THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Committee: United Nations Development Program Topic A: Gender Parity In Governments Written by: Lucia De Anda and Ricardo Gonzalez I. Committee Background Founded on January 1st, 1966, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) advocates change and provides resources to help people sustain a better life. The UNDP works in almost 170 countries and operates alongside governments to improve nations by providing guidance, coaching and vast support. The UNDP was established entirely by voluntary contributions from member nations and the main areas the committee works on are: HIV/AIDS, poverty reduction, democratic governance, energy and environment, social development, and crisis prevention and recovery. This committee plays a crucial part in all of the Sustainable Development Goals (said to be achieved by 2030), but the UNDP s central focus is the first, tenth, and sixteenth goal; which emphasizes on poverty, inequality, and governance, respectively. Besides working with volunteers and providing help to growing economies, the UNDP supports the protection of human rights and the empowerment of minorities. No matter what topic this committee is discussing, it is all done for the continuous development of our planet towards a more peaceful, healthy, and sustainable future.
II. Topic information A) History of Topic According to the Peace Corps, gender parity in governments is the equal treatment of women and men in government involvement; as well as achieving equal rights for both genders. There has long been a belief that men and women should not have the same opportunities, this means that there has been some kind of gender unfairness in the world, especially in governmental positions. Gender inequality is more common in third world countries, but still happens all around the world, from countries like South Africa to the United States. The main reason why most women are not viewed as equal to men is religion. Some religions claim that women are inferior to men, this means that many countries still follow these beliefs, making gender inequality a bigger issue. Even though gender equality is still a problem, it has decreased throughout the years. According to the International Labour Organization, in 1979, women earned only about 62% of what men did, and in 2010, they started receiving an average of 81% of what men earned. It is also estimated that about 24% of the chief executive officers (CEOs) in the United States are now female, but earn only about 75% of what their male counterpart do. Gender equality has led to a large and vocal movement over the past two centuries. The role of the woman has changed in many ways, politically, socially and economically. The issue of gender equity has been EVIDENT since the Middle Ages. In the 1400s, a book called The Book of the Cities of Ladies was written by an Italian author called Christine de Pisan, which stated how women contributed to society and her disapproval of gender inequality. This later started the issue of gender
equity, since a majority of religious leaders in Italy believed that women were inferior to men. This book is credited with starting the discussion on the issue of gender inequality in Europe. Due to common beliefs, it was not until after World War 1 that women started gaining a voice in politics. The first step for women in politics was in 1881. On the Isle of Man, they gave the opportunity for women that owned property the right to vote, and in 1906, the Grand Duchy of Finland became the first European country to grant women the vote, which later ended up joining the Russian Empire that for the first time, elected female members of the parliament. In 1916, Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to the US House of Representatives. It was not until 1920 that the United States ratified the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote all over the country. Alexandra Kollontai, appointed Ambassador to Sweden from the Soviet Union, was the first female ambassador in modern history. From the 1920s onward, it was no longer unusual for women to be part of governments all over the world. In the years from 1966 to 1982, 11 women gained power in their governments. Indira Gandhi became the first female Prime Minister of India, along with Golda Meir in Israel, President Maria Estela in Argentina, Maria de Lourdes in Portugal, President Lidia Geiler in Bolivia, Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom, and many more. It was the first time in history that so many women had gained high ranking positions in governments; and after those years, women steadily made their way into all areas of government.
The American press called 1992 the year for women, since it is considered the year when women gained significant positions and power within the United States. That year saw the largest increase of women as political leaders in history. More than 60 million women voted, and 24 women had been elected to join the US House of Representatives. In other parts of the world, women continued to be elected as political leaders, such as Hanna Suchocka in Poland, Tansu Ciller in Turkey, Sylvie Kinigi in Burundi, and Kim Campbell in Canada. After centuries of women fighting for equality, their goal has almost been reached. B) Current Issues Iceland: According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report, Iceland has been the global leader in gender equality. Women s suffrage was introduced in 1915, and it was the first country to have a female head of state. In 2014, it was reported that 40% of cabinet members were female, and 42% of presidential candidates were women as well. The country has taken several measures to ensure that this continues, such as making The Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Men and Women, as well as creating The Centre for Gender Equality. Afghanistan: From 1996 until 2001, Afghanistan was under the rule of the Taliban; which prohibited women from taking part in politics. However, after the Taliban was expelled from the country by the United States military, the rate of political participation of women did not increase as expected. According
to a survey taken in 2010 by the UN, only 8% of women were taking part in Afghanistan s government. In addition to that, only 1 out of 5 seats in the parliament are reserved for women. Ukraine: In Ukraine, women have the same rights that men have, but normally receive lower salaries than men and have limited job opportunities. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, about 80% of the unemployed people in Ukraine are female. Around 45% of the Ukrainian population that suffer from domestic violence are women. Ukraine is ranked 61 out of 152 countries for gender equality, and in politics, the percentage of women working in the Ukrainian parliament is 12%. Rwanda: In Rwanda, 63.8% of the parliament is made up of women; and 38.5% of women take part in the country s Senate. However, women in Rwanda often lack skills such as education and experience, which is setting them back as other countries move forward. Also, according to African Renewal, 64% of the female parliament members say that they feel a sense of vulnerability to political intimidation and violence. Rwanda s government is making efforts to change this way of thinking, such as implementing various types of propaganda to ensure that women feel encouraged to join politics.
