Leading to Action: A Political Participation Handbook for Women

Leading to Action: A Political Participation Handbook for Women (2010) (217 pages)
English Edition 978-0-9814652-1-0 $29.95

Authors: Mahnaz Afkhami & Ann Eisenberg
In consultation with: Lina Abou Habib, Asma Khader, Sindi Medar-Gould, & Jacqueline Pitanguy

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If you would like to conduct workshops using Leading to Action in your country, please write to us at: wlp@learningpartnership.org.

Leading to Action is designed for use as a learning tool by those who are challenging themselves to play a more significant political role in their communities. Women’s participation is a critical step towards reshaping economic, political, and social conditions to allow for equality in opportunities and results for both women and men. WLP’s latest publication was developed to empower women to become democratic and participatory leaders. Whether the goal is to be elected to office, support a campaign, encourage women to vote, or secure better legislation for the community, this handbook helps women hone their skills to take the next political step. Scenarios are based on criteria set by our partners and give real life examples of successes and challenges women face in the political sphere. The appendices include a glossary of terms, extra sessions, and relevant United Nations conventions that support women’s civil and political rights

Leading to Action is structured to be used in a workshop setting, and can be easily modified by those who use it. Lessons and exercises are designed to be changed, omitted, or borrowed to maximize their value, or adapted to meet the unique needs of each workshop group.

It includes an overview of the purpose and nature of political participation entitled “Essentials of Political Participation.” “Guidelines for Facilitators” explains the structure of the workshop sessions and how to get the most out of them.

Ten sessions examine the barriers to political participation, and strategies for ethical political leadership. These sessions are divided into two parts. Section I, “Politics and Power: Where Do I Fit In?” has three workshop sessions that explore how the individual workshop participant sees herself as a leader, political activist, and citizen of the world. Section II, “Leading to Action: What Are My Next Steps?” presents seven sessions that help participants identify specific strategies for engaging in political campaigns. Each of the sessions examines barriers that women face in playing a larger role in the public sphere, and provides examples from real life about how some women leaders have dealt with their own competing expectations of themselves. The handbook also includes fictional scenarios that prompt a free exchange of responses, positive and critical, between workshop participants to the ideas presented.

The handbook concludes with appendices that provide additional resources for political activity at the local, national, and international levels.

Leading to Action can be used independently, but it shares the same values and learning framework as other WLP training materials. The political participation strategies emphasize communicating, listening, building consensus, creating shared meaning, and developing learning partnerships. These techniques create democratic, inclusive processes, and political participation strategies that are both ethical in their means as well as their ends. Just as there is no one path to political activism, there is no single approach to learning political participation skills. In Leading to Action, in addition to the political participation strategies, the learning process is itself intended to empower workshop facilitators and participants. The sessions presented are guidelines only, changeable and adaptable for the communities in which they are used. For instance, the biographies of influential people and stories about successful campaigns are only illustrative starting points for discussion, and can be substituted with biographies and stories more relevant or familiar in each setting.Leading to Action has been tested in workshop settings in Lebanon, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.

Leading to Action: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women (2010) (217 pages)
English Edition 978-0-9814652-1-0 $29.95
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Stories from the field