On the Issue of Women s Political Participation

Transcription

1 On the Issue of Women s Political Participation Introducing the HAYATI Project LEBANESE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY April 30, 2014 Authored by: Joud Halaseh

2 Table of Contents On the Issue of Women s Political Participation... Error! Bookmark not defined. Introducing the HAYATI Project... Error! Bookmark not defined. Acknowledgment... 2 Abstract... 3 Introduction... 4 Problem Statement... 5 The following chart shows the proportion of women in parliament in different regions around the world: 7 What Has Been Done?... 8 First: The National Democratic Institute (NDI):... 8 Second: WoMen Dialogue:... 9 Third: The Hashemite Leadership... 9 Outcomes: Focus on Jordan Project Proposed Solution Targeted Population Description, Objectives, and Aims of the Project Time Frame Approach and Training The Forum Implementation Plan Financial plan Strategic Plan Sustainability Monitoring and Evaluation Conclusion Bibliography P age

3 Acknowledgment I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to Dr. Marwan Rowayheb, my advisor for this project and Associate Chair of the Social Sciences Department at the Lebanese American University, I am grateful to him for providing such an invaluable support, guidance, and help as my advisor. Furthermore, I would like to express my very appreciation to MEPI TL administration including the program director, Dr. Walid Touma, Ms. Rola Nader, Ms. Loulwa Kaloyeros, Dr. Ramzi Haraty, and Dr. Victor Khachan for their continuing support over the past four years. 2 P age

4 Abstract It is the 21 st century and political participation is still a huge challenge for women all over the globe. Women still find it difficult to pursue their dreams and hopes of joining men in issuing rules and regulations that would ensure a better future for their family and community. This paper focuses on the issue of women s political participation in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. And it proposes the HAYATI Project that aims to engage young female students in a leadership program that would transform them into well-rounded individuals, able to challenge the conventional status of women in Jordan and work hard to be worthy of holding seats in the Parliament. 3 P age

5 Introduction All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. 1 This is the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that plainly relates a democratic society to where men and women live mutually in the society, and all men are regarded as equal, and thus includes women. Recently, there has been an increased acknowledgment of the important role of women in different aspects of life. Accordingly, many debates were raised on the importance of women s participation in political life. Therefore, women s participation in the political life has become an internal issue that has drawn the attention of many organizations and institutions; such as: the United Nations and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), in order to achieve the principle of gender equality. For example, the United Nations had emphasized on the importance of equality whilst serving the public sector in its 21st article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that states everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. 2 Correspondingly, women s right of participating in decision-making is not only a demand or a sample of justice or democracy; but it has become a necessity in order to include women s interests into account. 1 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, P age

6 Problem Statement Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab kingdom in Western Asia with a population of nearly 8 million. According to the 2012 census provided by the Department of Statistics in Jordan, the male population is estimated to be 51.5% compared to the female population of 48.5% with a gender gap of 3.0%. 3 This high percentage of female population and this relatively small gender gap would speculate that women in Jordan are indulged in a safe community that takes a special care to ensure their rights are respected. And indeed, the female population in Jordan has succeeded to fold a good social, economic and educational status. However, women s political status in Jordan, which does not vary much from other developed and underdeveloped countries all over the world, remains unnoticed. What do we mean by political participation? Most people would assume that by voting during electoral processes, they would fulfill their right in political participation. However, according to the United Nations, voting is just a very small part of participating in a nation s political activities and parliamentary elections. In fact, political participation derives from the freedom to speak out, assemble and associate; the ability to take part in the conduct of public affairs; and the opportunity to register as a candidate, to campaign, to be elected and hold office at all levels of government. It is standardized internationally that men and women are equally rightful to engage in full participation in political 3 Department of Statistics- Jordan, P age

