Addis Ababa, Ethiopia-Equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes

I. Introduction

In accordance with its
multi-year programme of work for 2001-2006, the Commission on the
Status of Women (CSW) will consider “Equal participation of women
and men in decision-making processes at all levels” as one of two
thematic issues during its fiftieth session in 2006. In order to
contribute to a further understanding of this issue and to assist
the Commission in its deliberations, the United Nations Division for
the Advancement of Women (DAW), in collaboration with the United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), is organizing an Expert Group
Meeting (EGM) on “Equal participation of women and men in
decision-making processes, with particular emphasis on political
participation and leadership”. The EGM will be hosted by the ECA in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from October 24-27 2005.

The findings and
recommendations of the Expert Group Meeting will be presented at the
panel discussion on equal participation of women and men in
decision-making processes at all levels during the 50^th
session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

II. Background

Article 21 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes the right of every
person to take part in the government of his or her country. Equal
access of men and women to power, decision-making and leadership at
all levels is a necessary precondition for the proper functioning of
democracy. Equal participation of men and women in political affairs
makes governments more representative of the composition of society;
it makes them more accountable and transparent, and ensures that the
interests of women are taken into account in policy-making. Women,
however, have traditionally been excluded from power and
decision-making processes.

The 1979 Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
provides the basis for realizing equality between women and men
through ensuring women’s equal access to, and equal opportunities
in, political and public life, including the right to vote and to
stand for election, as well as to hold public office at all levels
of government (Article 7). States parties agree to take all
appropriate measures to overcome historical discrimination against
women and obstacles to women’s participation in decision-making
processes (Article 8), including legislation and temporary special
measures (Article 4). The Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women consistently expresses concern over the
low rate of implementation of Articles 7 and 8 of the Convention. In
its general recommendation 23 of 1997 the Committee reviewed the
persisting barriers to women’s participation in political and public
life and set out a series of steps for Governments to take in order
to abide fully by Articles 7 and 8, urging especially the adoption
of temporary special measures in accordance with Article 4 of the
Convention.

The Fourth World
Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, brought attention to
the persisting inequality between men and women in decision-making.
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action recognize women’s
unequal share of power and decision-making as one of the twelve
critical areas of concern. The Platform for Action outlines concrete
actions to ensure women’s equal access to, and full participation
in, power structures (Strategic Objective G.1), and to increase
women’s capacity to participate in decision-making and leadership
(Strategic Objective G.2).

The Agreed Conclusions
1997/2 of the 41^st session of the Commission on the
Status of Women’s on women in power and decision-making processes
called for the acceleration of implementation of the Beijing
Platform for Action in order to achieve women’s full and equal
participation in decision-making. Governments were urged, inter
alia, to establish time-bound targets for reaching the goal of
gender balance in decision-making, and ensure gender mainstreaming
in legislation. The Agreed Conclusions stress the importance that
achieving equal participation in decision-making has for the
strengthening of democracy (para 2).  

The outcome document
adopted by the 23^rd special session of the General
Assembly in 2000¹ reviewed
achievements in the promotion of women into power and
decision-making positions. It noted that an increasing number of
countries had adopted positive discrimination policies, including
the establishment of quota systems during elections, setting of
measurable goals, and the development of leadership training for
women. However, there continue to be significant obstacles to
reaching gender balance in decision-making bodies at all levels:
“Women continue to be under-represented in the legislative,
ministerial and sub-ministerial levels, as well as at the highest
levels of the corporate sector and other economic and social
institutions” (G.23). 

The commitment to achieve
gender equality in power and decision-making in political affairs
was reaffirmed, inter alia, by Security Council Resolution
1325 on Women, Peace and Security of 2000, which called for the
integration of a gender perspective into the negotiation and
implementation of peace agreements.

General Assembly
Resolution 58/142 on Women and Political Participation in 2003 urged
Member States to eliminate all discriminatory laws in their national
legislatures, counter “negative societal attitudes about women’s
capacity to participate equally in the political process” (para 1d),
and “institute educational programmes…in the school curriculum that
sensitize young people about the equal rights of women” (para 1g).

