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Parties in Parliament

Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties

How women participate in political parties – and how those parties encourage and nurture women’s involvement and incorporate gender-equality issues – are key determinants of women’s political empowerment. They are also key to ensuring gender-equality issues are addressed in the wider society. If strategies to promote women’s involvement in the political process are to be effective, they should be linked to steps parties can take across the specific phases of the electoral cycle – the preelectoral, electoral and post-electoral phases – and to the organization and financing of the parties themselves. 
 
The most effective strategies to increase women’s participation in political parties combine reforms to political institutions with targeted support to women party activists within and outside party structures, women candidates and elected officials. These strategies require the cooperation of a variety of actors and political parties from across the political spectrum.
 
The Guide identifies targeted interventions that political parties can take to empower women. It is structured according to four phases, following an electoral cycle approach.

From Words to Action: Best Practices for Women's Political Participation in Latin American Political Parties

Even though women represent more than half of the voting population in many countries and have been widely incorporated into the economic sphere over the last decade, reality tells us that there is still an important gap between these advances and women's access to elected or political party positions. While considerable improvements have taken place in women's participation in political decision-making bodies, the numbers continue to show substantial levels of underrepresentation. In the eighteen Latin American countries examined in this study, there is an average of two women representative for every ten male mayors, and those countries with an Upper Chamber have less than two women Senators for every ten men.

In oder to resolve this asymmetry, and in response to the demands of socially and politically organized women - as well as the international consensus supporting them- several countries have chosen to include quota mechanisms in electoral regulations. These quotas have been functioning with greater or lesser effectiveness depending on the context and regulatory framework in which they are applied.

This manual provides political party members and leaders with the means to implement concrete strategies for achieving equality for women within party organizations and to access positions of power and representation.

More than a year of research and field work in 18 Latin American countries is condensed in this publication, which describe 95 "good practices" implemented by party organizations. It also analyzes the progress and the challenges still facing women in politics, both in the region and in each of the countries studied.

The production of an English version was undertaken by UNDP and was made possible through the generous support of the United Nation’s Development Programmes Gender Team, in the Bureau for Development Policy.

Enhancing Women’s Political Participation: A Policy Note for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States

This Policy Note presents a set of pragmatic recommendations that will enable policy makers to enhance women’s political participation in the region. These measures are the product of six national roundtable discussions organized in 2008 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Turkey and Ukraine as well as a regional conference in Turkey in December 2008. This Policy Note also presents the current status of, and opportunities for women’s participation in leadership and decision-making processes in the region. Based on the evidence and regional data collected and analysed, this Policy Note is for parliamentarians, government officials, legislators, political party members, civil society organizations working on enhancing women’s political participation and media with the recommended policy and action options in the following three areas: 1) Legal and institutional frameworks to promote women’s political participation; 2) Mechanisms and strategies to promote women’s political participation; and 3) Partnerships for women’s political participation: civil society organizations and the media.

Assessing Women’s Political Party Programs: Best Practices and Recommendations

The assessment is designed to identify the specific elements and approaches which were most effective in encouraging women’s participation and leadership in political parties. Although drawn from NDI programs, the information gathered in this assessment is intended to be used by both individuals and organizations as a road map to help facilitate women’s political leadership worldwide.

Consolidated response on how to promote a gender equality policy within a political party

This consolidated response analyses what a gender equality policy means and the key steps as well as concrete measures for developing a political party gender equality policy.

Women At The Top 2005: Changing Numbers, Changing Politics?

This report focuses on women’s representation in political life in the United Kingdom, examining the feminization of politics and the integration of women and women’s perspectives into British politics. It identifies the causes of women’s under-representation; makes recommendations to improve the representation of women in the UK’s elected political institutions; and addresses women’s substantive representation.

Stocktaking Study of the Effective Functioning of National Mechanisms for Gender Equality in Council of Europe Member States

This document presents the situation concerning institutional mechanisms for equality and their effective functioning in Council of Europe member States. It also evaluates the specific programmes and specific areas of action, as well as advancements in regard to mainstreaming gender into global policies.