Increasingly countries around the world are moving toward greater decentralization of legislative and budgetary authority to local governments. The need for accountability and responsiveness of local governments to community needs has led to increased emphasis on democratic reforms at the local or municipal government level. Though the reasons for strengthening local governments may vary, unless women are involved in decision making and policy development at all levels of governance, changes to women’s political and socio-economic status will likely be minimal.

The role of women in decision-making has been addressed by various international agreements and conventions, such as CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action (1995). The International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) Worldwide Declaration on Women in Local Government 1998; Item 9 says:

"The problem and challenges facing humanity are global but occur and have to be dealt with at the local level. Women have the equal right to freedom from poverty, discrimination, environmental degradation and insecurity. To fight these problems and to meet the challenges of sustainable human development, it is crucial that women be empowered and involved in local government as decision makers, planners and managers".

Though there are few statistics on the number of women in local governments, according to IULA there are typically more women elected to local councils than national parliaments. A number of governments have taken affirmative action measures to increase women’s representation in local governments. Some of such examples include Lesotho, where the Local Government Act reserves 30% of electoral divisions exclusively for women; Nepal, where the Local Self Government Act states that among the candidates in elections to Municipal Councils 40% must be women; and Macedonia, where the municipality of Skopje requires that in every three places on a candidates list, at least one will be reserved for the less represented gender (Quota Project). Please read the Bibliography here.

There are a number of factors that affect women’s participation in local governments, including statutory provisions, national policies and programmes, gender-sensitivity within government institutions, etc. Through this E-Discussion, iKNOW Politics invites participation from women and men who are leaders in local governments, civil society organizations, academics and practitioners working with women in communities and local governments to share their experiences on the questions below: