Project profile — Strengthening Women's Organizations to Support Women's Political Leadership

• West Indies, regional (40.00%)
• North and Central America, regional (40.00%)
• South America, regional (20.00%)

• Democratic participation and civil society:
Democratic participation and civil society (15150) (70.00%)
Elections (15151) (10.00%)
Legislatures and political parties (15152) (20.00%)

• Gender equality (principal objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (principal objective)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (not targeted)
• Youth Issues (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)

This project aims to address the continued under-representation of women in leadership and decision-making roles in Latin America and the Caribbean, which limits their ability to fully exercise their human rights. The project addresses this issue by strengthening two non-partisan women’s leadership organizations in the region. The project also works to build the capacity of these two women’s organizations so that they can more effectively implement their programming, network with stakeholders, and provide knowledge and skills-developing services to emerging women leaders. The project also aims to position the organizations as sustainable, credible vehicles for advancing the participation of women in politics. Project activities include: (1) providing technical support on financial and fund management and diversification, establishing local chapters, strategic planning and results-based management; (2) coordinating leadership initiatives for young women, and outreach to socialise positive attitudes about women in leadership roles for school-aged girls and boys; (3) providing training to encourage and support electoral candidacies by women; and (4) sharing experiences and best practises with other women’s organizations, through the strengthening of communications and advocacy tools, and strategies.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved management and sustainability of intermediary organization and their local chapters in the region; and (2) enhanced delivery of activities by intermediary organisations and their local chapters, to promote and support enabling environments for women’s political leadership in the region.

Results achieved at the end of the project (March 2024): (1) supported 199 women’s organizations and networks that advance women’s rights and gender equality; (2) supported 451 civil society organizations that advocate for human rights or inclusive governance; (3) reached 3997 women and 385 men working to support women’s leadership in decision-making and governance; and (4) enabled 2 intermediary organizations supported by this project, Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL) and Foro Nacional de Mujeres de Partidos Políticos (FONAMUPP), to have permanent offices and operate with full-time staff. This enhanced institutional and staff capacities in financial management and oversight.

• Proactive disclosure