Library

A Gender Responsive Parliament: A Handbook on Gender Mainstreaming in the Legislature

Secretariat-General of the Indonesian Parliament & UN Development Programme

Initially introduced through the Beijing Declaration and Action Platform of 1995, gender mainstreaming [...]

A Media Guidebook: Finding Your Public Voice

Suzy Shure, Iris Burnett, & Martha Brown

One of the most precious, hard-won freedoms is the freedom to speak [...]

Abolishing Slavery and its Contemporary Forms

David Weissbrodt & Michael Dottridge

This document provides a comprehensive review of existing treaty and customary law [...]

Afghan Women's Solidarity for Inclusive Peace: Recommendations for a Just and Sustainable Peace in Afghanistan

Mina's List

Recommendations for sustainable peace from Afghan women peacemakers, activists, and civil society leaders.

Afghan Women’s Rights Remain on the Periphery of Talks with Taliban

Statement from Alliance for Peacebuilding, VOICE, Mina's List, & Women's Refugee Commission on Oslo meeting with Taliban

Are Women Really the Fairer Sex? Corruption and Women in Government

David Dollar, Raymond Fisman, & Roberta Gatti

Numerous behavioral studies have found women to be more trust-worthy and public-spirited than men. [...]

Chapter 2: Obstacles to Women’s Participation in Parliament

Nadezhda Shvedova

Women around the world at every socio-political level find themselves under-represented [...]

Combating Trafficking in Persons: A Handbook for Parliamentarians

UN Office on Drugs and Crime & Inter-Parliamentary Union

Trafficking in persons is a form of modern-day slavery, a human rights violation [...]

Confidence, Capacity, Connections: A Young Woman's Guide to Leadership

The National Democratic Institute

This guide is for young women leaders, written by young women leaders. Focusing on [...]

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

United Nations General Assembly

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) [...]

Democracy and the Challenge of Change: A Guide to Increasing Women’s Political Participation

The National Democratic Institute

NDI believes that the equitable participation of women in politics and government is essential [...]

Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties: A Good Practices Guide to Promote Women’s Political Participation

Julie Billington

Political parties are key to women’s participation in politics, as it is political parties that recruit and select [...]

Fact Sheet: Understanding United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325

Gender and Peacebuilding Working Group of the Canadian Peacebuilding Coordinating Committee

Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security calls for participation of women in peace processes [...]

Female Policymakers and Educational Expenditures: Cross-Country Evidence

Li-Ju Chen

This paper investigates the influence of women in politics on decision-making, specifically [...]

Finance Plan Outline

The National Democratic Institute

This guide provides advice on how to create a finance plan during a political campaign. [...]

Funding of Political Parties and Election Campaigns (A Handbook on Political Finance)

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

The role of money in politics is arguably the biggest threat to democracy worldwide today. [...]

Fundraising: Elements of the Ask

The National Democratic Institute

This guide explains how to ask supporters for money during a political campaign. [...]

Gender Quotas and Democracy: Insights from Africa and Beyond

Mona Lena Krook

Electoral gender quotas have simultaneously been praised for promoting greater inclusion [...]

Gender, Corruption and Sustainable Growth in Transition Countries

Julia Michailova & Inna Melnykovska

Many studies have found a negative relationship between corruption levels and economic development [...]

Gender, Equality and Corruption: What Are the Linkages?

Transparency International

This policy brief explores women’s unique experience with corruption and the implications for governance. [...]

Getting Impatient: Overcoming barriers to women's political leadership & accelerating progress towards equality

Atalanta

Despite progress in women's political representation, many barriers remain. This report examines how to address them.

Growth in Women’s Political Representation: A Longitudinal Exploration of Democracy, Electoral System, and Gender Quotas

Pamela Paxton, Melanie Hughes, & Matthew Painter

The increase in women’s political representation is among the most significant trends in [...]

Guidelines for Women’s Caucuses

Inter-Parliamentary Union

Women account for only about 20 percent of the world’s parliamentarians and face an institution [...]

