Ambassador Sauerbrey, first of all, thank you for the opportunity to speak before this distinguished audience on the issue of women and political participation.  The International Republican Institute (IRI) is proud to work alongside the American governmental institutions, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as nongovernmental organizations (NGO) towards the goal of increasing women’s political participation around the world. 

As you may know, IRI is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that works with political parties, governments, and individuals around the world to educate them on the practices of democracy.

In our work with political parties and governmental institutions, IRI emphasizes the inclusion of women in the political process and works to achieve, among other goals, a representation of women in the political sphere that more closely reflects the overall composition of society.  Our sister organization, National Democratic Institute (NDI), is also committed to promoting the equitable participation of women in politics and government.  In almost every country where IRI and NDI work, we have a women’s program, including in culturally conservative societies that traditionally have negative attitudes towards women’s participation in the public sphere.

IRI conducts activities around the world aimed at raising the general awareness of women about political issues in their respective countries.  For example, to increase women’s interest in the political process, IRI conducted civil education campaigns in both Georgia and Azerbaijan prior to municipal and parliamentary elections in those countries in 2003 and 2004.  This effort included seminars and roundtables aimed at educating the women on what political issues are at stake, on how they can influence the political process and even participate in the election themselves.

NDI also helps to educate and motivate women to participate in the political process.  In recognition that, although many formal legal obstacles to women's political inclusion have been lifted, women often do not know their rights or understand that they have a role to play in shaping the policies that affect their lives, NDI helps women's and citizens' groups become more effective advocates on issues of concern to them, and to be significant contributors to public policy making.

IRI and other U.S. government-funded programs further support political participation of women by providing the necessary training in campaign management, fund-raising, public speaking, parliamentary procedures and other skills to make politically active women more competitive candidates for public office.  IRI’s women’s training is designed to ensure that women develop the knowledge, skills, confidence, and ethical values needed to participate fully in the political process and to empower them to promote issues they determine are important. 

NDI enlists successful women politicians from both established and emerging democracies to teach women how to succeed in the political process – first and activist, then as leaders.  Many of the women who benefit from our seminars are active participants in the elections in their respective countries as campaign workers, advisors, election commissioners and candidates for public office.  In Ukraine, for example, more than 200 women who attended IRI women’s training programs have been elected to public office on the city, raion and national level.

To help eliminate gender discrimination, IRI works to ensure that electoral law and information on elections is available to women on an equal basis with men.  In fact, one of the projects IRI conducted prior to the historic 2004 presidential ballot in Ukraine was distribution of information on the election, on how to vote and to become involved in the process to rural women, who vote in greater numbers than men, yet traditionally have less access to information.

Because only 50 percent of rural women in Ukraine reported having enough information to vote, IRI distributed brochures on casting an informed vote, specifically targeting the female audience.  These materials laid out the issues at stake in the election, especially those of concern to women, in an accessible way that allowed these women to understand the current issues and their political rights and responsibilities.  Programs like this one not only further women’s ability to participate in the political process, but also contribute to the overall efficacy of voters in a society.

NDI also tailors its voter education programs to be appropriate to women, as many traditional voter trainings fail to reach women for reasons that include disproportionately high rates or illiteracy, social constrains and familial responsibilities.  It also designs its educational materials to increase women’s ability to understand their political rights and current political issues.

One important factor that contributes to the low proportion of women among political decision-makers at various levels is negative societal attitudes about women’s capacity to participate equally in the political process.  Women do not feel empowered and stay away from politics because of the social norms and stereotypes against them.  IRI, alongside other NGOs, is working to counter these, especially in culturally conservative societies, such as Azerbaijan. 

There, in preparation for parliamentary elections, IRI prepared and broadcast very successful public service announcements about the role of women in society and the necessity of political and economic empowerment among them, with the goal of increasing the number of female candidates in the election. Introducing messages that counter outdated worldviews about the ability of women to be a part of the political spectrum encourages women who were previously hesitant, due to existing stereotypes, to become active in politics.

It is the goal of U.S. government–funded programs around the world to strive toward achieving a balance in the public policy sphere that more accurately reflect the overall composition of society, where women compose more than 50 percent of the population.

In our work, we encourage political parties to ensure that women have a fair and equal opportunity to compete for all elective and appointed government positions; and have the right and ability to participate fully at all levels of decision-making in all policy-making structures.  In working with the political party leadership around the world, IRI encourages parties to actively seek qualified women candidates to achieve a representative government.

