Gender Equality in Urban Governance: The Need for Women Community Leaders

Women play a critical role not just in their homes and offices but also in the progress of the entire human race. While they have always held roles like those of scholars, writers, administrators, and reformers, women’s participation as community leaders in urban local governance is yet to achieve its targets.

This blog talks about gender balance in participatory governance, how it democratizes India’s progress, and how this balance can be attained.

What is the role of women community leaders in governance?

The United Nations defines governance as the exercise of administrative, economic, and political authority to manage the affairs of a country at all levels.

Women’s right to equal participation at all government levels is recognized in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. In India, women’s representation is mandated at one-third of the reservation, according to the 73^rd and 74^th Constitution Amendment Act.

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This means not just having women community leaders participate but also giving them equal opportunities to do so.

Despite this, according to a UN Women Working Paper, women hold close to 44 percent of elected seats in local deliberative bodies.

Here is why having women community leaders in urban local governance matters:

• Meaningful participation of women in urban local governance reduces the democratic deficit. Throughout our country’s political history, it has been proven that groups that are gender balanced make better decisions.

• Another critical benefit of having women leaders in participatory governance is that it helps in prioritize key areas of women’s needs on the agenda of the local government. Some of these important areas include child rights, feminine hygiene, and reproductive rights for women. This means that when you have more women in decision-making, the country gets better policies for children and women.

• Women community leaders help in localizing the SDGs. When the participatory models of women are replicated at hierarchical levels, the country stands a better chance of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

• Participatory governance has a direct impact on bringing about changes in laws, perceptions of people, and even social norms about

• Women in general are more sensitive about critical issues. They make unbiased decisions with an equally important practical approach.

• It works as a catalyst for improving women’s participation and agency everywhere.

How can we achieve a gender balance in governance?

While the reservation of seats for women in urban local governance has led to better participatory governance, merely focusing on the numbers is insufficient.

It is critical to pay heed to the quality of the participation of women and how responsive others are to hearing their voices in the decision-making process.

Women’s participation in governance is dependent on several factors, such as social and gender norms, the lack of adequate skill-building opportunities, and traditional perceptions that men make better leaders than women.

Despite reservations and existing structures to enable participatory governance, the relative inexperience of women and their unfamiliarity with governance norms puts them at a huge disadvantage.

Here are some ways in which the participation and role of women community leaders can be strengthened:

• Providing capacity-building training for women to improve their networking, advocacy, negotiation, and functional skills.

• Exhaustive training on their expected roles and responsibilities of their office also helps them in improving their effectiveness and confidence as governance members.

• Initiatives must be taken to connect women community leaders with their constituencies. This is critical for allowing them to hear and address the concerns of their community members, especially women.

• Offer them networking forums to help them connect with other women’s representatives. This offers a safe space for them to exchange ideas and strategies and helps build their confidence. Such forums provide a space for improving the art of public speaking and learning essential leadership skills, including community mobilization and office management.

Conclusion

When women community leaders are empowered socially and politically to participate in urban governance, society gains the most. Women’s participation is not just an important step towards democracy; it also has the potential to achieve new perspectives focused on diverse priorities.

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