Partyforumseasia: Globally, female representation in Parliaments stands at 21.9 percent, and at 19.0 percent in Asia, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world.htm). In a new white paper the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is looking into the common problem “that women wanting to run for office have less access to resources than men”. The excellent research can be downloaded for free at the IFES website with the following Link: Political Finance and Gender Equality

The paper is very specific on electoral systems and  financial regulations and their impact on campaign funding for women in a general perspective. The two concrete country studies, Tunisia and Yemen look less relevant for Southeast Asia at first glance, but provide a lot of insight nevertheless. Especially the Tunisian example shows that societies with a big gender gap in terms of political participation can improve rather fast if the political will is there. The white paper’s comparison of the MENA (Middle East North Africa) countries is interesting and cries for a similar study on Southeast Asia:

PS: Partyforumseasia’s book “Party Politics in Southeast Asia – Organization – Money – Influence” available at Amazon (link) is paying special attention to the gender attitudes in the parties.