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Iknow Politics attended the Change Your World!—Yahoo! Business & Human Rights Summit on Women, Technology and Social/Digital Media

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Thu, 2012-01-26 04:22

Summary: 

The event, took place in Cairo 18 January 2012, was organized by Yahoo! Business & Human Rights Program, Yahoo! Maktoob, in partnership with Vital Voices, under the banner of "Change Your World!"


The summit brought together women in leadership roles from across the MENA region, to discuss how women can use technology and the web to drive positive change.

 

Body: 

iKnow Politics was presented in the panel of “After the Revolution: Elections and e-governance” which discussed the key roles of women in the creating change across the MENA region. The panel discussed how is women leading in the post-revolutionary world? How are technology, the Internet and media being used as platforms for launching campaigns, creating consensus, becoming political leaders, and supporting good governance? What advice or strategies would women who have run give to those waiting in the wings? iKnow Politics was highlighted as an online platform that connect women in MENA together and with other women in politics in the different regions in the world; with members exceeding 13000 from those regions who exchange information and knowledge in this important subject.


iKNOW Politics attended the Meeting of Gender Focal Points in West and Central Africa.

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Tue, 2012-01-03 08:38

Summary: 

From December 8 to 9, iKNOW Politics attended the Meeting of Gender Focal Points in West and Central Africa.  

Body: 

Theworkshop aimed to map out best practices in the region and identify more effective strategies for gender mainstreaming to ensure visible and consistent impact at the country levels in the coming years. About 30 gender focal points coming from 24 different countries took part to the workshop. At the end of the meeting, a document on key action points on lifting gender mainstreaming impact from good to great was elaborated. iKNOW Politics was presented to the audience, brochures and other promotional material as pens and T-shirt were disseminated.

 


iKNOW Politics hiring Junior Knowledge Management Officer

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Sun, 2011-12-25 22:00

Summary: 

Background:

The International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics) is a joint Project between UNDP, UN Women, IDEA, IPU and NDI. iKNOW Politics, is designed to increase the number and effectiveness of women in political life by utilizing a technology enabled forum to provide access to resources, expertise, dialogue, and knowledge creation on women’s political participation.

Despite some encouraging data and statistics on women’s participation in politics, women still lack access to political leadership opportunities and resources at local, national and regional levels. In order to provide a mechanism to share best practices on women’s political participation and leadership, UNDP, UN Women, NDI, IPU, and IDEA established a global knowledge network for women in politics (iKNOW Politics). iKNOW Politics brings together women involved in politics around the world in order to gain access to valuable resources and advisory services, share interests and experiences, participate in training and development, network and collaborate on issues of interest. Network members have access to a cadre of experts and practitioners that can advise candidates and elected officials on how to develop and implement successful campaign and lobbying strategies with the goal of getting more women involved in politics. 

The use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for Development can play a catalytic role in the achievement of key development goals. By providing innovative solutions to existing traditional challenges and gaps, ICTs can be strategically deployed to tackle some of the most burning issues on a large scale and at relatively low cost per beneficiary. However, an exclusive focus on the so-called “digital divide” will not help advance this agenda. iKNOW Politics bridges this gap through the online network connecting members in 4 languages and providing a host of resources and features to facilitate global knowledge creation on supporting political participation.

Body: 
Location : Homebased
Application Deadline : 10-Jan-12
Additional Category Democratic Governance
Type of Contract : Individual Contract
Post Level : International Consultant
Languages Required : Arabic   English   French   Spanish  
Starting Date :
(date when the selected candidate is expected to start)		 16-Jan-2012
Duration of Initial Contract : 6 months

Duties and Responsibilities:

Objective:

Under the supervision of iKNOW Politics Project Manager, the consultant will identify the resources from library and online platform to develop the network for supporting women in politics.

Specific Tasks - The consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks:

  • Support iKNOW Politics project manager in order to maintain the iKNOW Politics website (daily updates, respond to queries)
  • To develop on-line and multi-media tools and features for the network to facilitate greater knowledge sharing.
  • To facilitate the compilation and dissemination of iKNOW Politics e-discussions and consolidated responses
  • Support the development of pilot projects to enhance use of social media and information communication technologies to support women
  • Support the work of the iKNOW Politics project manager in the creation of knowledge products that display best practices and lessons learnt, thereby further stimulating both the use of existing knowledge and further interaction between the members and experts on women’s political empowerment
  • Conducting research and collecting knowledge material on women’s political empowerment
  • Work on diverse databases relative to women political empowerment to further develop dynamic discussions on the iKNOW Politics website.
  • Prepare quarterly newsletters in consultation with the project manager and the regional coordinators
  • Undertake any other related tasks at the request of the Supervisor.

