Handbook on Promoting Women’s Participation in Political Parties

Today, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented its Handbook on Promoting Women’s Participation in Political Parties at a side event on the second day of the OSCE Gender Equality Review Conference in Vienna.

The handbook is the first tool of its kind for the OSCE region, produced to support political party leaders in facilitating broader access for women to party structures and elected office. The handbook highlights different strategies for enhancing women’s participation in political parties, including successful examples from political parties in the OSCE region, such as voluntary measures and capacity-building initiatives.

Political parties play a key role in increasing women’s political participation, both as candidates and holders of elected office.. We must recognize women’s rights to participate on an equal footing in all spheres of decision-making process within political parties.

As part of the event, members of parliament, political actors, gender equality experts and representatives of international and civil society organizations exchanged ideas and discussed good practices for advancing women’s role in political parties within the OSCE region.

Arta Dade, Member of Parliament from Albania, said that Political leadership can enhance gender equality within parties by critically assessing the rules for promoting party members to decision-making positions, as well as candidate selection and party-resource allocation, in order to create an equal playing field for both women and men.

ODIHR developed the Handbook within the framework of its programme to advance women’s political participation in the OSCE region, in line with the 2004 OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality.

The Gender Equality Review Conference was organized by the OSCE Gender Section, ODIHR and the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship to mark the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Plan.