The summary report outlines the discussions held at a side event on ‘Women’s Political Participation in Local Government’, organized on October 16th by the Permanent Secretariat of the Community of Democracies in cooperation with the Working Group on Women and Democracy, on the margins of the Third Committee of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The panel discussed the role and impact of women in decision-making at different levels of local government, with the aim to highlight the valuable contributions that women mayors, governors and representatives of local governments make to inclusive, representative democracies, as well as the challenges faced by women in such roles. The discussion provided a platform to share best practices and challenges regarding women’s meaningful participation in  politics, and highlighted possible concerted actions to respond to these challenges.