Cities are at the center of a tremendous global demographic shift. Today, more than half the  population lives in cities, and  by 2050, that number could increase to as much as two-thirds of humanity—a stunning change when compared to past demographic trends. Along with their population growth, cities are also growing in importance and stature worldwide.

“Women’s greater participation in politics is an indispensable condition for a country’s effective, democratic and stable development,” said Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili as he opened NDI’s Win with Women conference in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.

The December 2014 conference brought together Georgian political parties, government institutions and citizen groups to identify ways for women to get more involved in politics, particularly by pushing for mandatory gender quotas for the national parliament.

Historically, women in Pakistan have been involved in election campaigns, but very few have taken part in their party’s policy making process. That is changing through a Political Party Development Program (PPDP), that over the last four years has included 16,609 grassroots party members, of which 44 percent have been women.

“Every day I struggle against stereotypes. We need to take steps to dismantle these stereotypes about women’s participation in politics,” said Zorana Mihajlovic, deputy prime minister of the Republic of Serbia, as she opened NDI’s Regional Forum on Women’s Leadership in Belgrade last April. She was joined by the U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, Michael Kirby, and representatives of leading international bodies focused on women’s empowerment and gender equality.