3. WOMEN IN POLITICS OVERVIEW
OBJECTIVES
• Understand the need for women’s
political participation and the related
legal framework within global, regional
and country-specific contexts
Photo: AFP/Getty Images
4. WOMEN IN POLITICS TOPICS
• Women’s political participation: history
and trends
• Benefits
• Obstacles
• Minimum conditions
• International/regional/national
frameworks
• Impact of women's participation
• Resources
5. KEY TERMS
• Empowerment
• Gender equality
• Critical mass
• Quota
• First past the post (FPTP)
• Proportional representation (PR)
• Transparency
• Caucus
Photo: Katie Croake, NDI
6. OVERALL GLOBAL TRENDS
Reaching parity in primary education
but…
• 2/3 of illiterate adults are women
• Women’s wages are 70-90% those of
men
• Women spend at least twice as much
time as men on domestic work
7. OVERALL GLOBAL TRENDS
• Rates of physical violence vary from
several percent to over 59%
• Gender digital divide
• Women more likely to live in poverty
9. HISTORY OF WOMEN’S
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
• Right to stand for election
US (1788)
• Right to vote
New Zealand (1893)
• First parliamentarians
Finland (1907)
• First head of state
Mongolia (1953)
10. WOMEN IN POLITICS: GLOBAL
TRENDS
• Women in parliament: 20.3%
Rwanda: 56.3%
• 33 parliamentary lower chambers with
30% or more women
• Presiding officers: 15.1%
• 7 countries: no women
• 16.7% of ministerial posts
• 17 heads of government
Photo: Mark Wilson, Getty Images
12. REGIONAL QUOTAS
Country Quota System
Kosovo 30%-N Open PR, every 3rd
Macedonia 30%-N,L Closed PR, every 3rd
Serbia 30%-N, L PR, every 4th
Bulgaria FPTP/PR
Slovakia PR
Romania MMP
13. LOCAL TRENDS
• 1935: women’s political rights
recognized
• Advances in parliament: from
9% to 14%
• 1 parliamentary committee
chair
• 1 of 26 ministries headed by a woman
• Men hold 82% of executive positions
15. WOMEN’S POLITICAL
PARTICIPATION: BENEFITS
• Higher standards of living
• Concerns of marginalized voters
represented
• Collaborative leadership styles
• Work across party lines
• Peace building
• Better decisions
16. BENEFITS
“Success without democracy is
improbable. Democracy without women
is impossible.”
“The political participation of women
results in tangible gains for democracy,
including greater responsiveness to
citizen needs, increased cooperation
across party and ethnic lines, and more
sustainable peace.”
- Madeleine K. Albright
17. WOMEN IN POLITICS: VOTERS
• Fundamental right
• Barriers
• Voter and civic education
• When women vote, women win
Photo: NDI
18. WOMEN IN POLITICAL PARTIES
• Importance of women as party
members and leaders
• Benefits to the party
• Women’s wings
Photo: Amy Hamelin, NDI
19. WOMEN IN CIVIL SOCIETY
• Women as agents of change
Photo: NDI
21. OBSTACLES TO WOMEN’S
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
• Structural
–Legal
–Economic
–Educational
• Social/cultural/religious
• Time and space
• Physical security
• Lack of confidence
22. MINIMUM CONDITIONS FOR
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
• Access to positions
of power
• Transparency
• Changing cultural
norms
• Women’s economic
empowerment
• Political will
Photo: Amy Hamelin, NDI
23. MINIMUM CONDITIONS
• Voice
–Empowerment
–Critical mass
• Access
–Representative resources
–Material and economic resources
–Democratic/cultural space
–Information – gender-disaggregated
• Capacity
24. GOALS
We want MORE:
• (informed) women voters
• women party leaders
• elected women at all levels
• effective women leaders
• inclusive party platforms
• inclusive public policy
Photo: Washington Post
25. GLOBAL FRAMEWORKS
• CEDAW (1979)
–International bill of rights for women
–Defines discrimination
–States commit to end discrimination
• Beijing Platform for Action (1995)
–Agenda for women's empowerment
–Aims to remove obstacles to women's
active participation
26. GLOBAL FRAMEWORKS
• Millennium Development Goals (2001)
–promote gender equality and
empower women
• UN Security Council Resolutions
–1325: Women’s participation in peace
negotiations and reconstruction
–Subsequent Resolutions: 1820,1888,
1889 and 1960
27. REGIONAL AND NATIONAL
FRAMEWORKS
• Regional
– Southern African Development Community
Protocol on Gender and Development
(2008)
– African Union Protocol on the Rights of
Women (2003)
• National
– National Policy Framework for Women’s
Empowerment and Gender Equality
28. DONOR POLICIES
• US Agency for International
Development (USAID)
• SIDA, CIDA, DIFD
• European Union
• World Bank
29. MOBILIZING WOMEN FOR
CHANGE: MECHANISMS
• Women’s parliamentary caucuses
• Women’s wings within political parties
• Civil society organizations
• Cross-sector groups
Photo: NDI
30. WOMEN WORKING TOGETHER
• Albania: Equality in Decision Making
o Multi-partisan network
o Awareness raising campaign on domestic
violence
o Lobbying campaign on women’s economic
empowerment
Photo: NDI
31. • Burkina Faso: CEDAW Coalition
o 17 women’s NGOs
o First CEDAW shadow report produced by
coalition
WOMEN WORKING TOGETHER
Photo: NDI
32. • Iraq National Women’s Platform
o Multi-partisan and multi-sector
o Identified critical issues and policy
solutions
o Used platform to coordinate advocacy and
legislative initiatives
WOMEN WORKING TOGETHER
33. • Macedonia: Women’s Parliamentary
Club
o Advocated for establishment of quota
o Lobbied for adoption of Protocol on Human
Trafficking
o Proposed amendment on funding for
domestic violence
WOMEN WORKING TOGETHER
34. NDI RESOURCES
• iKNOW Politics: www.iknowpolitics.org
• Win with Women Global Action Plan
• Political Party Assessment Tool
• Empowering Women for Stronger
Political Parties
• Democracy and the Challenge of
Change
35. WOMEN AND POLITICS REVIEW
• Women’s participation
Recent development
Numbers growing but not quickly
• Brings benefits
• Faces obstacles
• International/regional/national
frameworks
• Women working together make a
difference
