By Kabs Kanu
WIMAGE, with the support of international partners, stakeholders, and like-minded international organizations, will audit and monitor all elections in the world not only to ensure fairness, transparency, and the credibility of the electoral process but to determine whether countries uphold their fundamental liberties and are characterized by gender equality inclusion.
WIMAGE has hired a crack team of experts and professionals drawn from different parts of the world who will evaluate election-related legislation, provide technical expertise, and support the activities of electoral boards. WIMAGE will also use its Open Data Portal to offer diverse data on women’s representation and inclusion, primarily in governance and leadership. It will be instrumental to all the humanitarian agencies, government bodies, and investors seeking to make informed decisions regarding gender participation and capacitation efforts.
WIMAGE will strive to ensure normative and evaluative value to the process of elections and governance around the globe. With the backing of international stakeholders, the organization will seek to ensure respect for human rights, the rule of law, effective participation of citizens in the elections and governance systems, multi-actor partnerships, political pluralism, transparent and accountable processes, political empowerment of people, including women and equity, sustainability to governance.
WIMAGE will also seek to create avenues for the public and women to participate in policymaking through formal institutions and informal consultations.
According to the organization’s website, WIMAGE aims to “examine, report and document gender-based representation and inclusion in all developing and under-developing nations that actively practice democracy as their rule of law. WIMAGE targets countries facing difficulties in welcoming women into leadership and governance roles” and “maintains gender-based inclusion for more than 35 countries in 5 continents.”
The organization will also raise awareness of the most basic human rights across the pilot countries, capacitating civil society on the ground to influence radical policies that recognize gender parity in governance and leadership.
In a world saturated with toxic partisan politics and a rat race for power and control of resources between rival political parties that often descend into violence, WIMAGE has its job well cut out. However, the tremendous impact of the organization’s initiatives and ideas will help to change a lot in the world of politics and governance.
The organization’s website also states, “Wimage aims to devise strategic partnerships and affiliation programs that best serve women and the community. This includes humanitarian agencies, domestic and international organizations, women’s organizations, and other major and minor stakeholders, as could be seen from its objectives stated above. to facilitate a clear universal road map towards a gender-free society that acknowledges and believes in women’s equal and untapped potentials in politics, governance and leadership across the world.”
The Wimage website lists the following international organizations as partners: the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); the United Nations (UN); the African Union (AU), and the European Union (EU).
