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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.

Australia: Marriage equality un-Australian: Gillard

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Sun, 2011-03-20 20:19

Summary: 

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has declared that marriage rights for same-sex couples are imcompatible with Australian culture and heritage one day after hundreds demanded their rights in Sydney and Brisbane. When asked if she was expressing a personal view or what she thought Australians wanted to hear, Gillard said she would have said the same thing had she never entered politics, pitching herself as a social conservative.

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For more information, please visit: StafOnline


Commonwealth: Happy Commonwealth Day!

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Tue, 2011-03-15 10:13

Summary: 

“Women are leaders, innovators and givers. They are scientists, teachers and nurturers. They have vision, compassion and the will to improve their communities, which, in turn, brings change on a global scale."

Meanwhile, the Queen, in her Commonwealth Day message, noted 26 million girls are born every year across the 54 member nations.

Despite all the advancements women have made and the accomplishments they’ve achieved, she suggested more could be done to ensure they play an “even larger role” in society.

“The commendable goal is to create a greater opportunity for women as children and adults to pursue their hopes and dreams, to attain their goals, and to make best use of their talents and knowledge,” she said.

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To read the complete news please visit The Gazette.


Faces of Climate Change, International Women’s Day film screening

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Thu, 2011-03-03 07:44
2011-03-07
US/Eastern
Click here
City & Province/State: 
Swanston St & Flinders St, Melbourne, VIC, 3000
Country: 
Australia
Venue: 

Federation Square 

Description: 

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, Oxfam Australia is will be showing film series about women impacted by climate change on the big screen at Federation Square on 7th and 8th of March every hour from 11am to 5pm.

The short films from Australia, Bangladesh, Uganda and Papua New Guinea highlight the impacts of climate change on women and their communities and the inspirational role that women are playing in adapting to climate change.

To learn more about the Faces of Climate Change films go to: http://www.oxfam.org.au/explore/climate-change/what-oxfam-is-doing/faces-of-climate-change

For more information or for media enquiries please contact Victorian Campaigns Coordinator Clancy Moore on 0410 508 051.


Australia: Gillard sworn in as Australian prime minister

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Thu, 2010-09-16 12:47

Summary: 

Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been sworn into office, making her the first woman elected to the post in the nation's history.  She called an election after ousting former PM Kevin Rudd in an internal Labor party revolt in June. Analysts say her majority of one in the 150-seat lower house of parliament will force Ms Gillard to negotiate issue-by-issue with the opposition Liberals.

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To read the complete news please read BBC News.


Australia: Is Australian politics a man's, man's world?

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2010-09-01 04:19

Summary: 

Feminists rejoiced when Julia Gillard became Australia's first female leader, but her failure to win national polls has raised questions about whether the country is ready to have a woman in charge.

Australians delivered a hung parliament in August 21 polls, with neither centre-left Labor Prime Minister Gillard nor her conservative opponent Tony Abbott galvanising enough support to form a government. Leading feminist Eva Cox believes that while some voters have supported 48-year-old Gillard simply because she was a woman, others probably voted against her for the same reason.

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For more information, please visit Mysinchew.com.


Australia: Making Women Count in the 2010 Federal Election

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2010-08-18 05:50

Summary: 

It’s almost forty years since Australian women were officially granted equal pay for equal work by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. But pay equity is still a problem, with women working full time earning only 83 cents in the dollar earned by men. While all three parties have made public statements about the importance of pay equity, not all parties have a commitment to reduce the gender wage gap. This includes a commitment to meeting the recommendations in the House of Representatives Report Making It Fair, as well as fair work conditions and equal pay for community sector workers.

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For more information, please visit Australian Women Online.


Australia: Rough side of politics 'keeps women away'

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Mon, 2010-06-28 09:01

Summary: 

The very low level of female representation in local government is possibly due to the ''rough'' and ''confronting'' nature of politics, which does not come naturally to women, the general manager of North Sydney Council says. ''The politics of local government can get very rough, and women may find that very confronting. It's not a woman's natural style of behaviour,'' Ms Holloway said.

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To read the complete news story please visit The Sydney Morning Herald.


Australia: Australia Gets Its 1st Female PM as Rudd Ousted

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2010-06-23 19:10

Summary: 

Australia got its first female prime minister on Thursday after the ruling party dumped Kevin Rudd and installed his deputy as leader.
Julia Gillard will lead the government to elections due within months.
She stood unopposed at a vote of the Labor Party's 112 lawmakers at a meeting Thursday, hours after a revolt against Rudd.
"I feel very honored," she told reporters afterward.

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To read the complete news story please visit The Jakarta Post.


Australia: Debate Heats Up on Equal Representation for Women

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Tue, 2010-05-25 19:01

Summary: 

Over two decades later, Australian women are still under-represented in leadership and decision-making roles in both the public and private spheres despite comprising 50.6 percent of the country's total population and 45 percent of the country’s total workforce.

"In recent years, the percentage of female candidates and members of parliament has been falling, as I believe women look at the success rate and decide to give it a miss," said Troeth, who was first elected to the Federal Senate in 1993 at age 52.

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To read the complete news story please visit IPS.