In PNG, individual, socio-cultural, and institutional factors continue to hinder women’s political participation and their representation in legislative bodies. Cultural and institutional barriers reinforce each other and impact the extent to which women compete and are successful in the political arena. In the 2022 National General Elections, an uneven playing field—especially when it comes to campaign finance and election security—the traditional patriarchal gender stereotypes converged to prevent women from fulfilling their political rights in the democratic process.
Women in Legislatures
The February 2021 snap parliamentary elections marked the beginning of a new chapter for Kosovo. For the first time since Kosovo's independence in 2008, a single political party has a majority in the Assembly. It also elected a female president for the second time and a record 43 women representatives to the 120 seat National Assembly.
Democracy, as an ideal of political organization and as a form of coexistence, has historically signaled a demand for greater equality and representation. The contemporary debate on democracy focuses on the capacity or inability of the political system to manage and represent the interests and needs of the population, considering its diversity, as well as the capacity to neutralize the historical structural expressions of inequality and discrimination towards broad sectors of the population.
Historically, violence against women in politics (VAW-P) has been a largely hidden phenomenon, but it is a real and grave concern for all those dedicated to strengthening democracies around the world, and it cannot be allowed to continue. There is a need to raise awareness about this violence, create new norms and standards against it, construct processes to register and respond to complaints, provide services for women who are victims and punish the perpetrators of violence.
From October 7 to 11, 2014 the National Democratic Institute (NDI or the Institute) conducted an assessment of women’s political participation in Kosovo’s 2013 local elections and 2014 parliamentary elections. The assessment drew upon international standards forwomen’s political participation developed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and NDI’s own global programs on Gender, Women, and Democracy.
The National Platform for Women is a concise and persuasive document that identifies priority issues for Iraqi women and provides sound recommendations for government policy and political party action. Written by a group of women representing Iraq’s regional, political, ethnic and religious diversity, this document includes consensus policy positions on a number of issues, including: healthcare, education, economic empowerment, and political participation.
البرنامج الوطني للمرأة
الناشر:منشورات المعهد الديمقراطي الوطني.