Cuba: According to the British organization Rock Around the Blockade, 49% of members who belong to the Cuban National Assembly are women. However, while female citizens have full voting and officeholding rights, not many women hold high ranking government positions. It has been an ongoing topic since 1966, when political leader Fidel Castro introduced the idea of women holding government positions. Since then, Cuba has made various efforts to raise equality inside the country. For example, Cuba was the first country to sign the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1979, among other efforts over the years. Finland: Finland has been one of the most important countries when it comes to gender equality, since it was the first one to give the same voting rights for both men and women. According to the European Institute of Gender Equality, women had 13% more work participation in Finland than other European countries in 2012. Women in politics became something more common for Finland in the year 2000, since it was the time when the first female president was elected. C) UN Action The United Nations has established an organization called UN Women, which is based on the idea that men and women are equal, therefore both genders should have the same rights and opportunities. Its goal is to accelerate the progress for women s equality, as well as making campaigns and programs for them to reach worldwide gender parity. In the past, this organization
has made multiple efforts and attempts to attain their goal, such as: The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Beijing Platform for Action, the Sustainable Development Goals, among others. Likewise, it has made numerous efforts to educate women about politics in order to empower female candidates in rural communities. More importantly, UN Women encourage governments and political parties to take part in the empowerment of women. In the same way, fighting for women to have the same opportunities as voters, candidates, elected officials and civil service members as the opposite gender. Also, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals have cooperated in past years, taking actions to achieve equality. The outcome of this has been that out of 129 countries that have recorded their data over the years, 96 of them have had an increase in the number of women holding government positions. III. Conclusion In governments all around the world, women have fewer job opportunities than men. In many cases, discrimination plays a major role in solving this problem. Gender parity is currently something that is uncommon when talking about governmental positions. Due to this problem, governments can end up making different decisions since in many cases, the people that are most qualified to make a better change in a type of government are not chosen due to the gender equality issues in the country. Currently, NGO s are not taking part in resolving this issue, since it is a governmental problem. However, there have been multiple national as well as international organizations that have promoted political equality between the two genders, such as The National Democratic Institute,
Rock Around the Blockade, InterAction, the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, among others. Despite this, numerous governments from all around the world have spoken out and contributed to eliminating this problem. Governmental organizations have been created, speeches have been made and campaigns have been implemented in order to help women regarding government positions. It is clear that gender parity in governments is a serious issue that if not resolved now, may cause many different conflicts in the future. As the National Democratic Institute Chairman, Madeleine K. Albright said: Every country deserves to have the best possible leader and that means that women have to be given a chance to compete. If they re never allowed to compete in the electoral process then the countries are really robbing themselves of a great deal of talent. IV. Essential Questions 1. What are the consequences of this issue in your country? 2. What is the percentage of women holding government positions? Why is this? 3. Are there any minor or major stigmas surrounding women in government positions in your country? 4. What is your country currently doing to resolve this matter? 5. Has your country signed any treaties or agreements with other countries to help resolve this issue? 6. Has the solution your delegation is proposing been implemented? If so, how did it help?
7. Are there any major setbacks that female citizens encounter while trying to earn a government position? If so, what solutions could be implemented to make the process easier for them? 8. Are there any programs that your delegation has implemented in your country that have shown positive results? V. Resources "Cuban Women in Parliament: Beyond the Figures." Rock Around The Blockade. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2016. <http://www.ratb.org.uk/news/cuba/320-cuban-women-parliament-beyond-the-figures>. "Facts and Figures: Leadership and Political Participation." UN Women. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2016. <http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-andfigures>. "The Gender Parity Programme." World Economic Forum. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2016. <http:// www3.weforum.org/docs/wef_gender_taskforce_report_2015.pdf>. Luciak, Ilja A. "Party and State in Cuba: Gender Equality in Political Decision Making." Politics & Gender Pol Gender 1.02 (2005): n. pag. Web. <http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayfulltext? type=1&fid=357229&jid=pag&volumeid=1&issueid=02&aid=357228>.
"Taking Action to Empower Women." Global Urban. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2016. <http:// www.globalurban.org/gudmag06vol2iss1/grown,%20gupta,%20&%20kes.htm>. Timeline of Women s Suffrage. International Women s Democracy Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. <http://www.iwdc.org/resources/suffrage.htm>. "What Are the Roots of Gender Inequality? Women's Rights, Race and Reproduction." Newswise. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2016. <http://newswise.com/articles/what-are-the-roots-of-genderinequality-women-s-rights-race-and-reproduction>. Why Iceland is the World s Global Leader in Gender Equality." Women's Forum. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2016. <http://www.womens-forum.com/stories/why-is-iceland-the-world-s-global-leader-ingender-equality/131>. "Why Rwanda Has the Most Female Politicians in the World." Left Foot Forward. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2016. <http://leftfootforward.org/2013/09/rwanda-has-the-most-female-politicians/>. "Women in Politics: A Timeline. International Women s Democracy Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. <http://www.iwdc.org/resources/timeline.htm>. "Women in Politics: Fact Sheet. International Women s Democracy Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. <http://www.iwdc.org/resources/fact_sheet.htm>.
"Women's Political Participation in Afghanistan." Academia. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2016. <http:// www.academia.edu/9523635/womens_political_participation_in_afghanistan>. "Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership." Guide to Women Leaders. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2016. <http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/>.