Kvinderne havde aktiv rolle i protesterne i Tunesien og Egypten, og kvinders politiske deltagelse er nødvendig for et sundt og bæredygtigt samfund, siger FN vice general-sekretær Michelle Bachelet.
“First let me say that increasing the numbers of women in leadership positions is a sign of their empowerment, not a substitute for it. In terms of political participation, for example, election to public office reflects the ability to consult with constituents and develop a set of issues around which to mobilize support; it involves raising funds and in many cases, overcoming hostility, at times even violence.
Above all, it reflects determination and the belief that women participation in political leadership is necessary to healthy and sustainable societies”.
Sådan sagde Michelle Bachelet, eksekutivdirektør for UN Women, FN vice general-sekretær og tidligere præsident i Chile, indledningsvis, da hun i går torsdag talte for “Women’s Foreign Policy Group”i New York.
Hun orienterede om UN Women’s ny strategiske plan og fokuserede efterfølgende på kvinders politiske indflydelse og lederskab, ikke mindst i opbygning af demokratiske styrer og i post-konflikt situationer, og nævnte politisk vilje som en nøglefaktor.
Hun sagde videre blandt andet:
“… there is much that governments can do to provide the conditions needed to create a level playing field — ranging from the elimination of discriminatory legal provisions — in family codes, electoral codes, penal codes etc. — to the provision of a basic level of physical and social security and access to essential services.
One of the proven ways governments can support level the playing field for women is through the adoption of temporary special measures, such as quotas for women’s representation.
Currently, among the 26 countries in which women’s share of seats in parliament has reached at least 30 percent— recognized as the ‘critical mass’ needed to take leadership on women’s legislative priorities — at least 23 have adopted some form of quota system.
Political will
The key factor in adopting such measures is political will. But political will takes many forms. In Chile, for example, where quotas have never been popular, I realized that one thing I could do as president is appoint an equal number of women and men to Cabinet level positions, so I did that right away.
While later this had to be reshuffled somewhat, the message was clear: women are qualified for and able to perform at the same level as men.
Recognizing the role of women’s time burdens in determining their life choices, my government also provided an extensive network of free education and child-care centres, especially for poor households, so that women could work full-time or participate in community organizations or political parties in the full knowledge that their children were well cared for.
In fact, the reality is that it is difficult to separate economic and political empowerment for women, since they go hand in hand.
On the one hand, women are more likely to take on leadership roles if they have some degree of economic autonomy; while on the other hand, greater numbers of women in leadership positions increases their ability to secure policies that advance women’s economic empowerment in different sectors.
On both of these counts, however, despite some progress, there is still a long way to go.
Local level leadership
The focus on women’s national political leadership can often obscure the importance of their leadership at the local level, where decisions are taken that affect women’s daily lives. It is at the local level, too, that most women first become politically empowered — largely through participation in civil society organizations, where they organize for services ranging from clean water and sanitation to affordable childcare centers and effective law enforcement.
Local women’s community groups also play an important role in supporting women candidates for elected office — and in demanding accountability from those they helped to elect, making sure that their leadership is built upon a solid foundation and in contact with their social base.
One of the most important factors in women’s political empowerment is providing spaces for effective engagement with their governments so that they can negotiate for gender equality priorities in legislative processes and planning decisions.
This is a major priority in democratic transitions, like those taking place in countries throughout the Arab States region.
Tunisia and Egypt
In Tunisia and Egypt, for example, women played an active role in the popular protests that led to transitional governments — both on the front lines and as social media mobilizers.
They have also been active in calling for the inclusion of gender equality priorities in constitutional and legal reform, citing the need to amend laws to ensure equal property rights, access to employment opportunities and greater political participation.
In both countries, however they have been largely excluded from transitional decision-making, at least in the initial stages.
Fortunately, in Egypt, despite some concerns that the 12 percent quota for women’s representation in parliament would be revoked, this has been retained in the draft amendments to complementary laws to the constitution announced in March.
And in Tunisia, it was announced that the Electoral Council has adopted an electoral law mandating gender parity within the Constituent Assembly that will be elected in July. This Assembly is expected to draft a new constitution, appoint a new interim government, and act as a parliament when needed.
However, the speed of the transition favours already organized groups, particularly in Egypt. Following consultations with a wide range of women’s and other civil society organizations, including many grassroots groups, UN Women is supporting women’s organizing, bringing different groups together to speak with one voice, and advocating for their meaningful participation in the current transitional processes.
In the lead up to the September election in Egypt, UN Women is supporting civil society and women’s rights groups to hold a national women’s convention, providing a space for urban and rural women to come together to articulate their demands and develop a platform of gender equality priorities they can present to legislators and the newly emerging political parties.
Work for peace – by men mostly
Many of these same issues are involved in peace and post-conflict situations. And until the adoption of Security Council resolution 1325, women and women’s rights were largely excluded from peace and recovery institutions and decision-making.
Resolution 1325 was groundbreaking in this regard, recognizing first that women’s experience of war and crisis is different from men’s and second, that a nation’s women are an untapped resource for building peace.
In the 11 years since its adoption, additional resolutions have gone a long way to address women as victims of conflict, recognizing the responsibility of the international community to prevent and respond to sexual violence in conflict and affirming that there can be no impunity for those who condone or commit such crimes.
In terms of women’s role as agents and leaders of conflict resolution and peacebuilding, progress has been much less impressive.
Some of you may know that during the first UN General Assembly in 1946, Eleanor Roosevelt insisted that women should have the opportunity to share in the work of peace and reconstruction as they did in war and resistance. Yet 66 years later, the “work of peace” is still carried out mostly by men. UN Women researched 24 peace processes since the mid-1990s and found that women averaged fewer than 8 percent of the negotiating teams.
And to this day no woman has been appointed as chief mediator of a UN-managed peace process.
In post conflict situations, where women’s needs and perspectives can easily be overlooked, it is vital to ensure women’s political representation. Electoral quotas are again the most effective way to do this — in such systems, 34 percent of elected representative were women, while in countries without quotas, women were just 12 percent of such representatives.
I am happy to report that the UN Secretary-General’s Action Plan for Gender Responsive Peacebuilding, issued last year, and to which the entire UN system has pledged support, includes a number of measures to address these problems.
These include a requirement that at least 15 percent of UN expenditure be devoted to gender equality goals, as well as institutional changes to advance women’s empowerment through economic recovery and rule of law interventions.
Hele talen findes på www.unwomen.org
