Politics, youth and gender representation

Iraq

Youth research piece

GPG conducted a research and analysis project aiming to develop a more detailed understanding of the challenges facing young adults in Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and explore in more depth the political attitudes and perceptions held by young people in Iraq and the KRG. It also sought to grasp the economic factors which have shaped these political attitudes and perceptions, with a focus on policies and institutions. The research project analyses the observed attitudes, challenges, and barriers facing young people, and proposes recommendations on how to address them by identifying and supporting opportunities for a more constructive political dialogue between young Iraqis and their political representatives.  

Female IDPs

GPG encouraged the Council of Representatives (CoR) Regional office in Nineveh to support the newly formed Nineveh women parliamentarians’ peace initiative. Following GPG’s advice, the council organised in January 2017 the first fact finding mission for those MPs to one of the IDP camps and facilitated meetings with government officials in the recently liberated areas. That visit contributed to raising the profile of gender-specific issues, concerns and priorities and helped channelling those concerns to the national level. As a result of GPG’s intervention the CoR office has established a stronger link with Nineveh women’s peace initiative, and more of these fact-finding missions were planned. 

Bahrain

Youth Pioneer Society

GPG has been working with the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament in Bahrain since 2019. GPG is currently providing support to the elected Council of Representatives around its work on establishing a youth political participation model, to include young Bahrainis in the policymaking process and strengthen the representative function of the Parliament. GPG facilitated the exchange of expertise on this theme with international models from the UK and Scotland in addition to hosting a study trip to the UK for members of the Consultative Council. GPG is also providing technical support to the Council of Representatives in the development of its two-year Information and Communication Technology (ICT) roadmap, to embed remote working methods and bolster parliamentary ICT.  

Ukraine

GPG worked to support the public engagement and communications staff of the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) to identify clear priority actions and to support to implement the first stages of a Rada Education Programme. Initially, GPG brought the Speaker’s Office and parliamentary staff together to identify a clear priority target group, namely engaging with students to improve access to the Verkhovna Rada (VR) and awareness of the role, function and value of their parliament. This is an area in which the UK has significant expertise, the long-term aim being to build trust in parliament as an institution. GPG Associate, Aileen Walker Former Director of Public Engagement in the House of Commons, who was directly responsible for significant development of the UK Parliament’s communications strategy over the last decade, provided direct support and mentoring to senior staff in the Rada to take forward this work.  

GPG was able to see the tangible impact of this work, which was sustained after our intervention, in the form of pilot youth/educational visits to parliament which GPG helped develop through a collaboration between the VR and Go Global/Go Camps (a Ukrainian NGO which runs summer camps for teenagers). GPG also supported the development of a monitoring framework that helped the parliamentary staff to collect evidence of an increased understanding of parliament and an improved perception of its work amongst the students who engaged with the programme. Following this, key interlocuters in the Speaker’s Office with whom GPG worked have gone ahead with plans for establishing their Education Centre based on the business proposals GPG helped them to develop and finally, in July 2019, the Education Centre was inaugurated.  

Lebanon

Women’s political representation in Lebanon

Women play a crucial cultural, social, and economic role in the Lebanese society and held active parts in recent protest movements. Yet they remain severely under-represented in all aspects of political processes both at local and national levels. 

Global Partners Governance, alongside the Lebanese partners LOST and the international expertise of Atalanta, built and led the Winning with Women project, designed to identify and train potential female leaders and encourage them to run for office. Together we offered a distinctive approach to gender programming combining cutting-edge, highly specialised international expertise with existing local political engagement.   

• By increasing the number of women in decision-making positions  
• By enhancing the influence of women within political groups and institutions  
• By increasing the impact of women on policy and politics, on issues of gender equality but also more broadly  

The project was successfully implemented with three groups: we worked with high potential women to develop the skills and allies they need to reach leadership positions; we engaged with political parties across the spectrum to identify ways to promote gender equality and women’s representation internally; and we supported the growth of women leaders at local level in areas where women are severely underrepresented in decision-making positions. 

At the end of the training programme, participants shared very positive feedback with us and added that they noticed clear improvement in their own knowledge and capacity to move forward.  

Egypt

Women’s political empowerment in Egypt 

Whilst women were very active on the streets during the 2011 Egyptian revolution, both in the demonstrations and in the subsequent elections, there were persistently low rates of representation in Egyptian political institutions, and a low rate of advocacy and influence in promoting gender balanced agenda. However, the 2015 parliament saw the highest number of women MPs in the history of Egypt (89), presenting opportunities for more focused forms of assistance to support women’s political leadership and gender-sensitive policymaking. GPG’s project supported women in parliament to increase their influence, alter the political discourse and bring attention to the differential impact of policy on women and men.  

The work was based on a thorough understanding of the underlying causes of under-representation – GPG conducted a political economy analysis (PEA) to examine the difficulties that women MPs face in getting elected to parliament, operating within parliament and securing leadership positions within political parties and parliamentary committees. It examined how prevailing incentive structures and vested interests create obstacles to their progression; as well as the wider social attitudes and values that shape perceptions of women’s roles, and the effect that this has on the operation of parliament. GPG also engaged male politicians in its activities in order to bring about sustainable change. 

Regional Events and Networks

GPG regularly organises regional conferences for Arab Parliamentarians, and has dedicated sessions to women’s political leadership, including a recent conference on Women and Political Participation: A Leading Role for Women in Local Government. Delegates came from across the MENA region including Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and Iraq. For the first time, MPs, council members, municipal council and local council members met and discussed joint working; and as a consequence, established a women’s representative network across the four elected tiers of governance, the first of its kind in Jordan.