Budgeting for Equality: How Local Councils in Cameroon are Including Women

The Awra Amba community is founded on broad values such as gender equality of labor, women’s rights, children’s rights, and caring for the elderly and vulnerable, and residents work together on 15 democratically elected committees to make key decisions. Research shows that the community has achieved higher life expectancy, literacy rates, and measures of gender equality than the country’s national averages.

As the result of an electoral law introduced in the late '90s and later added to the country's constitution, roughly half of Bolivian lawmakers at every level of government are women. Though the country outperforms many others, including the United States, on gender parity in the legislature, women are still underrepresented in executive positions.

Sacramento’s Cannabis Opportunity and Racial Equity program is helping people who were adversely affected by discrimination during America’s war on drugs to start businesses in the regulated cannabis industry. Qualifying entrepreneurs receive wraparound support including funding and small-business education. So far, 10 dispensary licenses have been awarded to participants.

The Female Reporters Leadership Programme trains Nigerian journalists to step into leadership positions and encourage more coverage of issues affecting women and girls in their newsrooms, with instruction and mentorship around leadership skills, sexual and gender-based violence, criminal justice and more. The initiative has trained 74 fellows so far, and more than half of participants surveyed were promoted or took on additional responsibilities at work after completing the fellowship.

More women are serving in top positions of the United Kingdom’s diplomatic corps with a female ambassador to the United States for the first time since the position was created in 1791. Women now hold about a third of Britain’s ambassadorships and the increase can be traced to several changes, including a public pledge to increase women in leadership positions. A reliable pipeline of women to fill the top spots was also nurtured, with nearly 60% of new foreign service employees now female. Grouping interviews forces management to see the big picture and diplomatic life has become more flexible for families.

Denver, Minneapolis, and San Francisco are a few of the cities zeroing in on the millennial desire for purpose in their careers by incorporating purposeful narratives in recruitment. Viewing government more as a brand, the cities use slogans like "Be a part of the city that you love," "Choose purpose," and "Serving community. Building careers" in their advertisements.

Crockett County, Texas, negotiated tax abatement agreements with wind energy companies to secure direct charitable donations that fund senior services such as meal deliveries, transportation assistance, and social programs. This has enabled older residents to "age in place" in this remote rural community despite federal funding cuts.

Yuwa is a nonprofit organization that draws girls into education through sport, giving them the opportunity to play football while also providing high-quality instruction and skills training. The program serves about 600 students and has seen participants go on to study at universities, pursue coaching careers, and even play in the national football federation.

Federal universities in Brazil operate on a quota system of affirmative action in which half of the available seats are awarded based solely on academic achievement and the other half are for students from underrepresented populations, including those identifying as Black, Indigenous, or disabled. The policy has encountered significant pushback, but it has also helped thousands of students access higher education.

The "Constructoras" training program in Salta, Argentina, combined with 10% gender quota laws for public works, has trained over 1,100 women in construction trades since 2022 and helped increase women's participation in the sector nationally from 4.1% to 7.1%, though progress faces significant challenges from political rollbacks and persistent workplace discrimination. Read this article in Spanish here: https://solu.news/aeh0