Christiansborg Seminar 2012 Report - Danish Institute for Parties ...

WOMEN IN POLITICS 

A CHRISTIANSBORG SEMINAR 2012 REPORT

Participants in the 

workshop session on 

day 2 listening tentatively 

to one of the 

many speakers from 

more than 20 countries 

participating in 

the 2012 Christiansborg 

Seminar. 

Women in Politics 

Christiansborg 2012 Seminar Report 

Photos: 

All photos have been taken by Lars Schmidt: www.schmidtaps.com 

Disclaimer: 

This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the Danish Institute for Parties 

and Democracy or the members of the Board. 

Editors: 

Marie Skov Madsen and Bjørn Førde, with contributions from Line Holmung 

and Karina Pultz. 

Editorial principle: 

Whenever possible we have used the material provided by the speakers as the basis 

for editing the report. In some cases we have relied on our own notes. 

Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy 

Strandgade 56, 1401 Copenhagen K, Denmark 

Tel: +45 32 69 89 89 

Email: dipd@dipd.dk 

Publication is available on: www.dipd.dk 

Published in October 2012. 

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Contents 

FOREWORD 

OFFICIAL OPENING 

The Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs 

SCREENING OF THE BHUTAN FILM 

Introduction by the Danish Minister for Gender Equality 

KEYNOTE SPEECHES 

Minister from Zimbabwe and Director from UNDP 

PANEL 1 ON WOMEN IN LOCAL POLITICS 

Tanzania, Mozambique, Bhutan, Bolivia and UN Women 

PANEL 2 ON YOUNG WOMEN IN POLITICS 

Egypt, Nepal, Tanzania, Ghana and the Palestinian Territories 

PANEL 3 ON WOMEN IN TRANSITION COUNTRIES 

Afghanistan, Kenya, Tunisia, Nepal and Zimbabwe 

METHODS AND APPROACHES 

UNDP, Jordan and OSCE 

CONCLUSIONS 

and recommendations to the Christiansborg Statement 

ANNEX: BIOGRAPHIES OF SPEAKERS 

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FOREWORD 

The Christiansborg 2012 Seminar was an important milestone for the Danish 

Institute for Parties and Democracy (DIPD) because it was the first time we 

had the opportunity to bring together representatives of our partners after 

having started the practical work of the institute in 2011. 

As stated in our 2010-2013 strategy on “Political parties in a democratic culture”, 

the Christiansborg Seminar is intended to be an annual event which 

can offer an opportunity for Danish political parties and NGOs to learn from 

other Nordic organizations as well as from partners in political parties and 

democracy organizations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. 

We are extremely pleased that it was possible to bring representatives from 

all our partnerships to Copenhagen. When we say ‘our’ partners, we think of 

the partners of the Danish political parties working on a party-to-party basis 

in Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Bolivia, the Palestinian Territories, and Egypt, 

as well as the partners in the multi-party partnerships in countries like Bhutan, 

Nepal, Egypt, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Myanmar. 

We are equally pleased that some Danish development organisations like 

Ibis, MS/ActionAid and KVINFO decided to invite their own representatives 

from countries like Afghanistan, Tunisia, Mozambique and Jordan, and that 

our sister institute in Finland, Demo Finland, decided to invite their partners 

from Nepal and Tanzania. 

All together this meant that the Christiansborg 2012 Seminar in addition to 

the more than 100 Danish and Nordic participants brought together more 

than 30 women from 25 countries, who generously shared their stories and 

experiences from being actively involved in politics in general and political 

party politics in particular. This report is not able to do justice to the very rich 

and often very personal stories presented during the two days, but we hope 

that it will nevertheless capture the very positive and constructive atmosphere 

that characterized the seminar. 

The conclusions from the two days of sharing and discussion will be presented 

in a separate ‘Statement’. 

I would finally like to thank all the people who accepted our call to participate 

and make the seminar possible – the Ministers and Members of the Danish 

Parliament who participated in the official opening and as moderators of 

panels; the keynote speakers from Zimbabwe and UNDP; MP’s and key 

personalities in political parties around the world; and the consultants who 

used their expertise to help us develop a useful background document. 

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Bjørn Førde, Director 

October 2012

1 

Mr. Villy Søvndal, 

Minister of Foreign 

Affairs (right) and 

former Prime Minister 

Mr. Lars Løkke Rasmussen 

(left) in informal 

discussion before 

the official opening 

of the seminar. 



OFFICIAL OPENING 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the former Prime 

Minister participated in the official opening. 

MR. HENRIK BACH MORTENSEN, CHAIRMAN OF DIPD 

The Chairman extended a special welcome to DIPD partners from around the world, 

both the partners of the Danish political parties working on a party-to-party basis in 

Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Bolivia, the Palestinian Territories and Egypt – as well as 

the parties of the multi-party partnerships of the Institute in countries like Bhutan, Nepal, 

Egypt, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Myanmar. 

An equally warm welcome was extended to the partners of Danish organisations like 

Ibis, MS/ActionAid, and KVINFO from countries like Afghanistan, Tunisia, Mozambique 

and Jordan – and from Nordic partners like Demo Finland, with their partners 

from Nepal and Tanzania. We are delighted that you have decided to contribute to 

the Seminar in such a substantive manner. 

The essence of the Christiansborg Seminar is to offer an opportunity for Danish political 

parties and NGOs to learn from other Nordic organisations, as well as from partners 

in political parties and democracy organisations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East 

and Latin America. 

This year the Board had decided to focus on “Women in Politics’ because this continues 

to be a challenge all over the world. The Chairman noted that we might have 

something to show from the Danish experience – but he was also convinced that we 

can still learn a lot as well. 

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MR. VILLY SØVNDAL, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

Mr. Søvndal thanked for the invitation to speak and stated that all human beings are 

born free and have the right to participate in politics. Referring to the CEDAW convention 

he underlined that all political parties should take all means to promote women’s 

rights. The right of women to enjoy equal representation is relevant globally and 

important for political life. In Africa women cultivate land and provide income to their 

family. But they do not own the land. Do men and women have the same view on agricultural 

policy? Not necessarily. During the Arab spring women were participating in 

the uprisings but are not included in formal political process following the revolution. 

It all starts within the political parties. I am head of a party with more women than 

men in the parliament. Denmark is a Scandinavian latecomer on the equality agenda. 

Not before October last year did we get a female Prime Minister but the Scandinavian 

situation does not reflect the global picture. In a world, where more than 50 pct. of 

the total population is female, it stands against reason why only 17 heads of government 

are women. It is plainly wrong that only 30 pct. of the members of parliament 

are women. I am well aware that there is no simple recipe for changing this situation, 

and I am glad that this issue will be discussed at length at this seminar. Because the 

world needs to change here! 

While the challenges are easily found, I think it is worth noticing that there are strong 

signs of a positive and irreversible development. Fortunately, progress happens in 

very different parts of the world. The latest election law in Tunisia stipulates that all 

political parties should list an equal number of men and women candidates, and ensure 

that every second candidate is a women. In Rwanda, 45 out of 80 members of 

parliaments are women. This is all very good news! Women’s position in society is 

slowly improving, and there are now female presidents, members of parliament, leading 

business people, ambassadors, teachers and nurses, that play an important role 

in society and act as role models. Young girls slowly change their perspective on 

where they can go, and how far they can get. 

The Danish government puts strong emphasis on actively promoting women’s rights. 

Not only to promote human rights and equality, but also to promote economic growth, 

strengthen public health and improve education. Promoting women’s participation in 

politics is an essential part of this process. That is also why Denmark supports and 

trains female internet-bloggers, female parliamentarians’ network, female political 

candidates and many more. 

The work of the Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy is particularly important in 

this regard. It is a strong instrument in the Danish government’s continuous work to 

promote democracy and broad-based political participation. I am particularly happy 

about the theme for this seminar – Women in Politics – because it is an issue that is 

at the heart of Denmark’s foreign policy. 

MR. LARS LØKKE RASMUSSEN, CHAIRMAN OF 

VENSTRE AND FORMER PRIME MINISTER 

Mr. Rasmussen introduced by telling about his personal experience with women in 

politics: My wife is member of Gribskov local community. I have been leading 14 female 

ministers as Prime Minister in a government as close to gender balance as you 

can come. I got beaten by a woman who is now the first female Prime Minister in 

Denmark. I am not convinced that she was the right choice, but it was an important 

testimony to the success of women’s equal rights in our national, political arena. 

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In Denmark we have been slow. Women were given the right to vote in 1915. In 

1925 we got the first female minister - 35 years went by before the first female mayor 

was elected, and it took almost 100 years for a woman to become Prime Minister. 

Now, even though in many respects Denmark is one of a kind, I think that the Danish 

history teaches us something relevant, even today. It teaches us that progress is 

possible even though it takes time, sacrifice and hard work. It teaches us that securing 

progress is a continuous effort. And it teaches us that exogenous ideas, ideas 

from the surrounding world, will only take root and flourish if committed groups and 

individuals keep pushing on. 

It was with that in mind, that my government established the Danish Institute for Parties 

and Democracy. To support change and progress in parts of the world where 

democratic traditions are still weak, in corporation with parties and institutions that 

seek to strengthen those traditions. 

The Institute is something of an experiment. The promotion of ideas goes beyond the 

usual scope of development aid. And even though we know that there will be setbacks, 

we all recognize the potential of supporting and aiding promotion of democratic 

ideas, and those individuals and institutions that seek to promote them. 

Women’s participation is part of that potential. Speaking generally, of course, it has 

been my experience that women bring a different perspective and unique values into 

political debates. Values like tolerance, trust and empathy. This makes women absolutely 

essential to civil and public service. We need those values to be represented. 

Lady Astor was the first women to be elected to the British House of Commons. In 

1922 she gave a speech of her experience and said that “men have a greater sense 

of justice” and women “a greater sense of mercy. Men must borrow women’s mercy 

and women must use men’s justice.” I agree – adding that the justice of men must allow 

for the equal participation of women in politics for it to be real justice, and that the 

mercy of women must allow forgiveness for past transgressions to be real mercy. 

I think we can all agree that the time to act is now. All too often we forget the devastating 

consequences of the failure to act. These consequences define the opportunities 

of whole generations. And if no one has the courage to speak up and lead, there 

will always be misrepresentation of interests based on gender bias. That is not only 

individually unfair; it is a catastrophic societal loss! 

If a bright young girl grows up with the noble aspiration of making a difference in the 

life of her family, the conditions of her civil society, or the prosperity of her country, 

her right to seek office must be unconditionally protected. Not just because it is her 

individual right, but also because it should be a society’s right and democratic responsibility 

to elect the representative most competent to lead. 

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2 

Ms. Sangay Zam, 

Member of the National 

Council (Upper 

House of Parliament) 

in Bhutan speaking to 

the audience in Parliament 

following the 

screening of the film. 



SCREENING OF THE BHUTAN FILM 

Introduction by the Minister for Gender Equality and 

comments from the MP from Bhutan. 

MR. BJØRN FØRDE, DIRECTOR OF DIPD 

This session is about Bhutan – and Denmark. Some of you will know that these two 

Kingdoms have had a very unique relationship around development cooperation 

since the mid-1980’ies. Unique not least because it was actually Bhutan that decided 

to select Denmark as a ‘donor’, not the other way around, which is normally the case. 

Denmark is now in the process of phasing out after decades of successful cooperation, 

and in that process DIPD has been invited to engage on issues of democracy. 

When I met with key stakeholders in government and civil society last year in Bhutan, 

it quickly became clear that the area of women’s participation in politics should be a 

key focus area. Just by accident I heard about this idea for a film production entitled 

“Yes, Madam Prime Minister’, which the Board of DIPD was happy to support. 

So here we are today, a week after it has been launched in Bhutan, and I am delighted 

to welcome the Danish Minister for Gender Equality, Mr. Manu Sareen, who is also 

featured in the film. 

MR. MANU SAREEN, MINISTER FOR GENDER EQUALITY 

Personally I wish to emphasize one key aspect, namely: Empowerment! I firmly believe 

that the empowerment of women is one of the greatest challenges of our time. 

Women must have full and equal rights to influence society. There can be no true 

democracy without the full participation of women. Diversity must be the core of all 

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political decision making processes – for the sake of the individual as much for the 

sake of our societies. We all share the responsibility of ensuring women’s equal participation 

– governments and political parties, as well as... yes, women themselves. 

There can be no doubt, that governments must take responsibility to ensure the necessary 

basic rights and opportunities of women. Without opportunities, no empowerment! 

Empowerment is built on: Education, access to the labour market, and on the 

right to freely control ones own body. Only when these conditions are in place, can 

women truly take equal part in society. However, women’s access to decision making 

positions on an equal footing with men is not done overnight – no matter how well 

educated and liberated women have become. In Denmark, the rather uneven representation 

in local politics clearly indicates, that despite women’s empowerment and 

formal equal status - we can do better. 

However, women’s full participation does also require the will of women to engage in 

local surroundings as well as society at large. But taking part is not always that easy 

– it takes knowledge and training to be able to know how to exert influence. 

Denmark is defined by having a large amount of civil voluntary associations and organisations. 

And women, as well as men, take part in these. They are involved in 

school boards, unions, grass roots organisations and so on. This is an extremely important 

source of basic training in how decision-making works. The responsibility of 

women hence builds on: The will of women to exert influence; on changing the mindset 

of people to allow women to take up the task; and on the training of women in 

basic decision making processes and democratic life through voluntary work. Only 

when these conditions are in place, can women truly take part in the democratic and 

political processes. However, in many countries it might seem like an almost impossible 

task to ensure all these conditions and hence women’s full empowerment. 

In a few moments you will watch a short film, which is a good example of how we can 

help raise awareness and mobilise women. Two important points made in the film is 

the need of ensuring day care institutions, and involving the whole society in achieving 

gender balance in politics – hence including men as partners. Only this way can 

we create a win-win situation. 

As a former political colleague of mine, Norwegian Gro Harlem Brundtland, once 

said: Women will not become more empowered merely because we want them to be, 

but through legislative changes, increased information, and redirection of resources. 

In conclusion, let me ensure you, that as minister for gender equality you have my full 

support. And as you heard my colleague before me say, we are dedicated to promoting 

more women in politics. Only by joining forces can we reach our ultimate goal: 

The empowerment of women and true democratic societies! 

MS. SANGAY ZAM, BHUTAN 

Bhutan is a young democracy, currently undertaking its first democratic steps in a political 

culture which is unique. This is why I believe that gender equity is so doable in 

Bhutan. Democracy is new in Bhutan and gender equity could ride the same wave of 

this new change. 

The first democratic elections in Bhutan took place in 2008 and the next elections will 

take place in 2013. Thus we are currently facing a window of opportunity. 

