STRENGTHENING WOMEN’S
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

Women Running for Elected Office in Iraq:
Needs and Challenges
2020

Introduction

The Iraq Foundation is an independent nongovernmental organization working in Iraq since 2003. With support from the United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI) and technical assistance from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the Iraq Foundation is conducting a project to strengthen women’s participation in political life at the national and subnational levels, and to strengthen the capacity of women seeking public office. The project comprises two phases. The first phase, which ran from 1 October 2019 to 15 February 2020, conducted needs assessments and research aimed at documenting and understanding the challenges and unmet needs of women who run for elected public office. This information will serve as a foundation for strategies and action plans to provide women with training and tools to successfully run for elected office. Five governorates were examined in the first phase, namely Baghdad, Basra, Nenawa, Najaf and Salaheddin. They were selected because they provide a representative diversity in terms of social and political environments. Salaheddin and Nenawa are provinces in the areas liberated from Islamic State; Najaf is a province strongly influenced by the religious establishment; Basra is a southern province that has recently faced unrest and public dissatisfaction; and Baghdad represents the widest spectrum of social, cultural and economic diversity.

1. Research methodology

The research is based on the principles of participation, inclusiveness and gender sensitivity. The research adopted a mixed methods approach, including the collection and consolidation of qualitative and resulting quantitative data. While the qualitative approach investigated the perceptions and experiences of the interviewee’s, the quantitative approach focused on the numerical data derived from the rankings. All the findings from the desk review and from individual and group discussions were triangulated for consistency and validity.

2. Findings on society’s perspective on women’s political participation

The present section sets out the findings of the focus group discussions held in the five governorates. The discussions revolved around society’s perspective on the role of female candidates from several angles. The discussions were attended by various categories of participants: male and female media representatives of the media, academia, politics, religious groups, and governmental and non-governmental organizations.

3. Experienced and perceived challenges facing female candidates and enforcement mechanisms

The present section moves from the wider perspective of society to the meso level, namely the level of the group of women candidates and their involvement in society. It considers the challenges identified in the research framework, and presents the findings of the assessment of the challenges experienced by women, their unmet needs, and mechanisms they suggested for overcoming these challenges. For each challenge, women’s experiences and mechanisms adopted or suggested are cited, followed by the views expressed in the focus group discussions. Adopting the triangulation approach, the present section reveals the close similarity of the data from the two levels, the macro and the meso, or the close similarity between the challenges as actually faced by women candidates and those perceived by the focus group participants, thus confirming the validity of the findings.

4. Lessons learned and successful strategies and tools offered as advice from experienced female candidates

The present section presents useful experiences and success stories of women who managed to overcome some of the barriers mentioned in the analysis. It starts by presenting several important lessons learned, and then proceeds with presenting some useful strategies and tools that helped them during their election. To illustrate this, the present section refers also to the case studies of the two parliamentarians used in this assessment as evidence (annex II).

5. Needs to qualify for election and enhance candidate’s proficiency for political participation

The present section provides the outcome of the needs assessed during the interviews. The first part sets out the needs expressed by the members of the PCs in the five governorates, and the second part presents the needs of parliamentarians.

6. Recommendations for policies to address barriers and promote women’s participation and representation in elected public life

Table 12 portrays the policies that are required to support women candidates in combating various barriers, and promote their role in political participation and representation. It provides the suggestions for the various actors to address policy needs.

7. Concluding recommendations

Based on the findings of the present study and to ensure an enhanced and sustained women’s political participation, all identified barriers and suggested mechanisms need to be addressed in an integrated manner. Accordingly, the present section proposes the following recommendations.

Annexes