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IDRC - Canada's International
Development Research Centre
Women's Rights & Citizenship
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Women Gaining Voice — Political Representation and Participation in Decentralized Systems |
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Photo: Curt Carnemark/World Bank
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Over the last two decades, decentralization has been changing government around the globe.
Reforms have granted subnational authorities such as municipalities more autonomy and responsibility in areas that include water and sanitation, health, education, and local economic development. Often, these reforms are linked to new forms of political representation and participation — local elections, participatory budgeting, village development committees, and citizen oversight mechanisms — intended to make local government more accessible, accountable, and responsive.
Decentralization has sometimes been presented as a magic bullet for both development and democracy. Since nearly everyone, from world leaders to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to donors, agrees that development and democracy both fail unless women are included on an equal footing with men, successful decentralization should make government more accessible, accountable, and responsive to women.
But does it? Since 2004, 13 research teams in South Asia, sub-Saharan
Africa, and Latin America, supported by theWomen’s Rights and Citizenship
program of
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