Strengthening women’s voices in public and private governance
Channel: IIED
Date: 2021-04-13

The term "governance" covers all the structures and processes aimed at making decisions for a collective entity. It plays a key role in all aspects of development. Women’s voices are consistently under-represented in governance bodies, whether they are public, such as local councils and land allocation committees, or private organisations, such as producer organisations and cooperatives. 

In this narrated presentation, researchers from the  International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) argue that good governance must involve the active participation of women in decision-making. But they found there is limited evidence of what works, and how, in promoting women’s voices across different sectors.

To identify the critical factors that enable local women to effectively participate in public and private governance, the researchers studied projects tackling land rights, climate finance and sustainable markets in three African countries: Tanzania, Ghana and Senegal.

The presenters are law, gender and development specialist Philippine Sutz, an associate in IIED's Natural Resources research group; Emilie Beauchamp, senior researcher in IIED's Strategy and Learning Group; and Anna Bolin, senior researcher in IIED's Natural Resources research group.