DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE
GWEFODE believes that Women’s political participation is a fundamental prerequisite for gender equality and genuine democracy. It facilitates women’s direct engagement in public decision-making and is a means of ensuring better accountability to women. Political accountability to women begins with increasing the number of women in decision-making positions, but this is not enough. What is required are gender-sensitive governance reforms that will make all elected officials more effective at promoting gender equality in public policy and ensuring their implementation.
There has been significant progress in recent years: more and more women are seeking to transform politics itself, and women’s groups are focusing on efforts to increase women’s representation on the ballot to reinvigorate political accountability.
In Uganda today, there are more women in government than ever before yet, around the world, gender equality in democratic governance continues to be extremely limited. GWEFODE’S research finds that many factors hinder women’s political participation, such as political parties being slow to respond to women’s interests, under-investment in women’s campaigns, cultural barriers, and conflicting demands on the time of women candidates due to their domestic chores and social responsibilities. GWEFODE believes that Civic Education is very critical in improving the numbers of Women in positions of power and decision making.
One of the pillars of GWEFODE’S work under its Human Rights and Leadership Development Program is advancing women’s political participation and good governance, to ensure that decision-making processes are participatory, responsive, equitable and inclusive. Efforts are focused through strategic entry points that can advance the status of women by catalysing wide-ranging, long-term impacts. We are also working closely with multiple stakeholders, like women’s organizations, government and the private sector, to bring more women on board, train women leaders and boost women’s skills to actively participate in the democratic processes.