7 activities. However, practically it is far obvious that women are facing a lot of difficulties exercising their right. 4 As a result, different feminist movements have presented a few agendas that played a part in pushing women s right forwards from the private domain to the public sector. According to Abeer Dababneh, an assistant professor at the University of Jordan, many conferences were held in order to take care of this matter. For example, the United Nations General Assembly Declaration of the Decade of Women ( ), and then, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in (1979), followed by the Nairobi International Conference 1985, the World Summit for Development in Copenhagen (1995), and then the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995) (Dababneh,A.B., 2012). Internationally, countries have witnessed an encouraging yet insufficient development in the numbers of women holding seats in parliament over the last thirty years. It is encouraging in the sense that people are getting used to the presence of women in the government; however, it is insufficient because the ratio of elected candidates in national parliaments remains very low as in 1 (women):4(men) on average. 4 WoMan Watch Committee. 6 P age

8 The following chart shows the proportion of women in parliament in different regions around the world: 5 5 Source: DEVPOLICY BLOG from The Development Policy Centre by Jayasuriya, D., & Burke, P. J., P age

9 What Has Been Done? In Jordan, many organizations have prioritized their mission to support and strengthen democratic policies worldwide through supporting accountability and openness in the government in addition to stimulating citizen participation. We have selected three parties that have implemented certain programs and policies to help solve the issue: First: The National Democratic Institute (NDI): The National Democratic Institute works with local partners to build civic and political organizations, promote citizen participation, and secure safeguarding elections. The Institute brings together individuals and groups to share ideas, knowledge, experiences and expertise that can be adapted to the needs of individual countries. Moreover, the NDI works to support women s political participation in their countries whereas the Institute programs help to create an environment where women can advocate on matters of policy, run for political office, be elected, govern effectively, and participate meaningfully in civic life. 6 For instance, since 1997, the Institute has managed, for every election cycle, candidate training programs for women in Jordan. In 2006, NDI worked closely with women activists to launch the Women Helping Women Network, an organization that seeks to promote the importance of women s political participation across Jordan. 7 According to Madeleine K. Albright, NDI chairman, every country deserves to have the best possible leader and that means that women have to be given the chance to compete. If they 6 The National Democratic Institute 7 The National Democratic Institute 8 P age

10 are never allowed to compete in the electoral process then the countries are really robbing themselves of a great deal of talent. 8 Comprising over 50 percent of the world s population, women continue to be under-represented as voters, political leaders and elected officials. Democracy cannot truly deliver for all of its citizens if half of the population remains underrepresented in the political arena. 9 Second: WoMen Dialogue: Another organization that has been working on this issue is WoMen Dialogue; which is a platform provided by KVINFO- the Danish Centre for Research and Information on Gender, Equality and Diversity. WoMen Dialogue encourages the exchange of knowledge between Arab and Danish civil society on issues related to women s rights. 10 WoMen Dialogue has been working on a joint Danish-Jordanian project that supports Jordanian women who were able to hold seats in the Parliament, and make them able to serve the needs of their constituents. The project is a cooperation between KVINFO, Danish Women s Council and several Jordanian partners incl. ZENID and Jordanian Women s Union. The aim of the project is to increase women s participation in local and national politics and to heighten the political awareness of women of all ages. 11 Third: The Hashemite Leadership In addition, the efforts deployed by the Hashemite leadership to focus the attention on the role of women and the importance of their presence in all fields, should be noted. For example, 8 The National Democratic Institute 9 The National Democratic Institute 10 WoMen Dialogue 11 WoMen Dialogue 9 P age

11 in opening the first regular session of the Fourteenth Parliament in December, 2003, King Abdullah emphasized the importance of Jordanian women s participation in all aspects of the political, social and economic life, pointing out that women s participation in such fields would help achieve comprehensive development( ) Therefore, (Women s quota) was adopted as a preliminary stage towards the realization of women s political participation as an acknowledgement of their efficiency and ability to serve their country and its citizens (Dababneh A.B., 2012). Outcomes: Focus on Jordan Despite all of these efforts to bring out the full potential of women, Arab women s engagement in political activities continued to be low, including Jordanian women. There are many factors that would explain this phenomenon; including the insignificant resources to support women, perception of women by their societies as not being able to withhold leadership positions, and finally the lacking level of awareness of women s roles and their equal rights as citizens which is long-established in the Jordanian Constitution by Article (6) which states: Jordanians shall be equal before the Law. There shall be no discrimination between them as regards to their rights and duties, on grounds of race, language, or religion (Dababneh A.B., 2012). As stated by a study done by the Women s Learning Partnership, Jordan ranks as the 109 th country for women participating in the Parliament, and it ranks #78 for women reaching at 10 P age

