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Europe: Lack of gender balance in European Parliament

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Tue, 2012-01-17 05:28

Summary: 

The members of the European Parliament will vote on 17 January on who should be their president for the next 30 months. Although the Parliament is fond of speaking about democracy, its internal procedures are not transparent, and women are still largely absent from its leading positions.

Currently women hold 35% of the seats in the EP. The European Parliament had had 13 president, and only two of those have been women.

Diana Wallis has argued as part of her campaign that the European Parliament needs to secure gender balance in its internal leadership positions as well as among the MEPs.

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To read the complete article please visit www.womenlobby.org.


Poland: first women elected as a speaker of the Parliament

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2011-11-09 12:09

Summary: 

Ewa Kopacz had become Poland’s first woman who has been elected as Speaker of the Sejm (Polish Parliament- lower house)

A candidate for the Civic Platform party led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Kopacz, a pediatrician, won 300 votes out of  the 453.

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To read the complete article in Russian please visit The voice of Russia website.


Regional Forum on Equal Participation in Decision-Making

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Sat, 2011-11-05 04:02
2011-11-15
2011-11-17
US/Eastern
Click here
City & Province/State: 
Istanbul
Country: 
Turkey
Venue: 

Dedemand Hotel - Istanbul

Description: 

UNDP is organizing a Regional Forum on Equal Participation in Decision-Making (November 15-17, Istanbul), with co-funding from the UNDP-Japan Women in Development Fund. The Forum will explore opportunities to strengthen the capacities of the institutions represented in eliminating challenges and capitalizing on opportunities related to women’s equal participation in decision-making.

The five institutions represented will be:
• Political parties
• Parliament
• Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs)
• Public administration 
• Civil society

Most importantly, the Forum will identify the platforms where the collaborative efforts of these institutions will lead to greater gender equality results in decision-making processes. It will also explore why quotas can function as a catalyst in these efforts.

For more information please visit. www.undpeuropeandcis.org/gender

REGIONAL FORUM ON “EQUAL PARTICIPATION IN DECISION-MAKING”

Istanbul, November 15-17, 2011

Day 1: Tuesday, November 15, 2011  

Session I:   Prompters: Capitalizing on the opportunities

Session II:   Mobilizing and building alliances for women’s participation in decision-making
 

 
  • Mobilizing for the establishment of national gender equality mechanisms

by Çiğdem Aydın, President, Association for the Support and Training of Women Candidates (KA.DER), Turkey

 

View more presentations from UNDP in Europe and CIS

Session III:   Quotas as tools to enhance women’s participation in decision-making

  • Special temporary measures: Legal obligations under CEDAW by Violeta Neubauer, Coordinator for International Cooperation, Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Equal Opportunities, CEDAW Committee Member
  • Introducing legislated and voluntary party quotas – recent experiences from Montenegro by Snežana Jonica, Member of Parliament, Representative of Montenegro to the Council of Europe
  • Women and quotas in a pre EU accession zone by Teuta Sahatqija, Chair of the Women’s Cross-party Caucus at the Assembly of Kosovo*
View more presentations from UNDP in Europe and CIS

DAY 2, Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Session IV: Working with political parties to enhance women’s political participation

 
 
  • Overview on key challenges and opportunities – following the electoral cycle approach 
    by Julie Ballington,Gender Adviser, UNDP Democratic Governance Group/Gender Team

 

  • Experiences  from  Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey

Gulnara Ibraeva,Independent Expert, Kyrgyzstan

Rusudan Kervalishvili,Vice Speaker of the Parliament, Chair of Gender Advisory Council, Georgia

Güldal Akşit,President, Justice and Development Party (AKP)Women’s Branch, Turkey

Seniye Nazik Işık,Secretary General, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Women’s Branch, Turkey
 

Session V:Integrating gender equality in public administration

 
 

Promoting Innovative Approaches to Gender Equality : experience made from an international perspective by Annie Demirjian, UNDP

View more presentations from UNDP in Europe and CIS

Session VI: An enabling environment for women’s electoral participation:The role of Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs

  • Introduction to the electoral cycle approach
    by Julie Ballington, Gender Adviser, UNDP Democratic Governance Group/Gender Team
  • Enforcing candidate quota rules on party lists for women candidates
    by Irena Hadžiabdić, Member of the Central Election Commission, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Political Finance as a Driver for Women Candidates : Promoting  women’s access to electoral finance 
    by Zurab Kharatishvili, Chair of the Central Election Commission, Georgia                             

USA: Women in Politics - Balancing Family, Work and Campaigning

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Wed, 2011-11-02 04:53

Summary: 

For three Glen Cove women, being in the political arena is not only a passion, but also a balancing act.

