CWP 2 - WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Discussion
Hon. Lucia Witbooi, MP, Namibia, stressed that women Parliamentarians need to focus on what they could do while actually in Parliament. She asked how women could use social media to make a change.
Ms Witbooi raised that if we had to call for women’s rights, social media would help bolster the initiative for zero violence against women. Ms Marie-Antoinette Rose, MP, Seychelles, reported on her country’s 45 per cent female representation in Parliament, making it 5th in world for female MP representation. She stated there was no affirmative action in social media or any quota system, meaning it was a totally different ballgame. In social media women fight on equal footing with men. She recognized the need for affirmative action and quota systems to increase female representation in Parliaments, but at end of the day women MPs needed to get out, talk without fear and educate young girls.
Hon. Gail Teixieria, MP, Guyana, said “we have to balance the pros for social media”. Politicians had
to be careful they were not being subjected to levels of distortion. As a developing country, there are still areas in Guyana without connectivity. A programme called the “one laptop per family in Guyana”, offers 90,000 households identified as low income a computer from the government as part of a programme for promoting E-governance and access to goods and services.
Citing her 36 year political experience from a cultural
perspective, she identified that people in the villages still prefer the face-to- face interaction.
She voiced “they want to hold your hand, cry on your shoulder and tell you their problems”. Ms Teixieria concluded that there had to be a balance between the new and the old, utilizing social media while not neglecting the grassroots level. Senator Kerryann Ifill, Barbados, urged participants to remember parts of the communities and constituencies that have no voice when talking about social media. Being visually impaired, social media affords her the tools to share her struggles.
She pressed that social media was more than an opportunity to put up photos; it was an opportunity to engage with members that could not easily reach their MPs. These included the visually impaired, wheelchair-bound persons and the intellectually challenged. Ms Sagufta Yasmin, MP, Bangladesh, raised the challenge for all women MPs in facing the media. Social media gives freedom to people, and is not moderated by any bias, making it a better platform than traditional methods.
She maintained that politicians that are actively involved in social media are closer to their voters given its scope for continuous engagement. Ms Thandile Sunduza, MP, South Africa encouraged female Parliamentarians to not be “sceptical and fearful of using social media because it works”.
She added as a leader you are able to correct someone on social media and clarify the issues. While there was an element of fear involved, she urged women MPs to use social media as you could correct the negatives.
Recommendations from the session
Recommendation One: “Social media has brought the world to the fingertips of women Parliamentarians and the challenge may no longer be accessibility and affordability.”
Recommendation Two: “The beneficial use of the powerful social media channels should be facilitated by promoting its harmless applications as a popular means of information dissemination.” Recommendation Three: “Parliaments in the
Commonwealth should enhance capacity of their Members in the use of social media to boost constituency outreach.” Recommendation Four: “Parliaments must ensure that Parliamentarians are resourced with the knowledge and equipment to actively and effectively engage with social media.”
All recommendations were endorsed with the exception of the first one.
The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue Four | 293
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