![]() | INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION PLACE DU PETIT-SACONNEX 1211 GENEVA 19 |
Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Since the last IPU survey in July 1995, 73 of the 179 existing Parliaments have held general elections, in which the number of women parliamentarians grew by a tiny 0.4 percent. According to the new study, Men and Women in Politics: Democracy Still in the Making, women must first achieve equitable power within political parties if they are to close the gap in Parliament. Right now, only 10.8 percent of party leaders and less than one-third of party board members are women, despite the large number of female party activists. "The survey demonstrates that all countries, with the exception of Nordic countries, conduct politics in a way that excludes nearly half of their human resources and talents," states the survey. "It is democracy that suffers and development that is slowed." For Pierre Cornillon, Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, "it is quite clear that it is chiefly within political formations that the will must crystallize for the situation to change and for women to have a full say in the running of public affairs." The 1997 IPU study surveyed all political parties in the world's Parliaments -- more than 1,000 parties -- on the status of women, both in Parliaments and in the parties themselves. The study also asked about any steps being taken to equalize political power between men and women. To advance the cause of a more balanced sharing of political responsibilities between men and women, the IPU has organized a conference together with the Indian Parliament, entitled, "Towards Partnership Between Men and Women in Politics". The Conference, in New Delhi February 14-18, will bring together female and male leaders from Parliaments, Governments, international organizations, non-government organizations (NGOs), academia and the media. It will be the first worldwide political conference to look into actions taken by governments and political parties to further women's political integration since the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, September 1995). The Conference will debate methods of making current political practices more gender sensitive. It will also include a round-table on the key issue of the image of women politicians in the media. Other main findings of the 200-page IPU survey:
Democracy Spreads, But Not Women's Political Power In the past 50 years, the number of sovereign States with a Parliament has increased sevenfold as nations across Africa, the Middle East and Asia gained independence, but the percentage of women lawmakers worldwide has increased just fourfold. In 1946, only 26 Parliaments existed worldwide, which had 3 percent women members of Parliament (MPs), and 2.2 percent Senators. By 1955, there were 61 Parliaments, with 7.5 percent women MPs and 7.7 percent women Senators. A 1985 survey showed 136 Parliaments, with 12 percent women MPs and 12.7 percent women senators. The 1995 IPU survey showed an increase in the number of Parliaments, to 176, but a drop to 11.6 percent women MPs and 9.4 percent women Senators. The highest percentage women in Parliament ever reached in history came in 1988, with 14.8 percent women MPs. Many Communist governments and one-party States of the era ensured the selection of large percentages of unopposed women (and male) candidates.
In the past 50 years of parliamentary history, only 38 of the
186 States that have ever had a Parliament have ever selected
a woman to preside over Parliament or a House of Parliament. Are Quotas the Answer? Only six countries in the survey -- Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, North Korea, Nepal and Philippines -- have laws stipulating that the national Parliament must include a minimum percentage of women. In none of these six countries does the quota come anywhere near the 50 percent or better of women in the general population. Five other countries -- Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Nepal, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania -- reserve seats for women in their legislature. India, host of the IPU Conference, is currently engaged in a major debate on whether to reserve seats for women in its Parliament. Forty-three countries have Parliaments in which a defined number of seats, or all seats, are filled by appointment, but none of these countries has over 20 percent women parliamentarians. Many parties have adopted customs or rules that call for up to 50 percent of their candidates being women. The survey attempts to establish the effect of such a measure on the election of women, on the basis of comments from various parties. In order to provide a more complete picture, for 31 of these parties, it brings together their set quota, their actual proportion of women candidates, their number of women elected and their overall proportion of seats in Parliament. Because of a lack of response by many parties, comments regarding quotas are uneven and incomplete. Many of the comments that were received pointed to the positive effects of quotas, stating that they brought in a higher proportion of women to Parliament, encouraged women to enter politics and helped to shed traditional apprehensions of women towards politics. Various other parties, however, sent in negative comments. One example comes from the CSU of Germany, which said: "The majority of women in the CSU feels that the introduction of a quota system is not a promising way to facilitate access to political decision-making positions for women over the long term. It is only through individual achievement and competence that women will successfully be able to implement their claims to political offices and mandates." The main criticisms of quotas came from countries formerly part of the eastern European bloc, in which quotas were used under the old Communist system to ensure what was no more than a formal reflection of society within Parliament. For women, such quotas failed to open up the way to an equal role in politics.
Some political parties, to make up for the scant representation
of women in their decision-making bodies, have adopted a quota
system for their governing bodies, often to meet demands by women.
These systems involve either a specific percentage or a written
or implicit rule concerning the proportion of men and women. A
fewer number of the same parties have established a quota for
legislative elections. Nevertheless, women still account for less
than one-third of members of the parties' governing bodies. Political Parties Must Lead the Way to Greater Equality The IPU's Plan of Action, adopted in 1994, calls on political parties to adopt measures to help women's political integration, reminding them that women, to a greater extent than men, have to reach a balance "which often remains unsatisfactory and fragile" between party activities, family activities and professional activities. The survey sought to discover whether political parties were implementing any of the IPU's recommendations to assist women in balancing their various responsibilities. "The information gathered shows that the proportion of parties making a particular effort in the direction advocated in the Plan of Action is still fairly small," the report says. "Many replies remained evasive or ambiguous; it nevertheless seems that a growing number of parties are beginning to realize the need to offer their women activists the necessary facilities to enable them to concentrate on party activities."
The IPU survey notes that many parties have set up a women's branch.
This phenomenon is particularly marked in Africa and, to a lesser
extent, in the Americas and Europe. It finds that although such
branches were set up to respond to women's needs, the risk exists
that they could marginalize women rather than integrate them and
that, instead of serving women they may in fact be just one more
structure serving parties. IPU Conclusions The IPU report outlines several suggestions to break the "vicious circle" that keeps women underrepresented in political life.
"Above all, the IPU is advocating a new social contract for democracy based on parity and partnership", states the IPU Secretary General. "The aim is not to promote one sex over the other but to secure the common good -- in other words, to help society as a whole. We understand that politics should involve both sexes equally since this is the only way that it can truly interpret everybody's needs and aspirations."
The Geneva-based IPU is the world organization of Parliaments.
It currently has 135 members.
World Classification -- Selected Countries Only
Ten countries have no women in Parliament: Comoros, Djibouti, Kiribati, Kuwait, Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Tonga, and United Arab Emirates.
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