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Bhutan Politics - Elections |
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Helping
Ensure Women, Youth and People with Disabilities participation in the Electoral
Process
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| UNDP,
through its project "Moving Forward on Gender: Empowerment and Protection",
is helping ensure the participation of women, youth and people with disabilities
(PWDs) in the country's first nationwide parliamentary elections in 2008.
In
collaboration with the National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC),
UNDP has provided support to build the capacity of a Core Team of Trainers
in creating awareness on the importance and necessity to involve women,
youth and PWDs in the electoral process. |
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The
Core Team, constituted by the NCWC and comprising of representatives from
organisations with institutional responsibilities for these target groups,
is now involved in various education and social mobilization activities
that the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) is currently undertaking to
prepare the Bhutanese people for the elections. To help broaden its outreach,
a training manual has been developed by the Core Team and incorporated
into the ECB's Bhutan Electoral Education Training Strategy (BEETS).
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ECB-NCWC collaboration is a good example of coordination between two autonomous
agencies to expand the effectiveness of the ECB's BEETS towards targeting
the participation of women, youth and PWDs and in working towards a common
vision of free and fair elections. In addition to emphasizing their rights
and responsibilities during elections, this collaboration so far has brought
to the forefront issues affecting women, youth and PWDs and stressed on
the need to address these in the manifestos of the potential political
parties. It has also recommended possible affirmative actions that may
be implemented to enhance the participation of and benefit for the target
population groups. The meaningful participation of women, youth and PWDs
as voters, advocates, activists, political parties' members and candidates
during the elections are key indicators for a successful transparent and
accountable democratic government. |
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| Source:
UNDP Bhutan - United Nations Development Programme, January
2007 |
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