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Advocacy & Lobbying

Every March 8, millions of women mobilize in Latin America to be part of the agenda of International Women's Day. The problems experienced by women and gender diverse people in the region are not few: since 2018, 14 of the 25 countries with the most femicides are in Latin America, 27.4 percent of women in the region experience multidimensional poverty, and nearly 8,400 women die each year in the region due to complications in pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. According the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, in Latin America one in two women does not have a job and one in four does not have their own income. In Central America, less than 40 percent of women have a bank account.

On this day, women respond to and highlight the problems that affect them in their own contexts, causing each town and each Latin American city to have its own complaints and requests.

Here are some Latin American cities that filled their streets on International Women's Day.

Read here the full article published by Global Voices on 21 March 2024.

Image source: Global Voices

Excellencies,

Strengthening democratic institutions and processes is key for accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Indeed, democracy is the political system best equipped to achieve these goals. Equally, gender equality is essential for democracy, as well as for sustainable development more broadly.  

According to International IDEA's Global State of Democracy Indices, levels of gender equality are higher in democracies than in non-democratic regimes. The reasons for this are many. Relative to other forms of government, democracies provide more equal access to political power; produce more inclusive, participatory, and representative decision-making; and develop more effective, accountable, and transparent institutions, with lower levels of corruption. All of these elements are critical for the empowerment of women and girls. Data from International IDEA Global State of Democracy reports have shown that only 3% of democracies perform very poorly on gender equality measures. For authoritarian regimes, the proportion is 50%. And since we know that the achievement of not just SDG5 but the SDGs overall depends upon further progress on gender equality, this means that democracy drastically improves the likelihood of success in achieving the 2030 Agenda.

Click here to read and hear the full state published by International IDEA on 19 March 2024.

On International Women’s Day, March 8, women in major cities across Pakistan, including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Multan, took to the streets for the seventh consecutive year to advocate for gender equality, justice, and safety against patriarchal norms.

Aurat March is a feminist collective that unites to speak out against discrimination and inequality. The march was attended by hundreds of women, girls, transgender people, and male allies across Pakistan.

The theme of the Aurat March was the liberation and support of Palestine, with each chapter also presenting manifestos on topics related to gender equality.

Unrest in the Islamabad March

The women marchers of Islamabad’s Aurat March carried placards with messages of solidarity with oppressed communities, such as the apartheid happening in Gaza and the forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan, Pakistan.

Placards also highlighted women's desire to walk home safely without the fear of being harassed. This is a very common concern for women in Pakistan, as they often face sexual harassment and violence in public spaces.

Throughout the march, the women chanted slogans about Gaza, showing their support for Gaza, where over 25,000 women and children have tragically lost their lives in Israel's conflict with Gaza since October 7, 2023. The atmosphere was charged with emotion and determination as the women raised their voices for justice and equality.

However, the march faced challenges from the police and authorities.

Read here the full article published by Global Voices on 19 March 2024.

Image source: Global Voices

Many advocates, gender activists, development agencies and civil society organisations have been making a strong case for the inclusion of women in high level politics and empowering them economically. A clear case is ongoing advocacy for political parties in Ghana to nominate women as the running mates of the former President John Dramani Mahama and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

Last week John Mahama retained Prof Naana Opoku Agyeman as part of the affirmative action to give voice to women in politics. The electorate is now waiting for Dr. Bawumia to announce his running mate. So far, the discussions in the media space suggest that the Vice President may opt for a male candidate. But in politics anything can change. In the 2020 elections, John Mahama settled for Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyeman, the first female to become Vice Chancellor of a university in Ghana. Whether the female professor’s inclusion provided any gains for John Mahama’s bid to become president again remains debatable. However, there is enough evidence to demonstrate that when women are empowered political and economically, they become a voice for the vulnerable. Therefore, investing in agriculture and supporting women to thrive in agriculture value chain. This is an agenda for the African Union members to implement.

Click here to read the full article published by the Business & Financial Times on 18 March 2024.

Image source: Business & Financial Times

The German government in collaboration with a non-governmental organisation, Hope for Family Development Initiative (HFDI) is set to train 300 women in three Southwest states on campaign strategies, leadership skills, and political engagement.

The project, tagged ‘Advancing Women’s Political Participation through Female Elected Candidates in South West Nigeria’, would be held in Osun, Oyo, and Ekiti states.

Speaking during a media parley held at NUJ Press Center, Osogbo, HFDI Program Manager, Adeola Falana, said the region still faces significant disparities in political representation despite the increase in the number of women holding political positions in the country.

Falana said the NGO would be implementing capacity-building training for women aspirants, town halls meeting with community stakeholders, consultative meetings with stakeholders, and sensitization workshops for young girls on the importance of women’s involvement in politics.

