Abstract:
Women equal participation in local government plays a vital role in the general processes of the
advancement of women. In Ethiopia, although women are granted constitutional rights to take
part in any affairs affecting their life, they do not exercise equal rights of participating in politics.
The general objective of this study was to assess women‘s participations in political parties in
Gondar town. To achieve the objective of the study qualitative approach was used. Primary and
secondary source of data was used from both women and men of the town and government
officials. Both in-depth interview and FGD was used. Result the study identified that the political
participation of women in Gondar town was low as compared to men except for their equal
participation in election. The study found that women were underrepresented in local power
structure, decision making body and political parties. This was mainly due to factors like
community related, economic, cultural, and political and women commitment factors.
Conclusion and recommendation: the range of women leaders and decision makers in Gondar
town was very low. The study indicates that there are numerous challenges that hinder women to
participate in politics. Based on this, the ruling party, stakeholders should work to bring women
in leadership and political participation. Women should struggle for their participation in
political parties and other leadership positions.
