Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
New Delhi, 18 February 1997
N° 3

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Conference on " Towards Partnership between Men and Women in Politics " ended in New Delhi late 18 February 1997, with the Prime Minister of India, Shri H.D. Deve Gowda, calling it an " historic session " that was going to " open a new chapter " in democracy.

The Prime Minister was speaking to the Conference just before it closed with the reading of a Declaration by the President of the Conference and Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Shri P.A. Sangma, summing up the outcome of the meeting which he qualified as " one of the most important international conferences before we go into the next millennium. ". These included recommendations on how to achieve parity and more partnership between men and women in politics, through quotas for women political party candidates, dedicated campaign funds for women candidates and media training for women politicians.

Mrs Najma Heptulla, Vice-President of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament and Vice-President of the Conference, told a final press conference that the meeting, which brought together a nearly equal number of women and men parliamentarians (119 women and 121 men from 78 countries) representing a large number of political parties, was " an example for the world ". This prompted the Conference President to express the hope that " all our Parliaments and our international meetings will, like this one, increasingly come to resemble our societies and take on a parity nature. " The Conference was held at the invitation of the Indian Parliament.

The Secretary General of the IPU, Mr Pierre Cornillon, said the Conference not only " expressed its commitment to the cause " of women in politics, but proved that the " patient efforts " of the IPU in this domain had " paid off ". The IPU, which brings together the world's parliaments, has been working for some 20 years on promoting women in parliament since it believes that democracy will not assume true significance until political policies and legislation are decided upon jointly by men and women in the interests of both halves of the population. The results of the New Delhi Conference will be placed before the next meeting of the IPU's governing bodies, at its next Statutory Conference in Seoul, in April, where all member-parliaments will be asked to endorse the recommendations and implement them nationally.

An IPU study released on the occasion of the Conference shows that only 11.7 % on average of parliamentary seats in the world are occupied by women, only 7.1% of all parliamentary assemblies are presided over by a women, and 11% of political party heads and less than one-third of party board members are women.

Mr Sangma said that follow-up to the Conference should include a Summit of Heads of Government on partnership between men and women in politics.

In his Concluding Statement summing up the outcome of the Conference, he said that a " major shift in the mind-set of both men and women " was needed to correct the " huge gap " between law--nearly all the world's constitutions provide for equality between men and women in all fields of life--and practice. " What is basically at stake is democracy itself. "

" It goes without saying that women's political rights must be considered in the overall context of human rights and cannot be dissociated therefrom ", he added.

Following are the Conference's other main recommendations and conclusions:

• Minimum 30% of women in parliament: A 30% threshold figure of women in parliament (as has already been attained in the Nordic countries) would " improve appreciably " the situation, but " parity could not be achieved in Parliaments as long as political parties fail to put forward a sufficient number of women candidates with real chances of being elected. "
• Parties must be more open to women: " Women find it very difficult to obtain a seat in party structures which have evolved and operate according to basically masculine criteria. "
• Quotas: There were " divergent " views on the question of quotas for reserved seats for women MPs in parliament, but a " clear consensus " in favour of quotas to ensure a minimum number of women candidates. " It is clear to us all that quotas are only a necessary evil which should be applied on a temporary basis in order to redress the current dramatic imbalance between men and women and that they should be abolished once the desired effect has been achieved. "
• Proportional representation versus simple majority: " The proportional representation system or a mixed electoral system gives women much greater chances of being elected than the first-past-the-post system. "
• Family responsibilities: " Parties were ... asked to take measures to facilitate the equal participation of men and women in their activities, taking account of the family responsibilities of both sexes. "
• Fair sharing of remunerated and non-remunerated work: Given the unequal distribution of remunerated and non-remunerated work between men and women, this issue should be placed on the political agenda in all countries with proposals to achieve a fair sharing between men and women in unpaid work within the household, as this would release time for women to enter the political arena.
• Women's education: Education is a " precondition for the integration of women in political life " and " should be provided for men as much as for women in order to break down patriarchal mind-sets and should start at a very early age. ".
• Women's political and electoral training: " Equally indispensable for men and for women ", but " pre-training is required for women ". This should target: the exercise of citizenship beginning at school age so that participation in political life is not just limited to depositing a vote in a ballot box; the ability to stand for election and to conduct an election campaign, securing the moral, material and logistic support from political parties and informal support networks, and voter's trust; and learning to use parliamentary procedures. Political parties should also set up training programmes for women candidates; Parliaments should train newly elected MPs to help them prepare for their parliamentary duties; and education programmes should fight against stereotyped roles.
• Funding for women's political training: Substantial efforts must be made so that the necessary funds are provided for that purpose.
• Financing women's electoral campaigns: " Political parties should, as a matter of principle, put forward one-third women candidates and allocate to them one-third of their campaign resources "; international financial institutions such as the World Bank should establish special funds for cash contributions or interest-free loans to women candidates; public funding of political parties should be linked to the percentage of women candidates or provide other incentives, and foundations for financing women's electoral campaigns should be encouraged and developed.
• Role of the media: " Today, the media also play a very important role in politics. " Emphasis should be placed on providing media training for women so that they can better understand how to deal with the media and get their message across. The media should " adopt a new outlook " so that the image relayed of women politicians " should not be restricted only to their identity as women but should portray them as real actors in political life. " Parliaments and political parties should organise public sessions on the image of women politicians in the media; journalists should " take pains not to interview exclusively men politicians ", and an annual prize should be awarded to press bodies which " prove their impartiality in covering women and men politicians. "
• Networking among women politicians: " Considerable force could be generated if women politicians combine their efforts to ensure that policies in all fields take account of the women's perspective. " This could be facilitated through National Commissions for Women, and networking should help train new women MPs.
• Women's rights watch: " Every State should set up a multidisciplinary advisory board having a supervisory function to ensure that the interests and needs of women are taken into account in every field. "
• NGOs: Action of the non governmental organisations, which play a crucial role in the establishment of parity democracy, should be encouraged and supported so that they continue and strengthen their scrutiny of the political process.
• Action by Parliaments: Parliaments should create special committees to monitor commitments regarding the rights of women, and should adopt legislation to implement women's rights.
• UN-IPU Co-operation: The IPU should strengthen its co-operation with the United Nations Division on the Status of Women as a practical follow-up to the IPU-UN Co-operation Agreement concluded last July.
• Future regional meetings: The momentum generated by the New Delhi Conference could be sustained by the holding of regional meetings of MPs to discuss particular aspects of the question. The IPU should continue to carry out research on the topic of women's political empowerment, on its own or jointly with UNESCO such as on questions of women politicians and the media.

" In conclusion, " Mr Sangma said in his Concluding Statement, "I would like to point out that the imbalance between men and women in politics in undeniable, that a consensus between men and women has arisen here on the urgent need to remedy this situation and that practical solutions have been identified.

" It now remains to mobilise sustained political resolve in order to advance from words to action. This is our joint responsibility, and, in the name of each and every one of you, I wish to assert here our commitment to take up this responsibility to the full.

" Democracy and the development of our countries are at stake, " Mr Sangma said.