Competencies:

Core Competencies
  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of the UN system;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism.
 
Functional Competencies
  • Excellent writing, communication and analytical skills.
  • Knowledge of work on women in politics and using technologies for development
  • Previous experience with any of the 5 partners of iKNOW Politics.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills and an ability to take initiative and be innovative.
  • Ability to work collaboratively in a team structure in a multicultural and virtual environment.
Performance Management:
  • Demonstrated ability to multitask under pressure and to meet strict deadlines often under hardship conditions;
  • Excellent organizational skills and ability to work effectively in teams, delivering through and with others;
  • Self-management, including conflict management/negotiating skills.

Required Skills and Experience:

Education:

  • Graduate degree in social sciences, communication & journalism and related areas. 

Experience:

  • At least three years of professional experience on using technologies for development or related area
  • Excellent knowledge of ICT for development and telecommunications
  • Computer proficiency, including working knowledge of MS Office products (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), Front Page, Adobe In-Design; web-based management systems (DRUPAL).
  • Excellent knowledge of women in politics and political participation
  • Good documentation skills
  • Knowledge of e-learning issues for women in politics

Language:

  • Perfect command of English and one other language: French or Spanish or Arabic.

TO APPLY PLEASE CLICK HERE.


iKNOW Politics partners presented the video “Breaking New Ground: Testimonials from Women Politicians in Latin America”

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Fri, 2011-11-04 08:19

Summary: 

On October 25th, the event “Breaking New Ground: Testimonials from Women Politicians in Latin America” took place in Lima, Peru, at the Hotel Sonesta.

Body: 

The purpose of this meeting was to disseminate the International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics) as a key tool to empower women who participate or wish to participate in politics.  The event also served to present a testimonial video produced by iKNOW Politics that highlights the profiles and careers of nine women politicians in Latin America from the countries of Guatemala, Argentina, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico and Ecuador.  In the video, each woman interviewed shares her own personal experience in getting involved in politics and her view of the challenges women face in her country when participating in politics.

Three of the video’s protagonists attended the event, including Peruvian Minister of Women Aída García Naranjo, Guatemalan deputy Otilia Lux de Cotí and Natalia Arcila Cortés, Conservative Party member of Antioquia, Colombia.

The event’s opening panel members were Minister Aída García Naranjo, Kristen Sample (International IDEA’s head of mission for the Andean region and regional coordinator for democratic, development and gender affairs) and Rossana Andía (iKNOW Politics regional coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean).

For the panel “The difficult path toward recognition and representation: A few experiences,” participants included Bethsabé Andía, the program and project coordinator in Peru for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and guest politicians Otilia Lux de Cotí and Natalia Arcila Cortés.

After the panelists’ presentations, a debate was held between them and the attendants.  The topics that surfaced included issues such as: strategies to avoid political corruption, promoting parity, public policies that encourage women’s participation in politics, the relationship between space-city and women’s political participation, quotas for indigenous women, women’s role in decision-making positions and management, public affairs agendas, human rights in Colombia, armed conflict and gender violence, caps on women’s participation in politics: material resources (individual capacities, structural flaws or affirmative action?), gender, race and women’s political participation.

The conclusions were presented by Luis Nunes, primary technical specialist at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI).  Throughout the course of the event, Pilar Tello, coordinator for International IDEA’s gender training and educational programs in Peru, served as the master of ceremonies.

The attendants – some 150 people – were mostly women political party members, activists, and past and present members of Congress.  All participants were given a folder containing a printout of iKNOW Politics’ Consolidated Responses and Virtual Debates, as well as a description of the Network members and the event’s panelists.  A document on the Network’s background and other useful information on global, regional and national data on women’s participation in politics and areas of power were also included.

The attendants who had email addresses were able to participate in a guided registration to the iKNOW Politics website in Spanish, leading us to have some 30 new members.

