This is what leadership looks like: Women elected officials on two continents

“I can tell you, perseverance pays,” says Bernadette Gomina, who ran unsuccessfully for the legislature in 2005 and 2010. She was elected in 2015 and reelected in 2020. “[Women parliamentarians] face issues at many levels: [lack of] finances, discriminatory behaviours and mindsets, but us women … we have our part to play; we must change our mindsets and get to work, together, to change this situation.” 

The Central African Republic’s first-round presidential and parliamentary elections last December were mired by violence and attacks by rebel groups. In the provinces, many candidates — women in particular — were threatened, robbed and even physically assaulted.  

In response to complaints by women candidates, UN Women and the United Nations Police established a hotline to receive reports of violence against women.  

“I didn’t get discouraged by all the negative experiences,” says Gomina. “My [constituents] continued to encourage me, giving me the strength to continue campaigning.” 

A former midwife, Gomina championed “Open Days” at the parliament, when girls from high schools interact with women parliamentarians, and job-shadowing initiatives to encourage more young women to get into politics. 

“We worked together”  

Women make up just 24.9 percent of parliamentarians worldwide. In the Central African Republic, that number is just 8.5 percent of Parliament in the outgoing government.  

Since 2015, UN Women has supported women’s political participation by establishing the Forum of Women Parliamentarians, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 

Between 2015 and 2020, with support from the Peacebuilding Fund, the Governments of Canada and Sweden and UNDP, and through the Ministry of Women, UN Women supported the revision and adoption of gender-sensitive laws, including the 2016 Parity Law, which provides for a 35 percent quota for women in all decision-making bodies. 

“When it came to the Parity Law and other laws on gender, [Forum members] all agreed to convince fellow MPs and members of our respective parties to vote in favor,” says Gomina. “It is because we were there, and we worked together, that today the Central African Republic has its Parity Law.” 

“My greatest pride” 

“Being a woman and indigenous is not easy at all, but it is my greatest pride,” says Cecilia Moyoviri Moye, the first indigenous Senator from the Department of Beni. 

At 50 years of age, after a lifetime of struggles and a history of defending indigenous lands and peoples, she became the first indigenous elected Senator from her region, Beni, in 2020. 

Now that she is a Senator, she will focus on defending the rights of indigenous women and protecting the territory she represents. “Being a representative of an indigenous people has many challenges, but it is an opportunity to give a voice to those women who have proposals.” 

Moyoviri is one of several indigenous women were nominated as candidates for the Assembly by their own indigenous peoples for the 2020 national elections. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Bolivia modified the rules for the registration of candidates, allowing indigenous peoples to nominate their own candidacies without the involvement of political parties for the first time and to have the opportunity to be elected under their own territorial customs.  

Now, four indigenous women now serve in the Assembly as representatives of the special peasant indigenous electoral districts. 

“A long and complex process…but not impossible” 

But many indigenous women candidates or elected officials have suffered violence throughout their political careers. Violence against women is considered one of the great barriers to effectively accessing politics. 

UN Women supported partners that contributed to the passage of Bolivia’s law against harassment and political violence against women (Law 243) in 2012, the first of its kind in the world. 

UN Women and UNDP now work to ensure that this powerful new law will be effective, by supporting data collection and other measures. 

“Our challenge is to generate spaces for dialogue that allow us to reflect on and question acts of violence against women,” says indigenous woman leader Toribia Lero Quispe, who was elected as a representative of the Lower House in November.  

“This will undoubtedly be a long and complex process,” she says. “But it is not impossible, and we must contribute to the construction of a society with equal conditions for everyone.” 

For more data on women’s leadership, see the UN Secretary-General’s Report.  

This story is adopted from longer stories from the Central African Republic and Bolivia that were published by UN Women.  Editorial support by Paul VanDeCarr, Development Coordination Office.