A widespread perception among Nigerians is that a vote for a woman is wasted as she cannot win or should not lead—a perception that hampers women from rising in the ranks within parties and from winning elected office. These negative stereotypes about women's political participation exist partly because the information sources that Nigerians trust most, like community leaders or journalists, do not challenge these views and instead negatively portray women in public life.

Lebanon is the oldest democracy in the Middle East, granting women the right to vote and run for office in 1953. So why, more than six decades later, does Lebanon have so few women in its parliament? According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Lebanon ranks 185 out of 193 countries surveyed with only 3 percent of women in its 128-seat parliament. This low rate is not for lack of qualified women. Women now account for more than half of university graduates in Lebanon and can be found in senior level positions in the private sector, civil society, and academic institutions.

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) will award its 2017 Madeleine K. Albright Grant to Women Act for Living Together (WALT), a non-profit organization supporting the rights of women and children in the Central African Republic (CAR). Established in 2013 by a group of Muslim and Christian women under the slogan “better together,” WALT heroically championed peace, social cohesion and reconciliation in the face of extreme unrest and violence.

In Cambodia, women continue to be underrepresented in politics. Only three of 29 cabinet ministers are women, and there are no women provincial governors. Women make up just 20 percent of National Assembly members— though a higher proportion than many countries, it is still below the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. At the local level, only 18 percent of commune councilors are women.

Six years of conflict have taken a tremendous toll on the Syrian people, particularly women and girls. Not only is sexual violence used as a weapon of war, but the conflict has exacerbated many forms of violence against women and girls, from rape and sexual assault to forced and early marriages. Most communities have few resources to support survivors, with little medical or psychosocial care equipped to meet their needs, limited or non-existent judiciary and law enforcement institutions to pursue cases, a culture of impunity, and persistent stigmatization of survivors.

Women in Somalia continue to face significant obstacles that limit their political participation. Along with institutional and financial constraints that prevent women from running for office, women also face technical capacity challenges and other barriers including the central role of clan-based power in the electoral process. This central role of clan-based power traditionally opposed women’s political participation and inclusion in decision-making and heightened the harassment and intimidation women candidates faced by their male counterparts and traditional elders.

On March 20, NDI kicked off its fifth Week of Women (WoW), an annual event held in Kosovo to draw attention to the need for more women in politics, provide training and networking opportunities for women leaders, and foster institutional support to promote women within parties and within the political process more broadly.

In Guatemala, women are underrepresented in politics and face significant barriers to entry in the political arena, including discrimination and violence. Although women comprise 51 percent of the population, they only hold 15 percent, or 24 out of 158, of the seats in congress. To reduce obstacles and increase political participation, NDI trains women candidates and recently elected women to build skills to effectively govern and advocate for initiatives that are beneficial to all women.