On the occasion of the 2014 International Women’s Day, International IDEA joins the rest of the world in awareness raising and celebrating women with the theme Empowering change and action. For International IDEA this presents an opportunity to salute all women across the world for defending the rights of women in all spheres of life and the implementation of empowering change and actions.
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With women still only constituting 21% of parliamentarians globally, pressure to adopt measures to promote women’s access to political leadership continues to gain momentum.
Throughout 2013, a number of countries across the world took important steps towards redefining their electoral systems to help create a more gender sensitive environment for women seeking political office.
The role of women in the electoral process has traditionally been seen as something limited to their involvement as candidates, and the likelihood of them being elected.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy, is preparing for elections in February 2015 with Presidential and National Assembly elections on 14 February followed by state governorship and Houses of Assembly elections on 28 February. The 2015 elections will be administered by the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) headed by Chairman Attahiru Muhammadu Jega starting with a nationwide voter registration process. Political party campaigns are set to begin in November 2014.
Progress and challenges for women politicians in the region
Importantes e innegables avances: Michelle Bachelet asumirá la Presidencia de Chile el 11 de marzo como la segunda mujer reelecta en este cargo en América Latina (la primera fue Cristina Fernández). Dilma Roussef, también sería reelegida en Brasil, de cumplirse las proyecciones. Asimismo México acaba de aprobar este año a través de una reforma constitucional, la paridad estricta (50%-50%) entre hombres y mujeres en las listas electorales sumándose así a Ecuador, Bolivia y Nicaragua.
Women account for over 52 per cent of the total population of Haiti and are very active in the economic and social sectors. Yet their political participation and representation in Parliament is very limited. Only seven of the 144 political parties are headed by women. Women represent less than five per cent of the Haitian parliament, and there are no women at all in the current Senate.
‘Tunisians agree that their new constitution is an advance, despite the imperfections. The people’s new democratic spirit is what will make Tunisia a success, and it will hopefully serve as an inspiration for the entire Arab region in times to come’.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this analysis are the author’s and should in no way be construed to represent those of International IDEA, its Board and/or Council members.
Federalism is a new concept in Nepal and many new words and terms related to federalism were only introduced during the country’s recent constitution-building process.
International IDEA has compiled this Glossary on federal terminology through citizen dialogues in an effort to come up with a shared definition of contested federal terms based on a common understanding.
One of the persistent democratic deficits throughout the world is women’s lack of influence in politics. In relation to political parties in particular, the voice of women in decision-making remains insufficient, and, in some cases, is non-existent.
This report is based on the findings of a two-year project implemented by International IDEA, aimed at analysing the commitments of political parties to gender equality in 33 countries in Africa.
There are many examples across the world of women succeeding in empowering themselves and how they acquired greater influence in political institutions. These range from customary governance in Bougainville, Namibia, Northern Kenya and South Africa, to local governance in Cameroon and Cambodia and across national level institutions in Somaliland and India.
In early 2014 the Tanzanian Centre for Democracy (TCD) – an organization bringing together all political parties to promote multi-party democracy– completed an assessment of local democracy from a gender perspective using International IDEA’s State of Local Democracy (SoLD) assessment framework.
Regional organizations are key players in efforts to promote gender equality. Most have set up legal and institutional frameworks to address gender equality, including women’s political empowerment. They usually have a dedicated committee, commission or directorate that is responsible for gender. And they have a mandate to coordinate, monitor and often implement the regional strategies endorsed by their respective member states.
This study takes a comprehensive approach to understanding the reasons why young people abstain from voting in large numbers in elections to the European Parliament.
It considers both the sociological profile of young abstainers and the offers that political parties make.
Brussels, 19 February 2014 -- A new report, jointly published today by the League of Young Voters and International IDEA, reveals the reasons behind the very high rates of young people not voting in European elections and lays bare the mutual distrust between political parties and young people
Democracy is a recognized international goal in its own right. In the Millennium Declaration, UN Member States commit to spare no effort to promote democracy. Supporting democracy around the world is a cornerstone of the foreign and development policies of many donor countries.
Most Tunisians agree that their new constitution is an advance, despite the imperfections. The people’s new democratic spirit is what will make Tunisia a success, and it will hopefully serve as an inspiration for the entire Arab region in times to come.
Participation and representation are two fundamental elements and principles of democracy. They affirm that a democracy is dependent on its citizens and that this ownership is expressed through meaningful participation by and representation of all citizens in democratic institutions and processes.
The run off presidential elections in both Costa Rica and El Salvador are going to be fascinating contests as so much uncertainty surrounds the outcome, given that no candidate prevailed in the 2 February first round of elections. Thus, the political environment remains volatile. To win the first round, a candidate had to get 50% of the vote in El Salvador and 40% in Costa Rica.