People in Bhutan like to think that men and women have equal opportunities; so if 

women are not forthcoming in this new democratic change, it appears that we can’t 

blame anyone else but women themselves. In a country of happiness and a country 

of equal opportunities, if women do not find politics so compelling or personally fulfilling; 

if women are not charged with ambitions; if women sacrifice their own for the 

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sake of their home and children, there seems no one else to blame but women ourselves. 

So women have been blamed for a long time now. 

From my association with DIPD and women leaders in Denmark I have come to realize 

that we must first tackle the problem of ignorance and theoretical deficiency in the 

area of gender equity. While we blame the women and while women take the back 

seat, we seem to have neglected to see that the real reason why women have not 

been very forth coming is in fact because of the inherent institutional deficiencies. So 

the real problem is more in the policies and in the systems – much beyond the makings 

of individual women. 

This project has raised a great deal of awareness. It has drawn much needed attention 

to the value of women – particularly value of women’s participation in politics. As 

more and more people get convinced, the magic question will hopefully begin to 

arise: What can we do to make women more forth coming? What can we do to make 

women want to be a part of the changing process of their own lives? 

In the words of some women leaders in Denmark; “the blame has got to shift from 

women to society”. The ownership of the problem then becomes stronger and the 

task of gender equity so much more possible. 

To make a real break-through, Bhutan needs to promote gender equity scholarships 

to increase the knowledge base; strengthen research and gender disaggregated statistics 

to compel people to look at the real picture without squinting, and keep the debate 

on gender equity fired up if we are to increase visibility of women beyond token 

numbers in leadership positions. 

Only when the people can debate intellectually on the topic of gender equality can we 

help the rest of the others to see through the gender lens, have a clear picture of the 

gender gap, and then take informed decisions. Only then can we channel our efforts 

productively, and only then can we harness the abundance of women’s potentials 

waiting to be tapped. 

A media launch of the film: “Yes, Madam Prime Minister” took place on 1st of September 

2012, and was graced by Her Royal Highness, Princess Sonam Dechan 

Wangchuck as the chief guest. The chief election commissioner delivered the keynote 

address. The august gathering included senior members and representatives of 

the government, honourable members of parliament, representatives from autonomous 

agencies, heads of civil society organizations and students. 

This media launch has raised a great deal of awareness. It has drawn much needed 

attention to the value of women – particularly value of women’s participation in politics. 

As more and more people get convinced, the magic question will hopefully begin 

to arise, “What can we do to make women more forth coming? What can we do to 

make women want to be a part of the changing process of their own lives?” 

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3 

Ms. Winnie Byanyima 

from UNDP (left) and 

Ms. Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga 

(right) from Zimbabwe 

responding to questions 

from the audience 

following their 

presentations. 



KEYNOTE SPEECHES 

The Minister from Zimbabwe and the Director from 

UNDP made the keynote speeches. 

MODERATED BY THE DIPD CHAIRMAN 

The DIPD Chairman, Henrik Bach Mortensen, first invited the Honourable Minister for 

Regional Integration and International Cooperation in Zimbabwe, Ms. Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, 

to speak - while highlighting the fact that while the Minister has 

played an important role in the very difficult and sensitive political developments in 

Zimbabwe over the last decade, she also has a long and strong track record from civil 

society, working with women’s issues in particular. 

He then invited the Director of the Gender and Development Unit in the Bureau for 

Development Policy of the United Nations Development Programme, Ms Winnie 

Byanyima to speak to us. He referred to her biography in the programme and highlighted 

that she has a long career in politics in Uganda before she worked for the African 

Union and now for the UNDP, which is in a sense the powerhouse for setting 

global standards for the area of democratic governance in its many forms and 

shapes, including women and political parties. 

MS. PRISCILLA MISIHAIRABWI-MUSHONGA, ZIMBABWE 

There exists a ‘myth of numbers’ which is too much in focus because more women 

do not necessarily lead to women-sensitive policies. Political space is confrontational 

and women often conform. Women who refuse to conform tend to be ostracised by 

both men and women. 

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As an example, in Zimbabwe a constitutional process has led to a quota for women 

in the lower house. The critical argument against this was that women were already 

in parliament, but we need to look beyond numbers: Let’s not assume that because 

one is women, she is an agent of change. 

There is a tendency to move away from a focus on creating ‘safe spaces’ for women, 

and rather look at creating strong alliances with men. Such alliances with men are a 

necessity to include more women in politics, but must not be substituted for the 

spaces needed for women. We need to both work with women to create spaces, and 

to form strategic alliances with men. 

Political parties are like marriages; closed in, and have their own specific dynamics, 

which are difficult to understand for the outsider. Many political parties have an image 

of being ‘female friendly’, but have internal dynamics that exclude women from decision-making. 

We have to look at the political culture of political parties where women’s 

groups and women’s assemblies are often reduced to people who cook, dance 

and entertain, rather than taking part in political discussions. DIPD could focus on 

this particular aspect in its work. 

MS. WINNIE BYANYIMA. UNDP 

UNDP has an explicit mandate to promote democratic governance of which the participation 

and representation of both women and men is part and parcel, and this is 

also very much a human rights issue and a precondition for democracy. 

At UNDP, we work with a variety of partners and sister UN agencies, including UN 

Women, to promote women’s political participation. That work encompasses more 

than just supporting women as elected candidates, although we engage in that important 

effort too, both to help women run for office and get elected, and to help them 

be effective once in office. Our democratic governance work also focuses on civic 

engagement, electoral cycle support, parliamentary development, e-governance, 

public administration reform, local governance and decentralization, access to justice, 

human rights and anti-corruption. 

It also includes supporting electoral system reforms, such as implementing gender 

quotas. The use of temporary special measures, like gender quotas, is the single 

most important policy measure for increasing the number of women in parliaments. 

Evidence over the past five years reveals a stable pattern between women’s representation 

in countries that have employed temporary special measures and those 

that have not. In countries that use temporary special measures, the average representation 

of women was 27 pct. compared to 13.8 pct. for those that have not. 

Political parties are gatekeepers to political office. In order for women to lead governance 

they must lead in political parties. Globally, while 40 to 50 pct. of party members 

are women, women hold only about 10 pct. of leadership positions within those parties. 

Without access to established networks of influence, and with very limited resources, 

few role models and mentors, it is understandable that the proportion of 

high ranking women in political parties has remained well below that of men across 

the globe. Unless political parties step up and reform, we can expect that the institutions 

that make decisions affecting people’s lives everywhere will continue to be 

dominated by men. If we want to have more women leading government as well as 

sitting as members, we must make inroads with political parties. 

Last spring, UNDP and the National Democratic Institute published “Empowering 

Women for Stronger Political Parties: A Guidebook to Promote Women’s Political 

Participation.” This guidebook identifies the range of steps and entry points that political 

parties can take throughout the electoral cycle to advance women’s participation 

and leadership and to promote gender equality in general. 

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The response to the Guidebook has been phenomenal. Originally published in five 

languages (English, French, Russian, Arabic and Spanish), the guidebook has been 

picked up and translated by UNDP country offices into Indonesian, Portuguese, 

Mongolian and Burmese. 

This extremely practical guidebook highlights good practices drawn from 20 case 

studies from around the world for promoting women’s participation in political parties. 

The guidebook underscores that there are common challenges facing women in politics, 

regardless of the region of the world in which their country is located, or the 

country’s size or development status. The challenges are shared by women across 

new democracies and established ones, and by women in parties across the political 

spectrum. 

The guidebook examines how political parties have successfully promoted women’s 

advancement in the political system throughout the electoral cycle. They are presented 

as successful examples that can be replicated in different countries and different 

situations. For example: 

Parties can commit to support women’s political empowerment: A commitment to 

gender equality and women’s empowerment should be reflected in the founding documents 

and constitutions of the party. 

Parties can adopt voluntary quotas to guarantee women’s presence in the party: 

Some kind of quota for women’s representation at a local, management or national 

candidature level has been enacted by such diverse political organizations as Australia’s 

Labor Party, Cambodia’s Sam Rainsy Party, Morocco’s Socialist Union of 

Popular Forces, Mexico’s Party of the Democratic Revolution and National Action 

Party India’s Bhatariya Janata Party, Germany’s Christian Democratic Union and 

South Africa’s parliament. 

Quotas can also ensure that the party selects or nominates women candidates to its 

slate of candidates for election and places them in winnable positions on party lists: 

In countries like the United States, which have majority elections, measures other 

than quotas need to be developed. Parties must support women to stand in ‘safe’ 

seats and challenge the power of incumbency. 

Prior to elections, parties can take concrete steps to ensure that women are placed in 

winnable positions on party lists, or in safe or winnable constituencies: In Canada, a 

party created a recruitment committee to ensure diversity in its candidate selection. A 

party in Costa Rica alternates men and women candidates on its electoral lists. 

During elections, parties can provide skills and networks for raising money and campaigning; 

ensure women’s visibility in campaigns; and make sure that electoral monitoring, 

security provision and voter information are gender-sensitive. After elections, 

parties can support newly elected candidates: In El Salvador, the Association of Salvadoran 

Women Parliamentarians and Ex-Parliamentarians offers training in communication 

and organizing skills, which help women become more effective in their 

political work both inside and outside parliament. In South Africa, women party members 

pushed for changes to the parliamentary calendar to accommodate the needs of 

parliamentarians with families. 

What’s notable about engaging with political parties is that they are increasingly recognizing 

gender equality and women’s empowerment as not only fair, but beneficial 

to the parties as well as the women. 

Research suggests that political parties have increased their support base and 

gained electorally after adopting reforms to promote women’s empowerment. Increasing 

the proportion of women candidates for elected positions can also increase 

the flow of public funding to the party. Women candidates are more likely to come 

from civil society and have strong relationships with civil society organizations. These 

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connections can help parties establish better relations with grassroots and civil society 

constituencies. 

Putting in place strategies to promote women’s empowerment can lead to more 

democratic and transparent political parties. In developing countries, political parties 

are very often weak, relying largely on personal family connections or networks of 

elite men. Developing strategies for women’s participation may also result in more inclusive 

processes, which can also benefit other marginalized and under-represented 

groups. 

In addition, women’s participation in political decision-making bodies also has been 

shown to improve the quality of governance. Some recent studies have found a positive 

correlation between women’s increased participation in public life and a reduction 

in the level of corruption. A poll conducted by Gallup and the Inter-American Dialogue 

in five Latin American countries in 2000 found that most of those surveyed believed 

that having more women in power improves government and that women are better 

able than men to handle a wide range of policy issues. 

Political parties should be mindful of these perceptions and use them to their advantage 

in their electoral campaigns. 

Much more must be done with and by political parties to ensure they enable rather 

than obstruct women’s political participation. Ultimately, we need women role models 

and men to champion the advancement of women in all aspects of political life. Only 

when they do that – and succeed in dramatically increasing the number of women 

participating in and leading political life – will we be able to speak of true democracy 

and gender equality. 

Page 14

4 

Ms. Susan Lyimo 

from Tanzania is seen 

in the foreground, together 

with Ms. Anne 

Steenhammer from 

UN Women. In the 

background the moderator, 

the Mayor of 

Roskilde. 



PANEL 1: WOMEN IN LOCAL POLITICS 

What challenges are women politicians facing? 

How can political party assistance actors support? 

DAY 1 

MODERATED BY MS. JOY MOGENSEN, MAYOR OF 

ROSKILDE MUNICIPALITY 

Local politics may not be a theme that clears the front pages every day, but it is of 

essential importance for people all over the world that their local politicians are able 

to understand and meet their needs. In most countries local level politics is about dividing 

the resources in the local society and as such of great importance for the daily 

lives of people all over the world. 

The lack of women in local politics is a global issue that has been debated for many 

years. Women’s involvement in decision and policy-making processes is absolutely 

essential for changes in women’s political, social and economic status. As such 

women are seen as actors of change. Supporting the participation of women in local 

politics therefore has great potential for improving the lives of women in general. 

HON. SUSAN LYIMO, TANZANIA 

Equitable participation is far from reality in Tanzania. Women and men do not enjoy 

equal access to or control over the basic services provided by local government, 

mainly because women continue to be under-represented in both the political leader- 

Page 15



ship and administration at the local level. Tanzania is mainly a rural country which 

means that local politics is very important. There is greater representation of women 

in local level politics than in national politics. 

Possible explanations to the relatively high ratio of women participating in local level 

politics could be that the eligibility criteria is less stringent at local level, and that it is 

easier to combine participation in local level politics with the role as care taker in a 

family. Furthermore, local politics can be more interesting as it is closer to women’s 

everyday life. Women participate actively in organizations at local level which often 

leads to the conclusion that decentralisation is in women’s interest. But decentralisation 

makes the local level more important, and as this importance grows, so does 

male interest in it. 

Women are still hampered by many barriers, individual as well as institutional factors 

related to the organisation of society and the political system, with the risk that they 

will not reap equal benefits. 

The inclusion/representation of women in local politics is important because of: Justice 

- women constitute 50 pct. or more of the country’s population which need to be 

mirrored in women’s representation; Efficiency - women offer different experiences 

and resources – their resources needs to be included to secure optimal policies; Diversity 

- women and men are different and live under different circumstances, and 

therefore they prioritize differently e.g. women tend to prioritize an area like health, 

whereas men often look at employment. More women in politics can change the political 

system e.g. in terms of corruption. Research on corruption shows that women are 

less likely than men to behave opportunistically, thus bringing more women into government 

may have significant benefits for the society in general. 

The challenge in Tanzania is that the constitution provides basis for women to participate, 

yet, representation of women is minimal. Due to historical and cultural factors 

the number of females has remained low compared to males since independence. 

According to the election monitor’s report of 2010, women participated equally as 

men in registering for both local and national elections, but fewer women than men 

offered themselves for nomination at the primaries. Interestingly, fewer women succeeded 

in the primaries and fewer still succeeded at the national polls. 

In Tanzania, legislative affirmative action has done much to ensure women’s quantitative 

representation in local governance. Special seats for women have been implemented 

both in Parliament and Local Councils. There is now a legal requirement 

to reserve one-third of all seats of municipal councils for women, which has increased 

the number of women councillors. 

However, the number of women elected as MPs and in District, Ward and Village 

Councils continues to be low: In 2010 there were 3350 councillors out of whom only 

1006 (29 pct.) were women, but only 9 pct. were directly elected. It is pertinent to 

note that majority of the women councillors were elected through special seat arrangements. 

So the numbers look prettier than the reality. While women’s numeric 

representation may be significant, it does not guarantee that women have actual influence 

over policy decisions or that women’s rights and gender equality are addressed 

in local government policies and programs. Women who are involved via 

special seats are treated differently e.g. they cannot become Prime Minister; they are 

not allowed to be involved in the finance committee, and they cannot access constituency 

development funds. 

