The Ivorian Minister of Solidarity, Family, Women and Children, Mrs. Anne Désirée Ouloto, berated women’s low participation in electoral process and political party activities, as well as their position regarding collective consciousness.
Speaking on Tuesday 11 August 2015 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, at the opening of a national workshop for Ivorian women on gender and elections, Mrs. Ouloto disclosed that on the issue of collective consciousness, women are confined to domestic life revolving around motherhood, raising children and maintaining the home.
«For a number of women», she noted, «elections are for men and men only».
According to Mrs. Ouloto, the workshop will not only ensure women’s political empowerment, but also promote the full exercise of their legal rights and give them control over their destiny.
The Ivorian Minister of Solidarity, Family, Women and Children thanked the ECOWAS Commission for organising the training and urged participants to take full advantage of it.
«This workshop, which is part of the ECOWAS regional programme and aims to promote greater women’s participation in electoral processes in the ECOWAS region, has come at the right time in our country. Indeed, we are three months away from the general elections», declared Mrs. Anne Désirée Ouloto.
For her part, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Social Affairs and Gender, Dr. Fatimata Dia Sow, represented by the Gender Director, Dr. Sintiki Tarfa Ugbe, underpinned the objective of this training which focuses mainly on improving women’s turn-out and participation in the upcoming elections in Côte d’Ivoire.
Similar training was recently organised in Nigeria, Togo and Burkina Faso for women in these Member States. Besides, Dr. Sintiki took the opportunity to commend and thank women for their active participation in the training, hoping that the Ivorian women will do same.
«The upcoming Ivorian elections will enable Côte d’Ivoire use the skills acquired during the training to improve women’s turn-out at the polls, conduct peaceful elections, respect human rights throughout the electoral process, ensure full participation of women in conflict prevention and resolution as well as consolidation of peace, public awareness before, during and after the elections by urging them to adhere to the code of conduct of the African Charter on elections, democracy and good governance», stated Dr. Sintiki.
The training was attended by representatives of women’s organisations involved in electoral activities, the electoral administration and the Ministry of Solidarity, Fa

mily, Women and Children.
The training will focus on practical issues with modules offering a wide range of activities designed to enable participants have a better grasp of issues that have been clearly identified and produce specific learning outcomes.
Organised by the ECOWAS Commission’s Gender Directorate, with support from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), the training comprises 24 modules, including «Gender and Elections».
It will promote greater women’s participation in the electoral processes in the West African sub-region and provide participants critical election appraisal tools from a gender standpoint. It also seeks to raise awareness on the importance of women’s empowerment.
The workshop intends to apprise Ivorian women’s civil society organisations and advocacy groups of strategies to promote women’s participation in electoral processes. Lastly, the meeting aims to create a women advocacy network on gender and elections in the Community.
The meeting is also devoted to ensuring skills development and knowledge of electoral systems from a gender standpoint and going beyond improving women’s advocacy capacity shortfall as a constituent group.
These capacities will undoubtedly improve political commitment, and foster support and action for greater involvement in national democratic processes.