"2003 marked a promising year for women in national parliaments, with two world records broken and progressive developments occurring in several parts of the world", says the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Secretary General, AndAnders B. Johnsson.
The latest statistics from the IPU show that by the end of the year, for the first time, women had broken the 15% barrier across all national parliaments. Women today comprise 15.2% of the numbers of both lower and upper Houses. Moreover, of 181 countries with national parliaments, over 94% have at least one woman in parliament. These achievements are tempered, to some degree, by the fact that only 14 countries have so far managed to reach the 30% threshold of women in national parliaments, a figure widely considered to signify the point at which women can make a meaningful impact on the work of the parliament.
A second world record was broken in Rwanda when elections held in 2003 saw a remarkable increase, of 23.1 percentage points, of women to the National Assembly. With a score of 48.8%, the country came the closest to reaching equal numbers of men and women in any national parliament. Until these elections, Nordic countries had been set to reach that target. Among other reasons for this progress, women MPs in Rwanda benefited from a constitutional quota which reserves 24 of the 80 seats in the lower House to women. Women in the Rwandan upper House are also guaranteed 30% of the seats.
"The trend in post-conflict countries to institute mechanisms, such as quotas and reserved seats, which ensure the presence and participation of women in the newly-created institutions has been quite effective. In fact, in addition to the regular place of Nordic countries, the last five years have seen post-conflict countries feature prominently in the top 30 of the IPU's world ranking of women in national parliaments", noted the President of the IPU, Chilean Senator Sergio Páez.
It is important that women are present from the very beginning of the post-conflict reconstruction process and that their participation is secured throughout. "Let's hope that lessons learned in Rwanda and other post-conflict countries will serve in countries undergoing post-conflict transition," Mr. Paez continued.
Of the 38 countries having held elections in 2003, 19 (50%) have some kind of affirmative action measure to improve women's participation in politics. Notable examples are Belgium and Djibouti, where strong political will has seen the implementation of either political party or parliamentary quotas. Results of the elections in 2003 were generally promising, with women making progress in most countries. Women in Kuwait, however, are still denied both the right to vote and to stand for election, thus barring them from the political arena.
Looking at women's progress in national parliaments from a regional perspective, it is clear that the greatest gains were made in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the regional average has increased from 11.3% in 2000, to 15.3 % in 2004. While similarly encouraging developments were made in the Americas, Europe and the Arab region, progress has not been quite so easy for women in the Pacific or in Asia.
Running for parliament continues to prove difficult for women around the world. From the few countries reported in the IPU's analysis, there are more male candidates than female ones. In addition, the percentage of women candidates elected was generally lower than the percentage of male candidates elected.
Once elected, a whole new set of challenges face women, not least of which is being elected to positions of seniority. In fact, the number of women presiding over parliamentary chambers has continued to fall since 2000. Yet according to Mr. Johnsson, "if women are to become legitimate and credible players in the political process, they must be allowed to participate in all areas, and at all levels, of parliamentary activity".
On the 1st of March, at the unicameral level, only 7 women were Presiding Officers (6,2%) in the following countries: Dominica, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Republic of Moldova and San Marino. At the bicameral level, 14 women were Presiding Officers (10,3%), 6 of whom presided over Lower Houses, (8,8%) and 8 over Upper Houses (11,8%), in the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda (House of Representative and Senate), Bahamas (Senate), Belize (House of Representatives), Chile (Chamber of Deputies), Granada (Senate), India (Council of States – Acting President), Jamaica (Senate), Lesotho (National Assembly), Netherlands (First Chamber of the States-General), South Africa (National Assembly and National Council of Provinces), Spain (Congress of Deputies) and Trinidad and Tobago (Senate).
The IPU asked Speakers of Parliaments what they do to promote women's active participation in their parliament and to enhance sensitivity to gender issues.
They said :
"I was always a believer in the equality of all human beings. I have long been a human rights activist. As Presiding Officer, I encourage equal participation of all members, especially women parliamentarians, in order to achieve a gender balance. We have a committee on gender sensitivity, women's representation on all standing and ad hoc committees, and women's representation on all delegations to local, regional and international fora. I have also been involved personally in the IPU reform, especially on gender parity issues".