Some of the factors that help explain the lack of women in politics are: Lack of confidence 

e.g. as a consequence of lack of education. Cultural barriers - perception of 

the role of women or of what is acceptable e.g. women can not prepare campaigns 

during the night. Women are poor and do not have resources to campaign. In Tanzania 

for example, a car is needed during a campaign to cover the great distances. Po- 

Page 16



litical party culture - structures within political parties are not conducive to women’s 

participation, and lack of political support and leadership affect their abilities to climb 

the electoral ladder. 

Following Tanzania’s endorsement of the Beijing Platform for Action, it was agreed to 

prioritize women’s political empowerment in line with the Southern African Development 

Community (SADC) Declaration, which had set a benchmark of 30 pct. female 

representation in parliaments. The amendment to the Tanzanian Constitution in 2005 

resulted in an increase to 30 pct., in line with the 1997 SADC benchmark, while the 

motion was towards achieving 50 pct. women representation in line with the SADC 

goal and African Union Constituent benchmark of 50/50 by 2010. Nevertheless, Tanzania 

has not managed to live up to this yet. Additionally, the discourse on 30 pct. or 

50 pct. has not gone hand in hand with a discourse of transforming the broader picture 

and addressing the general condition of women in the economy. 

Whilst reserved seats may give women increased presence, questions about their 

accountability and legitimacy defuse their impact. By default, the quota system has 

created a secondary status for woman councillors: Councillors elected from wards 

and constituencies, who are predominantly men, are seen as first class, while women 

councillors chosen through special seats find themselves side-lined from decisionmaking. 

The ‘special seat’ councillors are seen to not having a mandate equal to 

those ‘elected by the ballot’ councillors. 

The decision to ensure gender parity in political participation requires a more holistic 

approach which will address the underlying causes of discrimination in the broader 

context. In the political sphere, the discourse has to move beyond numbers to also 

address ideological position, and the broader issues of transformation of a politics of 

exclusion. While numbers are useful benchmarks, they are only the beginning of 

measuring women’s equitable participation in decision making organs. 

From this conclusion the following recommendations are put forward: Constitutional 

reform is crucial in order to address the whole electoral system and address legal 

and policy frameworks so as to make politics truly democratic. Political will, which will 

then translate to the development of a new constitution, hold political parties accountable 

to be required by law to practice internal democracy or to institute affirmative 

action. Autonomous women wings within political parties are to promote women’s 

interests in party policy platforms and strengthen the demand for increasing women’s 

representation in party nomination lists and decision making processes. 

Also broad based public awareness programme on the duties, rights and obligations 

of all citizens in policy is required. It is also important with role models; some outstanding 

Tanzanian women have in the recent past featured very well in global women 

movements. It is a sign of confidence to women and a challenge to male dominated 

systems that women are indeed powerful players in politics both local and international 

if availed with opportunities without prejudice to their gender attributes. 

It is important to promote intra party democracy by putting in place transparent 

mechanisms for identification, selection and/or appointment of leaders. Well stipulated 

procedures to get into the leadership coupled with regular and timely elections 

could open gates for more women to take part in party politics. Promoting networking 

facilities and coalition building with other entities, both within political parties and outside 

the party, are issues of common concern. 

MS. ANNE STENHAMMER, UN WOMEN 

The speaker started by referring to the cover photo of the background document for 

the Christiansborg Seminar: This is from Bihar, India, and it illustrated what you could 

call a ‘silent revolution’ of women engaging in grass-root mobilization campaigns. 

Page 17



This has been hugely successful in several parts of India. It illustrates an example of 

much more progressive politics coming up to secure the representation of women in 

politics. 

In India there are 1.5 million elected women representatives at the local level – one 

of the highest in the world. These women on the cover are supported by UN Women 

programme on ‘Promoting Women’s Political Leadership and Governance in India 

and South Asia’ which aims to build women’s capacity to lead as decision-makers in 

local governance structures. In India, we are implementing the programme in partnership 

with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, a branch of the Government of India 

looking after the on-going process of decentralization and local governance in the 

States. The programme covers over half a million elected women representatives 

and will improve grassroots democracy in these states for an estimated 365 million 

people in India. For the programme, the biggest achievement is to see women in 

grassroots politics breaking traditional barriers and asserting their demands, emerging 

as decision makers and administrators – only this can ensure gender equality. 

In my personal experience as a local level politician to a Minister and my deep and 

sustained interactions with the elected women representatives spread over 16 provinces 

in 5 States, I have three key messages for today: First, research plays a very 

important role – it should not serve academia but should serve to improve the conditions 

of the women. It is critical to remember that women are not living at the regional 

or national level, they are at the grassroots level, and our work should impact their 

lives at this level. 

There is a significant research component under the governance programme. Among 

other activities we are partnering with the Royal University of Bhutan to build research 

capacity on women’s political participation in Bhutan. We are also partnering 

with the Norwegian Institute for Regional and Urban Research (NIBR) to develop a 

Gender Responsive Governance Index (GRGI) as a scorecard on women’s political 

leadership and governance in local governance structures. Our research highlights 

the following positive developments in South Asia: 

Women in rural India are asserting their own individual aspirations to become elected 

leaders. A small fraction of women across India have raised issues of domestic violence 

consistently in otherwise gender insensitive village council meetings – a small 

but significant step towards achieving gender equality. 

If India is the prototype of long standing struggle for democracy, Bhutan represents 

the youngest country in the region to aspire for democracy. In Bhutan our research 

indicates: Traditional stereotypes related to decision-making as a male prerogative, 

the double and sometimes triple burden of women as mothers, wives, and income 

earners in the household prevent women from achieving their new found desire to 

emerge as political leaders in Bhutan. Like India, the lack of education and awareness 

of their rights and responsibilities, the social barriers to women’s political participation 

are some of the challenges that women of Bhutan also face. 

In Nepal, our work indicates that the issue of women’s participation in local level politic 

is part of a broader process of social inclusion and democratic development. At 

present there is no representation in local governance due to the absence of elections 

over a decade. Even among political parties the participation of women is significantly 

low, which both men and women alike single out discriminatory social and 

family factors as the main reason for the poor representation of women within political 

parties. A political process which has witnessed significant changes towards the 

articulation of democratic rights and responsibilities, we must attempt to understand 

what role women will play in the political decision-making in Nepal. 

Second, if an enabling environment is created then there must be credible action on 

the ground to support and reinforce that enabling environment. 

Page 18



The GOI-UN Women Programme is very different from other programmes of capacity 

building of local governance in a significant way: It focuses explicitly on the role and 

potential of panchayats (village council) to promote gender equality. In this programme, 

it is not that women are trained to deliver for panchayats - for better village 

planning and project implementation. The roles are reversed – the panchayat is instead 

expected to deliver for women – focusing on issues that are central to the lives 

of India’s women e.g. physical security, political empowerment, good health, and 

economic security and rights. Plans of panchayats, and budgets for them, must relate 

directly to improving the quality of life of women, their households, and communities. 

This is very much a field based programme. Through this programme we will reach 

out to women at the gram sabha (village councils) level to raise their awareness of 

issues on governance; to introduce them to the diversity of issues and challenges 

that women across India face everyday; train them in leadership skills; and how 

women can participate in key decision-making bodies to address women’s issues 

which have remained long neglected. Learning from field experiences under the 

programme, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is advocating for the institutionalisation of 

‘women only village council meetings’ prior to holding gram sabha meetings. This will 

enable women to discuss more sensitive issues related to domestic violence, sexual 

harassment, and others which are usually difficult to put on the discussion table in 

gram sabha meetings due to cultural conventions. 

Third, it is critical to build alliances not only for individual women but for institutions of 

women in politics. There are several examples but we would like to refer to our excellent 

partnership with UNDP Bhutan, Denmark and Civil Society Organizations to build 

the largest Bhutanese network of elected women representatives. In addition, under 

the governance programme we have also initiated the establishment of a Regional 

Centre of Excellence on Promoting Women’s Political Leadership and Governance in 

India and South Asia. This is UN Women’s exit strategy on gender responsive governance: 

To establish a virtual institution which brings together institutions and experts 

on gender and governance in South Asia as a resource centre which will consolidate 

all the research and capacity building interventions initiated under the UN 

Women programme. It will accommodate knowledge resources on gender responsive 

governance, training resources on women’s political empowerment, and best 

practices from learning across South Asia on gender responsive governance. It is 

envisioned to act like a ready-reckoner for anybody from academics to parliamentarians 

to women leaders and aspirants at the grass-root level in the South Asia region 

on any information related to gender responsive governance. 

There will not only be one physical centre but multiple centres spread across South 

Asia to cater to the different aspects of gender responsive governance, depending on 

whichever institution or country has the comparative advantage on the matter. Accessibility 

that is easy and inclusive is the mantra of the proposed virtual Regional 

Centre of Excellence providing the best quality information to all stakeholders. 

DAY 2 

PANEL AND WORKHOP MODERATED BY MS. SUMONA 

DASGUPTA, INDIA 

India is laboratory in local politics! Local politics rather than local government are an 

important opening of the political space. Politics is a question of how the distribution 

of public goods is being contested. There is a broader space in local politics than in 

the government. 

Page 19



MS. NZIRA DEUS, MOZAMBIQUE 

In Mozambique there is better representation of woman at national than local level 

politics with a total of 39,2 pct. representation of women in Parliament. The President 

of the parliament is also a woman. The process of decentralization has brought the 

possibilities of having provincial and municipal assemblies. Women are elected to 

Parliament and local assemblies through their political parties and not by the communities. 

At local level women in assemblies are represented by 15 pct. At local level, 

women are not well represented. There are 43 municipalities where only 8-10 pct. 

of council members are women, and only three municipalities are run by a woman. 

Women do not take part in local politics. They are not represented and do not take 

part in debates. Possible explanations include: Women chosen by their parties do not 

understand politics and do not know how to produce speeches and question the 

change of power and gender relation; the level of education is low; Cultural norms 

dictate the behaviour of women and man in the Parliament where women see men 

as superior, not questioning their standpoint and argumentation, and in the public 

space women are discriminated by men by not being allowed to speak; socialisation - 

women learn to obey men and consequently lack confidence to participate in public 

speaking; household activities which women are primarily responsible for, thus having 

too many tasks for engaging in politics; lack of confidence; women do not consider 

their ideas as important, they are not encourage to speak and participate in public; 

men dominate sessions and discussions, and even intimidate women. 

To address these problems we must train women to participate: Training women in 

gender, political participation, and leadership in order to give them confidence and 

help them develop argumentation skills; help women in local politics being in touch 

with their base, listen to the problems and push the agenda of gender equality; train 

women to understand their role and functions as soon as they are elected; promote 

‘woman to woman dialogue’ through mentoring; technical support on how to elaborate 

gender budgeting analysis and affirmative policies; training in lobby and advocacy 

to push women’s rights agenda; guarantee the implementation of the legislation, 

and regional and international instruments which stipulate 50 pct. of the seats must 

be for women; local assemblies must be trained in gender issues and women’s 

rights; assemblies should create a good environment and timing of meetings for 

women in order for them to take care of others responsibilities; promote a creation of 

network between women at parliament at central level and local level, to share experiences 

and mentoring; CSOs should work directly with political parties to ensure the 

promotion of women participation and indication of active women to be at local assemblies. 

MS. PHUNTSHOK CHHODEN TSHERING, BHUTAN 

The initiatives of the DIPD are very timely vis-à-vis the political situation in Bhutan 

which is a young democracy. With the first Parliamentary Elections held in March 

2008 and elected government in place by April of the same year, democracy in Bhutan 

is only around four and half years old. Some call it a ‘baby democracy’ and others 

agree it is truly unique because of its origins – having been handed down from the 

throne in a somewhat ‘imposed’ manner as a gift and not as a result of demand, revolt 

or revolution. Peacefully land-locked and mountainous, independent and never 

colonized, Bhutan survived in a self imposed isolation setting till the late 1950’ies, 

when it began to tread the ‘development’ journey. 

A home-grown model of a Buddhist democracy in Bhutan is being nurtured and 

shaped which embraces democratic principles in the context of Gross National Happiness 

(GNH) which is Bhutan’s guiding development philosophy articulated by the 

Page 20



Fourth Monarch in the late 1970’ies so that the rat race of GDP does not engulf and 

blind the Bhutanese. This means a people centred development where the well-being 

of all citizens is at the core and seen as a state responsibility. As a Buddhist nation, 

this is a fundamental value, given that people’s well-being indicators are not exemplary 

in our immediate neighbourhood despite decades of democracy. 

The Gender Pilot Study carried out by UNIFEM South Asia and Planning Commission, 

Bhutan in 2001 states that “Bhutan has an extremely enabling environment for 

gender mainstreaming” whilst pointing out that certain dominant socio-cultural perception 

seem to be continuing to perpetuate male superiority and that, as societies 

move from rural agrarian backgrounds to more urban-modern settings “women 

seemed to be losing their decision-making role”. 

When the first local government elections (LG) were held in 2005, it was assumed 

that women would make it to positions of authority given that gender relations are 

highly egalitarian and society is largely matrilineal. Property right is almost a birth 

right for women. Customarily, family land, property and assets are handed down from 

mother to daughter. Hence, women are quite empowered when compared to women 

elsewhere in South Asia. Yet, in the LG elections of 2005, women were unable to 

break into the power ghetto. Only one woman got elected as ‘Gup’ - the highest post 

in LG - out of 202 and a few as deputy posts making the average 4 pct. women in local 

governments across Bhutan. The elections of 2011 did not change the picture 

dramatically (7 pct.). 

Overall, women are passive participants in development, and there is a low representation 

in politics and decision-making positions. Local politics is not easier to access 

– on the contrary; gender bias is closer to home. Entry and acceptance of women as 

local leader is harder at local level, although ‘changes begin at home’. At national 

level, less than 14 pct. of the members of parliament are women, and there are no 

female ministers. It is clear that governance and politics in Bhutan is highly male 

dominated, despite the egalitarianism that is predominant in the society in general, 

with no overt forms of discrimination against women or any blatant subordination. 

With the exception of a small percentage in the south and eastern parts of the country, 

where patrilineal pattern of inheritance is predominant, women largely inherit family 

property and land, and play a central role in the households. 

From a GNH perspective, especially in the context of national politics, as Bhutan is a 

small and thinly populated country, BNEW (a platform for women supported by DIPD) 

aims to bring women of all parties and levels together from the beginning to interact, 

share and discuss issues and concerns so that - as women elected - they can stand 

together in harmony and help society see and value the unique qualities women can 

bring to the table. BNEW will work towards acting as the registry of women interested 

in joining politics and prepare them, as well as ensuring political parties can access 

necessary information and approach potential candidates. Party walls and wars, 

once overcome by elected women through a non-partisan platform like BNEW would 

help the Bhutanese public see and understand that politics need not divide society 

forever after the bitter experiences from first parliamentary elections of 2008. 

