RESEARCH REPORT ALP KELIMET. JMUNDP 2019 Commitment to Development Research Report

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1 RESEARCH REPORT UNITED NATIONS ENTITY FOR GENDER EQUALITY AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN (UN WOMEN) TAKING MEASURES TO ENSURE INCLUSIVITY OF WOMEN IN POLITICS ALP KELIMET JMUNDP 2019 Commitment to Development Research Report

2 Basic Overview of the Issue Despite comprising more than 50 percent of the world s population, women lack access to political leadership opportunities and resources at all levels of the government. Women s equal participation in decision-making is not a demand for simple justice or democracy, but a necessary pre-condition for women s interest to be taken into account. Women s political participation is a fundamental need for gender equality and genuine democracy. The lack of female political leaders is too visible. Only %23.3 of the world s political leaders are women according to Women in Politics As October 2017, 11 women are serving as Head of State and 12 are serving as Head of Government. Rwanda had the highest number of women parliamentarians worldwide with 63.8 percent of seats. Explanation of Important Terms Representative Representative is a member of a law-making group more specifically, parliament. Representative means o congressman or congresswomen. The representatives are mostly chosen from people by other people voting for them in elections. Representatives, when they are elected, they take action in favour of the country and people. Quota Quota means a fixed, limited amount or number that is officially allowed in dictionary. The word quota has the same meaning in this topic. Some parliaments such as Rwandan Parliament has set a quota for women representatives which means half of the parliament should be chosen from women. Parliament Parliament refers to a country s law-making body. The representatives of parliament mostly chosen from the people by elections. The representatives who are chosen take their seats at parliament and decide laws for the in favour of country and people. The word comes in part from the French verb parler, which means to speak, which makes sense since this group of people assemble to talk about laws and issues. English Parliament, House of Commons, is a very famous parliament in the world. JMUNDP 2019 Commitment to Development 1

3 Elections Election is a formal process in which people vote to choose a person or group of people to hold an official position. Detailed Background of the Issue Like every human, woman s rights to take part in government is verified under both in constitutional law and international law that s why women started to look after their rights. New Zealand became the first country to grant right to vote to women. In 1930 Vigdís Finnbogadóttir became the world s first democratically directed elected female president in Iceland. Although women started to contribute to decision-making more than ever it was not enough. With the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in 1948, which granted the right to vote and be voted the number of women in politics increased. The United Nations General Assembly adopted three more conventions about equality for women in politics. United Nations Convention on the Political Rights of Women became the first universal convention after the declaration to grant the legitimate rights of women in politics. United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women followed the convention. Although the conventions are slightly different than United Nations Convention on the Political Rights of Women the other two conventions were also efficient. The first country to have majority of women in its parliament was Rwanda. In 2008 Rwandan elections resulted with 56 percent women in Parliament which makes women majority in a Parliament. In 2015 another important milestone was achieved when Saudi Arabia granted women the right to vote in same years elections. Also in 2015 United Nations Development Programme entertained the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 which aims the gender equality and reducing inequalities in politics. UNDP s Sustainable Development Goals followed with UNDP s Equality Strategy Same year, in 2017 UN Women established the Women in Politics map which showed show many women are currently active in government. Despite the actions of United Nations and United Nations Development Programme the world still lacks from women in politics. The struggle of women continued despite the actions. Although some countries have majority of women in their parliament, most countries parliament are unstable. The world lacks from women leaders. The picture below shows the latest G20 Leaders Summit and the only women leader in the picture is Theresa May from United JMUNDP 2019 Commitment to Development 2

4 Kingdom. G20 Leaders Summit (Theresa MAY from United Kingdom is the only woman leader) Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all over the world. The Declaration was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, Paris on 10 December 1948 during its 183 rd plenary meeting. Universal Declaration of Human Rights is gathered from 30 Articles. The Articles of Universal Declaration of Human Rights generally aimed to grant every human free and equal. To give an example Article 6 states that everyone is equal in front of the law while Article 4 states that no one should be held in slavery or servitude. Article 21 is the most relevant Article for the issue of Women in Politics which basically states that everyone has a right to take part in government. Article 21 The 21 st Article of Universal Declaration of Human Rights states Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his/her country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. The Article 21 continues stating that everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his/her country and the will of the people should be the basis of government; this will be expressed in period elections which should be by universal and equal suffrage and should be held by secret vote or equivalent free JMUNDP 2019 Commitment to Development 3

5 voting procedures. Major Parties Involved Bolivia Bolivia has the second highest percentage of women in their parliament after Rwanda. The reason that Bolivia has the second highest percentage of women is the same with Rwanda; gender quotas. Bolivia followed the Quota Law in 1997which states at least 30 percent of women should be in parliament. In 2015, women achieved an outstanding success by holding the 50 percent of the parliament. United States of America The United States of America is currently ranked 104 th among 190 countries for women s representation in government. United States of America dropped 9 spots in the past year, 95 th to 104 th. Despite the results the United States of America Midterm elections was sensational. In midterm elections United States made history. From the first openly homosexual gay man to win a governor s race to the youngest women elected to Congress many different opinions have involved in US politics. 237 women nominated to House of Representatives while 23 to Senate and 16 for Governor. The United States Congress welcomed the first Muslim women, Ilhan Omanr and Rashida Talib, while Massachusetts elected its first African-American women Ayanna Pressley. The achievements continued with the youngest women who is elected at the Congress; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Although it has been a wonderful year for women in politics, the United States of America has a room for further achievements. JMUNDP 2019 Commitment to Development 4

