Women’s Political Leadership and Gender Equality

Men and women are often disparately impacted by conflict and the policies and interventions designed to promote stabilization, reconstruction, and durable peace. Whether a society is entrenched in conflict or consolidating democracy, there are demands and opportunities for women’s inclusion. Recognizing the profound effect that women’s participation in public life has on a country’s security, justice, and resilience as described in the United Nations Security Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, IRI empowers women to seize opportunities during periods of conflict and transition while also building skills for them to engage in long-term political processes in advancement of sustainable peace and greater prosperity for all. As systemic inequality faced by women and girls serves as a known driver of conflict,  IRI’s women’s empowerment programming works to mitigate conflict at its source.

Increasing women’s participation in public life brings significant benefits to a country’s stability. Yet women remain underrepresented in public life around the world. IRI uses its WDN SheVotes toolkit to identify and address the three types of interlocking and mutually reinforcing barriers to public life that women face. The first is individual barriers, which impede women’s agency and efficacy. The second impediment is institutional and governmental barriers, which include legislative and regulatory provisions that undermine—through omission or commission—women’s participation. And the third is societal, which includes a patriarchal system and/or misogyny that exclude women from participating fully in the public sphere. These barriers create different expectations for women and men, shape the dynamics between and within them, and affect individual decision-making power and experiences.

To address these challenges, IRI’s political and civic participation programming centers on the following three pillars: the first pillar broadens women’s understanding of how to participate in political processes and why that engagement is important. Leveraging WDN’s Women’s Leadership School and Women’s Political Leadership Academy curricula, this pillar offers leadership and skills training that builds self-confidence and introduces women to avenues for public engagement.

The second pillar aims to build a critical mass. IRI helps women develop connections with people in civic and political networks. It also builds their skills to run for office and participate in civil society and political parties using such resources as WDN’s Toolkit for Effective Activism, Ask a Woman to Run curriculum, and its Transformative Alliances Toolkit.

Last, IRI equips women with the technical and soft skills to serve effectively once in positions of leadership, utilizing WDN’s Gender-Responsive Policymaking Toolkit and Violence Against Women in Politics curriculum. As part of this pillar’s programming, IRI supports women to promote gender-responsive policies and inspire a new generation of women leaders.

Gender-responsive policymaking addresses the different needs and priorities of everyone, regardless of their sex. This leads to better policies and ultimately establishes a more just, productive, and peaceful world. Gender-responsive policymaking is simply smart policymaking.

Via WDN’s Gender-Responsive Policymaking Toolkit, and its Transformative Alliances Toolkit, IRI builds a common understanding of how gender norms, roles, and power imbalances affect policymaking. IRI also supports gender-responsive policymaking and builds the skills to integrate gender in the policymaking process. With this work, IRI helps to equip female and male leaders – in government positions, civil society and political parties – with the tools and knowledge to incorporate gender considerations in policy, to work to reverse gender inequality, and to correct power imbalances. By supporting women leaders, cultivating male allies, providing technical training and resources, and running forums to share best practices and lessons learned, IRI and its partners can shape how policies are created. IRI’s work in addressing gender-based violence, in all its myriad forms, and promoting women’s economic empowerment are particularly important.