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TRANSCRIPT
Gender Equality:
Women’s participation and leadership in local
government: Asia and the Pacific 2013 UNDP REPORT
FINDINGS
Mithulina Chatterjee
“Countries will need to start thinking of human capital
very differently – including how they integrate women into
leadership roles. This shift in mindset and practice is not a
goalpost for the future, it is an imperative today,”
Klaus Schwab, WEF founder and executive chair
Presentation Scope
1. What are the broader features/influences in Asia Pacific
region shaping women’s political status at sub-national
level?
2. What has been the role of international processes?
3. What are the emerging trends and issues for women in
the sub-national and national political space?
4. How is women’s agency changing politics and
development?
5. Do institutions make a difference for women’s political
participation?
6. How do we press ahead?
Caveats
Scope of the
study was large
Data gaps
Not all countries
have had
elections since
2010
Asia Pacific Broader Changes…
Political and economic transitions
Socio-religious changes
Historical factors influencing structure of public institutions
60% of global population lives here
International Processes
UN Electoral Assistance (2013)-Policy directive on women’s political and electoral participation
UN SG report (2013)-inclusive politics and data gaps in women’s political participation
Human Rights Council (2013)-favourable electoral systems for increasing women’s representation
UN GA resolution (2011)- women’s political participation
MDG (2000)-women’s representation in national parliament
ECOSOC resolution (1990)- 30 % target by 1995 and 50 % by 2000
CEDAW (1979) and General comments of their committee
Latest trends in women’s political
participation
Asia Pacific studies reveal women leaders practice a leadership style - participatory, inclusive, and
consultative leading to increased transparency in local governance and better service delivery;
Women are viewed as reliable, responsible and honest and are
advocating for change in Parliaments.
With different operating styles of women, anecdotal
proof suggests that male councillors are observing
and learning.
Representing over a half of the nation’s population, women on the national
and sub-national level are still under-represented
Where are we today?
2 countries at
national level and 5
countries at the
sub-national level
have reached 30%
target
Have we achieved the target?
Women’s descriptive
representation (30% target)
National: Timor Leste and
Nepal Sub-national:
South Asia: India
East Asia: China
Pacific: Australia, Nauru,
Niue
Change since 2010 in sub-
national governments
East Asia: 3% increase
South Asia: 2.3 % decrease
Pacific: 9.6% decrease
16.6 17.1
1.9
25.8
18.6
26.9
16.4
19.4
3.7
23.5
21.7
17.3
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
South Asia East Asia Pacific Islands
National vs. Sub-national Women’s Political Representation
National Women’s Representation 2010
Subnational Women’s Representation 2010
National Women’s Representation 2013
Subnational Women’s Representation 2013
Sub-national level representation
across the region
Women’s representation in urban councils has slightly gone up since 2010 but not in
rural and provincial councils.
Women in leadership positions (council chairs)
Maximum 8.1 % in provincial level
17.0
25.5
27.8
17.6
15.7
26.2
27.8
16.7
4.2
5.7
2.6
11.2
5.8
2.8 2.3
8.1
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
Rural Councils Urban Councils District Councils Regional Assemblies
Perc
enta
ge
Asia pacific
Women Elected Representatives 2010
Women Elected Representatives 2013
Women Chairs of Councils 2010
Women Chairs of Councils 2013
Closer look at women’s representation
at sub-national level
Across the three sub-regions, sub-national representation
of women is higher than national (proximity to the
community).
However, women are under represented in local
governments across tiers in all sub-regions (max. 28%).
No significant change and decrease in women’s
representation in rural and provincial councils as of 2013.
Unavailability and limited access of data is evident
across local government tiers and is of critical importance for correct approximation of the status and for tailoring
policy directions.
A. Picture behind the trends
• Gender Equality less or more – women’s political participation not effected except in East Asia
Gender Equality Indices
• Incomes grown but not women’s voice
Country economy
• More educated and working women seem to be getting into local governments in East Asia and Pacific but not in South Asia
Literacy and labour force
Constitutional Equality of Political Rights Countries with constitutional guarantees for gender parity support greater political
representation
Electoral Designs and their Implications for
Women’s representation
Party Functioning and Financing
B. Enabling Institutional factors?
Gender parity in electoral systems in the
region Correlation with electoral system: PR and women’s representation is positive at local and national levels
Asia Pacific – 6 countries have PR or mixed Electoral systems in local governments
Correlation with Quota/reservation policy in local governments
Asia Pacific- 8 countries have reserved seats, 2 use legislated candidate quotas
“without reservation women will not be there at all and with reservations – when we look at all the advantages that come out with it, we should take this as the first hurdle crossed and the
rest of the race is yet to be run.”
