IFES Conducts Comprehensive Gender Analysis in Kosovo

In March 2014, IFES analyzed the gender composition of election management bodies at the municipal and precinct level during the 2013 Local Government Elections in Kosovo. Data was collected from the staffing lists for Municipal Election Commissions (MECs), Polling Station Commissions (PSCs), and Polling Center Managers (PCMs) held by the Central Election Commission (CEC). Each entry on the lists was examined. The gender of each staff member was determined according to the given name, and the results were tabulated by position, and by the political party/initiative group/NGO which proposed the staff member.

Overall, the percentage of field positions in MECs and Polling Station Commissions, and as PCMs filled by women for the 2013 Local Government Elections is relatively low, at 17 percent. In field management positions, the percentage of women is lower: 11 percent of Municipal Election Officers (MEO)/MEC Chairs; 12 percent of MEC members; and 9 percent of PSC Chairs. Of the total PSC members (including reserve staff), 17 percent are women, while 28 percent of reserve staff are women.

At 17 percent, the proportion of women employed in electoral field positions is little more than half the legally required proportion of women in the assemblies, which these staff work to elect. The data shows that in most municipalities and for most political entities, women are even less proportionately represented among electoral field management positions than they are in field positions, overall.

IFES, in cooperation with the Democracy in Action (DiA) NGO coalition, organized a roundtable on April 23 to present key findings of its report analyzing gender composition on election commissions. The event brought together 40 stakeholders involved in electoral processes to discuss the present state of affairs and to find possible ways to improve women’s representation in Electoral Management Bodies.