Sep

Women´s Empowerment: sharing challenges and good practices 0 Reply

From the local to the global level, women´s leadership and participation in society are restricted. Women are underrepresented at the political and economic level, as well as leading positions, whether in elected office, the civil service, the private sector or the Academia. This occurs despite their proven abilities as leaders and agents of change, and their right to participate equally in democratic governance. Women face several obstacles to participating in public life. Structural barriers through discriminatory laws and institutions still limit women´s options to run for office. Capacity gaps mean women are less likely than men to have the education, contacts and resources needed to become effective leaders. As the 2011 UN General Assembly resolution on women´s political participation notes, “Women in every part of the world continue to be largely marginalized from the political sphere, often as a result of discriminatory laws, practices, attitudes and gender stereotypes, low levels of education, lack of access to health care and the disproportionate effect of poverty on women”. Individual women have overcome these obstacles with great acclaim, and often to the benefit of society at large. But for women as a whole, the playing field needs to be level, opening opportunities for all[1].

The first session of this cycle will be focused on the challenges we confront as society in fighting violence against women with the objective of promoting good practices, as well as disseminate testimonials of women.

The first session will take place on 28 September from 16h to 17h30 (London time). Dialogue Cafes participating in this cycle are: Dialogue Café Cidade de Praia, Dialogue Café Évora, and Dialogue Café Lisboa.

[1] See more at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation#sthash.H1Nvscel.dpuf