Las estadísticas internacionales y nacionales revelan el rezago de las mujeres en puestos de toma de decisiones políticas.

El Reporte de la Brecha de Género del Foro Económico Mundial de Davós de 2010, analiza la situación de las mujeres en 134 países a través de cuatro pilares: educación, salud, participación económica y participación política y empoderamiento. De estos cuatro rubros, la participación política es el que muestra menores niveles de equidad entre hombres y mujeres, con tan solo el 18% de la presencia de mujeres en puestos de toma de decisiones.

A nivel regional, Asia y el Pacífico demuestra un mayor empoderamiento de las mujeres, seguido de Europa y Asia Central en segundo lugar, América del Norte en el tercero, África Sub-Sahariana en el cuarto, América Latina y el Caribe en quinto lugar y Medio Oriente y el Norte de África en sexto lugar.

Las variaciones de los valores de estas brechas ponen en evidencia que la situación de discriminación de la mujer no depende sólo de factores objetivos, tales como el ingreso o la expectativa de vida, sino de otros factores tales como la cultura y la religión, que juegan un papel significativo en la formación de los valores que rigen el comportamiento colectivo e individual.

La participación social y política de las mujeres es una estrategia central en la construcción de la equidad de género y en el fortalecimiento de la democracia. El grado de civilización de un pueblo se puede medir a través de la situación de sus mujeres.

En tu país, ¿Cuáles son las cifras de participación política de las mujeres? ¿Cuáles factores consideras que tienen mayor peso en tu sociedad, para promover la equidad de género? ¿Existen iniciativas a nivel nacional o local que promuevan una mayor participación política de las mujeres? ¿Cuentan con un sistema de cuotas de género?

Patricia Galeana, Vicepresidente FIMU

Click here for an English version of this post.

International and national statistics highlight the lack of women in political leadership positions. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2010 analyzed the situation of women in 134 countries across four pillars: educational attainment, health and survival, economic participation and opportunity, and political empowerment. Of these four categories, political participation was the one that showed the lowest levels of equality between men and women, with women present in only 18% of the decision-making positions.

At the regional level, Asia and the Pacific showed the greatest empowerment of women, followed by Europe and Central Asia in second place, North America in third, Sub-Saharan Africa in fourth, Latin America and the Caribbean in fifth and the Middle East and North Africa in sixth.

Variations in the sizes of these gaps point out that discrimination against women does not only depend on objective factors, such as income or life expectancy, but also on other factors such as culture and religion, which play a significant role in forming the values that govern collective and individual behavior.

The social and political participation of women is a key strategy in building gender equality and strengthening democracy. The level of civilization of a population can be measured by the status of its women.

In your country, what are the political participation rates of women? Which factors do you consider to be most important in promoting gender equality? Are there any national or local initiatives promoting increased political participation by women? Do you have a gender quota system?

Patricia Galeana, IFUW Vice President

En Español

© UNESCO (Afghanistan, Kandahar)

Recently the United Nations Security Council voiced deep concern about the continuing under-representation of women at all stages of peace processes. Nearly nine years have passed since Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security was adopted, but to date only 16 countries* have developed national action plans.

The Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon urged all Member States to adopt national action plans before the 10^th anniversary of the resolution next year. Having national plans is not enough however. Implementation is key to achieving the goals of the resolution. Member states were also encouraged to address such female needs as greater physical security, better socio-economic conditions through education, income generating activities, access to health services and access to justice.

The Secretary General pointed out that “a growing body of evidence suggests that bringing women to the peace table improves the quality of agreements reached, and increases the chances of successful implementation”. Yet, UNIFEM reports that women average less than 10 per cent of the members of official negotiating teams at peace talks.”

What steps have been taken in your country towards implementing resolution 1325? What are the barriers to promoting women’s role as peace builders?

* Austria, Belgium, Chile, Côte d’Ivoire, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Liberia, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uganda and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

2009 Security Council report: Women and peace and security by the Secretary-General

According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, women’s access is affected by different factors. The attitudes about the role of women in society and bias among the voters are two reasons; but, electorate arrangements (such as the party systems) together with political will are the most important factors. It has been proven that women are elected in greater numbers in systems of proportional representation than they are in majority electoral systems.

Electoral law with quotas can direct political parties to ensure that a certain proportion of their candidates are women. Some states have achieved positive results through a combination of strategies, such as providing skills-training for women or assistance in running electoral campaigns.

What is the situation in your country? What are the most important factors? What strategies are being used? What else could be done to increase women’s participation?