Mongolia: PR effect on 2012 elections–increase
from 3 to 15 % (national) and 22 % (local)
Cambodia: PR effect on 2012 elections – party
list favourable to women nomination - 18 % of
26% who contested were elected in
commune/sangkat elections with 95 commune
chiefs
South Asia- leads in reservations- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan – 25 to 37% compared to 2-8.5 % without quotas Pacific-Vanuatu has reserved seats (11%)
Institutional provisions
Quotas: Different voices
For: ensures equity; addresses statistical discrimination
which will also address quality of representation over
time; create role models, women’s interest
Against: undemocratic (appointment/than truly elected?);
generates inefficiency; strengthens elite class of women;
lead to tokenism; caste inequality needs to be addressed
within the reserved seats of women; men argue for
religious and ethnic minority representation
Considerations: UN Electoral assistance advise- political
ramifications, harmonise with electoral systems, penalties
for non-conformity, increase tenure of reserved seats
Party functioning and campaign
financing for gender parity
Closer look at party funding
culture in the region
Women enter the political arena with less campaign resources and are not seen to have power and connections, which acts against them.
In South Asia: Situation of women candidates is complicated becoz of limited integration in powerful political and economic networks which are essentially male dominated.
In East Asia: Minimal efforts on campaign funds for women
In Pacific Islands: Prevalent ‘Big man’ culture.
Public-private divide
Gender based violence
Intersectional discrimination
C. Structural Issues behind the
trends
Contributing socio-cultural factors to sparse
women representation across Asia
Pacific(1/1)
Social hierarchies emerging from cultural norms govern women’s identities and roles. Traditional norms and values underline gender stereotypes across the region.
Religious sentiments promote that women’s role in the family. Multiple identities of women due to their class, ethnicity, religions, political identity, age multiplies their burden.
In South Asia, dominant perception is that women women’s place should be restricted to the private sphere.
In East Asia (Thailand) saying goes: “Men are the front legs of the elephant and women are the back legs” (private/public divide).
In Pacific women in the political arena were accused of being acting ‘above themselves’
Contributing factors to sparse women
representation across Asia Pacific (1/2)
Religious influence: Some Buddhist sects have rules where only men can be monks and women nuns with assigned tasks of care giving reinforcing popular perception of women’s role in private sphere.
Absence of a critical mass of women leaders as role models at the national and local levels acts as an impediment for women to view the political space as an avenue for participation.
With few female role models close at hand, this lack of self-confidence often results in women’s retreat from formal politics.
Public-private divide widens with gender-based violence (GBV). Women political candidates have faced multiple forms of violence.
How women’s representation and
participation transforms society?
In Vietnam, an NGO evaluation showed that women contributed to poverty reduction, increased budget allocation to their locality, and provide transparent and good governance.
In Philippines research showed when women are elected in the local governments, women citizens are better represented in village meetings and more involved in local processes.
India survey of women in local governments indicated that elected women effectively addressed the issues such as drinking water infrastructure, sanitation, education and health as well as issues of alcohol abuse and domestic violence problems in villages.
From Fiji, woman councillor challenged to win, initiated clean-up campaign with CSO- being adopted in other municipalities.
Studies have shown that politically empowered women are more responsive
to citizen needs and make a difference to living standards of people:
Do institutions make a difference for
women’s political participation?
Advocacy and
Lobbying
• Global advocacy platform to urge national government and development partners for increasing commitment for women’s participation
• Working with political parties and governments to advocate for seat reservation
• Working with EMB for PR with candidate quota to achieve equality of result
Capacity Development
• Toolkits for political parties for greater inclusion of women, quotas
• Preparing candidates, mobilizing religious leaders, men
• Capacity Development for transformational politics
• Cross-country exchanges of women local government leaders
Regional and inter-
governmental
cooperation
• Association of South East Asian Countries (ASEAN Ministerial meeting on women’s political participation)
• ASEAN Women Parliamentarians (Learning from different country experiences)
• Pacific Island Forum (mock Parliaments, TSMs)
• South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (gender infobase, gender policy advocacy group)
Moving from political to practical:
Exploring the way forward
THANK YOU