Webinar
WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP & ELECTION CANDIDATE DIALOGUE: Part 2 – Strategies for Running a Winning Campaign
Panel:
- Honourable Emmalin Pierre MP – Minister of Education, Human Resource Development, and Religious Affairs, Grenada.
- Joanne Massiah LL.B – Political Leader Democratic National Alliance, Antigua and Barbuda and CIWiL Board Member.
Moderator:
- Honourable Hazel Brandy-Williams – Minister of Gender Affairs and Health, Nevis Island Administration
Introduction: Increasing women’s leadership is important to the Caribbean region as it not only promotes gender equality but it also facilitates sustainable development by promoting diversity, inclusion and good governance. Thus, ensuring women’s and men’s equal participation in governance processes and the decisions that affect their lives are vital for achieving inclusive and effective governance. However, despite some progress, globally women remain under-represented in all aspects of political life.[1] The goal of UN Sustainable Goal 5 is to Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. The target 5.5 further defines “to ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life”. [2]
CIWiL works to increase the participation of women in leadership and decision-making through training and mentorship. To facilitate this shift, it is critical to strengthen the understanding of how and why gender is crucial for good governance and government. The need for greater inclusiveness in governance is widely agreed; it ensures equality, promotes balanced perspectives and enables inclusive approaches to policy making and service delivery.
Background: Regionally, there has been increased women’s representation in politics, but at a slower rate than representation by our male counterparts. The Islands of Dominica, Guyana, St. Lucia, Bermuda, Jamaica and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago have been able to elect female head of states over the course of women’s involvement in politics in the Caribbean. But the slow growth of women politicians domestically and regionally can be attributed to some of the following challenges:
- Political Participation: A large percentage of political parties are controlled by men exclusively and women are primarily used as tools for mobilizing votes from the female populace leaving the decision-making of political candidates to men. Often, when women rise to the helm of political parties it is a clear and popular view of who is better suited and qualified to hold the controlling position if the political party must emerge victorious.
- Ideological Factors: A Patriarchy system of a male dominated structure, shaped by the ideological stereotypes of a women’s place being in the home, still continue to mar the level of women’s political participation regionally. Often, women must be thick skinned to venture into the political arena because before the race has begun, she is reminded personally as well as by media influence as we say in local parlance: “but where is she going?”; a subtle reminder that perhaps she may be embarking on a role not suited for her. Despite these ideological views, women continue to enter the political arena without trepidation making strides to close the gender disparity in politics.
- Socio-cultural Factors: Predetermined social roles assigned to women complicate and limit the time women can dedicate to participate in politics when trying to balance our dual roles as homemaker and our public life as a political representative. Often, our role is compounded by the constant negative images and views of inferiority to that of our male counterparts which make many women reluctant to enter the political arena.
- Economic Factors: With a significant, commercialized twist to party politics, more and more money is needed to participate in politics and often women with the drive, determination and dedication to enter the political arena lack access to the financial resources needed to start or join political parties, or do not belong to certain social circles to garner the much needed financial contributions. Regionally, many women advance in politics based on their families’ economic standing in society. With more women being educated and having access to personal funds and the ability to obtain the necessary finances, this challenge is surmountable as a barrier to women’s advancement in politics regionally.[3]
In light of the holding of National Elections across the region, and noting the limitations of COVID 19, CIWiL is hosting this a webinar session to engage women who have themselves been previous candidates and focus on providing information to candidates and their support teams as they continue preparations for participation in the political process.
Objectives:
The webinar is proposed to meet the following objectives:
- To disseminate information on successful political campaigning strategies for female candidates and their support teams.
- To generate awareness and highlight key steps in preparing for and strategies for running an effective campaign.
- To highlight information on key Election Day and Post-Election Day Activities.
- To identify opportunities for action and to influence positive outcomes for women and constituents.
References:
[1] Women’s equal political participation, See: https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/democratic-governance-and-peacebuilding/inclusive-political-processes/women-s-equal-political-participation/
[2] UN Sustainable Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, See: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/
[3] Women’s Participation in Politics: A View from the Caribbean by Hon. Ingrid A. Moses-Scatliffe, See: http://www.caribbeanelections.com/eDocs/articles/general/Women_in_Politics.pdf