SSGM research seminar

Stories from the Inside…

Analysis of Women Councillors’ Experiences & Lessons Learned

Dr Tess Newton Cain, PLP Knowledge Dissemination Adviser

Tess Newton Cain www.tncpac.com

KEY POINTSThe impacts of introducing TSM for municipal councils

in Vanuatu differ between locationsPolitical parties are important players & need to be

included in reform-focused activities‘Training’ needs to focus on ‘doing’ politics as well as

on how to be a successful candidateDynamic is slow to change from clientilism to policy-

led developmentPeer learning & support may overcome ‘critical mass’

deficiencies


Background to TSMIs TSM the best way to improve the level & quality

of women’s political participation in the Pacific (or anywhere else)? - open to debate

Evidence suggests that it can have an impact given an appropriate enabling environment (Newton Cain, 2013)

TSM effective in bringing about short-term change. Where political parties are weak but there is some political will, TSM likely to be the only fast track solution (Waring, 2011)


TSM in Vanuatu3 jurisdictions in the Pacific have used TSM:

Bougainville (since 2005 at the ABG level)Samoa (since 2014 for national elections)

Designed to achieve a quota of 30-34% over a period of 16 years (4 election cycles)

C.f. (National) TSM quotas introduced in 2003Jordan: 5%Rwanda: 35% (Krook, 2014)


MethodologyNovember 2015: PLP

interviewed Luganville women councillors

March 2016: PLP interviewed Port Vila women councillors

10 intervieweesAdditional material from

interviews with (male) party reps


6 lessons learned…Political context can vary significantly within a country Political parties will make strategic use of critical

junctures Clientilist nature of politics persists at local government

levelPolitical fracturing creates perception of political parties

being weak but this is too simplistic‘Women-only’ training can have negative impactsPre-election training needs to focus on ‘doing’ politics as

well as getting elected


Lesson 1: variable political contextLuganville:

“Getting into politics is like men’s work, we have to wait for them to approach us. 5 groups approached me and I had to decide”

Port Vila:

“I decided to approach the GJP leader if his political party can accept me to stand…in the coming municipality [elections]


Lesson 2: political parties grab opportunitiesLuganville – party machineries selected

candidates to contest reserved seatsLuganville – party people – men - brought in from

Port Vila to do the women candidates’ campaigning

“…we adopted it as it will give balance on the council and this year more women contested the elctions. We fielded five in the reserve seats, our candidate is now the Chairperson of the Finance Committee”


Lesson 3: the persistence of clientilism“Before being a councillor you help your family, and now more people come and you start wondering whether you wanted to be a councillor. I think we need to fund raise to pay for what the people need”

“…people ask me for school fees, [to] pay for electricity bill, water bill, even pay for the house rent. I pay cemetery fees. For example last year I didn’t enjoy Christmas because I pay [sic] for cemetery fees”


Lesson 4: ‘weak’ political parties?Luganville:Acknowledge that there are shared interests among women but political reality = party interests come firstPort Vila:“Yes we are working together, so if one of us finds an opportunity [we] bring it to the council then all of us are working on it…although we represent different political parties”


Lesson 5: ‘sequestered’ training may backfire

Port Vila:“The training that we women attended, our male councillors should also attend. That would help both of us male and female councillors to understand our role and work together. Now because only women councillors attended, when we say something our male councillors told us ‘where did I [sic] get that from?’ So it is important for our male councillors to also attend this training so that w can hold each other accountable”


Lesson 6: training requirements

“The training was very helpful but we recommend that there be ongoing training and also follow up with those who were trained and not wait for election years”


Please…Ask questionsTake copies of our Discussion Paper & Case Study

for more information & detail

Documents

SSGM research seminar