DRC Women Running for Office with Help from Global Women’s Network

iKNOW Politics, an online network dedicated to the advancement of women in politics around the world, has come to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It’s a country where women are significantly underrepresented politically and where, as the nation prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections next month, hundreds of women turned out to learn how the online network could help them build successful candidacies.

More than 250 women leaders, candidates, activists and representatives of women’s organizations came together for a Sept. 20 launch event that was followed by a week-long campaign school for 100 women planning to run in elections Nov. 28. During the last polls, held in 2006, fewer than 1,100 of 9,000 candidates for parliament were women. More women are expected to run this time.

iKNOW Politics, the International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics, has nearly 11,000 members around the world. Participants can post information to the site, ask questions of the network’s 70 experts from 30 countries and take part in e-discussions on a variety of political topics. On average, the website attracts 15,500 visits per month. In operation since 2007, iKNOW Politics operates in Arabic, English, French and Spanish. It is a joint venture of NDI, International IDEA, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women.

At the launch event, the Congolese minister for women and families, Marie-Ange Lukiana, called on the women to take their place in the country’s political life. “In this campaign, we do not want to see any woman attacking one another,” she said to loud applause.

Several women leaders spoke about their experiences in politics, including party leaders Marguerite Lusamba Thatcher, president of the Rally of Conciliatory Democrats (Rassemblement des démocrates conciliants, RADECO), and Jacqueline Bisimwa, president of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs (l’Association des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises, ASSOFE). Thatcher, who was a presidential candidate in the 2006 elections, will run for office in November.

Among those speaking at the event were Nick Rene Hartmann, UNDP resident director; Francoise Ngendahayo Kayiramirwa, UN Women resident director; and Anita Vandenbeld, NDI resident director. Vandenbeld, who left her position as iKNOW Politics global manager in 2010 to run for parliament in Canada, told the audience, “It was women around the world, especially African women, who gave me the courage to run for office myself, and now it is my turn to encourage you.”

Mariam Diallo, Sub-Saharan Africa coordinator for iKNOW Politics, gave a tutorial on how to use the iKNOW Politics website, including the online library and discussion circle. During candidate school, women practiced using the website. Other topics included the use of social media and the Internet for political campaigning, how to manage and plan an election campaign, and political communications.

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Published Oct. 20, 2011