Women's Leadership
NATO recognises the disproportionate impact that conflict has on women and girls, the vital roles women play in peace and security, and the importance of incorporating gender perspectives in all that the Alliance does. The Women, Peace and Security agenda was launched on 31 October 2000 with the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and now includes nine additional Resolutions (1820, 1888, 1889, 1960, 2106, 2122, 2422, 2467 and 2493). NATO’s approach to the Women, Peace and Security agenda is framed around the principles of integration, inclusiveness and integrity.
Guiding principles
NATO’s common values of individual liberty, democracy, human rights and obligations under the Charter of the United Nations underpin the principle that the full rights and participation of women are essential. Drawing from the UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), the Alliance works to address gender inequality by integrating gender perspectives through the Alliance’s three core tasks of deterrence and defence, crisis prevention and management, and cooperative security.
Three principles guide NATO’s work on WPS: integration, inclusiveness and integrity.
Read here the full article published by NATO on 7 March 2024.
Image source: NATO
It’s 2024, but power still looks like a man. Despite Australia’s claim to egalitarianism, achieving equal political participation and representation remains a formidable challenge for women. Concerningly, the persistent and ingrained obstacles in women’s way are affecting the aspirations of the next generation of female leaders.
According to 2022 research spanning 29 countries, including Australia, satisfaction among young females aged 15-24 with their leaders’ decisions on issues they care about stands at a mere 11%. An overwhelming 97% acknowledged the importance of political participation. Yet, only 24% of those aspiring to engage in politics could see themselves running for office.
Worse still, 20% have been personally discouraged from political involvement. This is often because they’re either considered to be less qualified or that they will inevitably face discrimination and gendered violence.
I crunched the numbers to assess the situation in Australia. While much has been said about the mistreatment of female leaders, how does this play into the psyche of female constituents?
Read here the full article published by The Conversation on 7 March 2024.
Image source: The Conversation.
It's often said that adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it. Borrowing from Eleanor Roosevelt's iconic comparison, women, like tea bags, only show their strength when in hot water. Today, amidst the boiling cauldron of global conflicts and political challenges, a new narrative is emerging - one where the resilience and determination of women are not just supporting roles but headline acts against male-dominated aggression.
In a world where headlines often speak of wars and conflicts, primarily led and perpetuated by men, the emergence of strong female figures in the realm of global politics offers a glimmer of hope. Take, for example, Yulia Navalnaya, who, following the murder of her husband Alexei Navalny, has become a formidable opponent to Vladimir Putin's regime. Navalnaya's transition from a life away from the limelight to being at the forefront of Russia's opposition movement underscores the potential of women's leadership in steering the world towards peace. Her courage, alongside the quiet strength of individuals such as Nikki Haley, who continues her political aspirations against figures like Donald Trump despite facing derogatory remarks, illustrates the pivotal role women can play in reshaping global politics.
Click here to read the full article published by BNN Breaking News on 23 February 2024.
Image source: BNN Breaking News
A very moving and inspirational #IWD2024 conference was held today, Saturday, February 24, 2024, in Paris. The conference featured the NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi as the keynote speaker, and dozens of other influential women from around the world. Mrs. Rajavi emphasized that women’s active and equal participation in political leadership is the key to realize gender equality in any society.
The NCRI President-elect also reiterated that women’s equality and leadership is indispensable to the fight against a misogynistic regime. She also called on young women in Iran to rise up and save the millions of women who are victims of the mullahs’ oppression, by overthrowing the regime. Following is the full text of her speech:
Women’s Active and Equal Participation in Political Leadership Is Indispensable to Democracy
On the eve of International Women’s Day, we pay tribute to the women who have championed the cause of equality, made sacrifices, and paved the way for others, ushering in a new era.
As a result of these struggles, hardships, and four decades of resistance against religious tyranny, I stand here today with pride to underscore the following truths:
Women are the actors for change.
Click here to read the full article published by Women's Committee NCRI on 24 February 2024.
Image source: Women's Committee NCRI
The topic of gender equality has been a prominent subject of discussion in the international discourse for a considerable period. The acknowledgment of women’s rights and their involvement in diverse domains of society, including the political realm, has been a protracted and hard-won struggle.
Within the domain of global politics, this conflict assumes notable importance, given that choices taken within the international arena carry extensive ramifications that affect individuals around the globe. Despite some advancements, achieving gender equality in the realm of international politics remains a challenging objective, with women persistently facing a lack of representation in crucial positions of power and influence. The progression of gender equality within the realm of international politics is a crucial yet unfinished undertaking, necessitating the implementation of comprehensive strategies that enable women and eliminate obstacles to their full engagement in decision-making procedures.
In the realm of international politics, there has been notable advancement in the pursuit of gender equality. This achievement can be attributed to the concerted efforts of international organizations, governments, and civil society, all of whom have been actively advocating for more women’s participation in global decision-making mechanisms. The milestone of women’s empowerment was signified by the acceptance of international agreements such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action by the United Nations in 1995 (Women).
Click here to read the full article published by Eurasia Review on 26 February 2024.
