250 Political Party Leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo Agree to Mainstreaming Gender Equality Principles in their Political Party Manifestos, Activities, Protocols and Procedures

December 3, 2005 - (UNIFEM) Kinshasa - In a one day information exchange and training on the core principles of gender equality, 250 political party leaders in the DRC have agreed to mainstream gender equality principles in their political party manifestos, activities, protocols and procedures. The training was organized in response to the demands formulated by political party leaders and as a follow up to a brainstorming session by women in politics and political party leaders to address the obstacles and barriers women face within their political parties. Organized with the support of the United Nations Development Fund for Women(UNIFEM) and in partnership with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), MONUC, the Independent Electoral Commission and the Ministry of Women Affairs, the main objective of the training was to persuade political leaders to adopt favourable measures in support of “Equal Access of women and men to electoral mandates and electoral offices”.

Main outcome recommendations were made as follows:

• Gender Equality is a core value for positive democracy and a prerequisite for good governance
• Women should demonstrate their interests in politics by getting involved actively within political parties
• UNIFEM should develop a comprehensive awareness raising programme to educate and teach women on principles of democracy after the elections
UNIFEM is the Women’s Fund at the United Nations Working for Women’s Empowerment and the promotion of Gender Equality.

For more information please contact:
Miranda Tabifor Marie Pascaline Menono Gaby Mangu
Gender Advisor/UNIFEM DRC Project Coordinator/UNIFEM DRC Gender Expert/IEC/UNDP
miranda.tabifor@undp.org marie.pascaline.menono@undp.org gaby.mangu@undp.org
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From: http://www.unifem.org/news_events/story_detail.php?StoryID=376