As part of an ongoing effort to increase the participation of women in the political process through IFES programming, Carla Koppell, Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), spoke at IFES.
Koppell addressed IFES' chiefs of party, country directors, senior staff and members of IFES' Gender Working Group on December 8. The group gathered in Washington, D.C., for a biennial conference.
Koppell said the main reason she is devoted to the equal participation of men and women in all aspects of life is because she has seen that equality doesn't only matter to women, it matters for development, in general. Koppell's visit allowed for discussion on USAID’s work in gender equity and an opportunity to answer questions IFES staff developed through their own work in the field.
Women, she said, provide a perspective that is not only representative of half the population, but also beneficial for society as a whole.
To illustrate her point, she gave an example of the Darfur peace negotiations. During the seventh round of the peace accord, gender specialists were asked to look at a working draft of the legislation. The specialists returned recommendations that were simple and to the point, including provisions for civilian protection on the ground and women's participation in the new government.
What was most striking about the gender specialists' recommendations was that all sides readily accepted them. It was obvious that these issues would not only benefit women, but also the entire community by bringing different sectors together.
Koppell also spoke about USAID's refocused efforts to increase gender equity and women's empowerment. She stressed that the Agency needs the participation of partners like IFES to succeed in its mission.
Koppell ended her talk by giving four recommendations to help achieve a greater gender balance in our own societies and throughout the world:
- Lookout for gender imbalances in your environment, and when they are detected, rectify them
- Seek experts who can help remedy inequality because discrepancies are often best solved with the expertise of those who best understand the dynamics
- Incorporate women in all endeavors
- Help move the agenda forward by being vocal about lessons learned, things that need to be improved and issues that are being overlooked
The meeting concluded with stories from IFES staff about their experiences in empowering women in the countries they have worked in.
Click here to learn more about IFES' gender work.