iKNOW Politics: Knowledge for Women in Politics

The Minister with Tristanti Mitayani, the Regional Coordinator for iKNOW Politics Asia Pasific. 

Mrs Eni Khairani, DPD Member, Mrs Ida Fauziyah, DPR member, and Irman Lanti, UNDP Programme Manager, as panelists for the discussion  

On May 15 2010, the UNDP Deepening Democracy cluster supported the launch of iKNOW Politics in Indonesia. The event, held at Borobudur Hotel, was opened by Mrs. Linda Agum Gumelar , Minister of Women Empowerment and the Protection of the Children, , and was attended by women representatives, various international agencies and other members of civil society.

iKNOW Politics is an online network that enables  women to take a greater role in politics. It began in 2007 and operates in English, French, Arabic, and Spanish. iKNOW Politics is a partnership project between the UNDP, the International IDEA, the Inter-parliamentary Union and the National Democratic Institute. In Indonesia, it is dedicated to the advancement of the roles of women politicians and parliamentarians.  

“We need to provide platforms and tools to enhance women’s roles in the Indonesian politics. I believe with the launch of iKNOW Politics, Indonesian women are given broader opportunity to take part and overcome the challenges in politics, especially in the parliament,” according to Mrs. Gumelar. The Indonesian parliament has  improved, with women now making up  18 percent of  the House of Representatives (DPR) and 26.5  percent of the House of Regional Representatives (DPD).  Despite the great news, Indonesian women still face many challenges in the patriarchal political realm.

 “Although there is an improvement of women representatives, there is still a need to put more women in the leadership position of the various house bodies,” said Ida Fauziyah, a DPR member.  “Currently, we only have a majority of men leaders in the house bodies. Women need to have more strategic roles,” she continued.

iKNOW Politics helps to resolve  the problem, by providing an online networking and communication tool between, among others, women parliamentarians in various countries. It provides information on the current status of gender mainstreaming in  parliament  and within political parties. It also has more than 3000 free resources such as skills and training manuals and sample legislation in the four languages.   “Women parliamentarians are encouraged to share their experience in the network, thus allowing others to learn from it. I believe women parliamentarians will find the site useful,” said Tristanti Mitayani, Regional Coordinator of iKNOW Politics Asia Pacific.

The iKNOW Politics portal is open to everyone and can be found at www.iknowpolitics.org.

The quick tips on how to use the iKNOW Politics website can be found in our publication section.

Anita Vandenbeld, Programme Manager for iKNOW Politics, together with Mrs Linda Agum Gumelar and Rizal Malik, UNDP Head of Governance Unit.