In Moldova, for example, as an essential element of our political party strengthening program, IRI encouraged the Christian Democratic People’s Party (CDPP) to promote women for the party list for the upcoming parliamentary elections.  The CDPP’s party list is now 50 percent women candidates.

In working with politically-minded women around the world, it has been our observation that women demonstrate considerable leadership in their communities and are usually very active in political organizations.  Again, in Moldova, the percentage of women members of the Social Democratic Party is higher than the male membership.  Naturally, this should be reflected in the structure of party leadership, so an important aspect of IRI’s work is to bring greater understanding to party leaders of the important role that women should play not only during the election campaign, but also in the policy making process.  NDI as well works with party leaders and members of governments to demonstrate the importance of recruiting women as voters, party workers and candidates, and to include women in the development of their organizational structures.

Another tribute to the activism of women in the political sphere, as well as one of the most successful women’s programs conducted by IRI, is our work with the League of Women Voters of St. Petersburg and the Women’s Leadership and Partnership NGO in Russia.

With the support of U.S. government-funded institutions, such as IRI and the National Endowment for Democracy, the League of Women Voters of St. Petersburg grew from an organization of women activists to a regional network that motivates women to involve themselves in the political process, helps them develop leadership skills, and strengthens their capacity to run for public offices.  The network provides better coordination between politically active Russian women and serves as an exchange for their experience and skills.

The League runs a Public Resource Center for the advocacy of voters' rights and publishes "The League of Women Voters" newsletter, which analyzes upcoming elections and candidates, and reports on violations of electoral law, the work of local legislators, and other issues.  The League provides training and assistance to women candidates to the State Duma and to local self-government bodies in preparation for elections held late in the year.  The League now includes affiliate organizations in 21 Russian cities and regions, each of whom maintain their own webpage as part of the League’s website.

Women’s political leadership development has long been a major focus of IRI’s activities in Russia.  With support from a USAID grant, IRI also works with the Women’s Leadership and Partnership organization.  This relatively new NGO was founded at the request of 50 Russian NGOs that participated in an IRI women’s conference in March 2002.  It works toward promoting democratic principles and strengthening civil society in Russia through political education and consultancy services to women activists of various NGOs.

Another important goal of American government institutions and NGOs is to achieve a greater representation of women on all levels of the political spectrum, including national and ministerial levels of government, where women are traditionally largely underrepresented.  This is a great challenge in many countries; however, positive changes are achieved overtime.

Recently, in Ukraine, where IRI has been conducting women’s trainings since 1994, a woman, the leader of a political party Motherland and member of President Yushchenko’s coalition Yulia Tymoshenko, has recently been appointed and confirmed by Ukrainian parliament with large majority as the Prime Minister of Ukraine.

Female members of Ms. Tymoshenko’s party have previously benefited from the U.S. government-funded training conducted by IRI.  This is a very significant breakthrough towards furthering an equal status for women, an important step for Ukraine and for the region.  Yulia Tymoshenko became the first female prime minister in the Commonwealth of Independent States countries.

Her appointment also represents an important aspect of Ukraine’s transformation towards the truly democratic European state where men and women have equal opportunities.  Often, once women gain elected office, they are challenged by unfamiliar procedures and an unwelcome environment.  They find their effectiveness as legislators limited by being marginalized, assigned to work on the so called "women's issues," and viewed as tokens within the political establishment.

NDI provides these leaders with substantive skills in areas such as computer expertise, bill drafting, legislative procedures and comparative political systems.  This increases their standing with both their colleagues and constituents and makes them more effective legislators.  NDI also has helped organize Women's Caucuses in a number of parliaments around the world.  These networks provide a much needed venue in which women can come together across party lines, and have the added benefit of helping to ensure that issues of concern to women are addressed on the legislative agenda.

In conclusion, the U.S. government – funded efforts to promote the political participation of women around the world are having a considerable impact on the ability of women to be a part of the political process in their respective countries – be that by casting an informed vote or by being a representative in various levels of their governments.

Women are given the necessary knowledge and skills for running campaigns, fundraising and public speaking to make them more competitive candidates, while the U.S. – funded programs also work towards changing the attitudes in culturally conservative societies towards making women’s participation more acceptable and welcomed.

Despite these efforts, we all know that discrimination still exists, and that women in many countries still lack equal opportunity to take part in the conduct of public affairs.  And IRI will continue to work alongside other NGOs and U.S. government institutions towards achieving proportional representation of women in the political sphere around the world.

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