UNDP: Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties

Gender equality and women's empowerment are not only human rights; they are also imperative for achieving inclusive, equitable and sustainable development. Women's political participation is central to these goals, and political parties are among the most important institutions for promoting and nurturing such participation. With less than twenty per cent of the world's parliamentary seats occupied by women, it is clear that political parties need to do more—and should be assisted in those efforts—to support women's political empowerment. Globally, although forty to fifty per cent of party members are women, women hold only about ten per cent of the leadership positions within those parties. Ensuring women's equal participation in the decisionmaking structures of parties is essential for promoting gender equality within them – and, ultimately, within society as a whole.
Over a period of eighteen months, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) compiled twenty case studies of party activities to promote women's political empowerment. Drawing on those and other examples, UNDP and the NDI identified concrete steps which can be taken by political parties to promote women in political life. This publication, Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties: A Good Practices Guide to Promote Women's Political Participation, is the fruit of this research, and provides concise and targeted options for political party reform.