Femme First Foundation

Do you think Indian politics needs more women leaders? Are you passionate about getting more women elected? According to Inter-Parliamentary Union, India ranks 142 out of 193 countries when it comes to representation of women in politics as on 1st January 2020. With just 14.3% women parliamentarians elected in the recent 2019 Lok Sabha elections, India is still much below the global average of 24.9%. The number is even more dismal at the state legislatures. India currently is in dire need of more women political leaders. Femme First Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit organisation committed to amplifying women's leadership in Indian politics. We believe that greater representation of the marginalised sections in decision-making diversifies the process, which in turn enriches the institution and society. Keeping this in mind, we aim to nurture and groom women political leaders. Our focus is not limited to increasing women’s representation in politics, we intend to improve the quality of their representation as well. Globally, it has been established that women political leaders tend to emphasize social issues, such as child-care, equal pay, parental leave, and pensions; physical concerns, including reproductive rights, physical safety, and gender-based violence; and development which includes human development, poverty alleviation, and public delivery of services. Of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, Goal 5.5 explicitly highlights the aim to "Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life". We are working towards unleashing the potential of gendered leadership in India by facilitating capacity-building, mentoring, training, peer-networks etc.