The 49^th
session of the Commission on the Status of Women in February-March
2005 reviewed the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action
and of the outcome document of the 23^rd special session
of the General Assembly.² Most Member States
reported the introduction of measures aimed at increasing the
participation of women in various levels of decision-making
processes, and reported progress in getting women into positions of
power (para 327). Equitable participation remains a challenge,
however, and only eleven Member States have reached the critical
mass of 30% of women in parliament (para 331). While hailing the
progress made by Member States so far, the Commission concluded that
a wide range of customs, traditions and stereotypes in most cultures
impede women’s participation in decision-making processes (para
351); that despite significant democratization since 1995, the only
steady increase in women’s participation in decision-making has been
at the local level (para 351); and that devolution of power to the
local level created opportunities for women to gain more meaningful
participation (para 351). It called for the study of linkages
between women’s economic and political empowerment (para 352), of
the way in which women’s political participation leads to the
transformation of political institutions and processes (para 353),
and for the study of the costs of women’s exclusion vis-à-vis the
goal of sustainable development (para 354).

Women have gained the
right to vote, and possess de jure equality, in nearly all
Member States of the United Nations. However, despite forming at
least half the electorate in most countries, they continue to be
underrepresented as candidates for public office. In 1995,
approximately 10 percent of members of national assemblies across
the world were women (Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action,
Article 182), and even fewer women held positions in the government.
These figures fall short of reaching the target of having 30 percent
of women in positions at decision-making levels by 1995 endorsed by
the Economic and Social Council. The figure of 30 percent forms the
so-called “critical mass”, believed to be necessary for women to
make a visible impact on the style and content of political
decision-making.

Since 1995, women’s visibility
in, and impact on, public life has grown. Women represented 11.3
percent of all legislators in 1995, and 15.7 percent in 2005.³ The overall
increase, however, hides regional fluctuations, and there has been
no increase in the percentage of women in government positions over
this period. The rate of increase in leadership positions held by
women remains low. Women continue to have to choose between a career
and child-rearing responsibilities, which leads many of them to opt
out of competition for the top-level jobs. At home as well as at
work they continue to lack an enabling environment for their career
advancement and empowerment. Women are still largely absent from top
executive jobs, especially in the traditionally male-dominated
spheres of business, science and politics. In national governments
where women hold ministerial functions, their portfolios are
typically limited to social, family and cultural affairs (IPU
1999).⁴  

III. Objectives

The overall
objective of the meeting is to analyze the current situation of
women in decision-making processes, with particular emphasis on
their political participation and leadership at the international,
national, regional and local levels. The meeting will develop policy
recommendations for achieving equal participation of women and men
in decision-making processes based on the identification of the most
promising practices and lessons learned to date.  

The meeting will:

• Examine conditions that facilitate women’s representation in
  decision-making processes within the context of current
  socio-economic and political transformations;
• Consider the interplay between women’s economic and political
  participation, focusing on the persisting barriers to women’s
  entry into politics in light of their economic empowerment in the
  past decades;
• Examine the linkages between women’s presence in
  decision-making bodies at all levels and their impact on policy
  formulation and the conduct of political institutions;
• Explore the extent to which women’s presence in
  decision-making bodies facilitates the mainstreaming of a gender
  perspective into policies;
• Examine the conditions under which political bodies commit to
  gender balance and gender mainstreaming in processes and outcomes;

• Examine the conditions under which women work across party
  lines, including with male allies;
• Propose strategies to advance women’s participation and
  leadership through, inter alia, capacity-building,
  coalition-building and gender-sensitive institutional policies,
  programmes and mechanisms.

IV. Expected Outcome

The outcome of the Expert Group Meeting will be a
report containing a summary of the discussion and recommendations
that will be adopted by the experts on the final day of the meeting.
The report will be made available at the 50th session of the
Commission on the Status of Women.

V. Profile of the Participants

The Expert Group Meeting will be attended by 12
experts appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
The expert group meeting will also be attended by observers from
Governments, the United Nations, inter-governmental organizations,
nongovernmental organizations and academia.

In selecting the experts, the criteria of
geographical and gender balance will be taken into consideration.
Experts will include academics and practitioners from relevant
fields, in accordance with the objectives identified above. The
United Nations will provide travel and daily subsistence allowance
to the experts.

VI. Documentation

The documentation for the meeting will include :

• A consultant’s paper
  commissioned by the Division for the Advancement of Women,
  outlining the major issues to be discussed;
• Papers prepared by
  experts on specific issues or case studies in line with their
  expertise;
• Papers prepared
  by observers.

VII. Organization

The meeting will be
organized by the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) of the
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The
Economic Commission for Africa will host the meeting and provide
logistical support.

The meeting will be
conducted in English and the documentation will be in English.

The meeting will meet in
plenary and in working groups. In an opening plenary meeting,
background presentations will create a conceptual framework for
discussions. The plenary will be followed by an in-depth discussion
of specific issues in working groups.

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