At an NDI workshop for politically active women in Tirana, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha pledged to support a proposed gender quota law that would result in significant increases to the number of women holding elective office.

In Albania, a country with one of the lowest levels of women’s political participation in Europe, the law would more than quadruple the number of women members of parliament, from the current 10 to a required 42.

The year 2007 marked significant achievements for women in Jordanian politics, with seven women elected to the Lower House of Parliament and a record number of women elected to municipal councils across the country.

While women’s political participation has increased in Burkina Faso since the decentralization process began in 1998, there are still major cultural and structural barriers that must be overcome to ensure women’s effective participation in public life. Since 2005, NDI has supported women’s increased political participation in Burkina Faso through a Sida-funded program that has contributed to the election of 6,400 women local councilors (about one-third of the approximately 18,000 total local councilors) and enhanced the management skills of women councilors and mayors.