Women

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Womens Political Participation in the EE and CIS

• Emerging Themes and Issues
• Wendy Harcourt

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Geopolitical Map of Womens Political
Participation in EECIS Region in 1989
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Geopolitical Map of Womens Political
Participation in EECIS Region in 1994
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Geopolitical Map of Womens Political
Participation in EECIS Region in 2008
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The UNDP Report on Women and Government in the
EECIS to be published in 2009

• will analyze the causes for womens low political
  participation and propose concrete actions to
  address them
• The Report will build on desk top research and
  surveys as well as UNDP Roundtables held in
  Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Ukraine, Bosnia and
  Herzegovina and Georgia tgether with an
  International Conference to be held on Women and
  Governance in Istanbul in December 2008.

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Aims of the Report

• to identify processes that leading to womens
  full and equal political participation in local,
  subregional and national institutions
• to increase state capacity to implement gender
  equality legislation and
• to build the commitment and cooperation of
  government with civil society in order to produce
  greater gender equality and ensure participation
  of women in public life, including in decision
  making processes, in line with international
  commitments and national legislation.
• to provide a tool for women in the EE CIS region
  to advocate for their full and equal
  participation in political sphere as a
  prerequisite for gender equality and sustainable
  development.

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Womens political Participation in EECIS Region
1989, 1994 and 2008
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Womens Political Participation in EU, Accession
Countries, and Associated Countries, 1989, 1994
and 2008
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What do the figures show?

• marked reduction in womens political
  representation across EE CIS region after 1989
  during the transition period.
• women in the region have been slowly increasing
  their share of political posts during the last
  decade, due to gender quotas and also because of
  the adoption of acquis communautaire (the body of
  EU legislation).
• EU has influenced the development of equal
  opportunities legislation by requiring accession
  countries to implement the acquis communautaire
  and most CEE countries now have
  non-discrimination clauses in their constitutions
  and statutes to deal with equality issues.
• The EU accession process can be perceived in both
  accession and candidate countries as an
  opportunity for advocating for the improvement of
  women situation.
• BUT the figures do not provide the key to
  understand democratic processes from a gender
  perspective in the Region.

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Going below the figures

• gender equality and democracy depend not only on
  how many women are in parliament and in political
  decision making positions but also on the ways
  the state protects and respects women,
  particularly in relation to labour rights, gender
  based violence, resources for social security,
  credit for women, treatment of minorities,
  responses to migration.
• patriarchal prejudices (in political parties, the
  media, decision making bodies etc) that linger
  and make it difficulty to establish adequate
  mechanisms in political parties to promote women
  and ensure the accountability of governments to
  women and womens organizations.
• Often when women are in political positions
  womens participation in political parties is
  often limited to technical duties and rarely
  leadership roles.
• Women are not perceived as real players on the
  political field, even to the extent women are
  seen as political threats to male political
  leadership. Mechanisms to ensure gender equality
  are weak
• considerable differences among the countries and
  across sub regions due to historical, cultural
  and social context.

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Thematic Area One Political Parties How to
ensure womens representation in political
parties

• Political parties are key spaces where women can
  be brought into the political process at
  different levels, however it is proving complex
  to ensure womens effective participation and
  leadership. Going below the figures the Report
  will examine how women are engaged in political
  parties, what mechanisms are operating in the
  region and how best to organize for greatest
  effect in decision making at both local and
  national levels.

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Some questions for Theme One

• At national and local levels, how democratic and
  transparent is womens inclusion in decision
  making? How are women overcoming barriers to
  womens political participations inside political
  parties?
• How have parties introduced programmes for
  womens rights and gender equality? What is the
  actual commitment of political parties for a
  gender policy (womens wings, programmes etc)?
  What have been the guarantees for implementation?
• Do quotas work? What are the successes? What are
  the hindrances? Can women work across political
  parties for gender equality? When it is tried
  does it work? Is it a good strategic method. (IE
  Do womens councils/womens caucauses work? Are
  their agendas mainstreamed?

