UN Women Officially Launches Its New Publication: Promoting Women’s Political Participation: From Quotas to Parity A Guide to Legal Options For The West And Central Africa Region
Date:
Media Advisory
February 8, 2022.
For more information contact
Ms. Hawa Seydou Diop
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UN Women Officially Launches Its New Publication:
Promoting Women’s Political Participation: From Quotas to Parity
A Guide to Legal Options For The West And Central Africa Region
With this latest publication UNWOMEN is continuing to warn that women still face legal, structural and cultural obstacles to participating in political life. While it is a success story that the representation of women in parliaments has increased from 11 per cent in 1995 to 25 per cent in 2022, there are still countries in west and central Africa where women make up less than 5 per cent of parliamentarians while they represent 50% of the population.
What: UNWOMEN’s new publication is designed to increase the understanding of the legal obligations of countries in the West and Central Africa (WCA) region to achieve gender equality in decision-making. It focuses on strengthening efforts to improve the legal framework in this region to ensure that laws are clearly drafted, implementable and effective. Special focus is devoted to the processes by which laws supporting political participation of women are developed, negotiated, drafted, passed and implemented. Legal instruments are presented that can be used to advance the political participation of women. Furthermore, UNWOMEN guide presents the different electoral systems in West and Central African countries (WCA) and describes the relationship between electoral systems and successful women candidacies.
The comparative experiences presented address both examples of good practices and laws that have failed because their regulations are imprecise, unclear and/or lack effective sanctions.
Legislators, governments, experts, and Civil Society Organizations across the WCA region will find guidance in this document. This includes information on how to assess the chances of successful application of quota laws in different contexts and which TSM may be applied in different constitutional and electoral settings. Download the guide
Who: UN Women West and Central Africa Office.
When: 10 February 2022 at 11am (Dakar time)
Where: https://unwomen.zoom.us/j/96061592688?pwd=d2g1a3QzdFA2SFRZVU9MWFJCWno1dz09
Meeting ID: 960 6159 2688
Passcode: 5!b2k=z
About UN Women:
UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide. For more information, visit: africa.unwomen.org