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After five months of political wrangling, parliamentarians in Afghanistan were finally seated in February. Among the 69 women members are Farida Hamidi and Frishta Amini who make up the entire delegation from Nimroz province in the far southwest of the country. Nimroz is the only province represented by two women and the only place in Afghanistan, and one of the few places in the world, where a woman was elected outside of a quota system that reserves a certain number of legislative seats for women. At an NDI orientation session for newly-elected women parliamentarians, the office holders were encouraged to build strong connections with one another as well as with female leaders in civil society to help raise the voice and visibility of all women in Afghanistan. Read more»
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In Mexico only 5.5 percent of mayors are women. To help close this gap, the Academy for Future Women Mayors helped provide 50 aspiring candidates with the motivation, skills and networks to position themselves to win their campaigns. There is strong evidence that women elected to office tend to emphasize quality of life issues that reflect the priorities of families, women and minorities. Read more»
Kosovo's Informal Group of Women Parliamentarians (WIG) celebrated International Women's Day by highlighting achievements they have made for women's rights. The WIG was instrumental in the parliament's passing last year an employment law that provided expanded maternity rights. Its priorities for this year are reform of the electoral code and internal political party structures. The cross-party coalition also celebrated the all-time high number of women in the assembly and that more women are serving as ministers and deputy ministers than in the previous government. Read more»
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Zinayida Galchynska vowed that if she survived her battle with breast cancer she would run for office, a move she believed would allow her to have an impact on health care issues. She did survive and set out to make good on her promise, though she knew the political odds were against her. Despite the success of women leaders like former Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, women in Ukraine still face significant barriers to getting involved in politics and public life. To support Galchynska and other potential women candidates, NDI launched a program in September that helped women acquire the skills needed to make a serious run for office and to take on more meaningful roles in political parties. Read more»
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As the 2011 Andi Parhamovich Fellow, Mardia Greaves-Bloh is on a mission to increase women's political participation and strengthen democracy in Liberia. "Since 2005, we've seen women being more progressive, speaking out more than in the past," Bloh said. "Liberian women find taking the lead a bit challenging, but they are trying. They are fighting to be heard." For her project, Bloh researched and designed a training for election observers on the importance of identifying and monitoring barriers women face as voters. Read more»
In Iraq, Ferdos Majeed, the first Parhamovich fellow, is using the skills she gained during her fellowship to bring more young women into politics. Read more»
Drawing on 25 years of experience in the women's political participation field, NDI released a new guide to developing and carrying out effective programs to boost women's participation in government and politics. The guide focuses on citizen participation, elections, political parties and governance. It presents the case for increasing women's participation and provides information on best practices and strategies to move that goal forward. It is available in English, French and Spanish. Read more»
About Win With Women
The Win with Women Global Initiative is a complement to more than two decades of work by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in pursuit of an equitable, democratic society where women’s needs are meaningfully addressed. Some of its latest activities are presented here.
The Initiative is aimed at increasing women’s leadership in elected office, political parties and in civil society. It was launched in 2003 by NDI and its Chairman Madeleine K. Albright to promote strategies for increasing women’s political leadership worldwide. The anchor of the Win with Women Global Initiative is the Global Action Plan, a document that outlines practical recommendations for political parties to broaden their appeal by addressing women’s role as voters, candidates, party activists and elected officials. Women and men from more than 100 countries are active supporters of the Initiative and Global Action Plan.
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