Inclusive Security, Sustainable Peace: A Toolkit for Advocacy and Action

International Alert & Women Waging Peace

In October 2000, for the first time in its history, the United Nations Security Council acknowledged [...]

Internal Displacement: Responsibility and Action

Inter-Parliamentary Union & The UN Refugee Agency

More people than ever before are now displaced within their country. Experience has shown [...]

Joint Statement of House Standing Commission for Human Rights, Civil Society and Women’s Affairs, and Women Parliamentary Caucus on Women’s Role in Peace Process

Joint statement of Afghan women parliamentarians regarding U.S. troop withdrawal and women in the peace process

Lifesaving Humanitarian Response for Women and Girls in Afghanistan: An Urgent Call for U.S. Action

Mina's List, Alliance for Peacebuilding, Refugees International, Women's Refugee Commission, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace & Security, Human Rights Watch, and Futures Without Violence

Recommendations from a coalition of women's rights and humanitarian organizations to assist Afghan women and girls

Making Quotas Work: The Effect of Gender Quota Laws on the Election of Women

Leslie Schwindt-Bayer

Gender quotas have proven to be the fastest and most popular means of increasing women’s political representation [...]

Messaging Tips: What is a Message?

The National Democratic Institute

This guide provides advice on how a woman political candidate can utilize effective messaging [...]

Mina's List U.S. Policy Recommendations to Support Afghan Women and Girls

Teresa Casale, Mina's List

Mina's List U.S. Policy Recommendations to Support Afghan Women and Girls

Negotiating the Transition to Democracy and Reforming the Security Sector: The Vital Contributions of South African Women

Sanam Naraghi Anderlini

A decade after the end of apartheid rule, South Africa transformed the security sector [...]

Parliament and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century: A Guide to Good Practice

David Beetham

What is the parliamentary contribution to democracy? What makes a parliament or legislature [...]

Parliament, the Budget, and Gender

Joachim Werner & Winnie Byanyima

Through national budgets, governments outline their policy intentions and the resources they intend to use [...]

Progress of the World’s Women 2008/2009: Who Answers to Women? Gender and Accountability

Anne Marie Goetz

UN Women is dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women [...]

Project on a Mechanism to Address Laws that Discriminate Against Women

Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

From The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to the Convention on the Elimination of All [...]

Promoting Women’s Political Participation: A Pathway to Peace

Tanya Henderson, Amanda Domingues, and Ursala Knudsen-Latta

Women can be powerful actors in achieving peace, especially as political leaders. This report examines the evidence.

Protection Handbook for Human Rights Defenders

Front Line Defenders

This handbook is intended to give people practical advice on how to deal with the threats [...]

Protection Manual for Human Rights Defenders

Front Line Defenders & Peace Brigades International

This manual offers a practical resource that human rights defenders can use in developing their security [...]

Realizing Women’s Rights to Land and Other Productive Resources

Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights & UN Women

Women’s access to, use of, and control over land and other productive resources [...]

Reclaiming the Progressive Past: Pakistani Women’s Struggle Against Violence and Extremism

International Civil Society Action Network

This report highlights the impact of the prevailing security environment on Pakistani women [...]

Reproductive Rights are Human Rights: A Handbook for National Human Rights Institutions

UN Population Fund, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, & Danish Institute for Human Rights

According to the Program of Action produced during the International Conference on Population and Development [...]

Rwanda: The Impact of Women Legislators on Policy Outcomes Affecting Children and Families

Elizabeth Powley

Less than ten years after genocide, Rwanda became first among all nations in terms of women’s political [...]

Statement on Afghanistan from Recently Exiled Afghan Women Leaders and Human Rights Defenders

Statement on Afghanistan from recently exiled Afghan women leaders and human rights defenders

Strategies for Policymakers: Bringing Women into Government

Institute for Inclusive Security

The Strategies for Policymakers series condenses a [...]

Strengthening Women’s Roles in Parliaments

Susan Markham

NDI has supported democratic institutions and practices in every region of the world [...]

