Women and power: Overcoming barriers to leadership and influence'

‘Women and power: Overcoming barriers to leadership and influence’ is a case study developed as a result of the project ‘Women’s Voice and Leadership in Decision-Making project’. This project run over a period of two years, from 2014 to 2016, with funding by the United Kingdom Department for International Development, and dealt with questions such as:

• What enables women’s substantive voice and influence in decision-making processes?
• Does women’s presence and influence in decision-making improve outcomes for other women and advance gender equality?
• How can international actors better support women’s leadership and decision-making?

As a result, the research examined the connection between women’s political, social and economic power and resources, both from an individual and from a collective point of view. Some points that the project covered are:

• A global review of the evidence on women’s voice and leadership, with thematic chapters on women’s political participation, social activism and economic empowerment;
• A rapid review on women and girls’ leadership programmes;
• A rapid review on women and girls’ use of digital information and communication technologies;
• Five empirical case studies on women’s leadership and decision-making power, in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Gaza, Kenya and Malawi;
• A synthesis report and policy briefings.