More Women, More Politics Campaign

1. About us

The More Women, More Politics Campaign is an inter-institutional advocacy strategy for increasing and raising awareness about women’s political activity and attention to gender issues and interests in the political arena.

1.1. Goals

• To establish an information platform to raise the profile of women in the political arena and decrease public tolerance for low levels of women’s participation in politics.
• To promote the adoption of legislative initiatives and measures that foster women’s participation in politics, in terms of both inclusion and representation.
• To accompany political parties and movements so that they ensure and promote equality for women and men in their structures.
• To accompany women’s organizations and women’s grassroots and community movements so that they establish more efficient mechanisms.
• To raise awareness about and reinforce the experience of women in public office, with an emphasis on women’s congressional caucuses and women in other sub-national level public offices, such as women mayors.

1.2. Target audience

• Congressional women’s caucuses
• Political parties
• FCM Chapter of Women Mayors
• FENACON Women’s Chapter
• Civil society organisations (NGOs, women’s movements)
• Academia.

At the national, regional and local levels.

2. Areas of action

The campaign mainly consists of the following action areas:

Communication
The campaign’s goal is to become an informative platform that raises awareness about women in the political arena, compiles related statistics and studies, highlights achievements and leverages successful experiences and lessons learned from women who hold or have held public office, or who hold uninominal posts or seats in collegiate bodies.

Political parties and statutory reform
In this area, the campaign addresses two angles:

1) Supporting parties and movements that create and/or reinforce bodies responsible for women’s and gender issues and establish mechanisms to ensure equitable participation by women in their structures and electoral processes, and encourage them to include a gender approach in their programmes and platforms, and in their legislative initiatives and public policies when they attain public office.

2) Supporting the adoption of legislative initiatives and measures that foster women’s participation in politics.

Capacity building
This area seeks to enhance the political and technical capabilities of women who hold or aspire to public office, helping them develop tools and skills for entering the political arena and participating in politics, with emphasis on incorporating a gender approach in their work. This strategy has three main areas:

1) Capacity building through the strengthening and/or creation of gender chapters in the National Federation of Municipal Governments (Federación Nacional de Municipios, FCM) for mayors, and the National Federation of Councils (Federación Nacional de Concejos, FENACON).

2) Enhancing the capabilities of women who hold public office in executive branches of government and the “women’s caucuses” of collegial bodies such as Congress, assemblies, councils and local administrative boards.

3) Enhancing the capabilities of women’s organisations and movements to enable them to enter the political arena and establish more fluid channels of communication with women in public office.

Strategic partnerships
This strategy encourages joint efforts by academics, non-governmental organisations, parties, collegial bodies, government agencies, the media and international cooperation agencies to avoid duplication and increase the effectiveness of their efforts.

3. Key strategies:

• Ranking of women’s inclusion in political parties.
The ranking is a series of indicators that measure women’s equality within political parties, comparing the results with those of other parties in areas related to organization, elections, ideology and programmes. This reflects the degree of equality attained by women in Colombia’s political parties. Based on the ranking, the campaign will establish and accompany the parties in a plan for moving toward equality within each party.

• Inter-party task force on gender
In March 2008, the members of the campaign (UNDP and International IDEA) created the Inter-Party Task Force on Gender; the campaign currently serves as the task force’s technical secretary. The task force includes at least two delegates from each party, as well as delegates from other groups interested in supporting women’s participation in politics, such as the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Congreso Visible and the Presidential Advisory Council for Women’s Equality, among others. The inter-party task force has four goals: 1) to share and leverage initiatives for increasing women’s participation and the representation of gender issues and interests in the political arena; 2) to identify and promote an agenda of political reforms necessary for increasing equitable access for women to elected office, party structures and other power structures; 3) to develop inter-party training to provide tools for women who spearhead work plans in their groups that are designed to increase inclusion, based on the results of the ranking; and 4) to engage in activities to raise awareness about and position the issue of women and political participation on the public agenda.

• Interconnection and joint action:
Besides the inter-party task force, the campaign constantly encourages joint efforts by partners and any other group working to increase women’s political participation, participating in the gender working groups of the UN System and international cooperation agencies. The campaign also takes advantage of regional efforts by partners or other groups to draw connections between national work and international efforts through experiences such as iKnow Politics, America Latina Genera, etc., and maintains constant contact with these initiatives to enhance joint efforts.

• Production and dissemination of information:
The campaign has produced and disseminated information about women’s political participation in the last two elections. The campaign is compiling statistical information about women candidates, women elected, women in positions of power (executive, legislative, judiciary), legislation and related rules of the game, a map of experts, publications, studies and events.

