Citizens’ Education and Mobilization for Women’s Voter Registration and Participation in Electoral Processes

Project

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Citizens’ Education and Mobilization for Women’s Voter Registration and Participation in Electoral Processes
Description
Women's voter registration is particularly low in Pakistan, and has consistently declined in comparison to men's registration. A total of 12.49 million eligible women are still not registered as voters. Considering the gravity of the issues surrounding women's underregistration, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had made efforts to create a conducive environment for women voters' registration. The ECP has publicly emphasized the need for women voters' registration and explicitly encouraged political parties to take up the issue. More significantly, the ECP had launched an unprecedented “Women National Identity Card (NIC) and Voter Registration Campaign” to minimize the gender-gap on the electoral rolls ahead of 2018 General Elections yielding significant results with registration of 4.3 million women. The ECP's campaign strategy had adopted the methodology proposed by Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability – Free and Fair Election Network (TDEA-FAFEN) for the identification and facilitation of unregistered women. Under this strategy, the ECP had developed synergies with National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and civil society organizations comprising mainly of TDEA's partner organizations. According to the ECP there is still a deficit of 12.49 million women as compared to men on the electoral rolls. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as many as 2,094,390 women are missing. This issue of under-registration of women is symptomatic of the social, cultural and religious barriers that restrict women's electoral and political participation. TDEA through CVP's designed Grant Cycle-11 worked in 24 districts across Pakistan facilitating over 150,000 women in acquisition of NICs and as voters ahead of General Election (GE) 2018. Similarly, TDEA through United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) Strengthening Electoral and Legislative Processes (SELP) facilitated over 300,000 unregistered women. These interventions aimed at strengthening citizens' voice through sensitization and education for increasing women voter registration so that they are enabled to exercise their electoral rights. The right to vote and inclusive electoral processes are essential for electoral accountability and democratic participation. Grant Cycle-14 will continue the women NIC and voter registration work in KP (including ex-FATA agencies) ahead of the elections which are due in July 2019 and upcoming local government elections for enabling more women to effectively participate in the electoral process. More inclusive elections will contribute to public confidence in the legitimacy of elected governments. Such efforts will be complemented by voter information and education activities before the elections to provincial assembly seats in formerly FATA agencies, and local government elections. The field activities will be complemented by a multi-media campaign through which CVP intends to reach up to five million citizens for highlighting the issue of under-registration of women.
StartDate
01/01/2019
EndDate
11/30/2019
WorkingArea
District Abbottabad, KP Pakistan
DonarName
TDEA-USAID
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Citizens’ Education and Mobilization for Women’s Voter Registration and Participation in Electoral Processes

Women's voter registration is particularly low in Pakistan, and has consistently declined in comparison to men's registration. A total of 12.49 million eligible women are still not registered as voters. Considering the gravity of the issues surrounding women's underregistration, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had made efforts to create a conducive environment for women voters' registration. The ECP has publicly emphasized the need for women voters' registration and explicitly encouraged political parties to take up the issue. More significantly, the ECP had launched an unprecedented “Women National Identity Card (NIC) and Voter Registration Campaign” to minimize the gender-gap on the electoral rolls ahead of 2018 General Elections yielding significant results with registration of 4.3 million women. The ECP's campaign strategy had adopted the methodology proposed by Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability – Free and Fair Election Network (TDEA-FAFEN) for the identification and facilitation of unregistered women. Under this strategy, the ECP had developed synergies with National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and civil society organizations comprising mainly of TDEA's partner organizations. According to the ECP there is still a deficit of 12.49 million women as compared to men on the electoral rolls. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as many as 2,094,390 women are missing. This issue of under-registration of women is symptomatic of the social, cultural and religious barriers that restrict women's electoral and political participation. TDEA through CVP's designed Grant Cycle-11 worked in 24 districts across Pakistan facilitating over 150,000 women in acquisition of NICs and as voters ahead of General Election (GE) 2018. Similarly, TDEA through United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) Strengthening Electoral and Legislative Processes (SELP) facilitated over 300,000 unregistered women. These interventions aimed at strengthening citizens' voice through sensitization and education for increasing women voter registration so that they are enabled to exercise their electoral rights. The right to vote and inclusive electoral processes are essential for electoral accountability and democratic participation. Grant Cycle-14 will continue the women NIC and voter registration work in KP (including ex-FATA agencies) ahead of the elections which are due in July 2019 and upcoming local government elections for enabling more women to effectively participate in the electoral process. More inclusive elections will contribute to public confidence in the legitimacy of elected governments. Such efforts will be complemented by voter information and education activities before the elections to provincial assembly seats in formerly FATA agencies, and local government elections. The field activities will be complemented by a multi-media campaign through which CVP intends to reach up to five million citizens for highlighting the issue of under-registration of women.



Working Area

District Abbottabad, KP Pakistan

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