In its 2012
resolution on Women and Political Participation, the UN General Assembly urged
all State parties to “strongly encourage political parties to remove all
barriers that directly or indirectly discriminate against the participation of
women, to develop their capacity to analyze issues from a gender perspective,
and to adopt policies to promote the ability of women to participate fully at
all levels of decision-making within those political parties.”[1]
By competing
in the electoral process to win political power, political parties play a major
role in representative democracy. They function as gatekeepers of women’s
political participation, acting as intermediaries that articulate citizens’
views through political programs and agendas, and allowing the access of
politicians to representative roles as elected members of democratic
institutions. Although political parties’ traditionally male-dominated
structures and power models often create barriers for women, they can also be instrumental
in facilitating their political advancement, integrating their voices in the
political process and ensuring they have a place in decision-making.
Literature suggests that
highly institutionalized political parties, those in the left or center-left
political spectrum and parties with a well-coordinated internal organization of
women tend to be more responsive to gender-related demands, but these parties -
though generally better than their counterparts – often fall short of parity or
equality.[2]
In practice, however, most parties of all persuasions have taken steps to
advance women’s political participation across the globe.
Political
parties can mainstream gender within their internal organization by developing
and implementing gender-sensitive legal and policy frameworks that foster
women’s inclusion and representation within the party structures and
decision-making platforms. Candidate recruitment is also a key stage that
allows political parties to promote fair representation, by including women in
winnable positions on their candidate lists. Furthermore, political parties can
provide women candidates with support for funding and campaigning, with the
objective of increasing their chances of getting elected. During Election Day,
political parties can conduct gender-sensitive monitoring of electoral
procedures, assessing discrimination against women candidates and voters.[3]
Lastly, they can also play a role in promoting the inclusion of LGBTI persons
in the political process and enhancing the electoral participation of this
community.
One of the key
publications on this topic is the UNDP and NDI’s 2012 “Empowering
Women for Stronger Political Parties: A Guidebook to Promote Women’s Political
Participation”[4],
which offers a general overview about what political parties can do to advance
women’s participation in politics. With the purpose of illustrating strategies
used by political parties in different countries, examples of good practice can
be found in this section, mainly based on the UNDP and NDI’s guidebook. The
following graphic resource, extracted from UNDP and NDI’s guidebook, summarizes
entry points for promoting women’s participation in political parties.
[3] UNDP and NDI (2012):
“Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties: A Guidebook to Promote
Women’s Political Participation”.
