Although much of the iKNOW Politics network is dedicated to increasing women’s political knowledge and participation, there are a number of skills that, while not explicitly political, are necessary to succeed in politics.
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This e-Primer looks at information and communications technology (ICT) for development through a gender lens. It provides a gender perspectives to issues of ICT policies; access and control; education, training and skill development; and content development, and introduces a framework to integrate gender in ICT for development and empower women.
According to Marcia J Bates, professor at UCLA, "Information behaviour is the currently preferred term used to describe the many ways in which human beings interact with information, in particular, the ways in which people seek and utilize information.” How do we find the information we need? How do we identify what it is we are lacking, and how do we go about obtaining it? What sources do we turn to, and how do we process, analyse and distribute knowledge? Though these may be common practices these are not the questions asked often enough by women in politics, but they are essential to the actualisation of (political) obligations and goals. Efficient and targeted information behaviour is invaluable to any political campaign, so how do women candidates and voters make the most of this?
This consolidated response will explore the use of new communication technologies along with detailing the difficulties women encounter in their information behaviour. It will also highlight some strategies that have been used to overcome these, focusing mainly on networking, civil society and education at large.
Fourth quarter of 2011 issue of UNIDO's Making It magazine is devoted to the issue of women's economic empowerment. Articles by Michelle Bachelet, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Zoe Elena Horn, Jan O'Sullivan, and many more.
‘Women hold up half the sky’ is a Chinese proverb affirming women’s equal contribution to the human experience but it is an aspirational, rather than a factual, claim. In developed and developing countries alike, gender gaps persist in education, health, work, wages and political participation. For this issue of Making It, the theme is gender equality and the economic empowerment of women.
As Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General, pointed out, “There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women”.
Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours but women earn only 10% of the world’s income, and women own less than 1% of the world’s property. Women lag far behind men in access to land, credit, and decent jobs, even though a growing body of research shows that enhancing women’s economic options boosts national economies.
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005 created the new autonomous Government of Southern Sudan [GoSS]. The GoSS was required to establish in-stitutions and processes of governance including at the local level, with no pre-vious experience in government and in an environment characterized by the tribal nature of its traditional social or-ganization, identity and culture.
This document details the DGTTF projects launched in South-Sudan, including Project II: Strategy for mainstreaming gender em-powerment in local government.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment are Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in their own right and central to all other development efforts. This resource guide for Gender Theme Groups (GTGs) has been developed to strengthen coordinated action in the UN system to support countries to achieve these goals.
The report provides recommendations for MPs, constituents and for Parliament. Primary amongst these are that MPs need to develop a policy for the use of email and strategies for digital media that define the target audience and connect with their offline strategy. Constituents benefit when MPs are online and so citizens are encouraged to promote the internet and provide examples of good practice to break down barriers amongst those MPs who are more resistant. In the digital age democracy can be driven by both sides. Finally, the report recommends a review of the licensing and re-use of content created by Parliament.
This report aims to assist UNDP/Sierra Leone in formulating strategies to reform different aspects of civil service, as it heads into upcoming elections. It begins with a discussion of the types of civil service reforms that may be useful, and methods of implementation. It was difficult to find examples of experiences correlating PAR reforms and electoral cycles. However, we did find examples of reform programmes from a number of countries. These programmes tend to be implemented over a minimum of four (4) years; at which time the country has often undergone some type of major election.
The overwhelming trend across the international reports found seems to point towards avoiding election times when it comes to civil service reforms. Reforms in other countries have begun either before or after elections, but do not tend to be heavily implemented during election time frames. Although civil service reform is the main topic of the report, it would be difficult to have meaningful reforms without legitimate leadership, chosen through democratic elections. Because of the difficulty in maintaining fair elections in the past, it seems that electoral reform is a necessary precursor to civil service reform, especially given the temporal proximity of the next elections.
The report concludes with observations and questions for further study, which may aid UNDP/Sierra Leone as it attempts to reform civil service and public sector laws, while anticipating upcoming elections.
This two-pager highlights UNDP's take on parliamentary development, discussing in particular the importance of the gender dimension and the need to get more women in parliaments. The paper provides more information on UNDP's work in this field and offers references and resources for further reading.
Whether you are brand new to your political party or a more experienced activist, this guide is designed to provide you with the basic tools necessary to enhance your leadership skills and help position you to advance to the next level within your party. It’s a guide for young women leaders, based on the experience of young women leaders.
This publication was prepared after studying the preliminary drafts and reports of the thematic committees of the Constituent Assembly and of the Constitutional Committee to assess whether or not all of the issues to do with women’s rights have been incorporated. Discussions were also held with honourable women parliamentarians and suggestions received from party leaders, women’s rights activists, organisations from across the country and various experts.
Chapter 1 of this publication contains a short overview of the women’s movement in Nepal to illustrate the necessity of ensuring women’s rights. It then presents the main agenda of women in the Constituent Assembly focusing on the issues of women that have been overlooked by the 10 thematic committees of the Constituent Assembly and the Constitutional Committee. Chapter 2 sets out the rights and issues included in the reports of the thematic committees and the Constitutional Committee. Chapter 3 contains the reforms suggested by the Women’s Caucus to protect women’s rights and interests in the new constitution.