 

Below are details of the materials distributed to the attendants during the event, which are found at the end of this summary (in Spanish):

  • Background on the International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics
  • iKNOW Politics in numbers: data on women’s political participation and information on the project’s scope
  • Summary of the panelists’ profiles
  • Description of iKNOW Politics’ partners (UN Women, IPU, UNDP, International IDEA and NDI)

Titles of the publications submitted:

·         Gender mainstreaming in the Americas

·         How to promote gender equality within political parties

·         Young women’s participation in politics

·         Management profile of women in local governments

·         Training as a strategy to empower women who participate in politics in Latin America

·         Women’s caucuses and their impacts on the political culture of Latin American countries

·         Women’s participation in local governments

·         Best practices used by political parties to promote women’s participation in politics

·         Gender quotas as a means to promote women in politics

·         The role of media and technology in increasing the number and effectiveness of women in politics

·         Funding for women’s participation in politics

·         Women’s political participation in the twenty-first century: the use of communication technology

·         Working with men to promote women in politics

 

Viewing the video testimonial

To view video testimonials click here

(The videos are in Spanish and an interview is held in Portuguese with Spanish translation)

 

 

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iKNOW Politics was launched in the DRC

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2011-10-05 00:53

Summary: 

On September 19, the week of candidate school began with the official launch of iKNOW Politics; an online platform to support women’s political participation around the world. Over 250 women attended the launch, the largest event held by iKNOW Politics in Africa.

Marie-Ange Lukiana, the Congolese Minister for Women and Families, opened the event with a rousing speech that called on women to take their place in Congolese political life.  « In this campaign we do not want to see any woman attacking another » declared the Minister to loud applause.  

The audience was very enthusiastic, at one point chanting « Solidarité avec les femmes du monde entier» (women solidarity, around the world) and encouraging one another across party lines.

Body: 

                

On September 19, the week of candidate school began with the officiallaunch of iKNOW Politics; an online platform to support women’s political participation around the world. Over 250 women attended the launch, the largest event held by iKNOW Politics in Africa.

Marie-Ange Lukiana, the Congolese Minister for Women and Families, opened the event with a rousing speech that called on women to take their place in Congolese political life.   « In this campaign we do not want to see any woman attacking another » declared the Minister to loud applause.  

The audience was very enthusiastic, at one point chanting « Solidarité avec les femmes du monde entier» (women solidarity, around the world) and encouraging one another across party lines.


iKNOW Politics in the International Seminar "Political Communication and New Information Technologies"

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Mon, 2011-08-22 09:32

Summary: 

In order to exchange experiences on congressional work in gender in Latin America and the use of new technologies in these endeavours, International IDEA and UN Women held an International Seminar on 13 August in Lima to address the progress achieved in this field as well as the agenda ahead.

Body: 

The seminar also analysed strategies in order to improve communication channels between elected representatives and citizens through the use of new information technologies.

Invited as international guests were Ecuadorian Assembly Member María Paula Romo, former Uruguayan deputy Beatriz Argimón, former Spanish deputy and current UN Women advisor Begoña Lasabagaster, and Ricardo Castillo, Venezuelan expert in communications at George Washington University.

Representing Peru, Congress Members Luz Salgado, María Magdalena López and Aurelia Tan (Fuerza 2011), Julia Tévez and Rosa Mávila (Gana Perú), and Esther Capuñay (Solidaridad Nacional) participated in the seminar.

The seminar included a presentation from iKNOW Politics, which stressed the importance of the network to the work of women parliamentarians.


iKNOW Politics was presented during the High level meeting on African EMBs

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Mon, 2011-08-08 05:11

Summary: 

iKNOW Politics was presented during the High level meeting on African EMBs on Transformative and Gender Sensitive Elections Management in Mbodieng, Senegal from July 26 to 30 

Body: 

The High-Level Meeting of African Heads of EMBs contributed to build the capacity of elections practitioners to develop a transformative and gender sensitive approach to electoral management. The meeting was the starting point for the community of practice EMBs in Africa, a space for experiences sharing and knowledge updating on electoral management and gender in Africa. Further, participants had collected information for the elaboration of guidance for a transformative gender sensitive electoral management in Africa. iKNOW Politics created a discussion circle dedicated to EMBs and gender in both French and English


iKNOW Politics attended the workshop on the analysis of political parties’ policy documents

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2011-06-15 01:37

Summary: 

From June 9 to 10 iKNOW Politics participated to the workshop on the analysis of political parties’ policy documents from a gender perspective.

