Accra, International IDEA West Africa Office, 28 September 2006

Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and IDEA Board Chairperson Lena Hjelm-Wallén at the launch of the IDEA Handbook “Women in Parliament – Beyond Numbers” in Monrovia, Liberia on September 28 2006.
Photo: Theo Dowetin/IDEA

On the occasion of the release of its Handbook Women in Parliament – Beyond Numbers, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Liberia hosted today a seminar on the above topic in Monrovia, Liberia.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia, who wrote the foreword to the Handbook, delivered the keynote address at the seminar. Lena Hjelm-Wallén, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden and Chairperson of IDEA Board, chaired the panel discussion.

The participants at this event, including members of the Liberian government, parliamentarians from Liberia, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria as well as representatives from the ECOWAS Parliament and the Pan African Parliament, discussed the key findings of the Handbook, including:

• What are the obstacles women confront when entering parliament?
  
• What are the solutions to overcome these obstacles?
  
• What strategies are designed for women to influence politics once they are elected to parliament, an institution which is traditionally male dominated? 

IDEA Board Chairperson Lena Hjelm-Wallén presents IDEA's Handbook on Women in Parliament
Photo: Theo Dowetin/IDEA

IDEA's chairperson of the Board, Lena Hjelm-Wallén addressed the audience and the Liberian President by stressing the importance of political parties in the process of supporting women who are aspiring to assume political posts:

"The role of Political Parties in selecting and promoting women is a decisive one when deciding whom to nominate for candidacy to the national elections.”

Dr Abdalla Hamdok, Director of IDEA's Africa and Middle East Programme stated:

"The choice of Liberia as the host country for this event is of great symbolic value. The election of Her Excellency, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as the first woman president on the African continent is a clear manifestation that the global effort towards gender equality is gradually, but steadily yielding dividends that we can all be proud of."

The President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, then addressed the audience referring to the ongoing struggle of women getting into politics:

"These fundamental and demonstrable games not withstanding, remain in Liberia and other parts of the world and continue to remain on the fringes of governance structures...We are aware as a result of our fortitude and struggle (in Liberia) there are fortresses of political resistance to this new force of women leadership but we are certain that the wind of change that has hit the west coast of Africa will blow strongly."

The IDEA Handbook provides an overview of ways that women can pursue to get into parliament and make a meaningful contribution to political life.

The Handbook includes case studies from Argentina, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, France, Indonesia, Rwanda, South Africa and Sweden. It also comprises a case study on the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), as well as regional overviews from the Arab World, Latin America and South Asia.

The Handbook can be downloaded, free of charge at: http://www.idea.int/publications/wip2/index.cfm To order hard copies, send an email to publications@idea.int

For more information on International IDEA’s work on gender and democracy, visit: http://www.idea.int/gender/index.cfm

Contact: Bénédicte Walter, b.walter@idea.int