MR. JULIO HURAYA CABRERA, BOLIVIA 

The constitution of Bolivia establishes that every citizen has the right to participate 

freely in the formation, exercise and control of political power. Participation will be fair 

and equal between men and women. Among the principles, the electoral rules include 

equality and equivalence as compulsory. Furthermore the law guarantees gender 

equality and equal opportunities between men and women based on the criteria 

of alternation and parity. The electoral legislation recognizes political harassment as 

Page 21



an electoral offense. The person that harasses a candidate will be sentenced two to 

five years of prison! 

In Bolivia there are 327 municipal governments. The electoral legislation demands 

that political parties include 30 pct. women candidates in their lists and in the case of 

citizen groups 50 pct. On the 23th of January 2012, the President was behind an important 

milestone for women: For the first time, half of his appointed cabinet were 

women. In the case of ministers, the ratio is today 35 pct. women and 65 pct. men. 

During the entire republican history of Bolivia, among the 85 presidents, there has 

been only 1 woman president (interim), during the transition process (November 

1979 – July 1980). In the judicial organ, women have had a minority presence of 13 

pct. until elections in 2011. Now women represent 43 pct. of the judicial authorities. 

We can see that the participation of women in the executive organ at the municipal 

level (mayors) is still minor and demonstrates the continuance of gender inequality 

that hinders the entry of women in this power space. Only 22 women mayors won the 

elections in 2010, out of the 337 municipalities that exist in Bolivia. Nonetheless, in 

the local councils the participation of women has risen from 19 pct. in 2004 to 43 pct. 

in 2010. In this respect, the results of the latest elections of councilmen are significant 

and encouraging regarding the parameters of gender equality. In spite of not 

having achieved 50 pct. of women in top positions, a visible increase can be observed 

in the number of women assuming top positions in the councils: Women have 

attained 43 pct. of seats, a ratio close to parity. 

The support of MAS (the leading party) has been fundamental for the positive changes 

in relation to women’s political participation at different levels of government. MAS 

has promoted the important normative progress towards the parity and alternation 

foreseen as principles in the ‘New Carta Magna’ and in the electoral legislation, and 

the law against political violence and harassment against women. Although the process 

of political participation of women shows progress towards gender equality in 

the different levels of the state, there is no equal participation, except in the judicial 

organ. 

In the municipal elections of 2004, 337 women were elected as councilmen, but less 

than 4 pct. of them were elected mayors. As a state and as a society, we must support 

the work of the female councilmen, so we can fight the existing gender discrimination 

inside and outside of the political institutions. In the indigenous municipalities 

(11 of the 337 Bolivian municipalities), the representation of women councilmen is 

maintained with a ratio of 43 pct. Out of the total of 55 seats in these municipalities, 

23 are occupied by women. 

Page 22

5 

Ms. Mary Mourad 

Shenouda from Egypt 

responding to questions 

from the audience, 

together with 

Ms. Manju Yedav from 

Nepal. Both of these 

countries are considered 

transition countries. 



PANEL 2: YOUNG WOMEN IN POLITICS 

Who and what interests will, can or should the political 

parties ideally seek to represent? 

DAY 1 

MODERATED BY MS. LONE LOKLINDT, MEMBER OF 

PARLIAMENT 

Engaging youth and especially young women in politics is a challenge for all democracies. 

The importance of engaging youth is self-evident considering their majority 

status in many populations and the fact that the future belongs to the youth. Often 

young women in politics are supported on the assumption that they will be agents of 

change. But will youth, and in particular young women, act differently if the basic incentive 

structures of the political system remain the same? 

Ms. Loklindt introduced the panel by stating that the general political participation in 

politics is declining and that women have double barriers. Women tend to be active 

on specific issues instead of party politics. It is very important that we have young 

women active in politics, that they build up capacity, and are given the opportunity to 

take on a political role. 

MS. MARY MOURAD SHENOUDA, EGYPT 

I left home to Tahrir Square, clutching my husband’s hand, dressed to be ready for 

not coming back, with layers of clothes and stuffed pockets. I chanted, with hundreds 

of thousands of voices, calling for bread, freedom and dignity. Someone made space 

for me to pass, another held my hand while running, a third carried me across a wall, 

Page 23



a fourth gave me a sip from a personal bottle, and the fifth offered a bed for rest at 

night. I do not recall from among those who were women and who were men, and I’m 

sure they never noticed whether they helped a man or a woman. We were first of all 

humans, and second, Egyptians, and revolutionaries. 

On February 11, I was out in the streets celebrating a falling regime, and at one point 

I became a woman! Me and many others suffered the first instant of harassment that 

quickly made it to world headlines and became a common phenomenon, like it has 

been for years before. Not only did harassment return, but also the entire social and 

political structure under which the less advantaged still suffer. 

Between January 25 2011 and February 11 a crack appeared into the future! We 

lived the ‘Egyptian Utopia’ if we may call it, a small world where everyone’s equal, living 

on solidarity, and calling for a new regime. But the paradise was soon over, and 

the present came to overshadow the future. 

The present reality that forced itself brought women back to their traditional social 

positions, struggling their traditional issues and suffering (or enjoying) their everyday 

challenges. The public space in Egypt is not a welcoming environment for that matter. 

Not only for harassment, but also because women are not expected to raise their 

voices higher than a certain level, and certainly keep it lower the younger they are. 

Compared to the past, women are in a risky position, although a few gains have been 

won. Yes, we have taken many steps forward as a country, securing right to free 

speech and organizing, many more still remain, and women are bound to pay a higher 

token. Under the current Freedom and Justice Party’s Muslim Brotherhood President 

it’s not proven yet where women stand on the agenda. Statements by President 

Morsi’s party members and even female consultant are contradictory. The sporadic 

calls to remove the so-called ‘Mrs. Mubarak laws’ related to women’s rights to divorce 

and punishment for harassment are only some of the battles we may have to go 

through to sustain our gains as women so far, without being called too Westernized 

or irreligious. Yet, all these are not to be taken as final signs of failure, but rather as 

questions and as new titles for women to gather around and attempt to change. 

It is an embarrassment to tell you that after this grand revolution we elected a parliament 

with the least representation of women in Egyptian modern parliamentary history, 

without a single woman elected below 30. Yet, there was still a ray of light inside 

it; women were elected on merit. We have had cases where women quota and clearing 

seats for women in the parliament during the era of the late president was only a 

media show, with women unable to act as independent politicians that disappeared 

from the public space altogether. But today, the power we saw in Tahrir Square still 

exists: We see young women taking lead across many youth movements and informal 

coalitions. In order for this new rising energy to be harnessed and become an 

enabler for change, we must continue to build on the lessons of the first year and a 

half post-revolution: 

First, following so many years of refrain from politics, in order for young women to 

engage, politics cannot be limited to the usual legal structures, but should continue to 

be nourished through informal coalitions, NGOs, student unions, trade unions and 

even community clubs. Many women, who are already participating in the public 

space, whether through work or study, are uncomfortable diving into formal politics. 

Second, an active partisan structure and a party-list electoral system are much more 

likely to attract women and drive them into the political sphere than the traditional individual-based 

structure or a two-party informal structure. The presence of a shared 

space under a legal title is a great opportunity for young talents. This structure would 

help in various ways, including enabling fundraising, and could be utilized to push 

women into parliament seats, such as ruling for the presence of one woman on every 

party list etc. 

Page 24



Third, local politics are a great first entry point. Not only because the proximity to 

home renders participation logistically less problematic, but also because the quick 

reflection of the woman’s effort on the immediate vicinity will encourage more neighbours, 

relatives and friends to engage further, and will, therefore, enable a greater 

support for her and for the women surrounding her. 

Fourth, allowing politics to adapt to young women, not only forcing women to accept 

its rules. This is really a very personal experience from work at the South-Cairo division 

of the Egyptian Social Democratic party of which I was member. We had a 

woman as division head, and from the 7 member steering committee there were two 

women and they were among the youngest in the group, which was the highest representation 

of young women in any division of the entire party. The experience was 

very powerful: Politics had been a male-dominated arena for so long that men had 

‘shaped’ its norms to their usual behaviour. The only division that did things differently 

was this one! 

First foundation for engaging more women was encouraging female family members 

of existing male members: Sisters, wives, neighbours etc. were the nearest candidates 

and had also the logistical and family support for their effort. In addition, we 

had a small children play area and we loaded it with activities so the care-taking 

women participating could bring their little ones. Soon enough, men were also bringing 

their children, thus liberating their wives to do other things. What would sound like 

the noisiest and most-distracting environment for work soon became a key attraction 

to work in politics ‘it didn’t sound so women-hostile any more.’ 

We also planned all our meetings and activities in early evenings. The tradition of 

post midnight politics could not work for most women, young or old, due to safety and 

traditions. By forcing earlier times, more women were able to make it to meetings and 

activities without forcing their homes to suffer. Finally, we took special care to reduce 

stress during exam times when additional time for personal lives is required; we reduced 

number of meetings and size of activities for the four week period. We soon 

realized it was actually very wise because the majority of households are engaging 

with exams and activities were hardly attended. We learnt a new lesson: The closer 

we are to women and the more we adapt to their needs, the more likely we are to 

engage with the broader street and the wider society base. 

Our division team has decided to take that experience one step further and initiated 

an inter-party board aiming to coordinate between parties and coalitions for the upcoming 

elections, and applying the new rules on a broader scale. The last lesson, 

and really I cannot stress how important this is, relates to protection of women in the 

public space. The conflict between a Muslim-conservative ruling power and a progressive 

revolutionary spirit is reaching its peak whenever the discussion of women 

harassment in the streets is brought up, but without clear measures to protect women 

and defend their right for safe access to the street, we are only forcing them backwards. 

These lessons were the very first fruit of the year and a half effort in the new Egyptian 

political sphere. We keep our eyes focused on the future, the memories of the 

first 18 days of the revolution will remain in the hearts of Egyptians and for generations 

to come they will not accept to be silenced or oppressed. We now have something 

that was never there before: That is Hope! 

MS. MANJU YEDAV, NEPAL 

I come from a very remote and rural area in the Southern Nepal. Here I like to share 

my own experiences of how I came into politics from very remote and rural areas of 

southern Nepal and the different problems I was facing. The problems were mainly 

Page 25



created by a male dominated society, discrimination of women by the Nepalese laws, 

not equal opportunity of education, not equal salary for the same work, high dependency 

on males, not having freedom of expression etc. Currently the Nepalese women 

are raising their voices and fighting against all kinds of suppression and domination. I 

myself work in an organization fighting to establish the rights of women in Nepal. 

In Nepal, the place of girl is either under the husband or under the soil. This shows 

that girl should not be free. The state has provided equal rights to women and men 

but in practice women do not enjoying equality – in practice men are ministers of 

women issues in Nepal. Young women face lack of inclusion, nepotism and favoritism. 

Ms. Chitra Yedav was chosen by the people to represent them after the uprisings, 

but when it came to formal politics her nomination was cancelled. I was nominated 

for the constitutional assembly but after one day my nomination was cancelled. 

“To do politics for a woman is the same as to loose her character” is a saying in Nepal. 

Women do not get prober economic backing from the family or the state. Properties 

belong to the men, and women depend on men. In those circumstances a young 

woman faces very hard difficulties participating in politics. Most of the women disconnect 

from politics due to the financial factor. 

Peace and progress cannot be obtained without female representation. Young women 

should be encouraged. Youth women in politics must be recommended and recognized 

by the state. Government should support training portfolio and financial support. 

Civil society should encourage young women to participate in politics. 

Also, the media plays an important role. The media is dominated by men. Media has 

the opportunity to make a ‘zero to a hero and a hero to zero’. No woman dares to put 

herself out in public in this setting. But if affirmative action towards young women was 

put in place then it would be a revolutionary change for young women in politics. To 

publish positive achievement, rather than sex scandals or glamorous news is the 

support we need from media to enter politics. You should support women from the 

grass-root level, encourage and support them to go into politics. 

DAY 2 

PANEL AND WORKSHOP MODERATED BY MS. MARYSE 

HELBERT, AUSTRALIA 

The moderator started by referring to her presentation of the issues in the background 

document. From Bhutan we learnt that a woman in political offices have to 

work harder. Young women get more involved in movements than political parties. 

Political parties are duty bearers to recruit and promote young women within their 

party structures. Mentoring could be a useful method. It is what you make of it – both 

the mentor and mentee decide what they want to get out of it. We had a discussion 

on women’s wings. Women and youth wings are very useful in Ghana - in other 

countries they are used as places to outcast women. 

MS. LETICIA NYERERE, TANZANIA 

I am a Member of Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania, and before I was 

selected as special seats MP. I had contested in the constituency and I know exactly 

how tough the battle is when competing with men. 

Page 26



In Tanzania many women and men still hold very traditional views of gender. Women 

are ‘owned’ by men and they should do everything that their husbands ask of them. 

Young women in politics are suffering from these views. They are not given the same 

respect as men. They loose because they do not have the same funding and back 

up. Even though women have greater skills, they will be outvoted by men, because 

women are not well seen. Male politicians think that their female counterparts should 

do as they say even though it does not make sense. 

Women can be empowered to accomplish their goals. We have laws of women’s 

rights but they are not implemented by government. I thought that it would be easier 

to change things as I am now a lawmaker, but men hold key decision-making positions 

in parties. As a member of the finance and economic committee I would wish 

that the government would focus on women’s issues like health care. Male politics 

should stop making decisions for us! 

I see myself as someone who should use the opportunities I have been given to help 

women. It is harder to be a woman. Sometimes I feel unrecognized. I feel that I have 

to work harder than men, but I am proud to be a woman. Women all over the world 

must prepare for battle. Not with weapons but with education and will. 

Women need more international exposure. They need to understand their rights and 

the functioning of democracy. Men need to understand our reality. Men need to be 

educated. They need more understanding. Many men see women as house keepers 

and not as part of politics. 

I want all women around the world to work in order to change this mentality. I see 

things that I like in my society, but laws are not implemented. I want negative laws to 

be changed in order for women and men to be equal. 

I face challenges like corruption, lack of education and poverty which are used 

against people to cast their vote. Women empowerment will speed up development. 

Decision maker positions must be given to women. Women are good leaders -they 

are used to working in their family. 

MS. JEMINA DE-SOSOO, GHANA 

The role of young women in politics and public offices is one of the current burning 

governance issues because of the acknowledged potential and contribution of the 

youth to governance process. Youth must participate effectively and meaningfully in 

order to have an impact on empowerment that enhances the self esteem of individuals 

and groups. But we see few young women in politics in Ghana. I am a social 

democrat a party which is part of improving health care and who is against discrimination. 