The campaign also promotes and disseminates information about academic work on issues related to women’s political participation.

4. Activities carried out

• Production of communication pieces: audiovisuals, posters and brochure to distribute to interested parties.
• Development of a Web page for the campaign: www.masmujeresmaspolitica.org.
• External campaign bulletin with information of interest, interviews, articles, news, related events, etc.
• Information about the campaign in local, regional and national media (Gerente, Semana, Consejos en Contacto and Municipios magazines, municipal radio stations, Melodía radio network).
• Campaign blog at votebien called “Women and Politics” (www.votebien.com).
• Formation of a team of facilitators.
• Inventory of documents and tools.
• Preparation of documents and materials: manual on campaign techniques and women’s political participation.
• Training for women candidates on campaign techniques and political participation and gender.
• Training for women leaders.
• Training for women mayors on planning with a gender approach.
• Support for women’s congressional caucus: reinforcing this body and deepening understanding of a gender approach; promoting compliance with the agreement signed in the International Forum.
• Work with parties: Preparation of agendas for addressing the issue and a ranking to determine how parties are working to include women.
• Activities to strengthen the FCM Women’s Chapter: publication of a study identifying conditions, limitations and opportunities for women’s political participation and the strategies and actions needed to overcome obstacles and be more assertive in this area. Study summary published as a separate handout

5. Partners

The More Women, More Politics Campaign includes organisations that:

1. Recognise women’s political participation as a priority and are working on the issue.
2. Are interested in contributing:
• with information about their work, partners and “beneficiaries.”
• through advocacy to increase women’s participation.
• by joining efforts already under way with other campaign partners.
• by joining new initiatives.
The organisations currently involved in the campaign are:
1) the Colombian Federation of Municipal Governments (Federación Colombiana de Municipios, FCM),
2) the National Federation of Councils (Federación Nacional de Concejos, FENACON),
3) the Corporación Sisma Mujer,
4) the Germany Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ),
5) the US Agency for International Development (USAID),
6) the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Colombia (FESCOL),
7) the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM),
8) the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA),
9) the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), and
10) the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Coordination is the joint responsibility of the directors of each partner agency:
• Gilberto Toro, executive director of the Colombian Federation of Municipal Governments (Federación Colombiana de Municipios, FCM),
• Fabio Estrada Chica, executive director of the National Federation of Councils (Federación Nacional de Concejos, FENACON),
• Claudia Mejía, director of the Corporación Sisma Mujer
• Barbara Hess, director in Colombia of the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ),
• Susan Reichle, director in Colombia of the US Agency for International Development (USAID),
• Hans R. Blumenthal of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Colombia (FESCOL),
• Margarita Bueso, coordinator of the UNIFEM Women, Peace and Security Programme in Colombia,
• Juan Fernando Londoño, Colombia coordinator of the Project for Strengthening Democracy, sponsored by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) and UNDP Colombia,
• Francisco Herrero, director in Colombia of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI),
• Bruno Moro, Representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

6. Team

The campaign has a focal point in each partner agency, as well as a general coordinator.

Focal points:

• Carolina Urueña, of the Colombian Federation of Municipal Governments (Federación Colombiana de Municipios, FCM),
• Sandra Bernarda Vergara, of the National Federation of Councils (Federación Nacional de Concejos, FENACON),
• Alexandra Quintero, of the Corporación Sisma Mujer,
• Viviana Barberena, of the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ),
• Erika Benitez of ADAM and Yaneth Caballero de Cimientos, for the US Agency for International Development (USAID),
• Nicolas Grunwald of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Colombia (FESCOL),
• Carmen Losada of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
• Andrés Morales, of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).
• Marybel Palma, of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI).
• Oscar Sanchez, of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Coordinator:

Diana Espinosa
Currently coordinator of the More Women, More Politics Campaign. Sociologist with a degree from the National University of Colombia and Master’s candidate in political science at the University of the Andes. Has worked with the UN Development Programme (UNDP-Colombia), the Bogotá Council, with the administrative department of the Colombian President’s office in the Young Colombia Presidential Programme, with the Pan American Health Organisation in the area of family health and population, with the Bogotá District Recreation and Sports Institute, and with the National University of Colombia’s extension division, Youth Observatory and Sociology Department.

Contact:
Diana Espinosa
Mobile: 3005628656
Office phone: 2182990
Office address: Carrera 11 N 82-38 Oficina 604, Bogotá – Colombia.

For more information, please visit the campaign Web site:

http://www.fescol.org.co/mujeres-campana.html

More documents on the Campaign will be available only in Spanish.