At a roundtable organized by JHR-DRC and UCOFEM in Kinshasa in February, multiple political parties came forward to pledge support for a new electoral law passed by President Felix Tshisekedi that offers financial incentives to political parties with gender-balanced candidate lists. The event saw participation from women’s right organizations and media as well.
Article 13 of the new law explicitly states that political parties comprising at least 50% women would be exempt from paying the deposit fee at time of the party’s registration for the elections. This development came after a months-long media campaign led by JHR-DRC that raised awareness about the need for women’s inclusion in politics.
At the event, attendees also asked JHR-DRC to continue their activities around raising awareness among political parties about the law in order to enhance compliance.
The DRC general elections are currently scheduled to take place in December this year.