Afghan women candidates speak at a pre-election rally in Kabul.

Where women have gained a political voice around the world, there have been tangible gains for democracy, including greater responsiveness to citizen needs, increased cooperation across party and ethnic lines, and more sustainable peace.

In places as diverse as Timor-Leste, Croatia, Morocco, Rwanda and South Africa, an increase in the number of female lawmakers has led to legislation dealing with discrimination, domestic violence, family codes, inheritance, and child support and protection. In Rwanda, for example, since assuming 56 percent of the seats in parliament in 2008, women have been responsible for forming the first cross-party caucus to work on controversial issues, such as land rights and food security.

“There is a growing recognition of the untapped capacity and talents of women and women’s leadership,” NDI President Kenneth Wollack said in congressional testimony last June. In the last 10 years, the rate of women’s representation in national parliaments globally has grown from 13.9 percent in 2000 to 19.1 percent in 2010.

This move toward more women’s participation was evident in several elections in 2010. The number of Lebanese women elected to municipal offices increased from 201 in 2004 to 530 in 2010. The increase was particularly noteworthy because it came without the help of a quota law, a technique used in a number of countries in the Middle East and elsewhere to ensure a specified number of seats for women.

In Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Jordan women won parliamentary seats with the help of new quota laws; but in Afghanistan and Jordan two additional women were elected in their own right outside the quota. In Afghanistan, more than 60 percent of the 406 women candidates, including more than a third of the 69 women who won, attended campaign schools that NDI organized with a curriculum tailored to address challenges particular to Afghan women. In Jordan, 12 of the 13 women who won participated in NDI’s candidate training program.

NDI leadership training session for women activists in Kyrgyzstan

Though quotas continue to be the most effective means for jumpstarting women’s representation, studies conducted by NDI indicate that quotas by themselves have not removed the obstacles that many women confront. Getting a quota law passed is an important step, but ensuring that it is carried out is sometimes the real hurdle.

“What does it matter if there is a quota in so many countries if we’re not reaching that number?” said Susan Markham, NDI’s director of women’s political participation. “In many countries, it’s on the books, it’s a law, but the number of women nominated by their political parties does not reach the quota level or we would have a much higher percentage of women in office.”

In Kenya, where a newly-passed constitution stipulates that 30 percent of all government leadership – not just elected officials – must be women, the first board that was created to help implement the constitution did not meet the 30 percent mark.

The legislature in the West African country of Burkina Faso passed a gender quota law in 2009 requiring that 30 percent of the candidates on political party lists be women. It held the promise of new opportunities for Burkinabe women, traditionally marginalized politically. But since the law was enacted, there has been little progress on implementing it in time for local and legislative elections to be held in 2011 and 2012, respectively. NDI helped establish the Coalition for the Implementation of the Quota Law – a group composed of eight Burkinabe civil society organizations and three political parties – which has evaluated the technical challenges of applying the quota law in the upcoming elections and produced recommendations on how to address them.

Helping parties understand the benefits of including women is one key to implementation, Markham said. “If your party gets more votes, and thus more seats, with women, then male members of the party don’t have to lose their seats,” she said.

Political parties’ reluctance to include women, coupled with the opportunities parties afford women when they do embrace equity, leads Markham to characterize parties simultaneously as “the greatest entry point and barrier to women in politics.”

NDI organized training programs on communication and political strategy for potential women candidates in Guatemala.

NDI’s political party programs focus on building the skills and knowledge of women party activists, as well as working with party leaders to recognize the value of women as voters, party leaders and candidates. NDI’s Win with Women Global Initiative, convened in 2003 by NDI Chairman Madeleine K. Albright, has focused exclusively on internal political party reforms that strengthen women’s roles.

The Institute also continues to work with women once they’ve gained office. NDI supports the creation and development of parliamentary caucuses that have helped harness the power of women legislators to increase their influence, add a gender perspective to policy development and address priority issues for gender equality through legislation. These groups often present a unique opportunity within legislatures for multi-party debate, giving women’s caucuses the ability to have a larger role in legislative, civic and political processes.

Many parliamentary caucuses also work to make women better legislators and political leaders by conducting training programs and other activities that help round out their knowledge and skills. Some caucuses include women’s branches or wings within political parties that can impact how parties operate and the policies they advocate. Other broader caucuses include party activists, elected women and leaders from civil society organizations who work together to advocate for change.

This story was originally published in the Spring 2011 edition of NDI Reports. You can read the entire newsletter here: www.ndi.org/NDI-Reports-Spring-2011/index.html. Please visit NDI’s complete newsletter archive at www.ndi.org/newsletter_archive to read newsletters dating back to 1987.