Women's political participation in Europe and the CIS

May, 2011Bratislava

ENHANCING WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN ECIS

Louise Sperl

OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION

1. Overview: Women’s political participation in ECIS

2. Legal and institutional frameworks to enhance women’s political participation in ECIS

3. Mechanisms and strategies to enhance women’s political participation in ECIS

4. Regional and country level programming

Women’s Political Participation in ECIS

Progress to women’s political participation relatively slow and uneven

Considerable variations to women’s political participation (6.5% to 32.5%)

13 countries in the region below global average of 19% representation in national parliaments

In several countries (e.g. Czech Republic, Romania) women better represented at the local than at the national level

In all countries of the region, men outnumber women as ministers in national government.

Major Obstacles to Women’s Political Participation

Lack of party support for women candidates & politicians together with a male dominated political culture Lack of access to networking and training opportunities Financial barriers to run as candidates Prevailing gender stereotypes Perception of politics as “dirty” Dual burden of a professional career and domestic work (the latter being still disproportionately carried out by women).

Success Factors for Women’s Political Participation

According to the IPU, main success factors are:

Electoral system arrangements,

Implementation of electoral gender quotas and

Measures taken by political parties and other key actors that shape the environment for gender quality in a given country.

Legal and Institutional Frameworks to Enhance Women’s Political Participation

Gender Equality Legislation (GEL):- in place in almost all countries of the region

- usually also address women’s participation in public life- often accompanied by Gender Action Plans, however, limited funding for implementation

Election Laws:- need to harmonize Election Laws and GEL- in several cases, provide for legislated quota

EC gender acquis:- has helped establish stronger culture of gender awareness

Legislated Quota in ECIS

Several countries in ECIS have adopted legislated quota to enhance women’s representation in power and decision-making, including:

- “New” EU Member States (Slovenia, Poland)- A number of countries in SEE (Albania, BiH, FYR of Macedonia, Serbia) - as well as in the Caucasus (Armenia) and - Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan).

In order to yield results/be effective – need for quota to be accompanied with additional measures!

Mechanisms and Strategies to Enhance Women’s Political Participation

Political Parties

Critical for ensuring women’s political participation: Power to recruit, select and nominate candidates in hands of political parties Throughout the region, political parties don’t often promote women to leadership positions Efforts to address women’s underrepresentation must target political parties and their views and strategies on more inclusive decision making.

Mechanisms and Strategies to Enhance Women’s Political Participation

Measures to strengthen women’s leadership in political parties in ECIS

Engendering party manifestos (e.g. Kyrgyzstan) Implementation of voluntary quotas (e.g. Poland) Establishment and strengthening of women’s caucuses within political parties (e.g. Kyrgyzstan, Croatia) Alliances across party lines (e.g. Georgia)

UNDP Programming in this Field

Support to draft of Gender Equality Legislation (GEL) and/or Gender Action Plans (GAPs) (e.g. BiH, Armenia, Serbia) Support for the establishment of gender equality commissions in the parliament (eg. Turkey) Support to Electoral Commissions for better tracking how women and men exercise their right to vote and have access to relevant information about voting procedures and registration (Moldova) Supporting policy dialogues to explore opportunities for the enactment of legislated quota (e.g. Romania). Support in the creation and strengthening of women wings within political parties (Kyrgyzstan) Support in efforts to engender political party structures (e.g. Kyrgyzstan, Georgia).

UNDP Programming in this Field Skills development (e.g. how to present yourself in the media) as well as capacity development for gender-responsive policy making (e.g. Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan) Analysis of factors hindering greater participation in politics (Kyrgyzstan) Gender analysis of political parties (Georgia, Kyrgyzstan) Addressing Proxy and Family Voting (FYR Macedonia) Recommendations for the promotion of women’s political participation in ECIS based on six case studies from the region (Georgia, BiH, Turkey, Georgia, Poland, Ukraine).

Regional Project “Enhancing Women’s Meaningful Participation in

Politics” (funded by the UNDP JWID-Fund)Objective: to capacitate parliamentarians, civil servants at decision-making levels and CSOs to enhance women’s political participation in the target countries

Implementation of country pilots (BiH, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey): Capacity development of MPs for gender-responsive policy making (BiH, Turkey); technical assistance to state institutions and support to women’s networks (Kyrgyzstan)

Facilitation of regional network of policy makers and advocates - to exchange knowledge and enhance collective learning - in partnership with the iKNOW Politics network Regional Forum - where results of country pilots will be analyzed, presented and discussed

Thank you for your attention!

Contact: louise.sperl@undp.orghttp://europeandcis.undp.org/gender