Women Political Leaders call on influential female politicians to #PressforProgress

 July 19, 2018

Female parliamentarians from 30 countries across 5 continents responded to the call-to-action from global network, Women Political Leaders (WPL), to #PressforProgress. As a leading example of International Women's Day best practice, the WPL network successfully engaged and rallied its members worldwide.

Women Political Leaders is the global network of female politicians. It aims to increase the number and influence of women in political leadership positions. WPL members are women in political office - Presidents, Ministers, Members of Parliaments, Mayors. An important and vocal body, one of the WPL Advisory Board Members is former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet who has been appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. WPL's support was nothing short of remarkable and impressive.

WPL amplified the collective voice of women decision makers worldwide and their statements were powerful. "There is nothing for women, without women," said Alice Muthoni Wahome, Member of the Kenyan National Assembly - one of the many influential women who participated in WPL's International Women's Day #PressforProgress campaign.

Across the world, the WPL community of women stepped forward to reinforce their commitment to equality and share their actions.  

Commitment to equality and evidence of support were called upon

WPL asked women politicians within its worldwide network to support its International Women’s Day #PressforProgress campaign by declaring on social media their ambitions for gender equality and stating the political and policy actions they are taking to achieve these.

The request was well received and female political leaders from around the world extended considerable support to engage audiences with their commitment - and inspire future generations of women in politics. Almost 40 women Parliamentarians posted engaging images across social media platforms for WPL’s #PressforProgress campaign, each supported by a purposeful testimonial and personal insight.

A truly global #PressforProgress campaign

The posts gained considerable visibility due to the politicians actively promoting their own posts within their communities and audiences of constituents, often in their own language. Related to the global nature of the #PressforProgress campaign, WPL also posted the contributions in English, French and Spanish on its own social media feeds.

Significant support to forge women's equality 

Contributions for WPL’s #PressforProgress campaign came from every corner of the globe, including women politicians in Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Latvia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Senegal, Poland, Russia, South Korea, South Sudan, Togo, Turkey, Uruguay, United Kingdom and the European Parliament. An executive from the World Bank also participated.

Purposeful insight from impressive political leaders 

The inspirational global #PressforProgress campaign reached far and wide with impressive women in politics espousing their views and using their influential voices to support and amplify the #PressforProgress message around the world.

Here are just a few of the powerful #PressforProgress statements made by the women Parliamentarians.

• "With my fellow female MPs in the Polish Parliament, we actively strive to collaborate and push for more inclusive policies." - MP in Poland
• "I firmly believe in the necessity to change laws that allow for parity in a country's constitution, especially in my region, so that women can have a fair and equal access to leadership and decision-making positions." - MP in Algeria
• "I believe we must introduce in the Labour Code some actions in order to close the gender pay gap and to enhance equal opportunities and aim at more continuous employment patterns." - MP in Andorra

Each of the social cards posted on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn highlighted the #PressforProgress hashtag in a consistent and visible way. WPL's #PressforProgress campaign was also featured in its newsletter and on its website.

A leading example of best practice in engaging members

WPL orchestrated a truly remarkable achievement with significant impact and visibility achieved for its leading International Women’s Day #PressforProgress campaign - a truly innovative best-practice example indeed.

To find out more about this impressive network, and to learn about its further gender advocacy initiatives and campaigns - like #Girl2Leader, a worldwide campaign to get more girls involved in politics under the patronage of Her Excellency Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, 9th President of Malta - visit the Women Political Leaders website.