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News from Poland
No Modern Democracy
Without Gender Equality – A Debate & Resolution in the Polish Parliament
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On the 12th
of March 2009, in the run-up to the European Parliament elections a national conference
took place in the Sejm (Lower Chamber of the Polish Parliament) during which a
resolution was adopted concerning the equal status of women and men. The
conference was attended by 150 participants from all over
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Sejm (The Polish Parliament Lower Chamber) 12 March 2009
National Conference:
“Equal Status of Women and Men. A Debate in the Run-up to the European
Elections.”
Modern
Democracy Cannot Exist Without Gender Equality
In the
run-up to the European elections in
The Parliamentary
Women’s Group which has been inactive for a while as well as unwilling to
cooperate with women’s organizations, has lost its ”raison d’etre” after
several of its members in succession
tendered in their resignations.
The start
of the present parliamentary session saw the dissolution of the Sejm’s
Commission for Equal Status. Such a state of affairs is in our opinion a
serious threat to the democratic transformation and constitutes a contravention
of the modern European democratic principles.
The Polish Government does not view the issue of equal treatment as an
important social problem and does not see the need to include it in the public
debate. It also seems to avoid making political decisions regarding the issue, decisions which would foster effective
solution to these problems.
The policy of neglect and inaction adopted by the Government are preventing Polish women from having any real influence on the decision making processes, are limiting their civic participation and the development of political initiative.
An
inadequate participation of Polish women in decision-making bodies at all
levels of national and european institutions significantly limits the
development of the democratic process which is based on equal opportunities.
The
elections to the European Parliament present an opportunity for change.
Therefore the participants of this conference are directing an urgent appeal to
policy-makers, political party leaders and civil society organizations for
active involvement in ensuring that gender equality is respected in the process
of preparing lists of candidates for the EP election and for active
participation in the election itself.
We
are issuing an urgent appeal to all the Women and Men in
it
is time for concrete and meaningful action:
-Lets encourage women to run
as candidates and support them in the election campaign
-Lets vote for those candidates who
are going to make a positive contribution in the area of gender equality
-Lets
not surrender our rights voluntarily by choosing not to participate in the
elections
-We
should closely monitor the fulfillment of election promises.
A sustainable development of modern European democracy won’t be possible
without changing political systems in such a way that both women and men have
an equal share in the decision-making process.
The
participants of the National Conference: “Equal Status of Women and Men. A Debate in the Run-up to the European
Elections.”
Translated
by Monika Sarnowska
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