Body: 

The objective of this meeting was to examine the role of political parties in achieving gender equality and diversity in political leadership and decision making. Sub-Regional Seminar is to leverage for effective measures to promote equal access in political processes and participation in decision making by both men and women. The specific objectives were to:

  • Define priority actions and mechanisms to accelerate progress towards gender equality in political leadership;
  • Identify strategies and share good practices for gender-sensitive transformation of political spaces and processes;
  • Strengthen national and sub-regional alliances and partnerships to increase accountability on gender equality.

The beginning of the meeting was streamed on iKNOW Politics and some women were interviewed.


iKNOW Politics supporting women in Arab States

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Thu, 2011-05-26 14:45

Summary: 

Due to the urgent need to capture the stories emanating from the Arab States, iKNOW politics has been able to provide a great platform for women to connect with each other in the region. We have been bringing women who were involved in the revolutions to the high level missions by different partner organizations. We have been playing a role to both capture the stories and broadcast them through our network and also participate and engage with the ongoing developments.

Body: 

For the latest on our efforts to bring voices of women in the transition process beyond the revolution you can see here: http://www.iknowpolitics.org/node/41030

We facilitated a meeting between women activists from Egypt and International IDEA’s Secretary General Vidar Helgesen in Cairo.  The main themes discussed:

1- Violence against women when demanding their civil and political rights

2- Women expectations and roles in Egypt beyond revolution and in transition to democracy

3- How women are organizing themselves and mainstreaming their demands in new groups

4- Role played in the revolution

5-      Moving from unity to diversity

-  A brief meeting was held with female members of political party to capture their expectations in this transition process and share their stories through video interviews; point discussed included the messages they want to deliver and the role of women in this transition process.  We will shortly have the video online.

- We participated in the UN Women organized seminar on Constitutional Amendments from a gender perspective. We used the opportunity to share the resources available on iKNOW politics networks to women’s groups and organizations at the meeting.

- We conducted detailed interview with prominent women rights activist in Tunisia and Egypt and will continue to do so over the course of the next few months.

Tunisia: Leila Hamrouni of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women –ATFD (suggested by UNWomen in Tunisia)

Egypt: Nawla Darwish of the New Women Foundation (Suggested by Regional Coordinator of MENA in Cairo)

-  As Saudi Arabia is joining the revolutions we are conducting interviews with one of the coordinators of Baladi Campaign calling for women participation in next municipal election in Saudia. They are: Fozia El-Hani and Dr. Hatoon Ajwad El-Fassi. The interview will help in giving voice to the women activists there.

- We participated in a Video-Conference between women activists from Egypt and international experts on women in transition based in Washington D.C. hosted by National Democratic Institute (NDI).

We have been tirelessly working to make sure we use the power of iKNOW Politics to bring the various actors together and leverage the use of technology and face to face meetings. If you have any suggestions on where else we can support the work that you are already doing we would be more than happy to work more closely with you.


iKNOW Politics at the launch of UN Women in Mali

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Mon, 2011-04-18 22:00

Summary: 

On April 14, iKNOW Politics participated to the launch event of UN Women in Mali.

Body: 

On April 14, iKNOW Politics attended the official launch event of UN Women in Mali. The event took place at the International conference center of Bamako.

The Prime Minister Mrs. Cisse Mariam kaidama attended the meeting. iKNOW Politics had a booth and was visited by many women leaders and women organization and some donors including CIDA.


iKNOW Politics @ IDEA Roundtable on "Egypt- Challenges and Needs"

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2011-04-06 14:17

Summary: 

On March 24, iKNOW Politics participated in International IDEA event in Cairo titled "A discussion round table about democratic transition in Egypt- Challenges and Needs".

Body: 

The aim of the meeting was to discuss and exchange different views about the transitional phase that Egypt is witnessing nowadays and how could all stakeholders play their important role contributing to the establishment of building a democratic system particularly women.

