Ahead of CO26, Members of Parliament from 5 countries – Canada, Georgia, Indonesia, Kenya, and Pakistan – have added their names to a statement that calls for public empowerment to be a top priority at the conference.
With WFD's support, a coalition of CSOs under the Digital Transformation Network is working with the Lebanese Parliament's ICT committee to improve transparency and accountability through e-governance.
Within WFD’s “More than a quota” mentorship programme, a group of women politicians from different political parties works on getting the issue on the agenda through advocacy and legislative work.
The toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual workers across all sectors is matched within the institutions of our democracies. This commentary piece analyses, like all other organisations, how parliaments are still learning, adapting, and switching between in-person and virtual processes to deliver democracy.
In cooperation with Democracy Plus, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy published the study on “Cost of youth Emigration” on Kosovo, which is a first ever analysis to provide data on how much does Kosovo loose due to young people leaving the country.
In June 2021, WFD hosted a meeting with political parties, disabled persons organizations (DPOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), Parliamentary and County Assembly Caucuses to evaluate commitments and progress of persons with disabilities inclusion by political parties in Kenya.
WFD, through the Commonwealth Equality Project (CEP), supported the Oyo State House of Assembly and the people of Oyo state to review and pass the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Bill into law.
Despite young people (0-34 years) comprising 75% of Kenya’s population, they represent just 6.5% of MPs in parliament. So, what is blocking their entry? The key hurdles include socioeconomic status, lack of support from political parties, and limited democratic culture during nominations.
Together with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), WFD is implementing a programme that is supporting Kenyan parliamentarians to prepare for the upcoming Conference of Parties 26 (COP26) in Glasgow, United Kingdom.
The “I Vote for Women” campaign presented strong and successful women, who have created positive change in the local communities of B&H. Building trust in women as leaders, these stories aimed to motivate voters to elect more women in legislative bodies of B&H in the local election of 2020.
Analysing and improving the available relevant bills in Kenya could be a step forward towards promoting persons with disabilities inclusion in politics (PWDs). In March 2021, WFD held a two-day workshop where participants gained in-depth knowledge of the current legal reforms relevant to the inclusion of PWDs in politics; identified the existing gaps within laws; and they were also enabled to undertake advanced public participation initiatives.