The conference “Women in Electoral Processes: Ensuring an Inclusive Democracy” organized by the Democracy for Development Institute (D4D) in collaboration with the Central Election Commission (CEC), was held recently.

At a time when political parties are preparing candidate lists for the 2025 parliamentary elections, this conference served as a strong call for gender-balanced representation, institutional stability, and democratic integrity.

In her opening speech, the Executive Director of D4D, Ms. Rezarta Delibashzade Krasniqi, emphasized the crucial role of increasing women’s participation in electoral processes as a fundamental pillar for an inclusive democracy. She urged political parties to honor the promises they have made over the years and ensure gender equality in their electoral lists.

During the conference, data on women’s involvement in Election Management Bodies (EMBs) for the year 2021 was also presented by Mr. Nexhmedin Hyseni, Director of the Finance and General Services Department at the CEC. The data highlighted the very low number of women in EMBs and decision-making positions. On this occasion, the CEC reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring fair gender representation in all election management bodies, calling on political parties to nominate more women for positions in Municipal Election Commissions, Voting Center Councils, Mobile Teams, and Municipal Counting Centers.

The conference marked another step in D4D’s ongoing efforts to promote a fair electoral process and gender-balanced representation, contributing to the democratic development of the country.

Since 2015, D4D has been working tirelessly to promote women’s inclusion in electoral processes through:

• Advising political parties to sign a declaration for increasing women’s participation in electoral processes,
• Publishing research and recommendations to help political entities improve female participation in elections,
• Facilitating the signing of a media code of conduct by political entities and the media in 2021.

D4D firmly believes that the engagement of political parties and institutions to increase women’s participation in elections is a concrete step toward advancing gender equality, which not only empowers women but also sets a positive example for future generations, promoting fairer representation at higher levels of decision-making.

This activity was organised with the support of the “SMART Balkans – Civil Society for Shared Society in the Western Balkans” regional project implemented by Centar za promociju civilnog društva (CPCD), Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM) and Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM) and financially supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NMFA).”