WUNRN
Direct Link to Full 60-Page
Publication:
Launch
of "Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties: A Good Practices
Guidebook to Promote Women's Political Participation"
By Helen Clark, Administrator UNDP
29
February 2012 - I
am delighted to be here tonight, during this 56th Commission on the Status of
Women, with our partner the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to launch
“Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties: A Good Practices Guidebook to
Promote Women's Political Participation.”
It
is a particular pleasure, both personally and professionally, to have the
opportunity to say a few words about women’s participation in politics and the
critical importance of engaging political parties in lifting that participation.
As a
former Prime Minister and Member of Parliament, first elected to public office
in 1981, I know full well the challenges women face when entering what has been
a male-dominated occupation in most countries. Yet it is vital to
encourage women to step forward and take their rightful place in decision
making.
Research
also suggests that female politicians and leaders tend to place greater
emphasis on social issues - from tackling poverty to providing basic services,
as in education and health, and in critical infrastructure like that for water
in developing countries.
UNDP
works with partners, including the National Democratic Institute, the
Inter-Parliamentary Union, and sister UN agencies, including UN Women, to
promote women’s political participation. That work includes: support for
electoral law and processes which are conducive to women’s participation;
training for women candidates; and support for elected women to be effective in
their roles.
The
number of women Members of Parliaments has been growing slowly but steadily, to
almost twenty per cent of the global total, but the number of women heads of
government remains very low at only six per cent of the total around the world.
Many heads of government have honed their leadership skills in a political
party. That is why it is critical for women to be supported by political
parties, so that they too have the opportunity to develop the necessary
political skills to ascend to the highest levels of political systems.
In
the report being launched at this event, UNDP and NDI highlight the importance
of political parties as vehicles for the nurturing and promotion of women’s
political participation and leadership.
It
is estimated that forty to fifty per cent of political party members are women,
but that women hold only about ten per cent of the leadership positions within
parties. Women tend to be highly represented at the grassroots levels of
parties, and/or in supporting roles, but underrepresented at the higher levels.
This
practical guidebook highlights good practices drawn from twenty case studies
from around the world for promoting women’s participation in political parties.
It shows us that there are common challenges facing women in politics,
regardless of the region of the world in which their country is located, or the
country’s size or development status. The challenges are shared by women across
new democracies and established ones, and by women in parties across the
political spectrum.
The
guidebook examines ways in which political parties can promote women’s
advancement in the political system throughout the electoral cycle:
- Prior to
elections, parties can take concrete steps to ensure that women are placed
in winnable positions on party lists, or in safe or winnable
constituencies. One party in Canada created a recruitment committee to
ensure diversity in its candidate selection. A party in Costa Rica
alternates men and women candidates on its electoral lists.
- During
elections, strategies which can be effective in increasing women’s
participation include:
• training and mentoring women candidates;
• ensuring women’s visibility in campaigns;
and,
• making sure that electoral monitoring,
security provision, and voter information are gender-sensitive.
- The
guidebook also highlights strategies for supporting successful candidates
once they are elected. In El Salvador, the Association of Salvadoran Women
Parliamentarians and Ex- Parliamentarians offers training in communication
and organizing skills, which helps women become more effective in their
political work both inside and outside parliament. In South Africa, women
party members pushed for changes to the parliamentary calendar to
accommodate the needs of parliamentarians with families.
The
value of this guidebook lies in sharing experiences of what a range of
political parties have done and are doing to boost female participation. It
looks at what motivated these steps, and describes the political benefits the
parties may also gain from taking them. It underscores how gender equality and
women’s empowerment are being recognized by political parties as not only the
right thing to support, but also as having benefits for the parties too.
This
good practices guide is both an important advocacy tool, and a capacity
building tool. UNDP’s hope is that it will stimulate discussion within
political parties on how to improve their recruitment, promotion, and support
of women’s political participation.
The
guidebook will be promoted widely to global political party associations,
individual political parties, and through UNDP programming at the country
level. The objective is to push for new norms in political parties, so
that the world can move faster towards true gender equality in politics.
When
women have a significant voice in all governance institutions at all levels,
they will be able to participate equally with men in public dialogue, and
better influence the decisions which impact on their future and that of their
families, communities, and nations.