WUNRN
http://www.wunrn.com

Press release from the Human Development Programme, Secretariat of the Pacific Community

Political Parity Law “A Success” in French Pacific, Say Researchers

SPC headquarters, Noumea, New Caledonia, Thursday May 31, 2007: The 2000 French law that required political parties to field equal numbers of men and women for elections has been “a real success” in the French Pacific, according to ground-breaking new research.

Not only had the law allowed women to join the ranks of political decision-makers, women who were hesitant to join politics had received the encouragement they needed, said political science researcher Stephanie Guyon, presenting the results to the 10th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women today.

By March 2005, numbers of women in public decision-making positions had risen to 286 in New Caledonia (compared with 99 before the law was introduced) and 372 in French Polynesia (202 before 2000).

However, the impact had been minimal in Wallis and Futuna, with just two women in its Territorial Assembly - one more than in 2002.

“The law has enabled women to go into politics,” said Ms Guyon, who worked on the research with fellow researcher Lucie Bargel and social science doctoral student Isabelle Rettig.  “I think it has been a real success for two of the three territories - but in Wallis and Futuna it did not succeed in getting women into the Territorial Assembly.”

Ms Rettig added that some women reported a gain in respect from their male colleagues. “There has also been an increase in solidarity and mutual respect between elected women … and the law has led to a reassessment of “traditional” political practice,” she said. “Women expressed themselves very firmly [in the political arena] against nepotism and chauvinism.”

There are no parity laws elsewhere in the Pacific, but Ms Guyon said that the French experience offered lessons for other countries in the region. “This law shows that it is not true that women are not ready to enter politics. When they are obliged to get involved, they do.”

One French Polynesian politician quoted in the research said that she had worked in political organising since the 1970s, but had rebuffed numerous requests to stand for election.  “In 2001, with the arrival of the parity law, I could no longer refuse.”

The research, called Assessment of the Law on Parity, showed that the current crop of female politicians in the French Pacific tended to:

- Have fewer children than their male counterparts;

- Be younger than their male counterparts;

- Be less experienced in politics;

- Have held fewer elected posts in their lives than men.

They also tended to be allocated responsibilities often associated with women, such as health or education rather than economics or infrastructure.

The research also outlined the hurdles that the newly-elected women politicians had identified. They included:

- Difficulties getting to grips with highly technical subjects;

- Acquiring the confidence to take part in open debate, as they were not always encouraged to contribute by more experienced colleagues;

- The attitudes of men who could not come to terms with a female boss; 

- Reconciling their public and private lives. Husbands were sometimes unwilling to provide more household help after their wives became public figures with heavier workloads.

The French parity law aimed to make politicians in France and her territories more representative of the population. There was some opposition, with male politicians in New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna trying to prevent its passage in the two territories.

The research into the impact of the parity law was funded by SPC and the Government of New Caledonia.

The 10th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women, which started on Sunday May 27, ends tonight.

SIDEBAR:

Quick facts on the French parity law:

- The French Pacific territories use a party list electoral system

- Under the parity law, party lists must alternate men and women candidates in constituencies where the population is more than 3,500.

- Fines apply to political parties which do not abide by the law

Notes to media:

To speak to the researchers, contact Stephanie Guyon on 00687 98 27 36 or email Stephanie.Guyon@ens.fr.

SPC hosts the Pacific’s major meeting of women, the Conference of Pacific Women,   and its linked ministerial meeting, the Ministers Meeting on Women, every three years.

The “Triennial”, as the meetings are known, bring together ministers, civil servants and NGOs working in women’s affairs to examine ways of advancing equality between men and women in the Pacific.

Find more information at http://www.spc.int/hdp/AC/hdp_triennial.html

About SPC (www.spc.int): The 60-year-old Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) provides technical and policy advice and assistance, training and research services to benefit Pacific Island countries and territories.

A bilingual organisation (English and French), SPC’s 250 staff  work in a wide range of sectors including natural resources, health, statistics, information and communication technology and social issues.

The Human Development Programme (www.spc.int/hdp) was created in November 2006 from a merger of SPC’s programmes in gender, youth, culture and community education and training.

SPC has 26 members, of which 22 receive services: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna. The other four members are founding countries Australia, New Zealand, France and the United States.

* For more information please contact Julie Middleton, HDP Advocacy and Communication Officer at JulieM@spc.int

Julie Middleton

Advocacy and Communication Officer, Human Development Programme, Secretariat of the Pacific Community  

http://www.spc.int/hdp/index.html

 





================================================================
To leave the list, send your request by email to: wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com. Thank you.