Equality means individual rights should not depend on gender. 

Even once elected, women tend to hold lesser valued cabinet ministries or similar 

positions. These are described as ‘soft industries’ and include health, education, and 

welfare. Rarely do women hold executive decision-making authority in more powerful 

domains or those that are associated with traditional notions of masculinity (such as 

finance and the military). Typically, the more powerful the institution, the less likely it 

is that women’s interests will be represented. 

Political parties in Ghana are driven by the lust to win votes. Women are better in 

some issues than men, and therefore it should be in the interest of the party to promote 

women, but financial and logistics issues are barriers for women in politics. 

In our country we have voting stations and trainings for young women. They travel to 

China and Angola to receive training. If you are a women leader, you have to go lobby 

for younger women. Some are not so qualified and educated, so we need to train 

Page 27



them. The following are the measures that should be put in place to strengthen the 

participation of young women in politics: 

Religion: Religious groups still have aspect which does not promote women taking up 

frontline leadership roles; women are to play second fiddle to their male counterparts 

even in churches, mosques or shrines. Unfortunately, this scenario has a serious 

bearing on how politics is done in the country. The political environment tends to reflect 

this backward religious view of making women not to play lead roles in our political 

institutions. 

Lack of political will/political culture: There has been a demonstrable lack of political 

will on the part of leading political parties to promote the involvement of young women 

in frontline politics. The parties, in its medium term goal, should set up a special 

fund to support young women candidates contesting for parliamentary seats. Young 

women should be encouraged to contest men in strong hold constituencies throughout 

the country. The parties should review its constitution to enable young women to 

participate actively. Young women should be motivated to get into politics. 

Financing: Women need funding and affirmative action in order to actively participate 

in partisan politics and its decision making processes. Lack of funding is a major 

problem. 

Mentorship and motivation: Young women need mentoring, motivation and funding to 

promote their participation in partisan politics, in order to break the barrier created 

over time. The business of doing politics involves self awareness, self esteem, confidence 

and strong written and oral advocacy skills. Their male counterparts appear to 

edge them out in this regard, however, in recent times as a result of increased access 

to education and skills training, guidance, mentoring and counseling programmes, 

young women now have the needed self esteem and confidence to brace 

their male counterparts in partisan politics in strong advocacy for better right for 

women. 

The men are not our enemy. If we want to follow them we need their advice and assistance. 

We need to have a quota system in the party constitution. I am very happy 

that the chairman of my party is on our side. We need to shake hands with men to 

achieve results. In Ghana, women in civil organizations do not want to be part of politics. 

But we need them! We need them to move on. 

MS. RATEEBEH ABU GHOUSH, PALESTINE 

The Declaration of the Independence of the Palestinian state in 1988 approved the 

principle of equality and non-discrimination against women and confirmed on full 

equality in rights and duties. This assertion did not come from a vacuum, but was the 

result of the hard work of Palestinian women. This is exactly what makes the situation 

very disappointing and leaves a feeling of going backwards for miles in women’s 

situation now a day. 

Palestinian women have struggled side by side with men on ending the occupation. 

Women participated with men in politics and there were generally high expectations 

to the women in the country. But no one talked about ‘women’s role’ and ‘women’s 

issues’ were not discussed. 

After signing the Oslo Agreement a change in the political landscape began to appear, 

although the first presidential election experienced competition between a man 

and a woman, the reality reflected superiority of men in both the presidential and parliamentary 

elections, and a crushing superiority in the municipalities’ elections. 

The first parliamentary election in 1996 was held on a base of majority act which led 

to the scaling of the role of women in access to the dome of the Parliament. Women 

Page 28



have fought to nominate 27 women to membership of the Legislative Council, where 

5 women won. One of the fundamental causes of this small percentage was the electoral 

system, which was laid off in small constituencies, where the consolidated clan 

does not believe in and do not recognize the rights of women and is not willing to 

support a female candidate. The five winners were from large constituencies, where 

the clan force is limited. It became very clear that the politics is a men’s world. We 

discovered that we are facing the traditional and historical challenge of getting the 

women a fair share of the political scene. The most frightening thing was that even 

the women didn’t support each others. 

Youth didn’t get any chance to be presented in the parliament which made them feel 

that political parties are not addressing them or their interests, and they felt powerless 

in relation to the political system - especially young women. They perceived formal 

political participation as dangerous work which led to nowhere, and they got involved 

in informal political activities in civil society. This was an open space for them 

and empowered them socially and economically. The women’s organization units in 

parties and NGO’s work hard to promote gender equality and women debates have 

become more regular. 

Political policies to promote greater inclusion of women in decision-making and political 

representation have been put in place, but the question of quotas sparked a lot of 

debate. The current election law now provides a quota of 20 pct. of the candidate’s 

list to women, thus supporting women’s involvement. However, at the election in 

2006 the two largest parties did not support female candidates. The election resulted 

in only 12. pct. of parliamentarians being women and in having no youth representation, 

even though 72 pct. of the Palestinian population is below the age of 30. 

Since 2006, many good initiatives concerning the involvement of women and youth 

have taken place both in civil society and within the political parties: 

Establishment of Youth Shadow Local Councils which are democratically elected by 

their peers to emulate the actual local councils in their communities with the long 

term vision of emerging as future youth leaders 

Activating the UN resolution 1325 by empowering young women who want to run for 

elections and supporting them with local networks, and motivate the energy of young 

women leaders to develop their leadership skills within politics. 

Grassroots campaigns to demand reduction in the age of candidacy for the parliamentary 

elections; the campaign has received response by the government who is 

pushed toward lowering the age for the municipal elections. 

We, as a party, took a very innovative step in allowing 50 pct. of the political bureau 

to consist of young people and 40 pct. of women. Furthermore, we are the first to 

have a woman as a Secretary General for a Palestinian party. 

Page 29

6 

Ms. Janah Ncube 

gave a very strong 

presentation on the 

challenges facing 

women in Zimbabwe 

in the panel on Day 2. 



PANEL 3: WOMEN IN TRANSITION 

How can we ensure that women take part in decisionmaking 

processes in transition countries? 

DAY 1 

MODERATED BY MS. GITTE LILLELUND BECH, MEMBER 

OF PARLIAMENT 

Women have played a central role in transition countries on an equal footing with 

men. But women seem to be marginalized in the formal transformation processes, 

and tend not to do well in post transition elections. Women have a tendency to be left 

out of political space where future governance structures are negotiated. 

How is diversity managed in transitional faces when for example new constitutions 

are negotiated? What are the experiences from earlier transition processes in Latin 

America, Indonesia and Turkey? 

There is a need to develop a special post-conflict or post-revolutionary framework for 

the inclusion of women in countries that can be considered as being in transition 

(which is different from the traditional concepts of ‘failed’ or ‘fragile’ states). 

Page 30



MS. SELAY GHAFFAR, AFGHANISTAN 

Afghanistan has been through three decades of war. Today, women are struggling 

for the same rights as 10 years ago and are subjected to both discrimination and violence. 

Trust Law Survey indicated in 2011 that: “Afghanistan is the world's most dangerous 

country for women to live in due to violence, dismal healthcare and brutal 

poverty’’. The violence against women concerning access to justice, education, 

health care, politics, economic opportunities, and the social and cultural arena is at 

its high peak and is increased year by year. The reasons are a society dominated by 

human rights abusers; criminal parties and warlords in power; lack of serious and 

honest commitment from the international community; and a culture of impunity. Traditionalism 

and patriarchy are violating the rights of women to the extreme stand. 

The real participation of women in the decision making levels in all sectors are the 

matter of concerns in the current catastrophic political situation of Afghanistan. We 

do have a quota system of 20 pct. women in government, but it doesn’t guarantee 

women’s emancipation and empowerment. The harsh reality is that the majority of 

women are elected/selected with the help of parties with a criminal history. Furthermore, 

both the UN and the international community are silence when it comes to 

women’s rights and women political participation. 

Afghanistan is presently in a state of transition. The process of transitions started in 

2001 with international intervention and throughout the process women have been 

excluded. The 2001 conference on Afghanistan in Berlin was not a good starting 

point because power was given to the wrong party. The US and its international allies 

brought to power again all those criminal parties and warlords that are responsible for 

countless crimes and atrocities in Afghanistan. The UN and the international community’s 

commitment for protection and promotion of women’s rights are just lied down 

in papers and on conferences. 

After the interim government Afghanistan had two elections which were the most 

fraudulent elections in the world: The warlords and extremist groups used their power, 

money and guns to ‘buy’ the people’s votes for their male and female candidates, 

and the real democratic, intellectual, and trustworthy candidates who had the support 

of people, but of course not money and guns, had to face huge challenge and threats 

to contest, particularly female candidates. The fact is that women made up 27 pct. in 

the lower house of the parliament, and 21 pct. in the upper house, but their representation 

is just symbolic, and most of them are not the real representative of women’s 

voices. With few minority exceptions the majority of female MPs are just sitting there 

to fill the seats and do not even have the right to take a decision without their boss’ 

approval. The few of them who have the courage to speak up and tell the truth, bringing 

the reality on the table of discussion, are never given a chance to participate or 

be heard or they are even thrown out of the Parliament. 

The Afghan government with support of the international community made a High 

Peace Council composed of all those who destructed the peace, started war and 

committed unforgettable crimes in Afghanistan. How could people trust such a HPC? 

What kind of peace should they expect from this HPC? The unfortunate reality is that 

again the presence of women in HPC, especially in decision making level, is matter 

of concern; 9 out of 69 members are women. Afghan people, in particular women, 

want peace but definitely not on the cost of women’s right. We don’t want women’s 

right to be a bargaining chip of peace negotiation and we don’t want any peace of 

which women are not part of the decision-making process. Peace without justice is 

not acceptable by the Afghans! 

I must indicate that no country and its people want to be militarily occupied or ruled 

by other countries. Afghan people are welcoming the withdrawal of international 

troops. They came to Afghanistan to bring security but they failed because year by 

Page 31



year the security got worse and the civilian causalities increased. Therefore, this is 

the time for them to wrap up and leave it for Afghans to decide about their future. 

Currently the Afghan government with the support of the US and other international 

allies are supporting a parallel security structure and legalizing the Afghan Local Police 

(ALP). Now the former militias and local commanders who belong to the warlord 

parties are officially given authority to rule over poor people in the provinces. Since 

the ALP has started to operate in the provinces the sexual abuses against women, 

especially girls, have increased. Every month Humanitarian Assistance for the Women 

and Children of Afghanistan (HAWCA) and other organizations who run shelters 

in the country are registering a number of rape cases and other form of violence by 

the ALP. The power of ALP has resulted in a decreased number of girls in school and 

restrictions of movement for women. The experience from the war torn countries 

shows that during transition women are most vulnerable which has been the case in 

Afghanistan as well. 

HAWCA is cooperating with other women’s and human rights based organizations 

such as Action Aid, Danish Institute from Human Rights and other national and international 

organizations to ensure women in Afghanistan are protected. Together we 

are strongly advocating for women’s rights and women’s empowerment. 

Today I request the Danish people, organizations, parties and government to strongly 

support the intellectual individual, women’s right and human rights organizations, 

CSOs, the true democratic parties and institutions in order to have a prosperous Afghanistan 

where both women and men equally enjoy their human rights. The equal 

participation of women and men in all areas is the sign of the democratic state. 

Women need to build alliances: Women united will never be defeated! 

MS. NJERI KABEBERI, KENYA 

Kenya qualifies as a nation in transition because it, since August 2010, has been under 

a New Constitutional Dispensation. Following the 2008 post election violence, the 

Constitution was identified as a long pending matter, that could have prevented the 

crisis had it been in place, and it was therefore among the key issues identified as a 

priority for completion under what the citizens popularly refer to as ‘agenda no. 4’. 

Although Kenya is the economic power house in the East African Community its performance 

on gender parity in the current National Assembly is dismal and a poor 

comparison to the general status in the region – only 9.8 pct., much lower than countries 

like Tanzania; 36 pct., and Rwanda; 56.3 pct. 

A 2011 research commissioned by International IDEA in which I examined the political 

parties policy documents via-á-vis the actual reality within political parties on gender 

representation showed that; what many parties state in their policy documents, is 

contrary to the reality on the ground with most political parties doing very poorly. 

Chapter four of the Constitution (the Bill of Rights) introduces the ‘Not more than two 

thirds’ of either gender in elective and appointive positions. Because these clauses 

are anchored in the Bill of Rights, they can only be amended by a referendum. This 

therefore, leaves the country with no choice but to find a formula to ascertain this representation 

before elections in March 2013 to avoid the National Assembly and the 

Senate being declared unconstitutional. 

To give full effect to the realization of the rights guaranteed in the Constitution, the 

state “shall take legislative and other measures, including affirmative action programmes 

and policies designed to redress any disadvantage suffered by individuals 

or groups because of past discrimination”. 

Page 32



Though we are a country in transition with one of the best constitutions in the world 

which guarantees all rights including gender equality, I noted Kenya is exactly where 

Rumbidzai argues in her paper on ‘Women in Transition Countries’; that in-fact the 

unfinished business of political transitions is the ”inclusion and representation of 

women” which makes transitions ‘unfinished’ by this very omission. 

Ever since the new Constitution came into force, the women lobby has been in court 

on almost each and every appointment because the thinking of the president and 

other leaders continues to be in the past. The Presidential and government policy 

pronouncements on gender have not translated into implementation of gender policies. 

Thus, there is a need for a greater focus on implementation. We need an affirmative 

action act to amend the Constitution. Political parties have on paper embraced 

the thought of including more women, yet seem to forget their promises following 

elections and act as though the affirmative action is a choice rather than a requirement. 

Thus, political parties should be using quotas. Without the representation 

of women, the transition in Kenya is incomplete. 

The suggested/recommended areas of focus are: 

Support for women to mobilize as women: The women lobby in Kenya is active on all 

elective and appointive positions and has been constantly in court challenging a 

number of appointments, including the first appointment of the Chief Justice and the 

Supreme Court which did not take into account the 2/3rds requirement. This appointment 

was reversed as many others but not without constant challenges. They 

are also jointly pushing towards the Affirmative Action Bill. 

Agenda setting: The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has not 

dealt with this matter, although women are confronting them on a solution for elections 

in March 2013. The Registrar of Political Parties is satisfied that all political parties 

have met the 2/3rds gender rule, though many have placed women at the bottom 

of their list. The political parties have just woken up to reality after constant lobbying 

by the CMD (Center for Multiparty Democracy) but are treating it like a strange requirement. 

Many members of these institutions, although willing to do what is necessary 

to provide the quotas, are completely unfamiliar with why affirmative action is 

necessary. 