Supporting Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

Inter-Parliamentary Union & Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

While treaties and conventions have been signed and individual governments have taken steps [...]

Sustainable Representation of Women Through Gender Quotas: A Decade’s Experience in Morocco

Hanane Darhour & Drude Dahlerup

This article surveys the adoption and implementation of gender quotas in the Moroccan parliamentary [...]

Sustaining Parliamentary Action to Improve Maternal, Newborn and Child Health

Inter-Parliamentary Union

Maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) is now recognized as one of the most critical issues [...]

The Effect of Gender Quota Laws on the Election of Women: Lessons from Niger

Alice Kang

Between 2000 and 2012, ten African countries adopted candidate gender quota laws to improve women’s representation [...]

The Effect of Increased Women’s Representation in Parliament: The Case of Rwanda

Claire Devlin & Robert Elgie

There is an increasing amount of research about the effects of women’s representation in [...]

The Impact of Women in Public Office: Findings at a Glance

Center for the American Woman and Politics, Rutgers

Do women in office make a difference? The Center for the American Woman and Politics under a grant [...]

The Increasing Effectiveness of National Gender Quotas, 1990 - 2010

Pamela Paxton and Melanie M. Hughes

In a cross-national study of 145 countries, this article examines how effective gender quotas are in creating [...]

Tips for Advancing in Your Political Party

The National Democratic Institute

This guide provides a list of recommendations to women political leaders [...]

Translating Women’s Participation in Politics into Critical Actions and Influence

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

As a South-South forum, the Inter-Regional Seminar on Women’s Political Empowerment brought together [...]

UN Resolution on Women’s Political Participation

United Nations General Assembly

The 2011 UN General Assembly resolution on women’s political participation stresses its critical importance [...]

UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security

United Nations Security Council

Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security was adopted by the United Nations Security Council [...]

UN Women: Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

UN Women

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 1995 is a visionary agenda for the empowerment of women. [...]

Unleashing Potential for Progress: Campaign Schools for Women Candidates in Sierra Leone

The Campaign for Good Governance, The National Democratic Institute, & The UN Development Programme

This campaign toolkit for women political candidates aims to help equip women [...]

Why Women in Politics?

The National Democratic Institute

Despite comprising over 50 percent of the world’s population, women continue to be under-represented in the [...]

Why Women? Inclusive Security and Peaceful Societies

Institute for Inclusive Security

When women are substantively included in security and peace processes, especially when they are in positions [...]

Women Politicians, Gender Bias, and Policy-making in Rural India

Lori Beaman, Esther Duflo, Rohini Pande, & Petia Topalova

Relative to their population share, women are underrepresented in political leadership [...]

Women and Conflict in Afghanistan

International Crisis Group

In light of Afghanistan’s security transition, Afghan women, including parliamentarians [...]

Women and the Right to Adequate Housing

Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

The right to adequate housing is clearly recognized in international human rights law [...]

Women in Politics: Evidence of Legislative Change

Stephanie Froimovich, Sue-Ann Foster, Midori Nozaki, Nancy Leeds, Anna Keegan, & Neha Kaul Mehra

Across the globe, an increasing number of women are getting elected to national government. [...]

Women's Rights are Human Rights

Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Attaining equality between women and men and eliminating all forms of discrimination [...]

Women, Peace and Security: Practical Guidance on Using Law to Empower Women in Post-Conflict Systems

Julie L Arostegui & Veronica Eragu Bichetero

United Nations Security Council resolutions provide an international framework recognizing [...]

Women’s Fundraising Handbook

Global Fund for Women

All over the world, women join together to address the complicated issues of our age. [...]

Women’s Political Participation in Tunisia

Nihel Ben Amar

The collapse of the authoritarian regime in Tunisia in 2011 has given women new opportunities [...]

Workbook on Security: Practical Steps for Human Rights Defenders at Risk

Front Line Defenders

This workbook is designed to raise awareness about security issues and to help human rights defenders [...]