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Thematic Area Two. Legislation Acquiring and
implementing gender equity Legislation

• Moving from words to action demands solid gender
  equality legislation, the EU accession is
  providing an opportunity for accession countries,
  and there are now several examples of innovative
  legislation in place in the region. The Report
  will examine not only where legislation has been
  drawn up but also how effective it has been, what
  strategies have been used to put legislation in
  place and try to establish the difference such
  legislation has meant for gender equality
  democratic participation of women in the region.

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Some questions for Theme Two

• How effectively is equal opportunity legislation
  being drawn up and being implemented?
• What are the most important gender equality
  mechanisms to have in place (including
  legislation on domestic violence and public care
  systems )
• What opportunities are being created in the EU
  accession process and the acquis communautaire?
• What opportunities for the improvement of womens
  situation?
• Women in the region have been slowly increasing
  their share of political posts during the last
  decade, because of the adoption of acquis
  communautaire (the body of EU legislation) what
  difference has that made for women in the region?

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Thematic Area Three. Going Beyond the Numbers
Towards a 50/50 share of political economic and
social power

• Do the numbers of women in political positions
  really indicate womens real political
  participation? This is a key question underlining
  The Report.
• What is emerging is that numbers do not indicate
  the level of democratic deficit in the region.
  There are other external factors, including a
  growing fundamentalism and return to traditional
  values. Several countries have seen a decline in
  womens ability to participate not only due to
  lack of adequate machineries to ensure their
  participation but also due to other demands on
  womens time, resources and energy. The Report
  will look below the numbers to the changing
  economic and social (and cultural) trends, the
  possibilities and difficulties women are facing.

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Some questions for Theme Three

• What are the conditions and norms that need to
  change the democratic deficit for women and put
  in place a gender equitable sustainable
  democracy?
• How is the growing return to traditionalism/fundam
  entalism, leading to discrimination gender based
  violence etc. combated in the region
• How are masculine norms, values and practices
  being broken down?
• How are gender-sensitive norms, values and
  practices that include women and women's needs,
  interests and perspectives in governance put in
  place?
• What are the resources required to ensure labour
  rights, social security, credit for women etc.
• What are the impacts of land reform and
  privatization?

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Thematic Area Four An Enabling Environment
Building support for womens rights and gender
equality and empowerment

• In building an enabling environment for womens
  political participation not only women in various
  political positions need to be engaged but also
  other actors are key. The Report will look at key
  actors beyond the government and local womens
  movement that are involved and strategically need
  to be more involved in any regional programme for
  political participation, gender equality and
  empowerment media, private sector and
  international donors. Three other important
  factors in the region is how great political
  participation for women can be strengthened
  through a link to the youth movement, the
  environment movement and minorities rights
  movements.

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Some questions for Theme Four

• How is mainstream media engaged as a critical
  factor in changing discriminatory information and
  images of women.
• How are trade unions engaged in ensuring more
  equal participation of women?
• How are the private sector, international donors
  and international (western) womens groups work
  engaged in building an enabling environment in
  the region?
• How are womens civic groups engaging with the
  youth movement?
• And in the work towards gender equality how is
  the treatment of women in minority groups taken
  into account?

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Thematic Area Five Civil Society working at
local, national and regional level for womens
political participation

• Civil society and strong womens movements are
  key to ensuring women are fully involved in
  political democratic processes. The Report will
  focus on womens movements engaged in lobbying
  for greater political participation and how
  governments can support the effective networking
  of womens organizations at the national and
  regional level (across political party lines) as
  well as establishing clear agendas for gender
  equality and empowerment in the region. Such an
  agenda includes working with the agreements
  already made in Beijing, CEDAW, the MDGs and
  other agendas confirmed through UN processes as
  well as support given to women and democratic
  processes in the Region by organizations such as
  Open Society etc.).

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Some questions for Theme Five

• How are womens organizations incorporated into
  political processes at local and national levels?
  What is working, what can be improved?
• How are womens organizations involved in gender
  equality and womens rights issues in the region
  operating at local, national and regional level?
• How are governments collaborating with womens
  movement and womens activist groups when
  addressing policy issues regarding womens
  political participation? What is working, what
  can be improved?
• How are womens organizations incorporated into
  political processes at local and national levels?
  What is working, what can be improved?