Official documents and statements of political parties often set normative and policy frameworks for gender equality, as they provide a vision of the party and set the rules of conduct. Political parties frequently include provisions on women’s participation and gender equality in governing documents and other internal legal regulations.[1] A research carried out by International IDEA and the Inter-American Development Bank in 2011 revealed that 70 percent of political parties in Latin America referred to gender equality and non-discrimination in party documents, while the remaining 30 percent failed to mention these principles.[2] According to another 2013 study by International IDEA on political parties’ commitments in 33 African countries, 27 percent of analyzed parties had included gender equality commitments in their constitutions and 58 percent in their party manifestos, although there was a significant gap between these written commitments and specific measures to implement them.[3]

According to International IDEA’s 2016 “Framework for Developing Gender Policies for Political Parties”, gender policies can help political parties identify gender-based inequalities; provide clear direction and policy measures to promote gender equality in politics; integrate this issue into their strategic planning; establish specific objectives, measurable targets and implementation strategies; and develop accountability mechanisms for compliance with these goals. This framework sets a model to “assist political parties and gender equality advocates in their efforts to develop comprehensive policies to advance gender equality within political parties.”[4] It offers a reflection on key principles that should guide internal gender policies for political parties, which comprise substantive equality as opposed to mere formal equality; use of special measures to promote women’s participation; consideration of marginalized groups among women; reconciliation of personal and professional life; and collection of gender-disaggregated data and statistics within the party. The document also outlines a number of specific objectives that could be included in internal gender policies, such as improving women’s participation at all levels in party governance; ensuring adequate levels of power and resources for women’s groups within the party; improving women candidates’ access to financial resources and media campaigns; increasing the pool of women candidates; mainstreaming gender equality into the party’s training strategy; and integrating gender in policy positions to advance the rights of men and women. [5]

Although it is essential to institute these frameworks and policies – and many parties have –, they often lag behind in actual implementation of the policies. While developing appropriate policies and frameworks within political parties is an important step towards gender equality, it is also crucial to actually implement them.

Example: In Sierra Leone, a number of political parties have adopted internal gender policies. Through its gender policy, the All People’s Congress (APC) commits to promoting women’s participation in its internal executive structures and elected bodies. The People’s Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) gender policy sets the goal of ensuring women’s representation within the party at all levels, as well as inclusive decision-making processes. The Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) gender policy aims to increase women’s representation at all levels of the party’s internal structure and also in the legislature and local councils. One of the objectives of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) gender policy is to promote gender sensitive policies within and outside the party, in order to achieve a more balanced representation of men and women, in light of the ICCPR and NDA’s party Constitution.[6]

Example: In El Salvador, the Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN) included in its ethics code and mission statement a clause on political equality for women. Within this party, the traditionally significant presence of women among its members and leaders, as well as the active role of the Women’s Secretariat, has allowed to develop a strong institutional commitment with gender equality and women’s participation, which also translates into inclusive internal rules.[7]

Example: In Costa Rica, the Citizens’ Action Party (PAC) addressed gender equality in its statutes and regulations, and established a Prosecutor’s Office on Gender Equality mandated to monitor, report and advise on the implementation of the regulations. This party is particularly committed to the principle of gender equality and ensures a gender-balanced composition of all its internal structures, leadership positions and candidate lists.[8]

Example: In Kenya, Article 91 of the 2010 Constitution sets the requirement for political parties to “respect the right of all persons to participate in the political process, including minorities and marginalized groups.” Furthermore, Section 7 of the Political Parties Act requires governing bodies of political parties to reflect gender balance with no more than two thirds of their members being of the same gender. All registered political parties in Kenya have complied with these legal provisions, adapting their party by-laws and internal regulations accordingly. For instance, the 2010 party Constitution of the National Alliance included among its core values and principles to promote equal participation and inclusivity of all people in governance, equality before the law and equity in resource allocation. The Orange Democratic Movement Party commits, in its 2007 Constitution, to support women’s emancipation, fight sexism and make sure that women’s voices are heard and that they are fairly represented in internal organs at all levels. The Constitution and manifesto of the Wiper Democratic Movement includes the commitment to promote freedom to participate in political decision-making through recognition of equality before the law and equal opportunities for all, including women and youth. The United Republican Party commits to promote full participation of women, youth, persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups through affirmative action and mainstreaming, while reserving a number of position for women in its governing body. The United Democratic Forum Party, in its 2013 Constitution, pledges to protect and defend the rights of all Kenyan citizens, especially women, children, youth, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups.[9]