Adoption and implementation of positive measures: There is constant training and 

lobbying of the media, the members of parliament and the political parties. The UN 

has supported high level meetings to help sensitize the leadership. Lobbying each of 

the presidential candidates is seen as the next step. We need to get the commitment 

of political parties that they will provide the relevant quotas in their nomination lists. 

Male advocates: A number of male advocates have begun to state that gender issues 

are not women’s issues but are part of our national agenda as guaranteed in 

the Kenyan constitution. Men are finding it very challenging to relinquish some of 

‘their’ power in order for women to have a fair share in political participation and representation. 

We are very near the election but far from finding the solution. 

Mobilization of media support: CMD has taken as their priority to sensitize the media 

on gender issues and an understanding of the principle of affirmative action. Meetings 

at all levels have taken place the last months. 

Advocacy to end gender based violence: The codes of conduct in both our Elections 

Act and Political Parties Act have spoken loudly against gender based electoral violence 

and have taken strict penalties on perpetrators. We have introduced a group of 

national artists to the UN Women who will be working with them on the ’16 days of 

violence against women’ campaign in November which is the theme for the upcoming 

elections. 

Page 33



DAY 2 

MODERATED BY MS. RUMBIDZAI KANDAWASVIKA, 

INTERNATIONAL IDEA, SWEDEN 

Transitions never come to an end – it is an ongoing process. Women’s political participation 

and representation is often very minimal during transition processes. Why 

are women there physically, but not taking part – or being included in – the political 

platforms? 

MS. CHEMA GARGOURI, TUNISIA 

In relation to the Arab spring it is important to remember that the countries involved 

all have their specificities. Following the revolution in Tunisia there was a debate 

about national identity: Are we a Muslim country, Mediterranean, how close are we to 

the Western world etc.? The question of national identity will determine politics: ‘Ummah’ 

vs. a different version with openness, will determine whether women’s rights will 

be an issue for debate. 

Women’s rights were present before the revolution e.g. the statute of 1956 guaranteeing 

women political rights. Women in Tunisia have never fought for their rights in 

politics – or men for that matter – and it has not been debated. Generally, participation 

in politics has not been an issue in Tunisia. Out of 150 political parties in Tunisia, 

only 2 pct. are founded by women. At every party list there had to be a man and a 

woman, and 30 pct. of seats are reserved to women. 

Currently, Tunisian women hold 63 out of the 217 seats making up the country’s 

Constituent Assembly. More than 80 pct. of these women belong to the Islamic party 

that won the majority in the election. They speak on behalf of an ideology and are not 

there to represent women in general regardless of their affiliation. The question is 

whether a woman necessarily will support progressive ‘women’s values’. 

Leadership should start at the grassroots level. The cultural aspect of the problem is 

that women are not willing to take on leadership and aspirations. They need support! 

It is not too late for women to take part in the transition. But there are numerous challenges 

facing female participation in politics in Tunisia: Cultural challenges; today we 

are more oriented towards traditional roles. Education; we do not invest in women 

leadership, and women follow careers that fit their socially acceptable roles. Economy; 

women do not have the money to invest in a political career, so economic empowerment 

of women is a key issue for political participation. 

Women are often referred to as victims in relation to e.g. poverty and illiteracy, which 

leads to a lack of self-esteem with no aspiration and no dreams of a political career. 

The relationship between religion and political participation is an issue. Political participation 

is at the top in the “power ladder’: Women should have a guarantee for their 

rights in the constitution if they want to go that far in their career: Is this the case in 

the Muslim Arab countries? Maybe women participation in politics should be studied 

in a regional, socio-economic and religious perspective. 

MS. CHITRA LEKHA YADAV, NEPAL 

The mass movement of 2006 restored democracy in Nepal and declared the country 

a secular, federal democratic republic. Both the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 

2006 and the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007 promised to ‘restructure’ the Nepa- 

Page 34



lese state to address historically existing class, gender, regional and ethnic injustice 

and to create an inclusive system of governance. 

The major tasks of the post-movement regimes were: Holding the election of the 601 

member Constituent Assembly (CA) to draft a new constitution, logical conclusions 

about the peace process by addressing its root causes of conflict, transitional justice, 

peace building activities and structural transformation of public sphere. 

After four years of political exercise, the CA was dissolved on May 27, 2012, without 

producing a new constitution. This marked the beginning of another phase of transition 

without ending the previous one. About 117 issues remained unsolved and the 

major contentious issues are: Defining the form of governance (parliamentary or 

presidential), electoral system, gender-equality in citizenship for women marrying foreigners, 

etc. Protracted transition of Nepalese politics caused by rival conceptions of 

identity, ideology and interest of top male leaders of mainstream parties could not 

create “common ground’ for the resolution of these issues and consolidate the 

achievements made in the areas of women’s participation. Political and constitutional 

crisis are inducing political polarization between the incumbent Maoist-Madhesi coalition 

in power and its opposition led by the Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML affecting 

the development-oriented transformations for gender justice. 

A number of gender-related advancements were made during the transition time. 

First, 33 pct. of representation of women in the CA brought 198 women in the parliament. 

The reservation of seats to women in the state institutions has fostered gender 

equality in governance. But Nepalese women’s representation is weak in vital decision 

making centers of the state which have only two women, one minister and one 

secretary. 

Provisions have been made to include women in all-party committees, local peace 

committees, consumer committees, cooperatives and development organizations. 

The state has adopted concrete measures to promote equality of opportunity in policy 

making, and governmental bodies have been established to oversee the implementation 

of gender rights. A paradigm shifts in favor of gender-friendly policy in Nepal 

have increased women’s participation. 

First, the Nepalese state has become more active in controlling domestic violence 

and promoting child rights, paternal property rights etc. and thereby removing the 

separation of the public and the private realm. 

Second, the state has also enlarged the domain of women’s rights in various areas; 

reproduction rights, equal parental authority, right against exploitation, nondiscrimination, 

social inclusion and affirmative action or positive discrimination in education, 

health, income-generating and peace-promoting activities. Third, the state 

has adopted new concepts such as gender budgeting and gender and governance to 

improve gender-sensitive indicators. 

Despite the above reforms, the structural barriers to women’s political participation in 

decision-making stem from a lack of their control at the top leadership of the parties 

and their absence in the national policymaking body. To overcome these barriers, 

women have formed a caucus group across party lines and built solidarity with local, 

regional and global civil society organizations, networks and movements, exerted 

pressure on increased access to bilateral and multilateral development agencies and 

expanded the domain of elite driven democracy to broad-based participation of several 

sectors of society. 

Women are engaged in social movements but do not want to risk joining politics. 

Thus, inter party women’s network has to be expanded to the grassroots level which 

can act as an incentive for bringing more and more women into politics and leadership 

positions, as well as a catalyst of social transformation of Nepal’s informal socie- 

Page 35



ty, economy and politics. Similarly, there is a need to set up gender-based focal centers 

at the local level to monitor the violation of their rights and provide promotional 

measures. 

MS. JANAH NCUBE, ZIMBABWE 

Countries in transition are very different, and have often experienced armed conflict. 

Zimbabwe is different as the conflict has been mainly political rather than armed. 

Women in Zimbabwe participated in the liberation struggle legitimating their claims 

for participation in politics. However, they were afterwards sent back home to their 

traditional roles in the family although some token participation was granted. In 1998- 

1999 Zimbabweans were fighting for a new constitution demanding a REAL multiparty 

democracy. As women, we wanted a constitutional guarantee for equality and equity 

which was not eroded by culture and traditions. 

Following the establishment of a political opposition to Mugabe and ZANU-PF in 

Zimbabwe - the Movement for Democratic Change – new issues began to emerge, 

including women’s rights. In 2008 there were elections for local government, parliament, 

senate and presidential. The presidential results were disputed followed by 

massive violence, resulting in a run-off whose results were disputed. This led to political 

negotiations where only the three political parties that succeeded to gain seats in 

Parliament were invited to the negotiations. Each party sent in two negotiators and 

only one party included a woman in the negotiations – Ms. Priscilla Misihairabwi- 

Mushonga. The Global Political Agreement, an inclusive governing framework, was 

thus established. Women in the parties got seats as ministers, ambassadors etc. in 

this era of inclusive government. These negotiations are the basis for the current political 

framework in Zimbabwe which have left the country with no opposition parties 

as the three parties are together in government. Currently a draft constitution is being 

debated but there is a huge vacuum in which women's discourse and gender analysis 

is missing. 

The general key challenges in the period of transition have been: Violence and politics 

of fear; intimidation and abductions, which also affects women’s participation; 

brain drain - leadership of women’s movement (including myself) left Zimbabwe. 

Massive capacity challenges - women have different political convictions, thus, the 

gender agenda is not leading us together. A polarized civil society, also amongst the 

women’s organizations, made it difficult to establish alliances. 

The opportunities for women in such a context are: Civil society can provide research 

and technical assistance to the negotiators and develop policy papers – knowledge 

and information is needed to make informed decisions. Institutions to provide technical 

support and push for women’s agenda –women’s organizations are key actors. 

When negotiations are on-going articulation of the practical issues is needed; how 

policies, e.g. on women, will actual be implemented. Share lessons learned, also 

across countries. Zimbabwe can learn from Kenya. Use regional and international instruments 

as norms and standards to guide content of negotiations, e.g. the African 

Union Charter on women’s right, and break it down so common people can understand 

it. 

The challenges for women are: Women issues are relegated to the bottom of the list; 

it is not perceived as hard core politics, and not seen as immediate and urgent. The 

situation pertaining before is what is used as a basis of how things are managed during 

a transition; token peripheral participation. Who is sitting at the table pushing and 

protecting women's interests, rights, representation, physical presence and numbers? 

Women must develop effective political strategies and tactics to plot how to 

meander the political terrain. 

Page 36



Unfortunately political parties are a very dis-empowering space, yet, it is the only way 

to politics. Once you are in, you maybe locked into a position you may not agree to, 

how do you turn the women's wing of the party to political currency within the party? 

Political parties are not really serious about gender equality, women's rights or women's 

participation. 

Issues to look out for: Negotiations - who is negotiating and how are they supported; 

provide them with technical support. Constitution process - advocacy to guarantee 

increased participation. Capacity building - learning experiences, networking among 

women from different countries and continents. It is important to support the women's 

rights agenda broadly by keeping women's organizations funded and connected to 

the key issues that ordinary women in the villages find RELEVANT. 

There is need to make gender equality and women's participation a non-negotiable 

issue and a deal breaker in political negotiations! 

Page 37

7 

Four participants 

from Africa - representing 

political parties 

in Tanzania and 

Ghana – use a break 

in the discussions to 

dig into some of the 

suggestions for the 

final Statement. 



PANEL ON METHODOLOGIES 

How can political parties and civil society establish a 

fruitful relationship in the future? 

MODERATED BY MS. ANNE STENHAMMER, UN WOMEN 

In addition to the three thematic panels, it had been decided to add a panel on day 2 

on principles and methodologies cutting across the different themes. This is something 

that multilateral organizations like UNDP, UN Women and OSCE in particular 

have a mandate to work on and share with the rest of the global community. 

MS. WINNIE BYANYIMA, UNDP 

She opened the panel by pointing to the fact that today’s focus will be on methods. 

Today we will get our hands dirty and be occupied with the nitty-gritty of the empowerment 

of women in politics. 

The effectiveness of our impact on women in politics must be understood in a greater 

context, which is a context of promoting women’s rights more broadly. If there is no 

access to health, women do not have the capacity to make progress in politics. This 

is why we need to strengthen the women’s movements. To strengthen the places 

where women from all sectors of society can come together and fight for improving 

women’s right’s and women’s life in order to get more women to have the capacity to 

get into politics. 

Some methods to empower women are well tested, while others are novel. Pippa 

Norris has developed a framework that is useful for a country to identify where it 

would be relevant and useful to set in on the area. Times of constitutional reform are 

very open opportunities to improve the rights of women. Many women in Africa did 

Page 38



this. They made contributions to the work on the new constitutions. The critical aspect 

is not only the introduction of quotas but equality across all areas. I was promoting 

the reform of women’s right to land. When women know that they have legal title 

to land, then they are able to get involved in politics. The issue of electoral laws is 

another area to focus on. The electoral system is very important – proportional representation 

is the best system for women to get elected. Regulation of the media to 

make sure that men and women stand an equal chance to get their voice heard. 

Financing is a major issue for women’s participation in the political life. Women need 

finance. Many countries have regulation on political finance, but not many take the 

next step for getting it implemented and subscribed to. There are different tools to 

make them deliver. You can make sure that parties do not get state funds if they do 

not empower women. Strong regulation of political funding and fighting against corruption 

is part of the fight for women. Women cannot compete against “dirty money’. 

Mentorship is a novel method to help women in politics. Strong women will help 

young women forward. Sharing experience across regions is another method – there 

is so much innovation that we do not learn from. We will learn so much new creating 

synergy among regions. Strategic alliances that can help further the women’s agenda. 

Alliances between women in politics, academia and civil society are important. 

Women’s organizations can be a platform where strong women can meet. 

MS. AMNEH ZUBI, JORDAN 

In the Arab world the women’s issues is part of the historical context – history of colonies, 

patriarchal society – where men are considered over women. 

The women’s position in politics compared to men is very low. Jordanian Women’s 

Union work with women to be involved in politics. If we want to be influential we have 

to come up with initiatives that promote women. We are mainstreaming gender and 

working with the political leadership on this. 

We also worked with the women’s movements on the agenda that democracy is a 

right to be practiced. This is also a part of what we work with through good governance 

practices. We have a partnership with KVINFO in Denmark to work on promoting 

quotas. But it is a challenge to work in a society where women are not equal with 

men. We are trying to make progress within the tribal structure. We are not trying to 

change the structures, but we are trying to help the women to do better. 

MS. AJLA VAN HEEL, OSCE 

OSCE has 56 participating States, many of which are in Europe and in the Balkans. 

The average of women’s representation in parliaments in the OSCE region is 23.4 

per cent. We can do better! 

When we talk to political leaders, they always ask for evidence. We tried to collect evidence 

on certain strategies to help increase women’s representation and have developed 

the report “Gender Equality in Elected Office: A Six-Step Action Plan”. 

We have suggested a six step action plan, which includes: constitutional rights; electoral 

systems; legal quotas; party rules and recruitment procedures; capacity development; 

and parliamentary reform. 

While the OSCE has no official stand on legal gender quotas, the Six Step Action 

Plan studied the impact of quotas and evidence shows that they work! The countries 

that have adopted legal gender quotas have double the progress getting women 

elected to Parliaments, compared to countries without quotas. 

