Municipalities in Norway and India to work together on local democracy

Øygarden Municipality in Hordaland and a local government in the state of Adnhra Pradesh will work together to promote women in local politics.

This was agreed at a meeting between Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Liv Signe Navarsete and the minister for local politics in India, Kishore Chandra Deo, on Friday.
 
Navarsete is in India to follow up a cooperation agreement between India and Norway on local democracy. An important part of the work is to promote the role of women in local politics. The partnership agreement allows for exchanges at both the state and local levels.
 
Indian authorities, in cooperation with the UN women's organization UN Women, and with support from Norway, are working to bolster female political leadership.

"It is very positive that we can now follow up the agreement at the local level. India is the largest democracy in the world, with over 700 million voters in 250,000 municipalities. It is exciting that they think we have experiences that are worth sharing. I'm sure we can learn much from each other. I have both learned and gained new impressions and inspiration to carry on the work at home in Norway," says Navarsete.

Øygarden Municipality has participated in the Storefront project for women in local politics. Through these efforts the municipality has achieved very good results. The percentage of female representatives has increased from 17 to 52 per cent.
Norway is also supporting an effort to train women in local politics in India. The women receive training in rights concerning health, nutrition, water, education and sanitation. They also receive training to promote their rights and to encourage other women to get involved.

For more information, contact the press centre at the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development on tel. +47 22 24 25 00.