Women making a difference in parliaments of the Gulf Cooperation Council States

Despite a small regional average of 9 per cent of women parliamentarians, Arab parliaments have achieved significant progress over the years. The number of women in parliament has steadily increased, and this thanks largely to the inroads made in the parliaments of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States. The Parliament of the United Arab Emirates, with its 22.5 per cent of women parliamentarians, is the most recent example of such progress.

The IPU has paid particular attention to the political participation of women in the GCC States through close and regular monitoring of participation at each of its Assemblies, the organization of national seminars for women candidates and women in parliament and the holding of the First Regional Conference ofWomen Parliamentarians and Women in Political Decision-Making Positions of the GCC States in July 2006 in Bahrain.

The Second Regional Conference took place in Abu Dhabi, on 30 and 31 October 2007, jointly organized by the IPU and the Federal National Council of the United Arab Emirates. Women parliamentarians and women in political decision-making positions from all seven invited States participated in the event: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

This year's conference focused on "Women making a difference in parliament". Women discussed regional progress and setbacks and shared their experiences on how to bring about change in parliament. A special session highlighted the challenges they faced in education, employment and politics.

The participants agreed that the most significant challenges facing the GCC States were related to certain prevailing cultural and social values, women's lack of confidence in themselves and weak implementation of laws in favour of women. In response to these challenges, they stressed the need to sensitize voters on women's political participation, highlighted the role of civil society organizations and the media and emphasized the importance of boosting women's self confidence and capacities to carry out political mandates.

But what happens once women reach parliament? How do women bring about change? There were myriad responses. Some participants suggested increasing the number of women in parliament based on the "strength in numbers" theory: more women in parliament can help change the agenda. Others proposed devising strategies and fostering cooperation with men. Developing the skills of women MPs and enhancing parliament's capacity to address gender issues were also highlighted as determining factors. Close cooperation with civil society and the media, as well as solidarity between women, also need to be taken into account.

Recognizing that there was room for improvement, participants committed themselves to pursuing efforts and called for drafting specific plans of action to accelerate women's political empowerment. This topic will no doubt be raised at the Third Regional Conference of Women Parliamentarians of the GCC States, which is scheduled be held in 2008.