12 ministerial levels, 12 in a society where females comprise 48.9% of the whole population as specified by a recent study by the World Bank, these two ranks are very low. 13 Figure 1 below shows the percentages of men engaging in civil society activities against the percentages of women in Figure 1: percentages indicate the participation of women in civil society in Jordan in Learning Partnership 13 The World Bank 14 Unifem, the Jordanian National Commission for Women and the Central Bureau of Statistics. 11 P age

13 In addition, the table below demonstrates numbers of female candidates, and percentages of votes obtained, in comparison to men s candidacy in Parliamentary Elections, years 1989, 1993, 1997 and Table 1: Distribution of Candidates in Parliamentary Elections, 1989, 1993, 1997 and 2003, Compared to Total Candidates. 15 The table shows that in 2003 the percentages of female candidates were highest and they have noticeably improved since However, since 2003, no female candidate was able to get the minimum number of votes to get a seat in the Parliament outside the quota system. Strictly speaking, without the quota system, no female parliamentary presentation would have been achieved. In 2012, in order to do more justice to women, the quota for women seats in the Parliament has changed to become 15 instead of 12 out of 150 total seats. Therefore, we could safely assume that the quota system was the most effective method to politically support women. 15 al-quds Center for Political Studies, Information and Documentation Department. 12 P age

14 However, women being handed the parliamentary seats, without being able to collect sufficient votes, make the women s political participation unworthy and undeserved. So what are the main reasons that cause this lack of political participation? A study conducted by Professor Jennifer Lawrence from the American University, and Professor Richard Fox from Loyola Marymount University, explains the gender gap between men and women deciding to participate in the political process. They argue that the main reason for women s lack of participation in political activities is that they do not run for political positions in the first place. They link this reason to several factors that contribute to this gender gap in political processes; first, women, all around the world, are still the ones responsible of household tasks and childcare. Second, female candidates are perceived as less competitive, reluctant to taking risks, and less confident than male candidates. Third, female candidates see the political environment as extremely competitive and biased towards female candidates. And finally, women do not receive enough support which would ensure them that they are perfectly capable of challenging men in political races (Lawless J.L. & Fox R.L., 2012). If we examine these factors, we would reach the conclusion that the substantial cause of these bumps is that women are barely knowledgeable. Women are not aware of their civic rights. Women are not aware of their national duty towards their countries. Women are not aware of their true abilities and capabilities to challenging men. 13 P age

15 Project Proposed Solution As mentioned above, various international organizations, in addition to the Hashemite Leadership itself, worked on this issue, yet the results have remained very unsatisfying. We believe that the efforts implemented by these organizations to balance the numbers were not quite effective that they reflect a very modest level of success. This can be seen by the poor numbers of women getting elected in national parliaments. Therefore, this project proposes a solution that would tackle the problem from a different angle. But first, we are going to sum up the main reasons of this low female parliamentary representation in order to find a common pattern: 1- The political environment is ridiculously more biased against female candidates and participants. 2- Women are less confident and less competitive than men especially in political races. 3- Lack of support for women. 4- Lack of women s awareness of their equal rights with men as citizens although it is confirmed in the constitution. As you can see, we can summarize all these factors in two main ones: 1- Internal factors (women themselves) 2- External factors (society) 14 P age

