LPSA’s Thematic Working Group (TWG) on Gender Equity & Women’s Empowerment aims to bring together government officials, policy practitioners, scholars, civil society organizations, and citizens who share an interest and expertise at the intersection of decentralization/localization with gender equity and inclusive governance, including local women’s empowerment. The TWG on Gender Equity & Women’s Empowerment held an open meeting on August 28, 2024 (07:00 EDT / 13:00 CET / 15:00 EAT).
Jacqueline Muthura, LPSA Gender Equity and Women’s Empowerment Working Group Coordinator and Co-chair, welcomed attendees to the Working Group Open meeting. She announced the other co-chairs, Hemanthi Goonasekera and the new co-chair; she briefly introduced the working group which brings together actors who share an interest and expertise at the intersection of decentralization/localization with gender equity and inclusive governance, including women’s empowerment at the local level, its focus areas and the topic for the day. Paddy Siyanga Knudsen introduced the panelists and served as the moderator for the working group meeting.
Artan Binaku and Monica Kocaqi from UN Women Kosovo discussed global women’s political representation trends, highlighting regional variations. Artan emphasized the importance of gender quotas, with 94 countries globally having some form of gender quota system. He also identified cultural barriers, patriarchal norms, and political obstacles as women’s political participation challenges. The presentation stressed the need to support women in gaining political positions and effectively performing their roles once elected. The presentation also highlighted the importance of local-level politics as a pathway for women to gain experience and move into national politics.
Maria Eugenia Rojas (Bolivia) spoke about the Latin American experience in women’s political participation. She highlighted the importance of legal frameworks and quotas in increasing women’s representation and discussed the need for capacity building and support for women in politics. In her remarks, she emphasized the role of women’s networks and alliances in promoting political participation.
Gertrude Rose Gamwera Bunyinga (East African Local Government Association) highlighted the need to build the capacities of elected women to fulfill their mandates and the significance of support networks for women in politics. She emphasized the need to make women’s contributions visible and role-modeling as critical to challenging gender norms. She gave examples of outstanding initiatives, such as the G7 in Kenya and Mayors in East African countries.
Participants also highlighted the challenges women face in local politics, including gender stereotypes and societal expectations, lack of funding for campaigns, family and social pressures, and a limited number of role models and mentors. They proposed several strategies to address these challenges, such as implementing quotas and reserved seats for women, mentoring young women and girls in leadership, creating women’s alliances and support networks, improving legislation to support women’s participation, documenting and showcasing success stories, building capacity through peer-to-peer mentorship, creating local sector associations for women, establishing funding schemes for women’s development, and addressing the impact of digital politics on women.
A video of the meeting is available on YouTube. The links below provide access to the video segments of the different agenda items.
| Agenda Item | Contributor |
| 1. Welcome and Introduction | Jacqueline Muthura GEWE Working Group Co-Chair Paddy Siyanga Knudsen Moderator |
| 2. Global Trends in Women’s Political Representation | Artan Binaku UN Women Monica Kocaqi UN Women |
| 3. Women’s Political Participation in Latin America | Maria Eugenia Rojas Canadian Federation of Municipalities |
| 4. Support Networks for Women in Politics | Gertrude Rose Gamwera Bunyinga East African Local Government Association |
| 5. Moderated Q&A | Paddy Siyanga Knudsen Moderator |
The next GEWE Working Group open meeting is scheduled on February 26, 2025 – Register Here.
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