Report Expert Group Meeting : Transforming Social Norms to Advance Women’s Political Participation

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UN Women, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) are jointly implementing the European Union-funded Women and Youth Democratic Engagement Programme (WYDE)| Women’s Leadership Initiative through a programme entitled: ‘Advancing Women’s Political Participation and Decision-Making through Social Norms Change, Networking and Global Advocacy’. 

The WYDE | Women’s Leadership Initiative prioritises social norms work and enhances synergies between women’s rights movements, decision makers, the international community, the media, and other key actors. 

To this end, UN Women organised an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on ‘Transforming social norms for women’s political participation and leadership’ in Brussels and online from 4 to 5 February 2025 with the main aim of supporting the development of a framework on social norms related to women’s political participation. The framework will contribute to women’s overall work on social norms and inform UN Women and partners’ programmes within WYDE. 

This report, prepared by Brenda K. Kombo, UN Women consultant on social norms, summarises the EGM presentations and highlights key takeaways from the discussions which will inform the development of the framework on social norms. UN Women extends its gratitude to all the contributors to this EGM (see the list of experts and participants). We pay tribute to and recognise the late Prof. Laila El Baradei, who tragically passed away on 18 April 2025. Her contributions enriched the EGM, and she will be greatly missed.