Women's Citizenship and Governance

Women's Citizenship and Governance provides a forum for professionals to discuss workable solution to the barriers women encounter when practicing active citizenship, including "gendered access to resources, the sexual division of labour [and] the embodiment of gender constructs" (IRDC, Women's Rights and Citizenship: Program Initiative, 2006, 14).

This group features research undertaken by the International Development Research Centre in the area of Women's Rights and Citizenship that examines women's political participation and the ways in which state institutions and political processes advance or impede women's rights.

Group members are encouraged to engage in discussion geared towards fostering oversight and accountability within/among governments, political parties and social movements where factors such as patriarchal authority, male bias, and general resistance to change present barriers to the realization of women's citizenship and governance rights.