Partner News

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – in partnership with the Huairou Commission (HC) - launched a new gender-themed publication at the 15th biennial International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), a global forum organized by Transparency International (TI) together with partners, including UNDP, which is being held this week in Brasilia, Brazil from November 7th to 10th.

Dear colleagues,

For Burkina Faso’s last election – a presidential poll in 2010 –difficult and confusing requirements resulted in overwhelmingly low voter registration. Only three million of the country’s six million eligible citizens registered. And of those, only 1.7 million showed up at the polls. Women, in particular, faced formidable obstacles because of a requirement that citizens obtain a birth certificate before they can register.

Anne F. Stenhammer has been a bureaucrat, politician and women rights activist for more than forty years. Anne F. Stenhammer was formerly the Deputy Minister of International Affairs in the Government of Norway, where she was also responsible for gender equality issues and now leads the South Asia Regional office of United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (UN Women). Throughout her career, she has been a tireless crusader fighting for women empowerment and human rights.

UNDP has called for the formation of a caucus of women political leaders across party lines to enhance women’s participation within political parties and to advocate for the Women’s Reservation Bill as a collective voice.

For affirmative action to happen – be it quotas in Parliament or in political parties – mobilization of women around an integrated development agenda is critical. This was one of the key recommendations that emerged from the Roundtable on Women’s Participation in Politics organized by the United Nations Development Programme.

IPU members have committed to a comprehensive Plan of Action on gender-sensitive parliaments, aimed at radically transforming the way national institutions address gender equality.

After three days of meetings in Pristina, Kosovo, a group of women and men leaders from around the world has created the “Pristina Principles,” a set of guidelines and priorities aimed at eliminating barriers to women’s political participation, aiding their economic empowerment and giving them access to security and justice in the region and around the world.