Women and Governance: A Place at the Table
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“Striking changes in women’s lives over the last 50 years have brought shifts in work roles, family lives, political and educational access, and social awareness. What is now more obvious than ever is what has not changed, or rather what has barely begun to change—namely, women’s under-representation in positions of power and leadership.”
- Mary S. Hartman, Director Institute for Women’s Leadership The recent election of female presidents in Africa, Latin America, and Europe is being hailed by many as a seminal moment for the advancement of women in politics. But a deeper look at the current political gender balance shows that women still have a long way to go to gain an equal footing in the global halls of power.
Taking Stock According to world averages compiled by the international organization of national parliaments, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), only 15-16 percent of legislative seats worldwide were held by women as of November 2005. Regional averages are quite diverse—ranging from women holding some 40 percent of seats in the
There have also been 27 elected women presidents and 42 women prime ministers since 1945. The elections of three more women heads of state—Angela Merkel in Germany, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Liberia, and Chile’s Michelle Bachelet—made political waves in the latter part of 2005 and early 2006. Bachelet, for one, put women’s rights front and center in her campaign and has a record of improving laws for women relating to divorce, sexual harassment, and domestic abuse. Johnson Sirleaf is the first elected female president in Africa and managed to defeat a popular football star in Liberia’s first election after 14 years of civil war. But whether these new leaders have the will and capacity—given other priorities—to bring unique proposals to the table remains to be seen. Gaining Local Power Global trends in women’s participation in national governments are one barometer of change, but these statistics don’t tell the whole story. Women in positions of local power are often better placed to promote meaningful change than those at the highest levels. Women’s leadership on local governing councils (panchayats) in India, for example, has made them more responsive to “community demands for infrastructure, housing, schools, and health,” notes the Millennium Project. Current trends toward decentralization are expected to give more women an increased opportunity for political participation in local communities and, in fact, women’s participation in local politics is rising, with benefits expected to be seen by rural women in particular.
The Nicaraguan NGO Cenzontle (Center for Democratic Participation and Development) provides a prime example of this kind of political empowerment. The group involved 150 women in interviews and workshops “to explore issues of power and self-esteem, gender equity, women’s rights, and leadership.” As a result of these programs, the women began to identify new roles for themselves in society and to take a more active part in public decision-making in Nicaragua, says the above-noted study. Women and Peace The international community has also started paying more attention to the important role of women in peacemaking. It was only recently, in 2000, that the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 1325, outlining specific recommendations for member states to increase the participation of women in peace processes and, among others, ensure the protection of women and girls in situations of armed conflict. In an address on the topic of women and peace in 2002, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted that inequalities between women and men tend to be exacerbated during armed conflicts, that women and girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence and exploitation, that women and children make up the majority of the world’s refugees and displaced persons, and that women are often forced to provide domestic or sexual service to camps of armed forces. Annan went on to say, however, that women are also the key to the solution of conflict. Women’s groups and networks, he said, have provided “imaginative strategies” and “flexible networks” for addressing conflict, and have worked to preserve “social order in the midst of chaos.”
There are numerous examples of peace activities led by women, with women’s organizations serving as an important catalyst for this work. One such effort is the Mano River Women’s Peace Network, a network of activists from Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, which encouraged women’s participation in the peace process in West Africa. Among other successes, it was able to convince regional leaders to sit down for peace talks. (Their work was featured in CODEPINK’s book, Stop the Next War Now; Effective Responses to Violence and Terrorism.)
Despite this multitude of inspiring stories of women’s involvement in peace processes, NGOs cite both progress and setbacks at the international level. Gender-sensitivity training for peace operations has improved and women have become more involved in post-conflict reconstruction, explains a recent report from the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security. Nonetheless, it adds, “women are still often ignored or excluded from formal processes of negotiations and elections.” Limited resources—especially for training women on formal peace processes and for developing national action plans—hampers remaining work. Women’s groups point out that protecting refugee women and ensuring justice for victims of sexual violence in times of war are remaining challenges that need far more attention and resources. Challenging Stereotypes In looking at women and war in a broader context, Kavita Ramdas, president of the Global Fund for Women, asserts that an expansion of militarism—she uses American militarism as an
Historically, it is men that have held power in society, and ingrained stereotypes about women have prevented them from taking their rightful place as equal partners—in areas such as peacekeeping, governance, and in corporate management. Despite better political representation for women in some countries, underlying negative attitudes about women’s leadership still exist. Although women’s relationship-building skills are gradually getting more attention, the more aggressive management traits associated with men have tended to take precedence in both the halls of government and in the boardroom. A recent survey of nearly 300 corporate leaders found that corporate thinking is dominated by male-held stereotypes that women are poor problem solvers (and therefore ineffective leaders). As such, women continue to have lower status than male counterparts—as evidenced by the fact that just over one percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. Adds the U.N. Population Fund’s “State of the World Population” report for 2005, “Gender equality, and the social transformation it implies, is most likely to be achieved when men recognize that the lives of men and women are interdependent and that the empowerment of women benefits everyone.” ** Talkback: Leave your comments below! |
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