6 Rwanda Rwanda has the highest number of women in a parliament. With 64 percent of seat for women Rwanda is raked 1 st in this area. The main reason that Rwanda has the highest percentage of women in parliament is the President Paul Kagame who has been leading the country since After the horrible genocide in Rwanda, Kagame decided that he will not be able to rebuild demolished Rwanda by men s labour only so he decided a call for equality. In 2003 Rwandan Constitution set a quota of 30 percent women Parliament Members and in 2008 elections women made up 56 percent of Parliament however the number jumped to 64 percent in 2013 elections. Al the elections, 2018, women is majority with 61 percent of the Parliament. United Nations Development Programme United Nations Development Programme works in about 170 countries, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. UNDP helps countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build. United Nations Development Programme established the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015 which has 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The Goals are an urgent call for action by all countries. The 5 th and 10 th goals are aimed to decrease gender inequalities in the countries which contains the role of women in decisionmaking. United Nations Development Programme s work upon the issue includes women s candidate training, awareness campaigns while encouraging governments and political parties at the same time JMUNDP 2019 Commitment to Development 5

7 Youngest women to be elected in Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Chronology of Important Events 1857 Fire in New York led women to look after their rights all over the world which sparked the women s movement for their rights all around the world Women in New Zealand got the right of vote. 15 April 1930 Vigdís Finnbogadóttir became the world s democratically directed elected female president. 10 December Universal Declaration of Human Right states everyone 1948 has the right to take part in the government. 20 December United Nations Convention on the Political Rights of 1952 Women was adopted by General Assembly in New York. 16 December United Nations International covenant on Civil and 1966 Political Rights was adopted by General Assembly in New York. 18 December United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All JMUNDP 2019 Commitment to Development 6

8 1979 Forms of Discrimination Against Women, was adopted by General Assembly in New York Rwandan Parliamentary Elections resulted with 56 percent women in Parliament 2014 UNDP s Equality Strategy established UNDP s Sustainable Development Goals entertained Saudi Arabian women got the right to vote for very first time. Relevant International Documents United Nations Convention on the Political Rights of Women, 20 December 1952, New York. United States of America. Adopted by General Assembly (Resolution number 2613) United Nations Universal Declaration, 10 December 1948, Paris, France. Adopted by General Assembly (Resolution number 217) United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 18 December 1979, New York, United States of America. Adopted by General Assembly (Resolution number 34/180) United Nations International covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966, New York, United States of America. Adopted by General Assembly (Resolution number 2200A) Past Attempts to Resolve the Issue United Nations has adopted 3 conventions and a declaration in order to resolve the issue. United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, United Nations International covenant on Civil and Political Rights and United Nations Convention on the Political Rights of Women aimed to increase the percentage of JMUNDP 2019 Commitment to Development 7

9 women in politics while United Nations Universal Declaration ensured the right to take part in government for every human. Although United Nations has adopted conventions, it was not enough to solve the issue since the issue needs solids actions and that is where the United Nations Development Programme involve. United Nations Development Programme introduced two plans these are the United Nations Development Programme Strategic Plan and Gender Equality Strategic Plan The plans aimed to prioritise women s participation in decision-making and leadership. UNDP advocates for women s political rights, supports countries to implement international, regional and national commitments on women s participation in decision-making. UNDP s work includes promoting women s participation as voters and candidates in electoral process through women s candidate training, awareness campaigns, promoting the use of Temporary Special Measures including gender quotas, supporting gender sensitive parliaments and encouraging political parties to remove all barriers that discriminate against the participation of women. Rwanda and President Paul Kagame took an efficient attempt by calling for equality in politics. After his attempt women has been the majority for 2 elections. JMUNDP 2019 Commitment to Development 8

10 Women in politics 2017 map by UN Women. Solution Alternatives As United Nations Women Committee, the delegates should follow the UNDP s Strategic Plan and Gender Equality Plan. Delegates should support countries to implement national commitments on women s participation in decision-making such as women s candidate training, awareness campaigns, and supporting gender sensitive parliaments. Also implementing gender quotas in parliaments and encourage countries to fill their quotas will be an efficient solution alternative. Raising public awareness on this issue is a must due to the fact that the civilian population is not aware the lack of women in decision-making. Promoting coalition building and networking among women representatives is also efficient. Last but not least making governments to support and encourage women will be an important step to take. Bibliography Facts and figures: Leadership and political participation UN Women UN Women Strategic Plan UN Women Women's equal political participation UNDP JMUNDP 2019 Commitment to Development 9

11 Useful Links d=2ahukewih4jm3hmjfahuohqykhw9pb9qqfjaaegqibbab&url=https%3a%2f%2fww w.usaid.gov%2fwhat-we-do%2fgender-equality-and-womens- empowerment%2faddressing-gender-programming%2fstrengthening- womens&usg=aovvaw10vxzdbyla7b5az0phy JMUNDP 2019 Commitment to Development 10