Women in Latin America and the Caribbean remain under-represented in positions of political decision-making. This persistent manifestation of gender inequality limits women’s ability to exercise their human rights and to shape decisions that affect their lives. ParlAmericas has launched a project to address this imbalance with the Caribbean Institute for Women in Leadership (CIWiL) and the National Forum of Women in Political Parties (FONAMUPP) in Panama. The project aims to strengthen the sustainability of women’s organizations and their delivery of programming, including with national parliaments, to build environments that enable women’s political leadership.

Project activities include:

• workshops to encourage and support electoral candidacies by women;
• leadership initiatives with young women;
• the facilitation of knowledge exchanges and meetings; and
• the development of communications, advocacy, and fundraising tools and systems for the sustainability of activities beyond the project’s duration.

This project builds on the successes of ParlAmericas’ Parliamentary Network for Gender Equality and the Open Parliament Network in promoting civil society participation and gender mainstreaming across legislative work. Parliaments are critical partners in this work. The project will also coordinate with gender bureaus, regional and local civil society organizations, and fellow members of the Inter-American Task Force on Women’s Empowerment and Leadership.

This project is being undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada.