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References on women and voter education

1. Encouraging women's participation through voter education in "One woman one vote: the gender politics of South African elections

In the South African Elections of 1994, voter education programs, conducted by both NGO's and political parties, proved to be necessary mechanisms for the outreach to women voters, especially in rural areas. Below is a summary of the of the article:

 

Goals of voter education programmes Educate voters about democracy Explain the secrecy of the ballot Teach citizens how to vote and motivate them to participate to the elections.

Measures taken to promote women's participation in the voter education programmes Recruitment of women trainers Organization of separate workshops with only women participants, so that women could voice their opinions and concerns without interruption by men.

Some of the techniques used in the workshops Staging voting exercises and rehearsal of the voting process to reduce intimidation Use of documentary films disseminated by means of mobile video units in rural areas Hiring theatre groups performing voter education play

Main critique Very few programmes explored in depths the correlation between the women's votes and their empowerment. In other words, few programmes focused on the concept of women's empowerment in the long-term

Authors: Julie Ballington, Glenda Fick, Sheila Meintjes and Mary Simons (eds.), EISA, Johannesburgh, 2002.
Countries: South Africa
Category: Article
Pages: 24

2. Women's participation: civic education and advocacy

The National Democratic Institute provides concrete worldwide examples on civic education and advocacy programs.

Authors: National Democratic Institute
URL: http://www.ndi.org/globalp/women/progrmasw/women_civiced_52001.asp
Countries: General
Category: Website
Pages: 4

3. The role of women’s organizations as Pressure/Lobby Groups in Enhancing Women’s Involvement in National Processes Leading up to Elections

Hon. Julianna Kantengwa describes the concerted efforts and achievements of women’s organizations and networks in Rwanda, which grouped in the Collectifs Pro-femmes Twese Hamwe (41 different associations), The Rwandan Women Leaders Caucus, The Forum for Rwanda Women Parliamentarians (FFRP), The National Council of Women, as well the Ministry of Gender and Women Promotion.

Author/s: Julianna Kantengwa
URL:http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/meetings/2004/CSW48Panel/csw48panel-kantengwa.pdf
Countries: Rwanda
Category: Statement prepared for the Commission on the Status of Women at its 48th Session
Pages: 7

4. Voter education. Zenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina

With 15 local trainers and 3 programme assistants IFES-Zenica directly reached 3,500 voters in six weeks through in-depth, voter education group discussions. To achieve this a special effort was made to develop its own educational materials including flash cards, poster, introduction brochure, and a voter guide. By the last week of the campaign three TV spots and three radio spots were also produced and aired on most media outlets in central Bosnia. In addition to more than 300 voter sessions, this project supported 24 refugee reading centers via limited purchase of local newspapers and the distribution of election materials. A separate project to reach families of 5,600 school children was conducted through the use of a questionnaire distributed through eleven schools in the Zenica area.

Author/s: The International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), 1996
URL: http://www.ifes.org/reg_activities/reports/execsum/zenve96.htm
Countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina
Category: Article
Pages: 1

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