Press
Looking to Rwanda for Lessons on Gender Equality
This article was originally published by The Huffington Post. The 2003 Rwandan Constitution included a quota providing for 30% reserved seats for women in all decision making bodies. In 2008 women filled the 30% quota and then gained another 26% of the seats in the legislature via the political party ballot, for a total of […]
Policy Brief
Ensuring Sudanese Women’s Inclusion in Elections: A Call to Action
Although we face many challenges, there is no shortage of Sudanese women who want to be involved. With the appropriate support from the international community, we can reach our common goal of helping guarantee free and fair elections and over time, transforming Sudan into a secure, democratic nation.
Policy Brief
Women’s Preparatory Conference Conclusions
Progress in meeting the Oslo priorities for women identified in the 2005 Oslo Donors Consortium has been slow. We would like to reaffirm the urgency and continued relevance of each of those priorities. We are particularly concerned about the persistence of extremely poor human development indicators in relation to women and girls’ literacy, maternal mortality, […]
Press
“Policy Placement” and Iraq: Women in Combat
This article was originally published by Huffington Post. Although the importance of women in national security is impossible to quantify, anecdotes like Team Lioness suggest that perhaps women bring an additional perspective to a situation — one that sees the extra value in social networks and relationships, one that empathizes with the human need to […]
Research
Demonstrating Legislative Leadership: The Introduction of Rwanda’s Gender-Based Violence Bill
In August 2006, members of Rwanda’s Chamber of Deputies debated the landmark “Draft Law on Prevention, Protection and Punishment of Any Gender Based Violence.” Importantly, the bill—developed by Rwanda’s Forum of Rwandan Women Parliamentarians (FFRP) over a two-year process of public involvement—was the first substantive piece of legislation developed by the legislature since its election […]
Research
Defending Children’s Rights: The Legislative Priorities of Rwandan Women Parliamentarians
Inclusion of women in national legislatures has had positive policy outcomes for children and families. Global analyses, and the Rwanda case in particular, indicate that female legislators are more likely to prioritize issues such as family health and welfare, and the defense of children’s rights. This publication draws on extensive interviews with parliamentarians and others, […]
Research
Engendering Rwanda’s Decentralization: Supporting Women Candidates for Local Office
In May 2003 Rwanda ratified a constitution that established a 30 percent quota for women’s participation in all “decision-making organs.” Quotas like this are of critical importance for increasing women’s representation in local government. The interpretation of those quotas, however, is equally important. This publication presents a review of the literature on women and local […]
Press
Eight Courageous Women Who Are Making You Safer
This article was originally published by Foreign Policy. This morning, I attended the 2nd Annual International Woman of Courage Awards, presented by Condoleezza Rice and Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky in honor of Saturday’s International Women’s Day. Out of the 95 women worldwide who received the honor, eight were invited to personally accept the award […]
Press
Women of the World
This article was originally published by The Boston Globe. Swanee Hunt moderates a discussion at Harvard tonight called “Engendering Peace: Security Through an Inclusive Lens.” The panel will feature women working for peace who hail from Colombia, Haiti, Israel, Palestine, Liberia, and Afghanistan. Hunt also her own opinions on the topic. She’s not only the […]
Policy Brief
Strengthening Post-Conflict Legislatures
Productive, strong legislatures are central to healthy democracies in post-conflict countries, fostering political pluralism and acting as a check on the executive branch. Yet too often, following a conflict, parliaments are weakened by internal divisiveness, the limited experience and skill of members, staffing shortages, and an overwhelming legislative agenda. Increasing women’s representation in government can […]
