Women participating in NDI's National Reconciliation Program prepare food baskets in Kirkuk to help their community cope with movement restrictions taken in response to COVID-19
Health epidemics have a multilayered, long-standing impact on society as a whole, and an inordinate impact on women.
Sandra Pepera, Senior Associate and Director for NDI's Gender, Women and Democracy team.
Chris Fomunyoh, Senior associate and regional director for Central Western Africa at NDI is joined by Ambassador Johnnie Carson, a proud member of the Board of Directors of NDI with a 37-year career in the US foreign service focused on Africa. 2020 looks like it’ll be an exciting year for Africa with emerging opportunities for some countries to consolidate their democracies, but what backsliding could undermine recent gains in democratic governance?
On the occasion of my first International Women’s Day as NDI’s president, I want to reaffirm the Institute’s commitment to championing women leaders around the world who are stepping forward, often under extremely difficult circumstances, to confront persistent obstacles to their political participation. Despite the significant progress made in women’s political participation in recent years, there remains substantial resistance to women assuming positions of political power. NDI supports the efforts of women all over the world to overcome barriers to their political involvement, including ending the gender-based violence that targets politically-active women. To help address this issue, NDI has launched think10, a groundbreaking safety planning tool that guides women in politics on actions that may reduce their vulnerability within their particular political context.
Andi Parhamovich Fellow Alaa Hammouda giving her final presentation at NDI's headquarters in Washington, D.C., on "Strengthening Young Women's Civic Engagement in Gaza. Credit: Jesper Frant
An opportunity to travel from Palestine to the United States was almost an impossible dream for me. When I applied for the 2018 Andi Parhamovich Fellowship Award, I was not very optimistic that I would win. I said to myself, if NDI needs to choose one young woman leader from the whole world, they won’t pick someone from Gaza because they know that traveling out of the country is almost impossible for Gazans. So when I was selected as the recipient of the award, I felt that I was the luckiest woman this year. It was indeed a dream come true. I felt that I was finally breaking through the walls around me to see the world which I have always wished to see.
Please join me now – www.ndi.org/GivingTuesday – to support a groundbreaking new tool called “#think10,” which helps politically active women identify their personal and professional vulnerabilities so they can take informed steps to strengthen their safety. Your gift will help develop a text messaging (or SMS) version of the #think10 safety planning tool so that anyone with a cell phone can use the tool.
Liberal International's 70th Anniversary Congress, Andorra May 2017
A lot has been said and written about the #MeToo movement and how it continues to galvanize the voices of hundreds of women and men from around the world. Most strikingly, it is a strident call-to-arms for women to become the agents of their own conscience, bodies and destinies. The sweeping victory for female candidates from diverse backgrounds in the recent U.S. midterm elections is a clear signal that women are rightfully coming forward to claim their space and power in society.
Picture tweeted by Rosa Pérez when she returned to her Municipality Office after the Federal Electoral Court ruled in her favor.
Latin America is the leading region in the world addressing violence against women in politics (VAWP). As a former justice of the Federal Electoral Court in Mexico and as the first woman to be president of that Court, I wish to share my thoughts on the current legal status of the issues in Latin America. I will also provide recommendations on how the campaign can stop this type of violence.
Many eye-catching headlines, World Bank indicators and even news on social media highlight and congratulate feminist progress based on the growing number of women elected to parliament, cabinet or other political bodies. For example, when my home country of Nepal elected its first female president, it was touted as a great step forward for women’s equality. However, these examples mask important underlying issues that limit progress for women. A single number really doesn’t tell the full story. In fact, for every side there is to a story, there should be a dataset to tell it.
Seyi Akiwowo (second from right) speaking at the #NotTheCost Forum held at the George Washington University titled “Opportunities and Threats Posed by New Media.”
In 2017, after facing horrendous online abuse and harassment when a video of my speech at the European Parliament went viral, I founded Glitch!UK, a not-for-profit online abuse advocacy, campaigning and training organisation. Glitch!UK aims to end online abuse and harassment including online violence against women in politics. ‘Glitch’ means a temporary malfunction with equipment, and I used it for my organisation’s name because when we look back on this period in time I want us all to be able to say that the rise in online abuse and harassment was only a ‘glitch’ in our history. I was asked to be part of NDI’s Internet Governance Forum 2017 panel on the issue of online violence against women in politics, and in the months since then, I have become a public advocate for NDI’s #NotTheCost campaign, participating in three #NotTheCost events in Washington, D.C., in May.