Dismantling barriers for women in political places: new pledges and the launch of the CEDAW Handbook for Parliamentarians

28-06-2023

Roza Cseby

Women’s Rights Researcher, 

Global Human Rights Defence.

“A career in politics for women is difficult. But we need to keep going. Don’t quit” - said Cynthia López Castro, a prominent advocate for enhancing women's participation in political places through the implementation of compulsory gender quotas within parliamentary systems. She was the moderator of the roundtable event organised by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on Parliaments and women’s rights, held on 22nd June in Geneva. The high-profile event convened parliamentarians from around the world to discuss their role and responsibilities in addressing the obstacles encountered by women when it comes to political participation. Furthermore, it resulted in the adoption of two significant documents: the joint pledges of parliamentarians with the objective of promoting and supporting women's engagement in political areas and the new version of the OHCHR-IPU Handbook for Parliamentarians on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (OHCHR, 2023).

The pledges of the legislators recognise the critical role of parliaments in institutionalising women’s human rights and gender equality in society in line with the 2012 Plan of Action for Gender-sensitive Parliaments, designed to support parliaments in their efforts to become more gender-sensitive (OHCHR-IPU, 2023) (IPU, 2012). They pledged to engage in proactive measures to guarantee the complete, equitable, and secure involvement of women in political decision-making processes across all levels. This includes the prevention and combating of offline and online gender-based violence against women in politics by adopting a zero-tolerance code of conduct and establishing an independent and specialised complaint mechanism. Moreover, they agreed on introducing or strengthening legislated gender quotas aimed at increasing the participation of women in decision-making (OHCHR-IPU, 2023).

The new OHCHR-IPU Handbook for Parliamentarians intends to help MPs to translate the CEDAW Convention into concrete action through law-making, budget allocation and parliamentary oversight of government actions and encourages them to take a leadership role in promoting women’s rights as a result of the alarming underrepresentation of women in political institutions. According to IPU, only 36 countries have a woman Head of State or Government and only 26.5% of parliamentarians are women. What is more, in approximately 22 countries, women represent less than 10% of government members (OHCHR, 2023). To improve on these trends, parliaments must be gender-sensitive to advance women’s political participation and cooperate with the CEDAW Committee, one of the most essential tools for achieving gender equality and protecting women’s rights. A gender-sensitive parliament is defined in the Handbook as “a parliament that responds to the needs and interests of both men and women in its structures, operations, methods and work…” and “...remove the barriers to women’s full participation and offer a positive example or model to society at large” (IPU, 2023).

Parliaments are also referred to as the “agents of change” and the “drivers of public opinion” in the Handbook, emphasising their key role in dismantling the barriers to political participation for women such as structural discrimination, gender stereotypes and gender-based violence which discourage women from political activism, and preserve traditional gender roles and stereotypes (IPU, 2023).  

In conclusion, the roundtable event organised by OHCHR and IPU, marked a significant political will from parliamentarians all over the world to enhance women's increased participation in politics through the implementation of the CEDAW Convention. 

Sources and further readings:

OHCHR (2023). Parliaments play a crucial role in women’s equal right to participate. Retrieved June 28, 2023 from https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2023/06/parliaments-play-crucial-role-womens-equal-right-participate 

OHCHR-IPU (2023). Joint OHCHR-IPU Human Rights 75 Roundtable – Parliaments and women’s rights: Implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, realizing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for all (22 June 2023). Retrieved June 28, 2023 from https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2023/06/parliaments-play-crucial-role-womens-equal-right-participate 

Inter-Parliamentary Union (2023). The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol. Handbook for Parliamentarians No. 36. Retrieved June 28, 2023 from https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/OHCHR-IPU-CEDAW-Handbook-revised-edition.pdf 

Inter-Parliamentary Union (2012). Plan of Action for Gender-sensitive Parliaments. Retrieved June 28, 2023 from http://archive.ipu.org/pdf/publications/action-gender-e.pdf