COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE Colombo, Sri Lanka
58th Workshop F - 12 September 2012
ENGAGING POLITICAL PARTIES TO IMPROVE GENDER- RESPONSIVE GOVERNANCE
Moderator: Dr the Hon. Sudarshini Fernandopulle, MP, Sri Lanka, 2012 President of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians
Discussion Leaders: Hon Lindiwe Maseko, MPL, Speaker of the Provincial Legislature, Gauteng Sen. Helen Polley, Australia Hon. Meira Kumar, MP, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, India Ms Kemi Ogunsanya, Gender and Political Development Adviser, Commonwealth Secretariat
Great gains have been made by women in Parliaments and Legislatures in recent years due to affirmative action policies, cultural and social changes favouring greater representation of women and women supporting women to take on leadership roles, agreed the workshop. There continue to be challenges,
however, in achieving gender- responsive governance, so the workshop identified a range of strategies for the future, focusing first on political parties. They should develop formal and informal ways to promote gender equity, support women in leadership roles and assess policies on criteria to promote gender equality. All members of the community,
including men in political roles, should be engaged to ensure that gender equality is not seen as a “women’s issue” but as a fundamental precondition to democracy, development and diversity.
268 | The Parliamentarian | 2012: Issue Four Active support should also be
provided to women in leadership roles across the political divide through mentoring, training and implementing policies that achieve gender equality. Educating political colleagues and the broader community about the overall benefits of having women in decision- making roles was also advocated in the workshop. The workshop was pleased to
discuss a topic put forward by the CWP, particularly noting Sri Lanka’s proud history of electing the world’s first woman Prime Minister.
A role for political parties The workshop heard from Ms Kemi Ogunsanya, a Gender and Political Development Advisor at the Commonwealth Secretariat, that political parties are the “gatekeepers” for men and women entering parliamentary and leadership roles in most jurisdictions. There are ways to embed gender equality objectives in party structures
and manifestos to support women into leadership roles. Hon. Meira Kumar, MP, Speaker
of the Lok Sabha of India, said that no society will develop effectively without the equal participation of women. CPA states with party systems can use their parties’ structures to achieve this. In many jurisdictions, equal rights for women begin with the political parties, added Hon. Lindiwe Maseko, Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. Australia’s Sen. Helen Polley
noted there are some CPA states, particularly in the Pacific, where the party system is less dominant and other strategies such as formal mentoring programmes delivered through the government may be more appropriate there; the workshop heard of some specific programmes underway.
Gender-responsive governance The workshop discussed what was meant by gender-responsive