To shatter cultural and social barriers that have long kept them from leadership roles, 20 young and determined women from across the country are learning about what it takes to participate in politics in the future. The two-day training on capacity building for women’s participation in elections began yesterday.
The training, organised by the Centre for Research on Bhutanese Society, involves modulations by former politicians to equip the participants with leadership skills, preparing them to run in elections and take on roles in local government.
“We’ve seen too many men in leadership and not enough women. People often think men are better suited for politics because we don’t see many female role models in leadership. But programmes like this are changing that mindset,” said Rinzin Dema, Programme Officer, RENEW.
“It’s not impossible for women to take part in politics. We have incredible role models already, and it’s high time we look up to them and step up for the opportunity ourselves,” said Chencho Wangmo, Participant.
However, challenges remain. According to the officials, while gender equality policies are on paper, the country lacks gender responsiveness in action.
“It is not enough to have equal rights. We need to act on them. Training like this is mostly conducted in the capital only. It should reach villages and remote areas too so that women everywhere can understand their potential,” said Chador Wangmo, Participant.
She added that the decreasing number of women pursuing tertiary education is also one of the reasons contributing to fewer women participating in politics.
Bhutan ranked 131 out of 191 countries on the Map of Women in Politics 2023. According to the Global Gender Report, Bhutan ranked 124 out of 164 countries as of last year, which is a drop of 21 ranks from the previous year.
According to RENEW, currently, Bhutan has only 17 per cent of women representation in the parliament.
Namgay Dema
Edited by Sonam Pem
