The International Republican Institute’s Women’s Democracy Network (WDN) hosted a political party leadership and campaign management training program for women from Africa and Latin America on August 21-23, 2008 in Kampala Uganda. More than twenty-five female political party activists and legislators from Angola, Somaliland, Sudan, Nigeria, Malawi, Kenya and Uganda had the opportunity to meet with their counterparts from Venezuela, Peru and Nicaragua.

Over the course of the two-day program, participants shared best practices and discussed common struggles as women within political parties and governments. The Honorable Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, deputy speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, opened the conference with inspiring remarks, calling for all women to be persistent, head-strong and demanding of their peers in order to achieve their personal and political goals.

WDN members Monica Saravia Soriano from Peru and Nusura Tiperu from Uganda both addressed the conference. Monica is the women’s national secretary for the Popular Christian Party and discussed the effectiveness of women holding leadership roles within political parties. As a representative from Peru, Monica provided a good case study for young women in Africa who aspire to gain seniority within their own political parties. Nusura is a representative to the East African Legislative Assembly from the National Resistance Movement Party in Uganda and spoke on women achieving success on the campaign trail. Like many of her fellow female political party activists in Africa, Nusura battled corruption through the purchasing of votes by opponents. By shedding light on some of her successful tactics in running a campaign, she fueled discussion on how others could follow suit in their own political parties and/or governments.

Mary Piesheck served as the WDN trainer and helped participants define their personal and political party goals, translate political platforms into clear messages to reach voters and share campaign fundraising strategies. During program workshops, conference participants were divided into groups and asked to devise specific platform messages and fundraising strategies and present them to each other. This exercise helped the women share their personal experiences, implement training provided by the WDN and work together to produce a mock platform or strategy.

The Women’s Democracy Network is an initiative established by IRI to foster relationships among women leaders from around the world, and to provide them with the opportunities to share experiences and develop the skills needed for professional advancement. The network encourages and supports women working to advance political, civic and economic participation in their countries and to create regional networks to strengthen their development.