Continuing The Contest
IWDA Funding Leadership and Opportunities for Women program partner Bougainville Women’s Federation co-convened a leadership workshop this month. Many of the workshop participants had campaigned and contested seats in the Autonomous Bougainville Government election this year. This follows a debriefing workshop with women candidates immediately after the elections in August, hosted by Bougainville Women’s Federation with the support of IWDA.
Thirty-five women contested for seats in the House of Representatives in 2015, more than in any previous election. Most of these candidates stood for the three seats reserved for women. Twelve women contested for open seats, however. Hon. Josephine Getsi became the first woman to win in an open seat. As a result, women now have 10 per cent representation in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville Government.
The purpose of the workshop was to reflect on how women performed in the recent elections and develop strategies to improve the outcome in future elections at all levels of government. Hon. Josephine Getsi presented during the opening ceremony and reinforced the importance of analysing the strengths and weaknesses of women’s previous campaigns to determine strategies moving forward.
“I believe in this workshop we will diagnose and develop some ways forward to help our woman leaders in future elections” – Hon. Josephine Getsi