She called on stakeholders to work collectively to support women’s leadership and ensure women have an equal voice in shaping the future of our communities and nation.

Read here the full article published by the Nigerian Tribune on 12 March 2024.

Image source: Nigerian Tribune

Russian singer Monetochka (Liza Gyrdymova), who lives in exile after the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022, released a song in honor of the International Women's Day titled “Mom Has a Secret.”

All of the women featured in the video for the song, as well as Monetochka herself, are mothers but also high profile and vocal activists who oppose the war and the current Russian regime. 

The released video features journalists Katerina Gordeeva, who has her own popular opposition YouTube video channel and currently lives in exile, Anna Mongait, a journalist for Russia TV Rain, banned in Russia, TV host Tatiana Lazareva who had also, as other women from the list, expressed her firm anti-war stance and lives in exile, and Pussy Riot member Nadya Tolokonnikova who spent several years in prison and is strongly against war and Putin's regime. It shows very popular actresses Chulpan Khamatova who features in a lot of anti-war videos and plays, currently in exile, Varvara Shmykova, who also has anti-war stance and had to leave her career and country because of it, and Maria Shalaeva who was detained at the opposition rally together with her son and had to leave Russia. The video includes politician Yekaterina Duntsova, who tried to run against Putin in the upcoming elections and has an anti-war stance (she is still in Russia), lawyer Mari Davtyan, who fights against domestic violence in Russia, and Yulia Vanalnaya, the widow of opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

Read here the full article published by Global Voices on 11 March 2024.

Image source: Global Voices

With Victorian council elections to be held in October, the state government’s target of reaching 50-50 gender representation at the local level is under threat.

While the state achieved a record 43.8% of women elected to councils in 2020, outperforming most federal and state parliaments, and succeeded in achieving gender parity in 47 out of 76 councils, the overall 50-50 gender representation target by 2025 will still be difficult to reach.

Globally, gender quotas have been a tried and tested way of lifting women’s political representation. But research also shows quotas can divide public opinion, and they work better in some contexts than others. With this in mind, we wanted to test alternative measures to support women in politics, which also attract public support.

Click here to read the full article published by The Conversation on 8 February 2024.

Image source: The Conversation

Abstract

Violence against women politicians is increasingly recognized as an issue that undermines women's presence in politics. Latin America has been at the vanguard of this global discussion. In 2012, Bolivia became the only country in the world to criminalize “political violence and harassment against women.” Several other countries have similar legislation in the works. What explains the emergence of these bill proposals? This article argues that the creation of these bills is the result of three processes: activism at the local level used international norms to propose an innovative solution to a problem; women politicians and “femocrats” worked within the state apparatus to overcome resistance; and international actors worked to foster connections among activists and politicians across the region. In this process, international norms have been transformed, with important implications for women's political representation.

Click here to read the full article published by the Cambridge University Press on 27 July 2020.

Today, we announced the release of our new report, The State of Women: 2023 Multiplier Report and Roadmap, a comprehensive report drawing on insights from extensive data gathered from a wide-ranging network of women nationwide. Utilizing data collected from She Should Run participants and research conducted between 2020 and 2023, we found that most women—across demographics and ideologies—need multiple points and types of encouragement over several years in order to consider running for office.

Click here to read the full report published by She Should Run on 6 November 2023.

The 2023 edition of the global Women Peace and Security Index (WPS Index) scores and ranks 177 countries in terms of women’s inclusion, justice, and security.

No country performs perfectly on the WPS Index and the results reveal wide disparities across countries, regions, and indicators. The WPS Index offers a tool for identifying where resources and accountability are needed most to advance women’s status - which benefits us all.

The WPS Index is published by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the PRIO Centre on Gender, Peace and Security with support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Click here to read the full report published by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the PRIO Centre on Gender, Peace and Security on 26 October 2023.

Nearly a quarter of a century after the adoption by the Security Council of its resolution 1325 (2000), women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in building peace should be the norm, not an aspiration or an afterthought, but the data show that this is far from being a reality. In peace processes, negotiating parties continue to regularly exclude women, and impunity for atrocities against women and girls is still prevalent. Women continue to face entrenched barriers to direct participation in peace and political processes, and women’s organizations struggle to find resources, while military spending continues to grow every year. This remains the case even though there is ample evidence that women’s participation contributes to more robust democracies and longer-lasting peace.

Click here to read the full report published by Relief Web on 24 October 2023.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today considered the combined seventh to tenth periodic report of Nicaragua in the absence of a delegation.

Committee Experts raised questions on the treatment of women human rights defenders in Nicaragua, and the lack of sufficient health services for women, among other issues.

Click here to read the full report published by the United Nations News on 23 October 2023.