INSPIRING CHANGE: WOMEN’S POLITICAL REPRESENTATION
still persists, with continued weakness in Pacific Island member countries where women represent an average of only four per cent of all elected representatives, and only 10 per cent in the West Africa region.13 Late last year, over 300
women MPs from around the world – including many from the Commonwealth - met at the European Parliament in Brussels for the Women in Parliaments Global Forum Summit.14
Along with former
MEP Ms Begona Lasagabaster15 – now head of governance at UN Women – I convened a panel on women’s parliamentary representation entitled “Beyond the Numbers”. The promoter of New Zealand’s marriage equality law, Ms Louisa Wall,16
was one of the three
women MP panelists. The purpose of the session was to promote a discussion on the barriers that exist to women’s political participation, and mechanisms that women MPs - and their male allies - have used to overcome them. The discussion in Brussels
reflected on a number of factors
contributing to why women are still politically under-represented, and why many still face obstacles in entering and advancing in public life. Economic dependence; a lack of access to economic resources and employment; abuse of religious and traditional practices; patriarchal societal structures; prejudice and cultural stereotypes; limited educational opportunities; a lack of adequate funds and resources to run as candidates; violence in politics; and discriminatory institutional, political, legislative and electoral frameworks that have discouraged and disadvantaged women – all of these came up in the experience-sharing part of the panel discussion. The forum also discussed some
of the constitutional and parliamentary mechanisms that have helped in a range of countries to address these barriers. Most fundamentally, political rights and civil liberties for women embodied in national constitutional documents establish the broadest context for political gender equality. This is especially true of voting rights, the right to hold public office, and
the right to exercise public functions, removing any residual forms of sex discrimination or limits to equal citizenship. Gender equality legislation can provide an important basis for promoting women’s political rights. It should embrace election, campaign finance, and political party laws. Elected bodies should also review
their internal procedures to ensure the inclusion of gender-sensitive policies, rules and code of conduct, structures and working methods and conditions, including consideration of parliamentary sitting hours and the provision of childcare and maternal facilities within parliaments. Parliaments can also ensure that new women members have equal access to capacity development through induction programmes and training on parliamentary rules, legislative drafting skills, and debating procedures. Parliaments can and should harmonize national laws in accordance with international standards promoting and advancing gender equality, including in the area of politics, for example the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
Left: A Rwandan female MP speaking to people in her constituency. The country is setting an encouraging example with 64 per cent of its Parliament consisting of women. Above: The statue of a woman holding a child’s hand outside the Parliament building in Kigali.
against Women.17 Gender equality
commissions and women’s cross- party caucuses in Parliament have often helped to promote gender equality. Not only can they promote public policy that effectively responds to women’s demands and interests, but they can also have a positive effect on the consolidation and progress of women’s political leadership. Finally, temporary special measures - such as quotas – have been instrumental in promoting women’s political participation. The UN system is committed
to making gender equality a reality in democratic processes. Right now, 39 of UNDP’s 68 parliamentary strengthening projects specifically promote women’s empowerment. These include candidate training, induction and mentoring programmes; and awareness campaigns to counter gender stereotyping of candidates, and are being implemented on
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