sections of political parties were highlighted as one of the most important networks that women parliamentarians can rely on to push their policy agendas and build coalitions. Another agreement was to provide training to women and political parties. Women should receive skills oriented training sessions that respond to their needs such as building skills in public speaking, self-confidence, working with media, etc. Many of the participants said that women should stop seeing each other as rivals, and denounced the tendency of some women to “pull up the ladder after them” once they reach to top. Instead women in politics should be encouraged to become role models for women trying to enter politics. They also pointed out the problem of incumbency where most powerful positions belong to men and women need to fight through male dominated institutions and traditions to get those positions. Some of the recommendations included:• Implement and enforce internal quotas within political parties;• Form women’s wings in political parties with an autonomous budget;• Decrease membership fees for women;• Grant women scholarships to participate in trainings and political events;• Have gender balanced staff within political parties;• Allocate party resources equally between men and women party members and candidates;• Appeal to women voters through party platforms; • Create a women-friendly culture within political parties by promoting inclusive party structures;• Promote women in winnable seats;• Avoid tokenism and paternalism in nominating women candidates; • Use women political leaders as political capital to advance other women in politics;• Create reserved seats for women in parliaments and have women-only shortlists;• • In First-Past-the-Post electoral systems, demand strong women on the ballot before calling a nomination meeting which will put onus on a local board to recruit women;• Women on local boards should help other women to get elected;• Bring women and men together to discuss and explain voting rights and voting system in the country;• Create a dialogue between political parties and women’s movements. V. Discussion Panel on Women and Informal Networks The participants acknowledged the high importance of informal networks for promoting women in politics and public life. The discussion panelists mentioned that informal networks may be based on kinship, information-sharing, business, faith, and party affiliation. Some of the highlighted barriers that women face in entering and maintaining relationships with informal networks were time constraint, money, culture, and lack of access to sufficient information. The participants also highlighte
that the existing networks are very male dominated and do not provide women with the same access level. Some of the domination and exclusion techniques include making women invisible, withholding information from women, and shaming and ridiculing women. Due to such exclusion, women do not get a chance to build relational ties to these networks and to maintain their access to them. The participants have also mentioned that women can get caught in fighting against pre-existing values and cultures of informal networks that are not gender sensitive. The experts also pointed out the importance of building relationships between informal networks and civil society organizations advocating for women’s advancement in politics. This will create an external pressure on such networks to involve women in their activities and share some of the available resources with them. The larger issue discussed by the workshop participants, was how to help women to network with one another and with external groups. It was mentioned that many women network for specific tasks, such as fundraising or pushing for a certain policy reform, while men network to build long-term relationships. Experts also noted that women’s networks are often viewed as threatening, while pre-existing men’s networks are accepted as the norm. Experts also cautioned against assuming that informal networks, such as faith-based networks, are completely male-dominated just because the public face is only male. The Muslim sisterhood in Egypt was provided as an example that there are often major social movements of change happening inside such networks before it is visible to outsiders. Some of the recommendations included:• Build working relationships between women’s informal networks and civil society organizations working to advance women in politics; • Do not write off non-traditional public spaces where women are vying for their rights, such as faith-based public space;• Base women’s networks around a common issue;• Mobilize resources and voters through community-based voluntary actions and networks;• Build alliances and networks between women who are already in politics and women entering politics;• Create a favorable environment for women to establish single-gender networks.VI. Roundtable Discussion on Norwegian Experience The panelists representing Norwegian government institutions, civil society and political parties acknowledged the achievements of Norway in championing women’s rights in politics. They mentioned that due to political activism of women in early 1970s it was possible to establish better working hours for women, childcare support, and relative equality in payment. For instance, out of the seven major political parties in Norway, four have women as party leaders and two have women parliamentary leaders. However, Norway also recognizes the need for further improvement, especially in the private sector. The panelists highlighted that Norwegians believe in mass mobilization and activism to achieve women’s rights and gender equality. They also pointed out that the linkages between civil society organizations, government institutions, and women’s movements should not be lost and women’s issues should not be abandoned. The workshop participants also acknowledged a unique socialization process conducted through the educational system in Norway, and in the Nordic countries in general. For instance, text books in schools include information relevant to gender equality and women’s rights, which distills the values of equality into children from a very young age. Additionally, Norway was less impacted by the Second World War, and many more women had access to education right after the war than in many other countries, which allowed them to actively participate in civil movements. It was also recognized that many achievements were possible because Norway already had a political culture of inclusion and transparency even before women’s groups began their campaigns. As an emerging issue in Norway, panelists recognized the gaps in involvement of immigrant women in politics and public life. This has been very apparent in the past ten years and requires immediate attention. The panelists also discussed how to preserve the history of the Norwegian women’s struggle for equality and pass it on to the next generation. Some of the recommendations included:• Introduce a course on Women’s History in universities;• Create public campaigns targeting young people;• Engage civil society to create programs and projects aimed at preserving this knowledge base. List of Participants Ambassador Frederik Arthur, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NorwayAnita Vandenbeld, iKNOW Politics Project Manager, NorwayAnne Havnor, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NorwayAudrey McLaughlin, iKNOW Politics Expert, CanadaBahar Salimova, iKNOW Politics Network Researcher, USABeate Gangaas, Equality and Discrimination Ombud, NorwayBeatriz Llanos, iKNOW Politics expert, Peru Bjoern Foerde, Oslo Governance Center, NorwayDiane Sheinberg, iKNOW Politics Steering Committee, UNDP, USAGro Lindstad, iKNOW Politics Steering Committee, UNIFEM, USAHege Hero, iKNOW Politics expert, NorwayIne Marie Erikssen Soreide, Member of Parliament, NorwayJulie Ballington, iKNOW Politics Steering Committee, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), SwitzerlandKevin Devaux, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), USAKjell Erik Oie, Secretary of State - Children and Equality, NorwayKristin Haffert, iKNOW Politics Steering Committee, National Democratic Institute, USALiv Bremer, Norwegian People's Aid, NorwayLiv Kristensen, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NorwayMireya Reith, iKNOW Politics Steering Committee, National Democratic Institute, USA Niki Johnson, iKNOW Politics expert, UruguayNkoyo Toyo, iKNOW Politics expert, NigeriaNoha El Mikawy, Oslo Governance Centre, NorwayPaavani Reddy, Oslo Governance Centre, NorwayPiyoo Kochar, iKNOW Politics Network Facilitator, USA Rossana Andia, iKNOW Politics Regional Coordinator, PeruRumbidzai Kandawasvika-Nhundu, iKNOW Politics Steering Committee, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), StockholmSalvator Nkurunziza, UNV, GermanSeida Greiss, Member of Parliament, EgyptSilvia Ordonez, iKNOW Politics expert, PhillipinesSonja Lokar, iKNOW Politics expert, SloveniaToiko Kleppe, FoKUS, NorwayTorild Skard, former Member of Parliament and President of the Upper Chamber, NorwayUrsula Gellis, IKFF Norge, Norway