International IDEA through such consultations wanted to identify the different aspects that it could engage with to provide technical support in a fast and efficient way especially in relation to constitutional, legal and political reform, and building the capacity of political parties either the newly established or the old ones, developing the electoral system, and women empowerment and real participation in the process of democratization.

Mr. Ayman Ayoub, the Reginal Manager of West Asia and North Africa Programme in International IDEA announced that the meeting is based on International IDEA belief that the sustainability of democracy should emerge from the society reflecting its values, civilization and the beliefs of the citizens of the states. He opened the discussion by saying that democracy could not be imported, exported or even described and the most that could be achieved by International Specialized Organizations is to support and empower the people who build a national democratic system.

The attendees were a mix of representatives of different political affiliations as well as both women and men political activists.

When discussing the current situation in Egypt, The Regional coordinator of iKNOW Politics, Ms. Doaa Abdelaal explained that through the network enganment with women political activits in Egypt that Egyptian women movement is currently working to startegize their steps in this period following the Jan25 Revolution, which will witness a parlimaterian election in September 2011 followed by formualtion of a committee to draft a new Egyptian Constitution.

Discussion centered around different issues inlcuding

-       constitution building and the suitable time that should be available to finalize the constition. Mr. Zaid Ali, of International IDEA presented orally similar experiences from South Africa, Iraq and Kenya.

-       women parliamentarian quota as implemented in Egypt and its pros and cons

-       media utilization in buidling democracy including community radios, printed lefalets with simple language explaining terms as "Constitution", "Voting", or subjects as "How to chose your representative?"

-       New media and how it could be utilized for political empoweremnet for differnet candidtaes.

Mentioning the next steps by International IDEA in Egypt, Mr. Ayoub confirmed with the participants that the organization will keep in touch with all of them in order to get together and discuss important aspects and matters collectively.

He also added that IDEA will be looking forward to working with different organizations in various initiatives that only aim to support locale efforts to build a genuinely Egyptian democracy that becomes an example to be followed.

iKNOW Politics Regional Coordinator of MENA, also mentioned that different materials and resources are available form the five partners of the project that could be used to cover the above issues and others and they are all downloadable in Arabic as well as English, French and Spanish when available.

The different participants affirmed that they look forward to translating the many ideas shared in the group into joint concrete initiatives that would hopefully help keep and strengthen this spirit of cooperation and inclusiveness.


iKNOW Politcs @ International Women's Day 2011

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Tue, 2011-03-15 14:19

Summary: 

Following on the heels of this year’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the Grassroots Summit on Women’s Leadership and Governance, hosted by the Huairou Commission, attracted individuals from a range of institutions, spanning village healthcare advocates, to international scholars.

Piyoo Kochar, a representative of the International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics), highlighted the fact that her organisation’s objective is to bridge cultural, linguistic and geographical chasms between women around the world via an online, multi-lingual forum dedicated to improving women’s access to resources and information.

"We are keen for women to share their experiences and build collaborative knowledge," she said. "Already we have 9,500 members, constantly sharing skills… We believe in the cross-fertilisation of strategies, relying on a network of networks that already exists at the country, regional, district, local provincial and levels."

Today, there is a greater need than ever for platforms like iKNOW’s website. Kathy Karapa Tom, the founder and executive director of Widows Orphans Deserted Association (WODA) in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, discussed her struggle for equality in a country that is home to 800 languages and millions of slum dwellers.

Body: 

To read the complete news please read IPS News.


iKNOW Politics @ CSW 2011 Session

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2011-03-09 13:04

Summary: 

iKNOW Politics was invited by Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women to present during the Commission on Status of Women at the event "The Role of Parliaments in promoting access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science and technology". This event was held on 23 February 2011 at the UN secretariat building in New York, USA.

Body: 

The event was a whole day and iKNOW Politics presented during the afternoon on the session titled "Theme 3: How can ICT support women in politics?". The other participants on the panel included, Mr. J. Griffith, Senior Advisor, Global Centre for ICT in Parliament and Ms. M. Lugaric, Member of Parliament, Croatia. The panel was moderated by Ms. Margaret Mensah-Williams, Vice-President of the National Council of Namibia, and iKNOW Politics Expert.

Please find the complete agenda attached for your reference below.

