Deadline: 28-Jul-21
Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) is seeking to engage an individual/company/organisation to conduct research on the role of women’s wings in political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Westminster Foundation for Democracy (“WFD”) is the UK public body dedicated to supporting democracy around the world. WFD partners with UK political parties, parliaments, electoral and financial audit institutions to help over 30 developing countries make their governments fairer, more effective and accountable.
The regional programme titled: “Western Balkans Democracy Initiative” focused on three components of work:
- Strengthening Political Parties
- Strengthening Parliamentary Practice
- Strengthening Democratic Institutions and Culture
As part of this programme, WFD in Bosnia and Herzegovina is implementing a programme which contributes to a more inclusive democratic institutions, by improving women’s opportunities to engage in decision-making and closing the gender gap in politics.
Research Questions and Methodology
This research will address the following issues and questions:
- Status and function of women’s wings within political parties, explored along the following guidelines:
- Identify the guiding principles of the women’s wing, i.e. its vision, mission, scope of work, objectives, etc.
- Provide a review of its organizational structure and management, considering, among others, the following questions: How is the branch structured and what roles and responsibilities are allocated? How formal are the structures and procedures? What are the information and decision-making flows? What are the membership requirements and procedures, and are there any specificities about the structure of the membership itself? Are certain groups of politicians more represented and what does that suggest? Are non-party members allowed to join? If existent, what do the recruitment campaign look like? Provide an analysis of the given to demonstrate how these facilitate or hinder the efficiency of the women’s wing’s work.
- Identify and analyse the forms and types of activities conducted by the women’s wings.
- If a party doesn’t have a formal women’s wing, do women get support elsewhere within the party? Based on those insights, provide an inter-party comparison and identify strengths and weaknesses of this type of political organising of women.
- Positioning and resources of women’s wings within political parties, explored according to the following guidelines:
- Examine the sources of financing of the women’s wing activities. What is the quality and consistency of the financing? How does this influence the work of the women’s wing? What does the party-based financial support suggest about the intra-party positioning of the women’s wing?
- To what extent is the women’s wing institutionalised? Do members of the women’s wing hold leadership positions in the party’s decision-making bodies? How autonomous is the women’s wing in relationship to the political party? Does the women’s wing have local branches apart from the central body and, if existent, do they maintain a strong relationship? Identify and analyse factors that hinder the efficiency of the women’s wings.
- Identify and analyse mechanisms of support the political party provided to the women’s wing. Are there any specific mechanisms designated to facilitate the work of the women’s wing in the political party?
- Influence and power of women’s wings within and outside political parties, analysed along the following guidelines:
- Examine the extent and quality of influence of the women’s wing on advancing gender equality in the political party and women’s political inclusion. In which ways, if any, do women’s wings promote women’s political leadership? To which extent do women’s wings contribute to increasing women’s representation within the party structures? How successful are these branches in advocating on issues pertaining to improving women’s rights?
- To what extent and how do the women’s wings ensure gender mainstreaming in its party politics as well as public policy?
- Explore the transformative potential of the women’s wings. Does the women’s wing provide a platform for women empowerment? Does it help women establish and strengthen their career path? Identify other ways, if any, in which women politicians directly benefit from their membership in the women’s wing, in terms of acquiring leadership roles and participating in decision-making.
- Identify and analyse the scope of the women’s wings. What are the topics the women’s wings mainly focus on and what interests do they represent? Do they encompass specific trainings on gender issues, advocacy, lobbying, etc? To which extent the scope of its work reflects the needs of women in politics as well as women constituents?
- Examine the influence that the women’s wings exercise beyond the political party, including the legislative bodies, executive branch, civil society, citizens and analyse whether and how it strengthens the legitimacy of the branch within the party.
Eligibility Criteria
- The selected individual/company/organisation is expected to prepare and deliver:
- Detailed methodology with questionnaire for the interviews and the list of potential interviewees
- Research study on the role of women’s wings in political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Power Point presentation with main research findings.
- WFD is looking for an individual/company/organisation to develop a research methodology and conduct a study to explore the following:
- Status and function of women’s wings within political parties;
- Positioning and resources of women’s wings within political parties;
- Influence and power of women’s wings within and outside political parties.
Criteria
Proposals should be submitted in writing and include:
- A summary of relevant experience (CV);
- Technical offer which should contain
- proposed methodology for conducting this research and
- an outline of the research workplan;
- Financial offer in sterling, to include a clear breakdown of all costs. The total amount of the proposal/ quote cannot exceed £5,000. (proposed rate for the entire engagement).
For more information, visit https://www.wfd.org/2021/07/14/call-for-proposals-research-on-womens-wings-in-political-parties-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina/