Transformative Data: How Research Can Improve the Participation of African Women in Public Governance
18 May 2022 | 13:00 – 15:00 GMT
As the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development continues on its mission to champion women’s ascension to the highest levels of leadership, it strives to ensure that its programs and advocacy efforts are evidence-based and responsive to the changes within the African governance landscape. To this end, it endeavors to gather, generate, analyze, and use pertinent data on the status of women’s leadership in Africa.
Women’s engagement in policymaking and governance is essential for advancing gender equality. To advocate for greater representation of women in positions and decision-making bodies in public governance, it is crucial to gain a better understanding of the current state of play. However, accessing comprehensive and reliable data on women’s public leadership has long been a challenge.
To address this gap, the EJS Center is pleased to announce that on 18 May 2022, we will be launching the Data Hub for Women’s Leadership in Public Governance (The EJS Center Data Hub).
Initially focused on the West African region (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Togo), the hub will provide data on women’s representation in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of their respective countries. It collates data collected by teams of inter-regional researchers recruited by the EJS Center, which is not readily available on any other public databases.
To mark the launch of the EJS Center Data Hub – the first of its kind to focus on women’s leadership in Africa – we invite you to join us for a panel discussion exploring how data can help promote women’s leadership on the continent. Following the discussion, we will also hear from special speakers including Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia and Founder of the EJS Center, and Michelle Morse Vice President for Girls and Women Strategy at the UN Foundation.
To join us for this special event at 1300 GMT on 18 May 2022, please register your attendance here.
Panelists will include:
Professor J. Jarpa Dawuni – Associate Professor of Political Science at Howard University
Ebere Ifendu – Lawyer, Chartered Mediator, Conciliator, Gender Advocate, and President of WIPF Nigeria
Joseph Asunka – CEO of Afrobarometer
Linet Miriti-Otieno – Chief Gender Expert at the Africa Development Bank
Rumbidzai Chisenga – Director of Programs, EJS Center