16 This project proposes a new turn that could support women and provide them with enough resources and, at the same time, would raise awareness among women and prepare them to become confident and fierce participants in political races. Furthermore, we believe that in order to raise the stakes for female citizens and affect the way our societies see women; we should start by changing the way women perceive themselves as weak and incompetent, as well as developing their self-esteem. As soon as women start boosting their self-confidence, and start to understand that there are no logical reasons that would make them inept to enter the political fight and succeed in life, the overall image of women in the society will start to change and therefore, men would start changing the way they perceive women. Hence, we have taken the initiative to think of a women empowerment program that serves as a strategy to eliminate the ignorance among women of their human and civil rights. Accordingly, the participants will be prepared to get involved in every-day various roles at their communities; such as political positions, top management positions, social positions, et cetera Again, this is not the first project in Jordan that tackles neither the issue of women empowerment nor the issue of women s political participation. However, this program will be the first of its kind to target high school students and providing them with comprehensive leadership program. What Jordanian women need is not more seats in the quota systems, or indulgent laws to support them. In fact, what they need is a comprehensive program that would refine young women into well-rounded individuals, endowed with knowledge and capacity to be successful 15 P age

17 and lift their community side by side next to men. With no special treatment, no quota system, women should be able to collect enough votes in order to hold numerous seat in the Parliament. Targeted Population We strongly believe that in order the change the course of an individual s life, we should plant the idea when he/she is young and not quite sure of his /her future and career plans. Therefore, the targeted population would be young female students, between the ages of 13 to 15 years old. The reason behind choosing this age category is that students who belong to this age group have not decided on their major track of study yet. Description, Objectives, and Aims of the Project The idea of the project is to insure a comprehensive program for young female students that would teach them about their civil rights, the lack of women s political participation phenomenon, in addition to government and civic studies. The program would aim to transform these young students into well-rounded individuals, experienced in public speaking and media, debate, conflict resolution and leadership, in addition to legislature and entrepreneurship. In addition, the program would present academic aid for students to ensure high intellectual standards and academic excellence. The project will be providing exceptional opportunities and services for participants, including: Spreading awareness among young female students of their human and civil rights. Endowing participants with knowledge and skills to contribute to their community. Indulging participants in a leadership comprehensive program. 16 P age

18 Helping participants in their academic coursework. Advancing the capacity of women participating in the social and political life. The project focuses on women empowerment and promoting gender equality to bring its goals to action. The projected results after the project implementation are as follows: To integrate women s empowerment and gender equality into democratic governance. To increase women s participation in all governance institutions, from the civil to the judiciary service, to be able to influence the decisions that affect themselves and their families. To make it possible for women to participate in decision-making equally with men. Time Frame One year will be dedicated for the preparation of the project. Within this year, certain goals must be achieved: 1- Permission should be credited from the Ministry of Education. 2- Three contracts should be signed with three different schools. 3- Twenty female students should be chosen; having their parents signed a letter of commitment to prevent drop-outs. 4- Volunteers and employees should be selected. 5- A committee should be selected to monitor the program. 17 P age

19 6- Different NGO s should be sought out and some partners should be addressed and selected. 7- A complete guide covering all aspects of financial planning should be presented. Approach and Training Three public high schools will be targeted based on location, number of students and feasibility of project at school. Registration for students will be limited to the certain age mentioned above. Accordingly, we would incept the idea of political engagement and provide them with an agenda that would benefit their future, community and country. Twenty students will be admitted as a first cohort from each school. If number of applicants exceeds 20, personal interviews will be held. Moreover, five trainers will be assigned for each school. A trainer s job is to work with student through lectures, discussions, workshops, etc to deliver material on leadership, women empowerment, entrepreneurship, legislature, public speaking and media. In addition, non-governmental organizations will be contacted in order to implement joint activities based on their specialty and mission. The Forum After the first year of business, a forum will be created to share news and developments. Students from each school could interact with each other and students outside the program. This will help attract more people in the future, help students spread awareness using social networks, and show their communities the perks of the program. 18 P age

20 Implementation Plan Financial plan Pilot Project (for 20 students) Item Item Cost/Month Number Total Cost/Month Employees $100 5 $500 Phone Calls + Internet $100 Meals and Beverages $40 25 $1000 Activities $500 1 $500 $2100 Total cost per year (estimated): 2100 * 9 working months= $ Website Fee/year $10 1 $10 = $19810 per year (estimated) Strategic Plan SWOT Analysis for the project: 1- Strengths: good internal qualifications that the program possesses. 19 P age

