Around the world, a wide range of strategies is used to promote gender equality and women’s participation in the electoral process. Despite the variety of approaches, there is a need for general principles that guide this kind of interventions. The following guiding principles aim at orienting programs and policies to enhance effective, meaningful and equal participation of all genders in politics and elections.

• Human rights-based approach: The human rights-based approach helps identify inequalities, discrimination and unbalanced power relations in the electoral process. Based on human rights principles, this approach emphasizes the participation of all actors in the decision-making process, with a particular focus on under-represented groups. Strategies promoting gender equality and women’s participation in the electoral process seek to fulfill the civil and political rights of all people, regardless their gender identity, helping them overcome barriers and leveling the playing field in politics.
• Inclusion: Recognizing the value of diversity is key to ensure that electoral processes are genuinely democratic and leave no one behind. All relevant stakeholders should be able to fully participate in elections without discrimination or violence, regardless their gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, age, disability status and religion, among other conditions.
• Participation: Through a number of participation mechanisms, men and women are empowered to play an essential role in their own development and also in their communities. Constructive participation strategies in the electoral process comprise a wide range of activities, including voting, standing as a candidate, expressing opinions, supporting political parties and candidates, serving as a polling officer, protesting peacefully and observing the election, among others.
• Transparency: Strategies promoting gender equality and women’s participation in elections should be clear and open, and the process needs to be understandable for all parts involved. Stakeholders should take responsibility for their actions and be held accountable.
• Impartiality: Acknowledging the political nature of the electoral process, actors promoting gender equality and women’s participation should not take sides in favor of political parties and contestants. When pursuing the goal of gender equality, they should be able to work with men and women from all ideological backgrounds and party lines, treating them equally and fairly, without giving advantage to any tendency. This guiding principle may present the exception of stakeholders with a strictly political nature, such as political parties, contestants and activists.
• Integrity: The behavior of actors seeking to promote gender equality and women’s participation in elections should reflect high ethical standards. When they abide by the principles of transparency, accountability, fairness and impartiality, the credibility of gender work is often strengthened and trust among partners and the public tends to increase.
• Effective collaboration: Stakeholders working to promote inclusive electoral processes need to join forces and ensure an effective and sincere collaboration, in order to avoid gaps and overlapping in gender equality programming.
• Do no harm: When advocating for gender equality in the electoral process, stakeholders need to be aware of existing social and conflict dynamics, in a way that their actions do not end up harming involved stakeholders or undermining their rights in any way. This is of the outmost importance when working with LGBTI communities in highly hostile environments.

These guiding principles are not exhaustive; they are a starting point, and can be strengthened, expanded and applied to different experiences and realities when promoting gender equality and women’s political participation.