More than 160 women legislators from 120 countries attending the Meeting of Women Parliamentarians in Manila - as part of the 112th IPU Assembly - celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the Meeting, defined as "symbolic of women’s struggles", by Philippine Senator Pia Cayetano, who was elected president of the Manila Meeting of Women Parliamentarians.
"In many countries women are still deprived of their rights and are victims of oppression", added Senator Cayetano, pointing out that "only 14 countries meet the IPU’s goal of 30 per cent women parliamentarians. Nonetheless, there are significant achievements. Twenty years ago, women parliamentarians met on the fringes of the IPU Assembly. Now they have their own meeting. A great number of women parliamentarians are present this year. In the Lower House of the Philippine Parliament 15 per cent of members are women, in the Upper House the proportion is 17 per cent, and 25 per cent of ministers are women. In addition, the Head of State is a woman. President Arroyo is promoting a gender equality agenda. Women’s voices will be heard at the Meeting and solutions found to their problems".
The host of the 112th IPU Assembly, Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, explained that in 1986, "the Philippines became a model of people power. Since then, it is in the Philippines where women power is most prominent. In 1986, a woman toppled a dictator and restored the country’s democratic institutions. President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino led this nation out of the political and social quagmire".
Today, another woman, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is steering the country in these economically challenging and turbulent times. "There is no better place, therefore, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Women Parliamentarians Group than the Philippines", stressed Senate President Drilon, welcoming the women parliamentarians to Manila.
The IPU President, Senator Sergio Páez, also addressed the Women Parliamentarians Meeting. "I must say that it gives me special satisfaction to be meeting with you". He mentioned the 20 years of existence of this gathering, "which came into being in the course of a conference in the heart of Africa, during the 73rd IPU Conference in Lomé (Togo) in 1985, and has, over time, gained in legitimacy and force. The working objectives you have set yourselves – in the medium and long term – have been materialising at the global political level".
Senator Páez concluded his remarks by saying that "after two decades of consistent work, we can now see a quantitative and qualitative improvement in the political participation of women, especially as regards their input in the legislative sphere".
The President of the Coordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians, Canadian Senator Joan Fraser, declared that "it is important to create spaces where women can speak to each other about their common challenges and to share strategies to overcome those challenges. As long as women are underrepresented in positions of power, there will be a need for them to get together to encourage each other and to work together".
"The Meeting of Women Parliamentarians can be immensely proud of what it has achieved over the past 20 years", underlined the IPU Secretary General, Anders B. Johnsson. The quality and range of debate has increased hugely over that time. The Meeting has given the IPU a trademark absolutely its own: it is the global reference point for statistics on the participation of women in political life".
The IPU Secretary General went on to say that "the Meeting has also given impetus to IPU to look at child protection issues and to develop its valuable range of handbooks. It has also pushed male colleagues to mainstream gender issues in declarations and resolutions of the IPU. The Meeting has pressed for gender analysis of parliaments’ budgets – including the IPU’s own. Despite these achievements, at the current rate of progress it would take national parliaments 40 more years to achieve parity in membership between men and women – so there is much good work still to be done".
Passing from celebration to action, the women parliamentarians then held two constructive and concrete debates on women and HIV/AIDS and domestic violence. The theme of domestic violence was introduced by Spanish Senator Ms. María Antonia Martínez García, who presented the recently adopted law on domestic violence, a very progressive piece of European legislation which could serve as a model for other countries.
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