21 2- Weaknesses: bad internal qualifications that the program possesses. 3- Opportunities: good external factors that would serve the project. 4- Threats: bad external factors that would threaten the continuity and sustainability of the project. S W O T HAYATI s vision is to help young women understand their civil rights and aid them reach their leadership goals. It is an innovative idea that differs from other programs implemented in Jordan Will influence a large number of people. No societal presence or reputation so far. Problems with recruiting qualified volunteers/employees Finding schools who are ready to cooperate Finding parents who are willing to cooperate Support from other NGO s Monetary support from banks and other organizations. Good community response, including schools and parents, resulted from a good impression. Government and Ministry of Education restrictions. Lack of interest in the community. Loss of funds which would affect the project s sustainability. 20 P age

22 Sustainability We cannot argue that the first couple of years will be difficult, full of challenges, and costly. In addition, students can lose contact with the program after graduating and shift away from their goals. Therefore, we have figured a plot twist that would make the following years less costly, and would keep the students in touch with the program and its objectives: In the first 2-3 years of the program, volunteers who have experience in leadership skills and legislature will be selected to enroll in the program as educators. However, after the first cohort of the program graduates, these students will be responsible to lead and continue with the program. The HAYATI Project will become their project to sustain and develop. Consequently, each cohort that graduates will join the administrative team and it will be their job to recruit new students and take care of the educational process. Monitoring and Evaluation It is an essential need to form a special committee in order to control the implementation and outcomes of the program. The committee members must have a background on entrepreneurship, civic and human rights, legislature, and women empowerment. Therefore, different students, from different business and law schools in Jordan, could be sought out in order to form the board whose job is to ensure the effectiveness of the HAYATI project. It is highly crucial that the board members do not engage in the training of the students; in order to achieve a high level of transparency. 21 P age

23 These students will hold monthly meetings with students to track their gradual improvement and observe the weakness points in the program. In addition, in order to evaluate the impact of the program in the long run, pre-execution statistics will be taken, as well as annual statistics after the first year of implementation. 22 P age

24 Conclusion In conclusion, one can say that women in Jordan did not have that much of good luck to engage in political and civil activities throughout the years. Many efforts were made in order to increase the percentage of women s participation in Parliament, either by the Hashemite leadership, or other local and foreign organizations. However, the numbers are still scarce, and if it was not for the quota systems, no female representation in Parliament would have been visible. Therefore, we strongly believe that our community is in need for strong intellectual reforms concerning this matter of gender-equity and gender-balanced politics. 23 P age

25 Bibliography (2012, January 1). Department of Statistics- Jordan. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from About WoMenDialogue.org WoMen Dialogue. (n.d.). WoMen Dialogue. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from Al-Amir, M. (2013, July 26). Stepping Stone. The Majalla Magazine. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from At A Glance. (n.d.). Jordan Women's Learning Partnership. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from Beck, M., & Collet, L. (2010, October 1). Jordan's 2010 Election Law: Democratization or Stagnation?. RSS. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from Chapter 3. (n.d.). UN News Center. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from Dababneh, A. B. (2012). Jordanian Women s Political Participation: Legislative Status and Structural Challenges. European Journal of Social Sciences, 27, Jayasuriya, D., & Burke, P. J. (2012, May 29). Want a strong economy? Electing females can help. Devpolicy Blog from the Development Policy Centre. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from 24 P age

26 Lawless, J. L., & Fox, R. L. (2012, January). Men Rule: The Continued Under-Representation of Women in U.S. Politics. American University Washington D.C.. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from Majed, Z., al-attiyat, I., Shteiwi, M., & Sweiss, S. (2005). Building Democracy in Jordan. International IDEA. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from Population, female (% of total). (2013, January 1). Data. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from Projects. (n.d.). WoMen Dialogue. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from The National Democratic Institute. (n.d.). What We Do. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from The National Democratic Institute. (n.d.). Jordan. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UDHR, Declaration of Human Rights, Human Rights Declaration, Human Rights Charter, The Un and Human Rights. (n.d.). UN News Center. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from Women s Political Participation. (n.d.). Women s Political Participation NDI. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from 25 P age