Empowering women in politics discussed at international forum co-organized by OSCE/ODIHR in Budapest

Women’s full and equal political participation, the role of political parties and the contribution of the women’s movement to women’s political empowerment were the focus of discussions during the International Forum on Women’s Political Empowerment in Budapest on 7 September 2017.
The Forum was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Hungarian Women’s Lobby, the Embassy of Finland in Budapest and the Corvinus University of Budapest, in co-operation with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Embassy of Estonia in Vienna. Over 20 Hungarian and international speakers contributed to the discussion, which was attended by more than 200 participants, including politicians, civil servants, gender equality advocates and representatives of civil society, academia and youth organizations, as well as students.
“Increasing women’s influence in political life and decision-making processes will contribute to building stronger democracies,” said Tiina Kukkamaa-Bah, Chief of the ODIHR Democratic Governance and Gender Unit. “Co-operation between democratic institutions and women’s civil society organizations is crucial to achieving this aim.”
The Forum provided an occasion to discuss good practices and successful initiatives from different OSCE participating States for empowering women.
"The lack of equal representation of women in politics is a long-standing challenge in the Hungarian democratic system,” said Réka Sáfrány, chair of Hungarian Women's Lobby. “We call on political parties to take concrete steps to promote equal representation for women, as well as to incorporate gender equality and women's rights issues in their party programmes.”
Monika Dunai, member of the Hungarian parliament, said: "Hungary is committed to the political and social empowerment of women. We are building a family-friendly country. An integral part of this is providing an economic, legislative and institutional environment that promotes women’s advancement in all spheres of life."
The Forum was held as part of ODIHR’s programme on advancing women’s political participation in the OSCE region.