Engaging Women and Youth in Peru
For a democracy to succeed, all voices must be heard. Participation in the political process cannot just be on a national level. Local involvement is a key ingredient to good governance and a pillar of strength in any democratic society. In Peru, IRI has worked with local partners CEDEPAS Norte and Ashanti Peru, to organize and host a series of advocacy workshops with women and youth civil society representatives in Cusco, La Libertad, and Puno.
For a democracy to succeed, all voices must be heard. Participation in the political process cannot just be on a national level. Local involvement is a key ingredient to good governance and a pillar of strength in any democratic society.
As IRI works to advance democracy worldwide in over 100 countries, we prioritize working with local partners to strengthen political participation and the democratic process in many communities across the globe.
In Peru, IRI has worked with local partners CEDEPAS Norte and Ashanti Peru, to organize and host a series of advocacy workshops with women and youth civil society representatives in Cusco, La Libertad, and Puno. The goal of these workshops is to advance their skills and knowledge and encourage them to actively engage in the political process.
In September of 2022, IRI hosted 16 workshops with 167 individuals (130 female, 37 male) before the local and regional elections in October 2022. IRI and local partners branded all activities with CSO representatives under the name “Ciudadanía Activa” which has created a sense of community and network among the participants in the three regions.
As a result of participation in IRI’s capacity building activities, youth and women civil society representatives from Cusco, La Libertad, and Puno, developed regional agendas with youth and women priorities specific to each region. Despite competing priorities and limited time, representatives consistently engaged in trainings and events, and as a result, constructively discussed and outlined clear priorities to highlight with newly elected officials in Peru.
In preparation for regional and municipal elections, IRI also worked with local trainers to host workshops in September and October 2022 for 57 women candidates running for various regional, departmental, and provincial positions. Of these candidates, 20 of them were under 29 years old. The workshops explored a variety of topics such as combating violence against women in politics, media training, digital campaign management, and campaign finance.
The goal was to increase knowledge and capacity to safely participate in electoral processes. Despite time constraints and competing priorities, representatives of 22 different parties and regional/local movements as well as independent candidates engaged consistency in trainings, and as a result, increased their knowledge on campaign finance, developing policy proposals, and digital media. Several of the candidates who participated led winning campaigns.
IRI looks forward to continuing its work with local partners in Peru and building on this success.
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IRI understands the importance of putting local communities at the heart of our work. Our ‘Local Spotlight’ stories share the impact of our work with communities and local partners.