Page 39



The internal party democracy is crucial for women’s political participation. Political 

parties are the “gatekeepers” of democracy, and have a special role to represent citizen’s 

interests in the political process. Political parties often secure access to public 

funds and resources, access to taxpayer’s money, in order to play this role. As citizens, 

as tax payers, we have a stake in knowing how political parties function internally, 

and whether they respect democratic principles in how they operate. 

When assessing the democratic functioning of political parties, we should ask how 

many women are on party selection, nomination commissions and whether selection 

procedures for candidacy are formally written down, transparent and fair. How are 

parties recruiting and nominating candidates, party leaders, campaign managers? 

Parties should look at their rules for allocating party resources, such as money, access 

to party property, airtime. Are those resources allocated fairly to women and 

men candidates? 

When talking about women in politics, people often argue that this may lead to compromising 

the quality of elected office. We should absolutely evaluate the skills, capacities, 

merit in politics, because we want the best people to represent us, but this 

should by no means turn into a screening process of women only. This discussion is 

necessary, but it should scrutinize both, women and men politicians, on an equal 

footing. 

How are political institutions working? Parliaments should mainstream gender into 

their policy work, priorities, and budgets. Just like in political parties, the procedures 

for appointments to parliamentary committees must be transparent and gender balanced, 

so that women are on an equal footing nominated as chairs of parliamentary 

committees, not only in traditional women areas, such as committees on education or 

health, but also in areas such as finance or defence. Parliaments should alter their 

working conditions and cultures. Issues such as working hours, childcare facilities, 

parental leave can generate obstacles to the equal inclusion of women in decision 

making and leadership roles within parliaments, and should be addressed. 

Page 40

8 

Ms. Ulla Tørnæs, former 

Minister for DevelopmentCooperation 

in Denmark, presents 

her reflections 

on the presentations 

of day 1 taking place 

in the Parliament 

called ‘Folketinget’. 



CONCLUSIONS 

How can political parties and civil society establish a 

fruitful relationship in the future? 

DAY 1 

BY MS. ULLA TØRNÆS, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT AND 

FORMER MINISTER FOR DEVELOPMENT 

Ms. Tørnæs congratulated the DIPD and thanked all the participants from around the 

world for their effort. There are people in all countries that go against all odds and 

show what you can do in politics. I have never regarded my sex as an obstacle in private 

or public life. We can be proud when we see women from Bhutan using Denmark 

as an inspirational country. 

The keynotes this morning told us that numbers are important, but it is not everything 

-still figures are ways to measure development. Strategic alliances are important both 

between women and with men. Financing is a very important part of supporting 

women in politics. As a donor country we should look at how we finance women participating 

in the political party politics. 

She highlighted some key points from the panel on women in local politics: 

Local politics is closer to the everyday life of women and can be more attractive 

for women to take part in, and serve as an entry point for women’s political participation 

at national level. 

Affirmative action as quotas can be an important tool to secure political representation 

of women, but also cultural and economic barriers must be ad- 

Page 41



dressed. It was discussed if affirmative action as for example quotas is useful 

tool to promote young women 

Alliances between women and grass-root mobilization are key tools to support 

the political participation of women at local level. 

The barriers for young women to participate in politics were discussed and some 

very concrete advices were given as how to create a women friendly atmosphere 

within the political party: 

Sexual harassment is a barrier for young women participating in Egypt after the 

revolution. There are places where women cannot come. It is difficult to raise 

women’s issues without being seen as westernized and irreligious. 

Young women need to be encouraged to raise their voice and empowered to 

participate in the political life. In Nepal, women who participate in politics are not 

well regarded. 

Political parties need to create a space for women – women friendly atmosphere. 

In the social democratic party in Egypt they created space for children in 

the offices and made sure that meetings were held during the day time and not 

evening where young women have difficulties going out. 

The potential is seen in Nepal where women have started expressing their rights. In 

Egypt, many women were active in Tahrir Square and many women are leaders of 

civil movements. The political parties need to encourage and recruit them. 

Concerning transition countries we got a strong testimonial from Afghanistan 

stressing that women should stay united to have a strong voice. From Kenya, it was 

stated that affirmative action has been changing the mindset and changing the culture. 

All of these stories can indeed inspire to promote change. Some points: 

Legislation ensuring the political rights of women must be put in place in countries 

in transition. 

Pay attention to the implementation of the political rights of women – enforcement 

is of major importance. 

“Women united will never be defeated’ - through women’s alliances and lobby 

groups, women’s political perspectives can be heard. 

In 2008, I launched a campaign to bring together private business, governments, and 

NGOs to empower women. I gave them a torch of a Danish design and asked them 

to do something extra for women. They should hand in a written statement on what 

they would do for women. Mr. Ban Ki Moon asked me to continue the project when it 

was supposed to end. In 2009, we made a booklet on if it worked. And it did! Some 

places better than others. The final touch was given to Michele Bachelet, when she 

was appointed director for UN women. 

DAY 2 

MS. ANNE STENHAMMER, UN WOMEN 

Anne Stenhammer stated that she had learned a lot. Listening to the speakers at this 

seminar has been promising as to the hope that women will be a greater part of politics 

in the future. She underlined that the background paper and the Christiansborg 

Statement should be living documents: We all need to ask ourselves in which ways 

can I use this? It should be used as a frame for our way forward. 

Page 42



The Christiansborg Seminar is a communication platform and a modality for building 

alliances and network among NGOs, political parties etc. This global seminar gathering 

women politicians and academics should be replicated. The UN Women will continue 

supporting empowerment of women in politics and as decision makers in the 

South Asian region, and we will follow up with the local offices of the countries, which 

have been participated here to ask them to follow up on the documents from this 

seminar. 

MS. WINNIE BYANYIMA, UNDP 

Winnie Byanyima said that she was fascinated by the size and the diversity at the 

seminar, gathering politicians, activists, and international organizations: In a few days 

we have engaged and learned from each other and you couldn’t have picked more 

essential themes. 

We are talking about how best to engage young people. We need to change the 

structures. I will very much like to continue this work with the DIPD and others to find 

the best way to put young people into this process. Local government is the most important 

platform to fight poverty. Women’s own organizing is important here. In the 

transition theme, you have an important agenda for the UNDP and we are happy to 

keep working with you. 

MR. BJØRN FØRDE, DIRECTOR OF DIPD 

The DIPD director, Bjørn Førde, ended the seminar by thanking the participants and 

speakers at the seminar who have all sacrificed a lot in their lives to be where they 

are today, and thanking all for being willing to share openly and honestly. 

He also gave special thanks to the moderators and writers of the background paper, 

and the DIPD staff members who have worked hard to put it all together – not least 

Marie as the project coordinator. 

He also promised that all participants would receive the seminar report as soon as 

possible, together with a list of all participants. The Statement would also be distributed 

to all participants. 

Page 43



ANNEX 

BIOGRAPHIES OF SPEAKERS 

The following list includes all speakers, moderators and presenters featuring in the 

programme on Both September 11 and September 12. They are mentioned in alphabetical 

order based on the surname. 

Ms. Gitte Lillelund Bech 

Member of the Parliament, Denmark 

Gitte Lillelund Bech has been a Member of Parliament for the Liberal Party in Copenhagen 

County constituency from October 1999. She served as Minister of Defense from February 2010 

to October 2011 and is currently Chairperson of the Committee of Fiscal Affairs. She was 

spokeswoman on development 2010, transport policy spokeswoman 2005-2006, and education 

policy spokeswoman 2001-2005. Chairwoman of the Foreign Policy Committee 2006-2010. 

Vice-chairwoman of the Defense Committee 2005-2006. She holds an MSc (Business Administration 

and Management Science). In 2003, she was appointed German Marshall Fellow. Prior 

to the membership of Parliament, she worked as Financial Specialist in the financial sector and 

as a consultant. 

Ms. Winnie Byanyima 

Director of the UNDP Gender Team, Bureau for Development Policy 

Before joining UNDP, Ms. Byanyima served as Director of the Women, Gender and Development 

Directorate of the African Union Commission. She has served on many expert and advisory 

panels and as a consultant for UNDP, UNIFEM and other UN agencies. She is a member of 

the Executive Board of the African Capacity Building Foundation and the International Centre 

for Research on Women. Ms. Byanyima has produced several publications on issues of gender 

and governance, including a handbook she co-authored for the Inter-Parliamentary Union entitled 

“Parliaments, the Budget Process and Gender”. Ms. Byanyima holds a M.Sc. in Mechanical 

and Aeronautical Engineering from Manchester University. 

Mr. Julio Huaraya Cabrera 

Member of the National Board, MAS-IPSM, Bolivia 

He is elected member of the national board of MAS-IPSP, the governing socialist party in Bolivia, 

and works as secretary for the coordination with the social organizations and members of the 

political commission. Mr. Cabrera has spent most of his political life in local politics in his home 

municipality of Chuma in the Province of Muñecas in the La Paz Department. He is at present 

Secretary General for the municipal government. He is educated as an agricultural engineer and 

has previous experience with agricultural development projects. Mr. Cabrera is invited by MAS’ 

Danish partner, the Socialist People’s Party. 

Ms. Phuntshok Chhoden 

Independent consultant for B-NEW, Bhutan 

She is a development worker engaged in gender mainstreaming for many years at national, regional 

and international level. In 2010 she got deeply involved in setting up a new women’s 

NGO, Bhutan Association of Women Entrepreneurs, which brings women entrepreneurs together 

to work on economic empowerment of rural and poor women in Bhutan. Ms. Chhoden 

serves as the Chair of Bhutan Country Coordinating Mechanism for the Global Fund to fight 

AIDS, TB ant Malaria, and is a Board Member of the SAARC Business Association of Homebased 

Workers. Currently, she is working on the establishment of the Bhutan Network of Elected 

Women (B-NEW) which is an outcome of the first ever national consultation in Bhutan of the 

elected female representatives in local government and the parliament of Bhutan. This project is 

supported by DIPD. 

Ms. Sumona DasGupta 

Political Scientist and independent research consultant, India 

Based in New Delhi, she is currently senior research consultant with Society for Participatory 

Research in Asia. Her research and publications focus on issues of governance and democratic 

Page 44



dialogue, conflict and peace building, and South Asian politics. Gender is a cross cutting issue 

that informs all of her work. Her book "Citizen Initiatives and Democratic Engagements: Experiences 

from India" from 2010 deals with issues concerning women's political leadership in local 

governance as one of the issues covered. Ms. DasGupta was the author of the India country 

paper on analysis of political parties from a gender perspective, a research initiative of International 

IDEA in 2011. 

Ms. Jemina Anita De-Sosoo 

National Women’s Organizer, Ghana 

She is the leader of the women’s wing of the National Democratic Congress, the ruling party in 

government in Ghana. Prior to that, she was a Constituency Deputy Organizer and a National 

Deputy Propaganda Secretary. She is also the West African Women Commissioner for Women 

Academy for Africa, as well as an executive board member of the National Board for Small 

Scale Industries under The Ministry of Trade and Industry. Ms. De-Sosoo is a gender and a 

human rights activist. She is also the founder and president of Foundation for Women Development 

and Empowerment which seeks to empower women in education, health, politics, governance 

and leadership in Ghana. She is currently studying Public Administration. Ms. De- 

Sosoo is invited by NDC’s Danish partner, the Social Democratic Party. 

Ms. Nzira Deus 

Programme Director at Forum Mulher, Mozambique 

In addition to Forum Mulher, she is the National Coordinator of the Movement of Young Women 

Feminists. She holds a Diploma in International Relations and Diplomacy and is specialized in 

community development with a gender focus. She has coordinated research on culture and tradition, 

women’s access to land and political participation, and HIV/AIDS. She has been involved 

in dialogue with government regarding monitoring of public policies, and she has been attending 

international conferences on Human rights of women like CSW, AWID and the World Social Forum. 

Ms. Deus is invited by her Danish partner Ibis. 

Mr. Bjørn Førde 

Director of DIPD 

Before joining DIPD, he was Director of the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre, a global thematic 

facility in the Democratic Governance Group of UNDPs Bureau for Development Policy, established 

to help position UNDP as a champion of democratic governance. Previously, he was the 

Resident Representative of UNDP and Resident Coordinator of the UN in Botswana. He is educated 

as a political scientist from the University of Copenhagen, and from 1975 to 2002 he held 

various positions with the Danish NGO Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke, including that of Secretary 

General 1995-2002. He has served as a member of the Board of Danida appointed by the Minister 

for Development. 

Ms. Chema Gargouri 

President of Tunisian Association for Management and Social Stability, Tunisia 

Founder and President of the Tunisian Association for Management and Social Stability 

(TAMSS), a community development and micro-lending NGO for women and youth located in 

Borj-Louzir in Tunis, an area facing difficulties and socio-economic problems. In 2011 two additional 

offices were opened in Sidi Bouzid and in Gafsa. The organization works to strengthen 

the social and economic inclusion of women and youths in disadvantaged communities by 

strengthening the economic and social capacities of families by establishing innovative complementary 

services based on leadership, training, education, assistance and the promotion of 

entrepreneurship. Ms. Gargouri is invited by her Danish partner KVINFO. 

Ms. Selay Ghaffar 

Executive Director of HAWCA, Afghanistan 

The organization is Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan. She 

studied Economics in Iran and Pakistan at a time when women’s education was not possible in 

Afghanistan, and after the fall of Taliban, Ms. Ghaffar found an opportunity to work for emancipation 

of women in the repressive systems and joined HAWCA. Ms. Ghaffar is actively involved 

in lobbying and advocacy for women’s rights and human rights issues in Afghanistan. She led 

the nine members CEDAW Initiative Committee for the first time in Afghanistan to write the 

CEDAW Shadow Report. The last three years, she has effectively highlighted the issues of Af- 

Page 45



ghan women at different international events, and she has raised their visibility and voice in the 

international community. Ms. Ghaffar is invited by her Danish partner MS/ActionAid. 

Ms. Ratebeh Adnan Abu Ghoush 

Member of the international department of the Palestinian Democratic Union, Palestinian 

Territories 

Since 2003 Ms. Abu Ghoush has worked as program coordinator on youth with many local organizations. 

She is currently working with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society on a project 

aiming at empowering youth with skills and knowledge. Furthermore, she was one of the founders 

of SHAREK Youth Forum where she presented the Head of Board of Directors in 2006- 

2010. As a feminist, she participated in women debates under the leadership of the women’s 

project: The Palestinian Women's Research and Documentation Center -a Special Project of 

the Social and Human Sciences Sector (UNESCO) 2008-2009. She is also a member of the 

committee to revive the voluntary and civil work in Jerusalem. Currently, Ms. Abu Ghoush studies 

for an MA in Development Studies at Al- Quds University in Jerusalem. Ms. Ghoush is invited 

by her Danish partner, the Red-Green Alliance. 

