Women in Local Government – Can mentoring make a difference

In the framework of CLGF’s commitment to our supporting more women into local government, the ComWLG Network is organising a webinar on Women in Local Government – Can mentoring make a difference on 28 July 4pm CEST (Canadian, Caribbean, Africa and Europe CLGF members) & 29 July 10am CEST (Asia, Pacific, Africa and Europe CLGF members).

CLGF launched its Commonwealth Women in Local Government Network (ComWLG) in 2017 as part of the organisations efforts to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls (in-line with SDG 5).

Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has placed local government across the Commonwealth on the front line. It has been clear that countries with more women in decision-making positions have fared better than those with less diversity. However, the levels of women in government is, for the most significantly, below the Commonwealth Commitment to 30% of women in decision making in public life. Women face a number of challenges both entering into politics and advancing within parties and government structures. While there are numerous programmes in place to support the development of technical skills in local government, there is significantly less on offer supporting the building of soft leadership skills that are essential to advance in a political environment.

Mentoring is a clear way to support women in politics, both transferring knowledge and insight, as well as supporting the building of a personal network. CLGF recently commissioned a paper to look at a set of different mentoring programmes from across the Commonwealth and beyond to better understand what the key elements of a successful programme are and how best these can be fostered. The report Mentoring for Women’s Political Advancement and Leadership examines seven different mentoring programmes from (Canada, India, Dominica, Fiji, Uganda, Spain and the UK) and draws out principles, lessons and insights.

The webinar will provide an opportunity to share these lessons and hear from organisers and participants in these programmes on what the key elements are that can foster success both individually and institutionally.

To register for the event, please email info@clgf.org.uk prior to 23 July. The event will take place on Zoom and you will be provided a link to join the meeting following your registration.