WUNRN
Via WPP- Women Peacemakers Program
Guaranteeing
Women’s Rights In The New Egyptian Constitution
Urgent because the
Armed Forces Command say the draft will be completed by the end of this month,
February 2011
A
woman shouts as she blocks the entry of army tanks to
The
Supreme Council of Egypt's armed forces has
suspended the Constitution, dissolved the Parliament, and formed a committee to
draft a new Constitution for the country. Amendments will be submitted to
a popular referendum.
Specific guarantees covering the political
representation of women need to be written into
In
Also visit UNIFEM
Study: ‘Engendering Constitutions: Gender
Equality Provisions in Selected Constitutions. A Comparative Study accompanied
with Case Studies’ www.unifem.sk/uploads/doc/Constitutional%20publication%20Nov%2020071.pdf
The Rights of
Women in recent Constitutions
IRAQI CONSTITUTION
The Preamble
We, the people of Iraq, who have just risen from our
stumble, and who are looking with confidence to the future through a
republican, federal, democratic, pluralistic system, have resolved with the
determination of our men, women, elderly, and youth to respect the rule of law,
to establish justice and equality, to cast aside the politics of aggression, to
pay attention to women and their rights, the elderly and their concerns, and
children and their affairs, to spread the culture of diversity, and to defuse
terrorism.
Section Two
Rights and Liberties
Chapter One
[Rights]
First: Civil and Political Rights
Article 14:
Iraqis are equal before the law without discrimination based on gender,
race, ethnicity,
nationality, origin, colour, religion, sect, belief or opinion, or
economic or social status.
Section
Three
Federal
Powers
Chapter one
The Council of Representatives
Article 49:
First: The Council of Representatives shall consist of a number of
members, at a ratio of one seat per 100,000
Iraqi persons representing the entire Iraqi people. They shall be elected
through a direct secret general ballot. The representation of all components of the people shall be upheld in
it.
Fourth: The elections law shall aim to achieve a percentage of
representation for women of not less than
one-quarter of the members of the Council of Representatives.
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‘The State of
Article 9 of the Rwanda Constitution expresses, as a fundamental
principle, the need for equality of all Rwandans and particularly between women
and men, in a pluralistic democratic government.
International IDEA Case Study:
http://www.idea.int/publications/wip2/upload/Rwanda.pdf
A Summary:
The preamble to the Rwanda Constitution cites
international human rights instruments and conventions to which
At the first post-genocide parliamentary elections of
October 2003 women achieved nearly 50% representation. Before its civil war in
the early 1990s and the genocide in 1994, Rwandan women never held more than
18% of seats in the country’s Parliament. The dramatic gains for women resulted
from specific mechanisms to increase women’s political participation, among
them a constitutional guarantee, a quota system, and innovative electoral
structures. Having achieved near-parity in the representation of men and women
its legislature, this African country now ranks first among all countries of
the world in terms of the number of women elected to parliament.
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Nepali Interim Constitution. Constituent
Assembly
(4) The
principle of inclusiveness shall be taken into consideration while selecting
the candidates by the political parties
pursuant to sub-clause (a) of clause (3) above, and while making the list of
the candidates pursuant to sub-clause (b) above, the political parties shall
have to ensure proportional representation of women, Dalit, oppressed
tribes/indigenous tribes, backwards, Madhesi and other groups, in accordance as
provided for in the law.
Notwithstanding anything contained in this
clause, in case of women there should be at least one third of total
representation obtained by adding the number of candidature
pursuant to sub-clause (a) of clause (3) to the proportional representation
pursuant to sub-clause (b) of clause (3).
http://bodhrajlamsal.blogspot.com/2010/03/interim-constitution-of-nepal-2063.html
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CONSTITUTION OF THE
CHAPTER 2 BILL OF RIGHTS 7.
Rights.- ( 1) This Bill of Rights is
a cornerstone of democracy in
9. Equality.- l) Everyone is equal before the law and has the right to
equal protection and benefit of the law.
(3) The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly
against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy,
marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age,
disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.
See www.bing.com/search?q=CONSTITUTION%20OF%20THE%20REPUBLIC%20OF%20SOUTH%20AFRICA%20%20%20NO.%20108%20OF%201996&pc=conduit&form=CONMHP&ptag=A790683AF96594DFB97F&conlogo=CT2857572
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The Inter-Parliamentary
Also see Review of Inter-Parliamentary Union‘s Gender
programme ‘Gender Equality in Politics’: www.indevelop.se/publications/review-of-inter-parliametnary-unions-gender-program-gender-equality-in-politics