Image source: Eurasia Review
In the heart of Athens, beneath the watchful eyes of history, a groundbreaking event is set to unfold that promises to reshape the landscape of political leadership across the globe. From April 19-21, the Women Political Leaders (WPL) network will convene for its annual summit, a gathering that not only honors the strides taken towards gender equality in political arenas but also, under the patronage of President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, aims to dismantle the longstanding barriers still facing women in politics today. Organized in collaboration with Greece's Ministries of Tourism and Cohesion & Family Affairs, this summit isn't just a meeting; it's a testament to the country's commitment to leading by example in the quest for a more inclusive political discourse.
Empowering Women Leaders: The Agenda
The Athens summit is more than a ceremonial congregation; it's a beacon of hope and a call to action. With over 200 delegates expected to participate, the discussions will pivot around not just celebrating past achievements but forging new pathways to ensure women's voices are not just heard but are influential in shaping policies and decisions. The highlight of the event is an awards ceremony that pays tribute to women politicians who have been instrumental in breaking down stereotypes and challenging the discrimination that has historically sidelined women from political leadership roles. Among the awardees is none other than Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, whose own career reflects the summit's core mission of elevating women to positions of power and influence.
Click here to read the full article published by BNN Breaking News on 26 February 2024.
Image source: BNN Breaking News
Abstract
Concern over partisan resentment and hostility has increased across Western democracies. Despite growing attention to affective polarization, existing research fails to ask whether who serves in office affects mass-level interparty hostility. Drawing on scholarship on women’s behavior as elected representatives and citizens’ beliefs about women politicians, we posit the women MPs affective bonus hypothesis: all else being equal, partisans display warmer affect toward out-parties with higher proportions of women MPs. We evaluate this claim with an original dataset on women’s presence in 125 political parties in 20 Western democracies from 1996 to 2017 combined with survey data on partisans’ affective ratings of political opponents. We show that women’s representation is associated with lower levels of partisan hostility and that both men and women partisans react positively to out-party women MPs. Increasing women’s parliamentary presence could thus mitigate cross-party hostility.
Click here to access the paper.
At a time of pandemics, international economic downturns, and increasing environmental threats due to climate change, countries around the world are facing numerous crises. What impact might we expect these crises to have on the already common perception that executive leadership is a masculine domain? For years, women executives’ ability to lead has been questioned (Jalalzai 2013). However, the outbreak of COVID-19 brought headlines like CNN’s “Women Leaders Are Doing a Disproportionately Great Job at Handling the Pandemic” (Fincher 2020). Do crises offer women presidents and prime ministers opportunities to be perceived as competent leaders? Or do they prime masculinized leadership expectations and reinforce common conceptions that women are unfit to lead? We maintain that people’s perceptions of crisis leadership will depend on whether the crisis creates role (in)congruity between traditional gender norms and the leadership expectations generated by the particular crisis.
Click here to read the article by Cambridge University Press the 12 January 2023.
Women’s political rights and their exercise of political citizenship globally have often expanded more rapidly in times of conflict, crisis, and revolution. The decline of empires after World Wars I and II and the creation of new nations served as a catalyst for the expansion of women’s suffrage. Civil wars and revolutions have had similar outcomes in expanding women’s political citizenship. This essay brings together several disparate literatures on World War I, World War II, wars of independence, revolution, and post-1990 civil wars and expands their scope to show how women’s political rights and citizenship in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have often been linked to conflict. In doing so, I highlight a notable pathway by which rights expansions occurred: conflict led to changes in the political elite and ruling class, resulting in the necessity to rewrite constitutions and other rules of the polity. During these critical junctures, women’s rights activists gained opportunities to advance their demands. The context of changing international gender norms also influenced these moments. I consider two key moments in the worldwide expansion of political citizenship: the struggle for women’s suffrage and the struggle to expand women’s representation in local and national representative bodies.
Click here to read the article by Cambridge University Press on 12 January 2023.
UN Women and ESCWA conducted in-depth interviews with seven Lebanese women in politics who were all ‘first’s’ in different ways. They include the first female Minister of Interior in Lebanon and the Arab world, the first female Minister to have a child, the first female independent Member of Parliament, the first female Secretary-General of a political party represented in Parliament and the first female Head of party.
This report analyses the set of interviews and explores the stories of each - the barriers they faced to political participation and the opportunities they leveraged.
The report aims to offer policy makers and practitioners a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities that exist when women seek political office in Lebanon.
Click here to access the report.
How to Include the Missing Perspectives of Women of All Colors in News Leadership and Coverage — a new report from Luba Kassova.
From Outrage to Opportunity: How to Include the Missing Perspectives of Women of All Colors in News Leadership and Coverage is a solutions-focused sequel to the award-winning independent reports, The Missing Perspectives of Women in News/COVID-19 News, authored by Luba Kassova and commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It examines the harsh realities facing women of all colors in news leadership and coverage in India, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, the UK, and the USA.
In both editorial leadership roles and in news coverage, women continue to be significantly under-represented in an industry persistently dominated by men. While women in news have it hard, women of color have it even harder. In countries with multi-racial populations, women of color experience greater exclusion in the news industry.
Click here to access the report.
With the support of UNESCO, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) has published a groundbreaking, book-length global study on online violence against women journalists, documenting alarming trends and offering solutions to this pernicious problem.
The Chilling: A global study of online violence against women journalists is the most geographically, linguistically and ethnically diverse research ever published on the theme. Publication of the 300-page book, concludes a three-year research project originally commissioned by UNESCO in 2019.
Click here to access the report.