UNDP commences work on helping to strengthen the role of women within political parties

July 23, 2020

From Women’s Leadership Training programme held in February 2020

UNDP Maldives is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and Goal 5 on Gender Equality remains a key focus of our work. We work with our partners to shape a future of equal participation for women in decision making bodies and the political process in Maldives. This is a necessary foundation for achieving inclusive, equitable and sustainable development for the country.

 

UNDP Maldives has been working with political parties to strengthen their women’s wings and create avenues for increased engagement of women in the political sphere. Under this initiative, earlier this year, we have provided training to female candidates contesting for Local Council and Women’s Development Committees.

 

Political parties play a key role in determining the political participation and representation of women in the political sphere. At present, while women are represented at the grassroots level, they are largely absent from decision making bodies of the parties. The power rests upon political parties to recruit and select candidates for parliament and island councils.

 

We have now begun work on helping to strengthen the role of women within political parties through reframing internal structures and the activities conducted by the parties. We would like to request political parties that are registered with the Elections Commission who are interested to undertake this project, to send us an email at junaina.faisal@undp.org

 

anhenVERIN
Wife. Mother. Atoll Councilor. Meet Nazla who’s shaping the future of Shaviyani Atoll as the only female member in the Council. Currently women constitute only 5% of councilors in Maldives. We’d love to see more women like Nazla leading the way in Atoll and Island Councils.

Gender Equality Through Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions
As part of our #anhenVERIN campaign and monthly International Womens Day celebrations, we asked people in the development field in how Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is important in achieving gender equality in their opinion.