The meeting took stock of the current situation in using different ICTs for women in politics, identify challenges faced by women and girls in accessing these tools and highlight parliamentary mechanisms and actions parliaments can take to overcome these barriers. In so doing. The meeting was very well attended by over 40 members of parliament from around the world.

After the iKNOW Politics presentation, the participating members of the audience from Zambia, United Kingdom, Burkina Faso, Korea, Mexico, Chile, Kenya, Jordan, Angola and Portugal engaged with iKNOW Politics on the use of the network and role of new ICTs in challenging the stereotypical portrayal of women in politics in their countries.

The participants were appreciative of the iKNOW Politics network and were to keen to use the network to both learn more about the particular issues but also share their experiences and stories with other women in politics.


iKNOW Politics Celebrates International Women's Day and its Fourth Anniversary

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2011-03-09 03:33

Summary: 

Join iKNOW Politics in this double celebration of the International Women's day, March 8th, and iKNOW Politics' fourth anniversary!  

Body: 

International Women's Day 

On March 8th iKNOW Politics invites its members to celebrate International Women's Day.  This year marks the 100th anniversary of this annual event, first commemorated in March 1911.

While we have come a long way since that first celebration, much remains to be done in the field of women's rights and women's participation in politics - and iKNOW Politics is helping to do just that.  With our new website, launched in January this year, and the new 'dashboard' features available to registered members, iKNOW Politics continues to play a leading role in connecting women on a global scale, helping them to share their knowledge, experience and ideas online.  

iKNOW Politics' seeks, to increase the number of women in politics by offering a safe space with global reach and state of the art technology, aligns beautifully with this year's UN International Women's Day theme: “Equal Access to Education, Training and Science and Technology: Pathway to Decent Work for Women.”  

The importance of technology, and communication technology in particular, has been demonstrated especially vividly in the Middle East.  Women have been making active use of the entire range of communication technologies, and social media in particular, to have their voices heard in the call for freedom and democracy.  They are online more than ever, having their say and making themselves heard - and hopefully, by next year's International Women's Day, their tireless efforts will have made a difference in the global struggle for women's rights.  

To stay posted on the latest news and the most recent resources, please visit the iKNOW Politics page dedicated to the role of women during the revolution and beyond in the Arab states or join the debate in our discussion circle on Women in Politics in the Middle East and North Africa region.  

 

iKNOW Politics Celebrates its Fourth Anniversary 

iKNOW Politics celebrated its fourt anniversay on February 27th, 2011. Since its launch at the 51st session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York in February 2007, iKNOW Politics has become the premier online network serving the needs of women politicians and their supporters around the world.

iKNOW Politics was born of a commitment to enhance women’s contribution to politics and to increase their participation in political life by offering access to a wealth of resources and information.  

The partnership between the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women) has successfully positioned iKNOW Politics as a key knowledge and information center on women in politics that provides its users access to resources, expertise, dialogue, and knowledge creation on women’s political participation through Discussion Circles, online library, world news, events calendar and quarterly E-Discussions, all continuously updated in four languages – English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

iKNOW Politics launched it revised website, enabling the iKNOW Politics team to capture 'hot' issues quickly and extensively, and offering our members more and renewed space for discussion. 

Driven by a high demand and popularity among its users, iKNOW Politics not only enhanced its existing tools and services, but also initiated the new Election Talk feature, allowing members to share their views on ongoing elections. iKNOW Politics has also continued providing free of charge expertise and advisory services through Ask the Experts, the unique tool that allows iKNOW Politics members to seek advice and recommendations from internationally-recognized experts with the goal to advance women in politics and public life.  

At iKNOW Politics we interview women leaders from around the world whose stories are both inspiring and a testament to the significant work women leaders are doing around the world to promote gender equality. Each month we feature one of those woman leaders under “featured interview”.

iKNOW Politics plans to continue its work in advancing women in politics and to make the network even more accessible to women across the world. Drawing on a substantial network of experts and members across the globe, iKNOW Politics provides its services to regional and grassroots organizations, reaching out to women with limited access to technology.  Our goal for this coming year is to continue expanding our extensive library, further push and encourage discussions on the platform, and capture what women in politics want and should be informed on - in other words, serve the needs of our members to the best of our abilities.  

iKNOW Politics would like to thank its partners and donors for their generous support over the past three years, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway and the Government of Spain.

iKNOW Politics is also grateful to its members and experts worldwide for their active participation in the network’s activities and their contribution to increasing women’s political participation worldwide.