“I already juggle work and family, so I do what needs to be done,” said Kristina Heuser, one of three women running for City Council on the Republican ticket.

Heuser, a lawyer with a local practice and resident since 2008, has two daughters, both under 8 years old.

“My children are my priority,” she said. “I try to be a good role model. I bring them to fundraisers, and they campaign with me.”

Filomena “Mena” Ricciardi, candidate and resident for over 25 years, works full time for a non-profit organization, and part time as a consultant for a company in the defense industry.

Ricciardi was actively involved in the four-year mayoral term referendum, saying she was “passionate” about the issue.

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To read the complete story please visit GlenCove.

Published on 1 November 2011.


India: Women Gain Legislative Seats in Kashmir

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Mon, 2011-10-31 13:52

Summary: 

Local government representatives welcome increased participation from women here, but they say they prefer literate to illiterate candidates. But women who won seats in the election and women voters say that equal gender representation is more important than literacy. Women say top issues for them include availability of water, transportation and medical services. Nongovernmental organizations, NGOs, are organizing trainings to strengthen the reinstitution of the panchayat system and the inclusion of women in it.

Body: 

Read the whole story at TrustLaw, published October 31.


Japan: In Sleepy Village, a Young Female is Elected

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Mon, 2011-10-31 07:00

Summary: 

The town voters handed fresh-faced political newcomer Haruka Kuwahara a stunning victory in Sunday’s local election. Ms. Kuwahara, who just qualified to run for office a few months before campaign season began, blew away the rest of the competition. The independent candidate garnered over 15% of the nearly 7,500 total votes cast, more than twice the number of votes compared to the second-place winner. In all, 17 candidates ran for a council seat. Her victory means Ms. Kuwahara earns one of the 16 spots on the town assembly and will be one of the four rookies on the council.

That Tsunan, a pastoral town where more than one-third of the population is over the age of 65, elected a young woman and conversely, that a young woman wanted to run, is an unusual event in Japan. Despite the slate of new generation lawmakers elected when the Democratic Party of Japan swung to power in 2009, Japanese politics is still dominated by old men. Meanwhile, the younger population is often chided for its disinterest.

Body: 

Read the complete story in The Wall Street Journal, published October 31.


Kazakhstan: women seek equality in public decision making

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on Tue, 2011-10-18 02:53

Summary: 

Men still hold most of the power in Kazakhstan, despite a commitment by the government that women will hold 30 percent of decision-making roles at all levels of government by 2016. 

Only 11 percent of parliamentarians are female. And while women make up 58 percent of the civil service — and about 52 percent of the population — less than 9 percent of them hold high-level positions. In local governments, 10 percent of decision-making positions are held by women.

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To read the complete article please visit www.ndi.org


Support for Local Government: Policies, Empowerment and Gender Mainstreaming - DGTTF Southern-Sudan

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005 created the new autonomous Government of Southern Sudan [GoSS]. The GoSS was required to establish in-stitutions and processes of governance including at the local level, with no pre-vious experience in government and in an environment characterized by the tribal nature of its traditional social or-ganization, identity and culture.

This document details the DGTTF projects launched in South-Sudan, including Project II: Strategy for mainstreaming gender em-powerment in local government.  

Parliamentary Oversight of Gender Equality

This handbook is designed to assist parliamentarians in carrying out their oversight role on gender by developing a better understanding of the concept, providing a summary of the budget cycle process, discussing gender budgeting, and examining the gender dimensions of parliamentary committees, as well as suggestions for changing attitudes as a strategy for achieving gender equality.

The Constituent Assembly of Nepal: An Agenda for Women

Nepal is making a new constitution, which will be a culmination of the People's Movement, and thus must be based on the aspirations of the people of Nepal. However gender-friendly Constitution may seem, it will not automatically lead to an increase in gender equality, but the process of constitution making creates an opportunity for women to make some significant progress towards the realisation of their rights. Women should not miss this chance.

There is significant number of women members of the Constituent Assembly. Some of these members are women with great knowledge and experience and understanding of the possibilities that the Constituent Assembly opens up for women. Some of the others may have a less clear idea of what a constitution is and how they can, through this process; contribute to the improvement of the position of women. The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues that women members of the Constituent Assembly, and those who in the broader society will be supporting them and hoping to work through them, will need to address in order to achieve a good constitution for the women of Nepal. It is not a paper of answers - it is more an agenda.