Empowering Women in Politics (EWIP)

Empowering Women in Politics (EWIP) is a multiparty women’s capacity building program aimed at increasing the participation and influence of women active in politics in four African countries, namely; Kenya. Uganda, Burkina Faso and Cote d’ Ivoire. The EWIP program is led by Center Party International foundation (CIS) with the Christian Democratic International Center (KIC) as an implementation partner in East Africa.

The program is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).  KIC is responsible for the implementation of the program in two East African countries Kenya and Uganda.

The EWIP program has two goals;

  • The capacities and the confidence of women active in politics have been strengthened .
  • The management of political parties and other stakeholders are more receptive to the specific needs of women

In Kenya, KIC is implementing the program with Oslo Center (OC) as its local partner.  OC is an independent, non-governmental organization with a vast experience of work in areas pertaining to democracy assistance and human rights.

The primary target group for training in the program year 2019-2020 were female Members of  County Assemblies (MCA’s) from six political parties and their party management.

In 2020, KIC also launched the EWIP program in Uganda. The training was aimed at the  female MCA’s of three political parties and their senior party management.

The EWIP program has been developed based on the learnings  of the Program for Young Politicians in Africa (PYPA). PYPA is a multi-party capacity building program for youth in Africa led by KIC and implemented in collaboration with CIS and two other political party affiliated organizations.