Elections

Elections

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Women’s political participation in electoral processes requires targeted support to overcome gender discrimination. Key strategies for enhancing gender balance in electoral processes include: working with political parties to promote gender sensitive policies and practices to foster women’s leadership; targeted outreach and support for women to register to vote and safely access polling stations; guarantee of protection from election related violence and harassment; the use of quotas and temporary special measures to increase women’s representation; effective technical and financial support to women candidates and political leaders; and engagement of male champions for women’s empowerment and gender equality.

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News

21.11.2023
Pakistan faces severe voter gender gap
Out of 127 million registered voters in Pakistan, 10 million more men than women have registered to vote in the general election scheduled for February 8, 2024. This is a large gender gap in a...
21.11.2023
Dutch on brink of electing first female leader
Dutch voters may be about to get someone very different from the outgoing veteran prime minister Mark Rutte.A former refugee, Dilan Yeşilgöz, who succeeded Rutte as leader of the VVD party, is now...
20.11.2023
Swiss parliament: who is entitled to be represented?
The average Swiss parliament member is male, well-educated and 50 years old. This year’s elections have accentuated an already existing trend.“The 2023 elections have resulted in less diversity,”...
17.11.2023
Indonesia: 2024 election could be nadir of women's representation, say anal...
Political parties claim to have met the minimum national quota of 30 percent for female candidates, but a recent report has found that only one party competing in the 2024 legislative election meets...
10.11.2023
USA: Why this year’s election was a big win for women
Nearly 17 months after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, abortion rights supporters celebrated in Ohio after voters added the right to access abortion care to the state’s constitution....
06.11.2023
Zimbabwe’s election widens gender gap in politics
Zimbabwe’s recent election has exposed weak gender policies both at the political party and governmental levels as women were sidelined despite the fact that they make up more than half of the 6.5...
05.11.2023
Scotland: just a third of general election candidates selected so far are women
Herald on Sunday research shows that despite promises to act from most parties, just a third of all the candidates selected to fight the next general election are women.The SNP has selected...
03.11.2023
Election Commission of Pakistan launches awareness drive to boost women’s electo...
The Election Commission of Pakistan has launched a media awareness drive among people with the overarching goal of motivating their active involvement in the electoral process, uplifting 49% of women...
03.11.2023
Sultan of Oman appoints members of State Council, including 18 women
The Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, issued on Wednesday a royal decree appointing members of the State Council, the second legislative chamber. The council consists of 86 members, including 18...

iKNOW Politics Partners Resources

UN Women
Meet the Nigerian women political leaders elected in the 2023 general polls
UN Women
Zimbabwe: violence cited as major repellent factor to women participation in politics
Source: ZimLive
UN Women, UNDP
Liberia: Women optimistic of 2023 elections
Liberia: Women optimistic of 2023 elections (Picture: New Dawn)
UN Women, UNDP
Liberia: Women optimistic of 2023 elections
Liberia: Women optimistic of 2023 elections (Picture: New Dawn)

Related Websites

International Foundation for Electoral Systems: Gender Equality
European Commission-UNDP Electoral Assistance
NDI's “Votes Without Violence” initiative