Mr. Mosé Tjitendero, Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia
"We have taken steps to guarantee that women parliamentarians play a part in all the activities of the parliament. They participate in the standing committees, field visits, study trips and other missions both within and outside Rwanda. We have also begun to set up legislative training sessions in order to upgrade the skills of women parliamentarians because most of them are new to parliament, just like a number of their male colleagues. We are also appealing to various partners for increased material and financial resources for the women deputies and senators, channelled in particular through the Forum des Femmes Rwandaises Parlementaires (FFRP) to help them become more attuned to the needs of the population, especially other women who see them as their forerunners and representatives".
Mr. Alfred Mukezamfura, President of the Chamber of Deputies of Rwanda
"This is the first legislature in Hungary during which four women have held ministerial portfolios within the government. A woman presides over the largest political group in parliament, one of our women vice-presidents is also a party leader and, for the first time in the history of Hungarian democracy, the President of the Assembly is a woman. The deputies play a busy role in all the work without any need for particular support. My experience leads me to believe that the tasks assumed by parliamentarians are not connected to their gender. The differences, if there are any, are not related to matters of substance but rather to the approach and to the kind of solutions proposed. We all know that men and women approach things from a different angle. Men seek purely rational solutions while women are more attuned to sensibilities. I believe men and women should have the same opportunities for advancement in employment, studies, and politics, and that the mothers of young children should be able to benefit from their rights and return to the job market".
Mrs. Katalin Szili, President of the National Assembly of Hungary
"In Latvia, we have approximately 20% of women in parliament. We do not have a quota system because we believe strongly that people are elected on the basis of their professional capabilities. Women are quite active, not only in the family but also in politics. Our President is a woman, our Minister of Foreign Affairs is a woman, the Speaker of Parliament is a woman and the Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee is a woman too. This doesn't mean that we have some kind of gender issues against men, it is purely to do with the development of society. Historically, women in Latvia have been very active. We are elected because people trust us and think that we are capable of doing the job. We can still do more, especially on issues such as violence in the family, or ensuring equal pay for women and men."
Mrs. Ingrida Udre, Chairperson of the Saeima of Latvia
"We have several explanations for the high presence of women in the Nordic parliaments. One is the proportional electoral system. In Finland, there is a proportional list but the individual choice of the voters also comes into play. Another explanation is to be found in ideological debates in the country. In this area in Scandinavia, politics is, so to speak, in the lead. The business world is falling behind, and the academic world lags behind as well. We have not enough women university professors, and women are also poorly represented in the trade unions".
Mr. Björn von Sydow, Speaker of the Riksdag of Sweden
"In Sri Lanka, we have very little participation of women in parliament. There are many proposals to have more women candidates, but the problem is that people have to elect them. At the last election, we had many women candidates, and one candidate was a minister, but she was defeated. We have a proportional representation system, and the people prefer to elect men than women. We are now proposing to appoint a select committee to set up a new electoral system. I think that if we institute the new system, we will have more chances of having women representatives".
Mr. Joseph Michael Perera, Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
"First and foremost, regardless of the fact that I am President of the National Assembly of Mali, I am an elected MP who holds convictions about policies for the advancement of women - convictions that are widely shared in the parliamentary groups and the National Assembly Bureau. With the support of the parliamentary groups and the Presiding Officers' conference, we have secured the election of two women as 4th and 6th vice-presidents of the National Assembly. A woman is also vice-president of a general committee, and the composition of parliamentary missions both within and outside the country is always mixed. Parity is a criterion accepted by all of the political parties in the National Assembly of Mali and whenever we are required to make nominations, we always seek to include both genders as a matter of principle.".
M. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, President of the National Assembly of Mali
"Within the Chamber of Deputies, the Bureau - chaired by the President of the Chamber and composed of the representatives of all the parliamentary groups - plays the lead role in decisions affecting the life of the institution which relate to political, social and cultural events held alongside the legislative work. I am keen to build on this tradition which has manifested itself in different and interesting ways. I applauded the initiative, launched by deputies within the Bureau, to set up meetings between parliamentarians and women who are leaders in their fields, either in Italy or internationally. These meetings, such as the meeting held with journalists who were in Iraq during the fighting last year, shed light on women's views on strategic questions which have a major impact on public opinion. I have also backed initiatives designed to bring the Chamber of Deputies into contact with civil society. We instituted the annual Ilaria Alpi and Maria Grazia Cutuli award, two Italian journalists who lost their lives while reporting in Somalia and Afghanistan respectively. I would also recall the December 2003 Study Day in the Chamber of Deputies devoted to the parliamentary speeches of Nilde Lotti, the first Italian woman to preside over the Chamber and who held the post longer than anybody else.".
M. Pier Ferdinando Casini, President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
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