Women in Political Parties Index

One of the Human Rights Committee’s priority areas is women’s political empowerment. As a part of the work done within the field of women’s political empowerment, LI has created a first of its kind barometer and an associated inclusivity handbook. The barometer will allow all LI member parties the opportunity to measure their parties Women in Political Parties (WIPP) Index, i.e. the level of diversity and inclusivity within their party. The parties will then, with the help of the Inclusivity Handbook, have a chance to boost the inclusivity and diversity within their party structures. The WIPP is a first-of-its-kind self-assessment tool to help LI members develop a framework within their parties to advance the presence of women in politics.

At the 202nd Executive Committee in London, UK, LI consultant Tamara Dancheva presented the index survey to the membership. Inspirational keynote speeches on their experiences of being treated differently as women in politics and the crucial importance of addressing this issue for women all over the world were delivered by Norwegian Minister for Equality Trine Skei Grande (Venstre, Norway) and MEP Naomi Long (Alliance Party, UK).

During the autumn of 2019, the WIPP Index was tested by six LI member parties who gave the Secretariat feedback on the product. The parties testing the index are from Europe, Asia, and Africa. In addition to being presented to the Secretariat, the testing parties D66 (Netherlands), Democratic Alliance (South Africa), and Centerpartiet (Sweden) shared their feedback with the LI membership in a discussion at the 203rd Executive Committee in Fès, Morocco.

Finalising the software at the end of 2019, the Index will be ready for rollout to the entire LI membership in early 2020.

In providing these results, Liberal International's objective is to assist our member parties in promoting greater participation of women in politics, which research shows benefits political parties, countries, and government.