On the role of political parties, we would like to share the following lessons: 1. Some countries have decided that one way to manage the tendency of party politics to contribute to ethnic enmity is to ban political parties that purport to represent an ethnic, tribal, or racial identity. While this may be effective in some circumstances in reducing ethnic-based conflict and power struggles, in others it may contribute to a sense of alienation among minority groups that can contribute to tensions and violence, or it may be regarded as an unjustified limitation on the rights of persons belonging to minorities. 2. It is important to evaluate how political parties that define themselves as broadly `nationalist'—or standing for everyone in a united country—define the political community and whether these parties are 'sufficiently inclusive to draw in members of minority groups and take their interests into account. The concern with identity-based parties is that in the rather fragile environment of newly formed transitional democracies, political parties with very narrow mandates can seize power on divisive ethnic, racial, or religious themes and end democracy, ironically, through the ballot box. 3, Develop political parties' capacity to analyze issues from a gender, perspective. This will involve educating them how gender roles shape the ways in which men and women engage in socioeconomic life and participate in politics. 4. Support and promote the use of positive measures such as quotas, as one strategy to address discrimination against women, particularly minority women. The 2002 Human Development Report (HDR) demonstrated that quotas make a difference in women's political participation, largely because they give women a temporary leg up, but that such measures, while valuable, are short-term efforts that must go hand-in-hand with societal mechanisms and capacity/leadership development for women, particularly minority women. 5, We see no examples of majorities of women in party leadership; when we know that it is from the highest ranks of party leadership that the leaders of parliament or government are drawn, Data on party leadership is scarce, but we do see significant numbers of women in the party membership, performing campaigning and fund-raising work, or in parties' women's wings'. Even so, in, most countries, women are still. not able to influence parties to commit to gender equality goals, Considering that in liberal democracies,. the political party is central in the competition for political power, if women cannot' rise to lead political parties, they will not lead governments! Thank you very much for your attention! 4