WOMEN IN POLITICS

'How to elect more women in NI' workshop took place on 9th March 2012, organised by Queens University Belfast and Women’s Resource and Development Agency.

133 participants attended this event from a wide variety of organisations, sectors and political parties. Women from the Redburn and Loughview Estate attended and this evaluation is based on the written feedback from them.

Summary of the workshop: the aim of the workshop was to provide analyses from different perspectives as to why it is difficult for women to enter formal political life, explore ways of overcoming barriers to electing more women in all levels of government from local council to Assembly and beyond and share perspectives from different political parties and other parts of the world.

Summary of the feedback from the Redburn Loughview Community Forum participants:

All reported that they found the event interesting; saying it was valuable and relevant; helpful and good while others commented it was practical, fun and relaxed.

The presentation from Nan Sloan (Counting women in) was by a long shot the most popular element of the day as reported by participants; the networking opportunities throughout the day, the questions and answer sessions were viewed as positive as was the opportunity to hear different views.

Further feedback included ideas around the need for confidence building the community and links to statutory organisations and partnership working; a clear desire for more of these type of events, but at the local level and overall there was a strong expressed view that it had been a great event and a worthwhile day’s work, and that further work on similar topics would be welcomed if funding allowed.