About 50 new political parties had handled to the Tribunal Supreme Electoral in Ecuador the list with the candidates are running for Assemblies. According with our internal electoral processes, every single list has to have at least 50% of women quotas participation. NG organizations, women right fighters and little organizations made sure this face no obstacles whatsoever.

According with the last statistics in 2001 the Ecuadorian population gender is

WOMAN 50.5% = POPULATION 6,138,255
MEN 49,5% = POPULATION 6,018,353

So, if we have 50% of participation (according with our population percentage), why the real women representation doesn’t show in the actual Congress? and the saddest thing it will be the same in the upcoming Assembly.

Lack of experience, lack of female and the very same political parties support, lack of self conviction that women can perform as well as the men in political activities, or lack of promoting and financial support?. Why a woman can go through all the electoral processes but no getting at least 30% of the public positions especially in political processes?

Dear Ms. Navarro,

Thank you for raising interesting and thought provoking questions. Upon your request, iKNOW Politics contacted with Ms. Gabriella Serrano, to request her expert opinion on the issues you had raised in your inquiry. Please see Ms. Serrano’s responses below:

1. General advise:

The upcoming elections in Ecuador will elect members to the Constituent Assembly. This type of election has some specific characteristics. The people running for these positions should make clear from the beginning the issues they are interested in bringing and defending at the Assembly. These issues should become the campaign platform for the candidate.

2. How to create a party and fundraise?

To create a party, consider the “objectives” that that party will seek. Be ready to explain why you want to create a party, the ideals you fallow and the proposal you bring. Be sure to explain how you plan to achieve what your purpose. This is the strategy. Also include the human resources that the group has to bring these ideas into effect.

The fundrising is a key issue in politics. Campaigns need money. We often see a lot of passion and commitment of good candidates that are not able to make it to the end of the campaigns because they do consider the fundraising with time.

The candidate should have someone developing a strategy to fund raise. There are different levels of fundrising, and they are all important. Also, all these donors want to see, meet, talk, and shake hands with the candidate. Dedicate time to visit potential donors. Prepare your speech with them; be sure to ask for what they can give. And always thank them for their support. Concentrate in the fundrising before the campaign, once that begins you will have less time.

3. How should women work with media?

First, get someone in your team to deal with the media. This person should be able to prepare and share press notes of the candidate’s activities; maintain good relation with the media (this is key); organize and coordinate the press conference. This person is not the campaign manager, but works as part of the team.

On the other hand, the candidate must prepare for the interviews, stick to the guidelines of your campaign. Be especially careful not to fall into the interviewer’s game. Make sure you have a brief, clear and constant message, and repeat it every time.

4. Where should women get confidence to stick together and support each other?

An interesting practice could be to invite successful women from the private sector, political parties, and public office; share their experience to learn what they have done to be where they are. You will find that it has not been easy for anyone. It might be interesting to also invite these successful women to mentor one or two younger women for some time.

Useful Resources suggested by iKNOW Politics Staff:

1. Funding of Political Parties and Electoral Campaign - http://www.idea.int/publications/funding_parties/upload/full.pdf [Please note that Chapter 6 includes case studies about Latin America].
2. Women in Parliament Handbook - http://www.idea.int/publications/wip2/index.cfm [Please note that once you are directed to this website, you will need to register to obtain a free copy of the Handbook. The registration should not take about 30 seconds]
3. Political Parties and Civil Society: Working Together to Deliver Solutions to Citizen Concerns. Published by NDI.
4. Money in Politics: A Study of Party Financing Practices in 22 Countries - http://iknowpolitics.org/en/node/944
5. Political Campaign Planning Manual: A Step by Step Guide to Winning Elections - http://iknowpolitics.org/en/node/930
6. Image Building: Working with the Media - http://iknowpolitics.org/en/node/1051
7. UNDP’s website on human rights and development in Latin America - http://www.undp.org/spanish/proddal/informeProddal.html
8. The Women's Leadership Conference of the Americas (WLCA) - http://www.thedialogue.org/programs/networks/wlca/ -is a network of distinguished women leaders from throughout the hemisphere.
9. The Women’s Democracy Network (WDN) - http://www.wdn.org/Default.aspx - aims to formalize a network of women who have gained experience in political and civil society with women who struggle to take part in the democratic development of their countries.
10. The Women's Campaign Forum - http://www.wcfonline.org/ - advocates for women's participation in public life, educates women to be more effective political participants, and donates support to pro-choice women as candidates for public office.

About Ms. Gabriela Serrano
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Gabriela Serrano joined the International Republican Institute (IRI) in January 2004, as the Bolivia Resident Country Director (RCD), to launch a civic education initiative to build popular support for Democracy.

In September 2004, she moved to Peru where she leaded a communication program with the Presidency. Additional programs in Peru include training candidates for Congress and municipal governments –special emphasis made on women-; working with political parties to adequate to the new Party Law; work with elected authorities promoting good governance practices. Additionally, Gabriela has been involved in party strengthening programs in Ecuador, Bolivia and Argentina.

Prior to IRI, she served as Program Officer at the Democratic Governance Unit of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Nicaragua, handling a diverse portfolio of projects dealing with the strengthening, modernization and reform of institutions such as the National Assembly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidency. She was previously the Executive Director of Hagamos Democracia (HD), a leading Nicaraguan national NGO specialized in the promotion of citizen participation, transparency and accountability values in the public sector

Gabriela obtained a B.A. in Business administration from the Central American University in Nicaragua and a Masters degree in Development Administration from the University of Birmingham, UK.

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We hope this information will be useful to you and we wish you all the best in the upcoming elections in Ecuador.

Sincerely,

iKNOW Politics Staff