District wants to increase the proportion of women in politics

Nationwide, only about 28 per cent: women are still clearly underrepresented in local politics. The district of Waldeck-Frankenberg wants to change this and sustainably increase the proportion of women by participating in the "Action Programme Municipality - Women into Politics!". In the next one and a half years, promotion and networking activities will be implemented in cooperation with the project team, a non-partisan and supra-regional mentoring programme as well as counselling formats and networking meetings will be offered and accompanied by public relations work. The project "Action Programme Municipality - More Women in Politics" is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) and implemented by EAF Berlin in cooperation with the German Rural Women's Association ( dlv).

Ten model regions start work
Chaired by the BMFSFJ, an independent and expert jury has now selected the ten regions for the second cycle of the programme. Among these ten model regions is the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg, which will officially start work in June.

Create structures for contemporary local politics - concrete and on theground
With an average of only 28 percent, women are still clearly underrepresented in local councils. The proportion of female district councillors is as low as 9.5 per cent and only one in ten town halls is run by a female mayor. In Waldeck-Frankenberg, the proportion of women in the district council is 32 per cent, in the town and municipal councils women are represented by an average of only 22 per cent. The programme is coordinated and implemented by Dr. Jürgen Römer, head of the district's village and regional development department. The partner regions will form steering groups until the start of the next round in June to work out a regional action roadmap and coordinate activities on the ground. District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst, who initiated the application, says of the positive decision: "We are pleased to participate in the action programme, because the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg wants to specifically promote women in district politics." The successful application is a great opportunity. Through participation in workshop discussions, the counselling possibilities of the project as well as qualification and mentoring offers in the district, it is now possible to achieve a stronger and permanently increased political commitment of women.

Keywords:

Equality Offers for women in Waldeck-Frankenberg Events for women