Background Document - Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy

observation missions in identifying the various elements of an election process that
may impact on women’s equal participation. It sets out practical steps to be taken to
integrate a gender perspective into election observation and should serve to ensure
that conclusions drawn on the extent to which an election process meets OSCE commitments
and other international standards for democratic elections fully takes into
account how the election process affects both women and men.
GENDER EQUALITY IN ELECTED OFFICE: A SIX-STEP ACTION PLAN
OSCE/ODIHR, 2012, 76 pages
The report is an overview of current trends in women’s political participation across
the OSCE region. It identifies a Six-Step Action Plan, a series of fast-track strategic interventions
which can contribute towards the attainment of gender equality in elected
office, in a ‘nested’ model. Each of the six strategies can be a starting point for action,
taking into consideration the variety of different political and electoral systems
and traditions in place. It offers a visible understanding of the need to cover all of the
areas, not just one or two, and it links up very well to the understanding of the need
for both a top-down state focused response (legislation) and a bottom-up civil society
oriented response (changing gender attitudes etc.).
COUNTRIES IN TRANSITION – OPTIONS FOR WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
A conference report by Africa Contact, Gendernet, The Danish Institute for Human Rights,
KVINFO, and Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy, 2011, 36 pages.
The report is a short record of the conference which dealt with the challenges related
to developing and enabling a democratic political culture for women in a large number
of countries that are undergoing various processes of transition, including countries
in Sub-Saharan and North Africa.
The key areas of the conference were: the structures of exclusion – focusing on
barriers to political participation; responses to exclusion – focusing on best practices
for enhancing the political participation of women; and finally, workshop discussions
on challenges and recommendations in relation to; local civil society cooperation; engaging
international actors; from politics of presence to critical influence and action;
and from elite driven democracy to broad-based participation.
AFGHANISTAN’S PARLIAMENT IN THE MAKING – GENDERED UNDERSTANDINGS AND
POLITICS IN A TRANSITIONAL COUNTRY
UNIFEM & Henrich Böll Stiftung, 2009, 192 pages
The report casts a light on the socio-political context and the space of agency for male
and female parliamentarians in both houses of Parliament, the Wolesi Jirga and Meshrano
Jirga. Due to conservative gender relations and traditional beliefs about the
status of women in Afghan society, women politicians much more than their male
counterparts have to prove themselves in their roles as the people’s representatives.
However, instead of joining together as one force against the current political environment
that is curtailing the political, social and economic freedoms that have only
recently been achieved, women parliamentarians are being swept up in political, ethnic
or regional power structures and agendas.
WOMEN IN POLITICS DANISH INSTITUTE FOR PARTIES AND DEMOCRACY PAGE 60