Today, at the closing session of the World Forum for Democracy, the Council of Europe announced that the winner of its Democracy Innovation Award was the initiative Self-Representation of Women in Kenyan Courts.

Three initiatives out of the 30 or so presented at the Forum were shortlisted for the final vote:

• Strajk kobiet (Polish Women’s Strike), Poland (Lab 3: Is #MeToo the new model for women’s rights campaigns?)
• Musawah – a global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family (which was exceptionally presented during a Roundtable (Roundtable 8 : Faith and Feminism – Can women gain greater power in religious communities?)
• Self-Representation of Women in Kenyan Courts, FIDA (Federation of Women Lawyers) Kenya (Lab 11: How can women use the law to fight gender based violence?)

The Forum brought together 2 000 participants and 200 speakers from 80 countries who discussed practical initiatives to address the challenge of gender equality and women’s rights.