If you would like to leave iKNOW Politics a birthday message, please do so below - we are always thrilled to hear from our members!  


Call for Resume: Asia Pacific- iKNOW Politics Regional Coordinator

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Thu, 2010-12-16 10:59

Summary: 

The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) seeks to hire a Regional Coordinator for iKNOW Politics in the Asia region. Based out of NDI’s field office in Jakarta, Indonesia, the Regional Coordinator would remotely work under the direct supervision of and report on a daily basis to the iKNOW Politics Project Manager, and would be responsible for initiating activities to exchange best practices and experiences from among women in Asian politics, grassroots organizations, and sectors with limited access to technology. 

In addition to recruiting new women to serve as experts and members, the facilitator would partner with local women’s groups to hold presentations designed to increase the number of women benefiting from and contributing to iKNOW Politics.

Body: 

Duration

The contract would be offered for a consultancy beginning January 2011 for 6 months, with potential for contract renewal, contingent on future funding.

How to Apply: Please click  here

Background

The International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics) was launched in February 2007 as a project of five international organizations: NDI, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). It is an online portal providing information, shared knowledge and networking opportunities for women in politics.

Primary Responsibilities

·         Contribute to the development of the iKNOW Politics Network Community by providing support for community collaboration, knowledge sharing and networking; by establishing and maintaining relationships with the Network’s expert advisors and by implementing regional presentations and initiatives;

·         Build and expand the knowledge base for the users of the Network through: liaising with Asian experts and local stakeholders; interacting with experts, users and partners; and holding meetings with partners, experts and staff;

·         Design, moderate and stimulate regional online discussions;

·         Under the direction of the Project Coordinator, engage new experts and develop new partnerships at the regional level;

·         Provide input on comparative case studies and best practices emerging from regional initiatives, including topical areas for global discussions;

·         Identify and interview key women political leaders from Asia;

·         Respond to user requests through active solicitation of expert feedback;research and write consolidated replies to key regional queries; and assist with regional information/case studies for global research requests;

·         Filter regional messages, contributions and queries to determine the most relevant information and resources to be shared with the global Network and with other regions/languages;

·         Liaise with regional/country offices of the five iKNOW Politics partners to make links to existing programs on women’s political empowerment;

·         Post daily updates on news emerging from the region, upload regional presentations to the calendar and add content to the regional/country sections of the website;

·         Support the Network’s communication and outreach strategy; assist in the creation of promotional materials; contribute regional content to e-newsletters; present/launch the network at regional and national presentations; contribute to bulletins, newsletters and/or other kinds of dissemination tools of regional networks and organizations;

·         Under the direction of the Project Coordinator, identify potential regional donors and develop and implement a fundraising strategy at the regional level to ensure sustainability of regional programming;

·         Actively engage key youth leaders, local and municipal politicians, indigenous peoples and minority communities in the network;

·         Develop an Asia annual workplan based on the global action plan and outputs, and provide regular updates to the Project Coordinator;

·         Contribute regional content to global reports and digests; and

·         Support NDI’s women’s political participation activities related to iKNOW Politics.


Qualifications

- Bachelors Degree in Political Science, International Relations, International Development, Law or other related field; Master’s preferred;

- Minimum of 4 years of relevant work experience in women’s political participation in the Asia region; experience with online networking a plus;

- Familiarity with women political leaders and women’s non-governmental organizations in the region;

- Knowledge of the recent advocacy trends in the advancement of women in politics;

- Fluency in oral and written English is required;

- Fluency in Microsoft Word, Excel, e-mail and web-based applications and databases;

- A team player;

- Demonstrated ability to work well in a multicultural environment;

- Experience in local and international fundraising efforts;

- Proven ability to communicate skills and experience to others effectively;

- Strong oral and written communication skills;

- Strong negotiation and mediation skills;

- High degree of organization and initiative; and

- Excellent networking and interpersonal skills.

Comments

Salary would be commensurate with experience.  While applications from international candidates are welcome, NDI cannot sponsor candidates to obtain a permit to stay in Indonesia (KITAS) or a work permit.

No phone calls please.

NDI is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, political affiliation, religion, gender, disability, and/or sexual orientation.