In practice however, political parties have no means or measures to search for women who can become candidates, and many women face difficulties at all levels in running for election.

Section 161 of the Public Service Act provides for leave without pay for employees proposing to become candidates in an election held pursuant to the Canada Elections Act or the Elections Act (Yukon).

Despite a tense security situation in many parts of the country, over 6,000 Afghans (including more than 600 women) completed the procedures to become candidates for either the Wolesi Jirga or the provincial councils.

29. To follow up those achievements, a strategic plan had been established, consisting of two tracks: the first to empower women who had been elected, so that they were not left out of decision-making processes, and the second to prepare more women to become candidates in future elections.

The Government of Timor-Leste shares the view put forward in General Assembly resolution 46/137, in which the Assembly underscored "the significance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which establish that the authority to govern shall be based on the will of the people, as expressed in genuine and periodic elections" and declared "that determining the will of the people requires an electoral process that provides an equal opportunity for all citizens to become candidates and put forward their political views, individually and in cooperation with others, as provided in national constitutions and laws".