iKNOW Politics Celebrates Its Second Anniversary

The International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics) Project celebrates its second anniversary on February 27th, 2009. Since its launch at the 51st session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York in February 2007, iKNOW Politics has become the premier online network serving the needs of women politicians and their supporters around the world.
iKNOW Politics was born of a commitment to enhance women’s contribution to politics and to increase their participation in political life by offering access to a wealth of resources and information. The partnership between the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the National Democratic Institute, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has successfully positioned iKNOW Politics as a key knowledge and information center on women in politics that provides its users hundreds of useful resources through its online library, world news coverage, and an event calendar, all continuously updated in three languages. Today, iKNOW Politics has over 4,200 members worldwide, 70 percent of whom are from transitional and developing countries. Within the two years of its existence iKNOW Politics has hosted over 1,300,000 visitors, with an average of 2,000 visitors a day, and received more than 43 million hits on its website. Driven by a high demand and popularity among its users, iKNOW Politics not only enhanced its existing tools and services, but also initiated new features on the site such as E-discussions and Peer Groups. iKNOW Politics has also continued providing free of charge expertise and advisory services through Ask the Experts, the unique tool that allows iKNOW Politics members to seek advice and recommendations from internationally-recognized experts with the goal to advance women in politics and public life. Since February 2007, iKNOW Politics has responded to over 40 Ask the Experts queries, empowering women leaders and their supporters with critical knowledge and information. In these responses, iKNOW Politics provided recommendations and highlighted strategies on a number of critical issues including running in local government elections, working with women voters and candidates in conflict and post-conflict countries, financing women candidates in Muslim countries, working with political parties to promote women candidates, mainstreaming gender into legislative frameworks, etc. As a result, iKNOW Politics members made changes in their programmatic work. For instance, members used the expert advice to establish a woman’s wing in a political party in Bhutan, to involve more women in local elections in Sudan, and to enhance academic research on women’s political participation.iKNOW Politics has expanded the tools available on the website for interactive discussions to fulfill its goal of creating a global discussion and networking space for women in politics and their supporters. Through 2007 and 2008, iKNOW Politics initiated three on issues relevant to women’s political participation such as Eliminating Violence Against Women, Gender Quotas As a Mechanism for Promoting Women in Politics, and Financing Women in Politics. The E-Discussions created knowledge bases reflecting recommendations that emerged from the iKNOW Politics members and experts on strategies to overcome barriers to women’s political participation. These E-Discussions brought together women leaders and candidates, researchers, employees of development organizations, civil society representatives, and other interested groups 50 countries and received over 120 comments in English, Spanish and French, allowing iKNOW Politics to create a truly global depository of knowledge and information on issues faced by women in politics and public life. iKNOW Politics plans to continue its work in advancing women in politics and to make the network even more accessible to women across the world. Drawing on its successful experience in the Latin America and the Caribbean region, the network will expand its regional presence in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. This will enable iKNOW Politics to provide its services to regional and grassroots organizations, and to reach out to women with limited access to technology. The expansion will also allow iKNOW Politics to create the Arabic version of its site, thereby providing valuable services to its Arabic speaking community in the Middle East and North Africa region. iKNOW Politics would like to thank its partners and donors for their generous support over the past two years, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway and the United Nations Democracy Endowment Fund (UNDEF). iKNOW Politics is also grateful to its members and experts worldwide for their active participation in the network’s activities and their contribution to increasing women’s political participation worldwide.Please click on the Add New Comment link to leave your wishes for the iKNOW Politics’ second anniversary and feedback on its work. We are always happy to hear from our members!