Latest activity
News, commentary, and stories from WFD
Image
Filter
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.
WFD is supporting Western Balkans Parliaments on their post-legislative scrutiny journey.
New research from Westminster Foundation for Democracy sheds light on women’s motivations for getting into formal politics: many women emphasise a desire to make a positive difference to the world. What is more, their decisions to embark on a career in politics are also shaped by exposure to political issues, as well as their experiences. Armed with this knowledge, political parties and policymakers need to provide support in five key areas to ensure that more women are able to choose the path of political leadership.
The ability to speak your mind in a public or social matter should not be a privilege. We like to think that getting involved in local or even national politics is an option for those willing to contribute and help improve life in their community. Until recently, however, this was not a possibility within reach for Ljubisha Saveski, a 40-year-old father and fashion designer from Tetovo, North Macedonia.
Hungry for good news about politics? Here’s some: more women than ever before are participating in politics worldwide. It’s a global trend that signals positive outcomes for inclusive governance.
The right to vote is unfortunately still not completely accessible to all citizens in North Macedonia. 76 percent of voting stations have stairs and half of them (49% percent) have no access ramps. One third of access ramps cannot be used, due to improper inclination and width. These are some of the findings of the monitoring of parliamentary elections 2020 in North Macedonia conducted by persons with disabilities.
Political parties have a key role to play in addressing some of the long-standing barriers facing PWDs. To support political parties to be more inclusive, WFD Kenya facilitated the review of 11 political parties’ documents – including policies and manifestos – to identify the areas where the documents promote or inhibit the inclusion of PWDs in their activities, practices, and processes.
To support the Parliament of Sierra Leone in its commitment towards providing the best parliamentary services to its citizens, WFD partnered with the legislature of the West African state in developing and unveiling the institution’s service charter.
In these worrying times, here are 4 things parliaments and their members can do to fight back against shrinking civic space
To support women on their pathway to change, WFD provided direct, individual support to around 30 young women politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina through networking and mentoring, as well as building their skills. Following the programme, young women leaders who took part were at the forefront of a variety of changes and initiatives to benefit the whole of society.
WFD has been working with the parliament of Kenya to continue its journey to become more open and transparent.
Ahead of the 2021 general election in 2023, the nation’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), partnered with WFD to organise a workshop for its members to review the Voter Education Manual.
Working with the parliament in Edo State, WFD has been supporting the adoption and implementation of the Open Government Partnership.
The establishment of a coalition for change rallying government representatives, businesses, education and civil society actors and an important study on the cost on youth emigration, supported by WFD, led to raising awareness on the issue, the inclusion of the cost of youth emigration in the proposal of the government’s Strategy on Economic Migration of the Republic of Serbia and the establishing of the ‘Returning Point” program.