Ms. Ajla van Heel 

Gender Officer at the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights 

Her expertise include promoting women’s political participation and strengthening national 

mechanisms for the advancement of women. Prior to joining the OSCE, she worked with the International 

Organisation for Migration and the United Nations Development Programme, mainly 

focusing on prevention of trafficking in women and girls in the Western Balkans. Ms. van Heel 

holds a BA in international affairs from Princeton University and an MA in human rights from 

University of Bologna. 

Ms. Maryse Helbert 

Researcher and advocate, Australia 

She has been an advocate for, and researcher on, women’s participation in politics and decision-making 

for over a decade. After completing a Master’s thesis on the comparative strengths 

and weaknesses of the French and Finnish political systems in encouraging and increasing 

women’s political participation, she became actively involved in the movement to institute the 

so-called ‘Parity Law’ in France (1999-2000). Maryse Helbert has since broadened her research 

to include women’s involvement in decision-making processes related to development, specifically 

in the context of resource exploitation and climate change, where evidence shows that 

women are being sidelined. 

Ms. Njeri Kabeberi 

Executive of Director for the Centre for Multi Party Democracy, Kenya 

Prior to becoming Executive Director of CMD-Kenya in 2004, she worked for seven years for 

Amnesty International as the Development Coordinator for East & Southern Africa. She has 

served on the board of the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the Release Political Prisoners 

Pressure Group (RPP) and the International Centre for Policy and Conflict. Ms. Kabeberi is also 

an opinion shaper in the areas of equality, governance, democracy and human rights. Njeri 

Kabeberi was awarded the inaugural ‘Humanity Award’ by the Chamber of Lawyers, Frankfurt 

am Main for ‘Commitment to Law and Justice’ in 2009; she was awarded the ‘Democracy Ribbon’ 

by the City of The Hague in 2009 for ‘Commitment to Peace and Democracy’. In 2010, 

Njeri received the ‘ILO Wedge Award 2010’ given jointly by ILO and the Women’s Entrepreneurship 

Development in recognition for her work to increase Women Rights in Kenya. She is 

invited by her Danish partner, the Danish Liberal Party. 

Ms. Rumbidzai Kandawasvika-Nhundu 

Senior Programme Manager, International IDEA 

She is responsible for the Global Programme on Democracy and Gender at the International Institute 

for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) in Stockholm, Sweden. She 

is a gender equality advocate and practitioner, with more than twenty years of hands-on professional 

experience on gender equality and women’s empowerment initiatives at national, regional 

and international levels. She has worked with capacity building and gender mainstreaming in 

parliaments, intra-party democracy processes, and management of electoral processes from a 

gender perspective and transformative leadership strategies for women in politics. 

Page 46



Ms. Lone Loklindt 

Member of Parliament, Denmark 

She is Member of Parliament for the Social Liberal Party (Radikale Venstre), chairperson of the 

Environment Committee and spokesperson on environment, development cooperation, and 

human rights. She holds a M.Sc. in Business and Development from Copenhagen Business 

School, and an MBA from European University in Brussels. Ms. Loklindt’s working career includes 

positions abroad, intercultural management, entrepreneurship and CSR consulting. She 

has been involved in international political activities through ELDR and Liberal International and 

now also PACE and IPU. She has been elected councilor to the local municipality at Frederiksberg, 

deputy party chairman and held various other positions in the party organization. 

Hon. Susan Lyimo 

Member of Parliament, Tanzania 

Since 2005, she has represented the opposition party Chadema in Parliament. During her first 

tenure 2005-2010, she also acted as a Shadow Minister of Education and Vocational Training. 

Ms. Lyimo has played a leading role in joint women's movement in Tanzania. She acted as the 

National Chairperson of CHADEMA Women Council in 2011-2013 and is currently the Vice 

Chairperson of Tanzania Women Parliamentary Group as well as the Vice Chairperson of Tanzania-Women 

Cross-party Platform. She holds a MA of Applied Social Psychology from the 

University of Dar Es Salaam and Certificate of Career Counseling from the University of Minnesota, 

USA. She is invited by her Danish partner, the Conservative Party. 

Hon. Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga 

Minister of Regional Integration and International Cooperation, Zimbabwe 

Honorable Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, is a member of the Inclusive Government of Zimbabwe 

as a Senator and the Minster for Regional Integration and International Co-operation, 

One of only 7 female members of Cabinet, she is also the only female negotiator in the SADC 

facilitated Zimbabwe Dialogue Process as a Chief Negotiator for the Professor Welshman Ncube 

led Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of which she is also the Secretary-General 

(2nd female Secretary-General of a political party in SADC). Minister Misihairabwi-Mushonga is 

a Co-chair of the Joint Operation and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) responsible for oversight 

and implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and a member of the 15 

member Constitutional Management Committee (COPAC) with representatives from the three 

political parties to oversee and guide the constitutional development process in Zimbabwe. Previously 

she was the Deputy Secretary-General of the MDC and a Member of Parliament for 

Glen-Norah Constituency for two parliamentary terms, wherein she also served as the first female 

Chairperson of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee from 2002-2008. She has a 

strong history of civic participation in the Zimbabwean political movement and in particular as a 

Feminist in the Zimbabwe Women’s Movement which was a large aspect of the creation of the 

National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) which she co-founded. She founded and led the Women 

and Aids Support Network (WASN) which grew to become a lead organization in the 

HIV/AIDS advocacy and work in Zimbabwe. She was awarded the Kofi Annan Awards for her 

advocacy work on the female condom. 

Ms. Joy Mogensen 

Mayor of Roskilde Municipality 

The municipality has 83.000 inhabitants and a budget of almost 1 billion Euros. She is a member 

of The Social Democratic Party, and has been involved in international activities in the Danish 

Social Democratic Youth Organization, the Danish Youth Council and in her current work. 

She holds a BA in Cultural Encounters from Roskilde University, and has worked as a consultant 

in Business and City Development, before being elected Mayor. 

Mr. Henrik Bach Mortensen 

Chairman of DIPD 

He is a member of the National Board of Venstre, The Liberal Party, and he is a co-founder of 

the political think tank CEPOS. He holds an MA in Economics from the University of Copenhagen 

and an M.Phil. in Economics from Cambridge University. Mr. Mortensen is the executive director 

of the Confederation of Danish Employers Association, and he represents private business 

in three partite negotiations with the government and unions on economic and social issues, 

employment and education. He has been involved in international activities through the 

Liberal Party, the ELDR, The German Marshall Fund, the OECD, and as a Danish delegate to 

Page 47



the UN General assembly. He has been the Chairman of DIPD since it was established by Parliament 

in 2010. 

Ms. Janah Ncube 

CEO for Centre for Citizens’ Participation, the African Union, Zimbabwe 

Janah Ncube is the Executive Director of the Centre for Citizens’ Participation in the African Union. 

Prior to this, she was working as a Senior Policy Advisor on Poverty and Development at 

the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Secretariat. Ms. Ncube was also the first 

Gender Programme Manager for ACORD, an alliance of international development actors working 

in conflict and post conflict countries across Sub-Sahara Africa. During the period 2001– 

2004 she worked in Zimbabwe on human rights and Constitution issues as the Director of 

Women in Politics Support Unit, the Chairperson of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe and 

Vice Chairperson of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition. She holds a Masters Degree on Gender 

and Women’s Studies and currently serves as an advisory board member of the ICCO Southern 

Africa Regional Council. In July 2011 she was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons 

of Zimbabwe. 

Mr. Lars Løkke Rasmussen 

Chairman of Venstre (Danish Liberal Party) and former Prime Minister 

Lars Løkke Rasmussen has been President of Venstre since 2009, the same year that he was 

appointed Prime Minister following the appointment of former Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen 

to the post of Secretary General of NATO. He has had a long career in the party, starting 

with his election to the post of Chairman of the youth wing in 1986; in 1998 he was elected 

Deputy President of the party. He was elected to Parliament for the first time in 1994, following a 

long career in local politics – first as a member of the council of a municipality, then as Deputy 

Mayor, and while being MP he was also Mayor of Frederiksborg County 1998-2001. When the 

party won the election in 2001 and formed the government, he became Minister for the Interior 

and Health 2001-2007, and then Minister of Finance 2007-2009 before becoming Prime Minister. 

Mr. Manu Sareen 

Minister for Gender Equality 

In addition to gender equality, he is also Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs as well as Minister for 

Nordic Cooperation in Denmark. He is a Member of Parliament for the Danish Social-Liberal 

Party (Radikale Venstre). Mr. Sareen was appointed minister in October 2011. From 2008 to 

2010 he worked as Auditor of Public Accounts. From 2002 to 2011, he served as a member of 

the City Council in the municipality of Copenhagen. The minister is educated as a social worker 

and he has previously among other things worked as lecturer, teacher and integration consultant. 

He is also the author of children’s books as well as academic publications. 

Ms. Mary Mourad Shenouda 

Coordinator for Cross-party Board in South Cairo & Journalist for Al-Ahram Online 

She was previously an active member of the Egyptian Social Democratic party, and was responsible 

for the campaigning team at the latest parliamentary elections. She has also campaigned 

for parliament candidate A. Abdallah Roza in 2005. Shenouda is currently an editor for 

Al-Ahram online portal and responsible for the book review section. Previously, she worked as 

Sustainability Business Advisory Associate in International Finances Corporation. In 1999, 

Shenouda graduated from Faculty of Economics and Political Science- Economics section, and 

obtained a master degree in development economics (2002) from University of Sussex- England. 

Ms. Anne F. Stenhammer 

Regional Programme Director for UN Women, South Asia Sub Regional Office 

With work experience, spanning a period of over forty years, she was formerly the Deputy Minister 

of International Affairs of the Government of Norway, where she was responsible for Peace 

and Security, Human Rights, Gender Equality issues, NORAD and relations with the UN system 

and multilateral development banks. She has been active in politics for a period of twenty years 

and has held various political posts in the Socialist Left Party during this time. Ms. Stenhammer 

has served as Mayor in northern Norway (1991-1999) and as Administrative Chief. She holds a 

Masters degree in Public Administration from the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark 

and London School of Economics. 

Page 48



Mr. Villy Søvndal 

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Denmark 

Minister of Foreign Affairs since October 2011, when the new coalition government took over after 

winning a majority in the September 2011 election. He has been Chairman of the Socialist 

People's Party since 2005, and he was elected to Parliament for the first time in 1994. Following 

his studies to become a teacher, he was employed as such by the Municipality of Kolding 1980- 

1992, and during this period he was also a member of the Council of Kolding 1982-1994. 

Ms. Ulla Tørnæs 

Member of Parliament, Denmark 

She is a member of Parliament for Venstre, The Liberal Party, since 1994. From 2001 to 2005 

she was Minister of Education. In 2005 she was appointed Minister for Development Cooperation, 

a position she held in five years from 2005-2010. While being Minister for Development 

Cooperation she was able to put great emphasis on women in developing countries, especially 

concerning women’s status in countries in which they are often disempowered and treated unequally. 

Being Minister for Development Corporation it was very important for Ms. Tørnæs to emphasize 

that no culture, tradition or religion should ever justify unequal treatment. Additionally, 

Ms. Tørnæs initiated the Program MDG3 Torch Bearers, which is a programme for people 

whom are committed to fighting gender inequality and to fight for the empowerment of women. 

Ms. Manju Yadav 

Member of the Communist Party student organization, Nepal 

She joined politics of Nepal’s Unified Marxist-Leninist party in 1997, and is a member of All Nepal 

National Free Students Union (ANNFSU). Since 1999 she has been an active member of 

the youth organization, Youth Federation – Nepal, of the same party. Today she is a central 

committee member of the Youth Federation and a central member of inclusion and social security 

department of her party. Ms. Yadav holds a Masters Degree on Population and has been 

providing several trainings on gender issues. She writes for national magazines and newspapers 

regularly. She is invited by her Finnish partner Demo Finland. 

Ms. Chitra Lekha Yadav 

Treasurer of the Nepali Congress Party Central Committee, Nepal 

She has held several prestigious ministerial posts e.g. as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representative 

from 1999-2008. She has worked as Central Working Committee member and Chief 

of the women department of the Nepali Congress (Democratic), and as Eastern Regional coordinator 

of Nepal Women’s Association (sister organization of Nepali Congress). As a professional, 

Ms. Yadav is well versed in issues of gender equality, equity and social inclusion, and 

provides inputs on policies relating these issues for the Nepali Congress Party. She is one of 

the key initiators in the formation of the multi-party Women Caucus that has contributed significantly 

in advancing women’s issues. Ms. Yadav took major initiative for adopting the policy of 

33% representation of women in parliament, and holds an MA from Tribhuwan University, Nepal. 

Ms. Yadav is also the Chair of the Steering Committee for DIPD’s programme in Nepal. 

Hon. Sangay Zam 

Member of Parliament, Bhutan 

She is a member of the National council of Bhutan (upper house) since the first democratically 

elected Parliament of Bhutan was instituted in 2008. The constituency she represents is the 

capital city Thimphu and she is one among six women MPs in the NC and one among ten women 

MPs in the Parliament when combined with the National Assembly. Ms. Sangay Zam serves 

on the Social and Cultural Committee and Legislative committee of the National Council. Issues 

close to her heart are Women’s empowerment and youth problems. Having served as a passionate 

educator for 25 years, today she continues to counsel youth and mentor some of the 

leading school principals, and is also actively involved in parenting programs and career counseling 

in schools. Ms. Zam is also a member of the B-NEW Steering Committee, which is supported 

by DIPD. 

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Ms. Amneh Zubi 

President of Jordanian Women's Union 

Senator and President of Jordanian Women's Union (JWU), a non-governmental organization 

working to abolish gender discrimination and empower women to practice their rights as citizens. 

Furthermore, the organization works to eliminate all legislative, economic, social and cultural 

hindrances to women's participation as stipulated by human rights conventions. JWU has 

local offices across Jordan and is in addition currently the chair of the regional Arab Women's 

Network. Ms. Zubi is invited by her Danish partner KVINFO. 

Ms. Leticia M. Nyerere 

Member of Parliament, Tanzania 

She represents the opposition CHADEMA party in Parliament, holding a special women‘s seat, 

and is currently serving on the Finance and Economic Affairs Committee. She is also a champion 

of women‘s, children‘s and human rights. In addition to her political career, she has been an 

independent lecturer in Women and Politics at Bowie State University in Maryland, USA. Ms. 

Nyerere is currently working on a PhD on the theme of ”Women and general elections in Tanzania” 

at the Open University of Tanzania. She also holds a Masters in Business Administration 

and Finance from Collin’s University in the US and an ASC Degree in Criminal Justice from 

Kaplan University, also in the US. She is invited by her Danish Partner, the Conservative Party. 

Page 50

Christiansborg Seminar 2012 Report - Danish Institute for Parties ...

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