Diversifying Political Power to Build Inclusive Societies

DIVERSIFYING POLITICAL POWER TO BUILD INCLUSIVE SOCIETIES 8TH ANNUAL GATHERING ORGANIZED BY THE GROUP OF WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS AUTHOR TRANSLATION DESIGN AND LAYOUT PHOTOS JACK MELAMED AISLIN RYAN LISA TEMES NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF ECUADOR ParlAmericas would like to sincerely experts who shared their experience TABLE OF CONTENTS thank the National Assembly of Ecuador and knowledge: Otilia Lux de Cotí for their invaluable contributions as (member of the Management Group the host of the gathering. In particular, of the Indigenous Fund for Latin 4 Message from the President of ParlAmericas ParlAmericas wishes to thank the America and the Caribbean), Tonni President of the National Assembly, Ann Brodber (Deputy Representative 5 Message from the President of the Group of Gabriela Rivadeneira, and the President Women Parliamentarians of the UN Women Multi-Country Office of the Group of Women Parliamentarians for the Caribbean), Irune Aguirrezabal 6 ParlAmericas and Member of the National Assembly, (Regional Advisor on Leadership and 6 The Group of Women Parliamentarians Gina Godoy. We would also like to thank Political Participation for UN Women) 7 The Gathering: Diversifying Political Power to the administrative and technical staff and Marco Aurélio Martins (Executive Build Inclusive Societies of the National Assembly whose work Coordinator of Promundo Brazil). was vital to the gathering’s success. 9 Sessions We would also like to thank the We extend our gratitude to the community leaders in Ecuador for their 14 #NiUnaMenos (NotOneLess) Campaign participating delegates, moderators, participation and generosity in sharing Declaration of Commitment 23 and panellists for their contributions their experiences. 26 Glossary during the working sessions and their Finally, ParlAmericas is immensely unwavering commitment to achieving 27 Participants grateful for the financial support gender equality in the hemisphere. We 28 Appendix provided by Global Affairs Canada. would also like to acknowledge the DIVERSIFYING POLITICAL POWER TO BUILD INCLUSIVE SOCIETIES 3 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF PARLAMERICAS Dear colleagues, During the 8th Annual Gathering of the Group I would like to express my gratitude to the of Women Parliamentarians of ParlAmericas, National Assembly of Ecuador, to its President Diversifying Political Power to Build Inclusive Gabriela Rivadeneira, and to Member of the Societies, which was held in Quito, Ecuador, from National Assembly Gina Godoy, President of June 2-3, 2016, with parliamentarians from 29 the Group of Women Parliamentarians, for their countries and territories in the Americas and commitment to the gender equality agenda the Caribbean in attendance, we continued and their hospitality and attention during the our progress towards achieving real equality gathering. between men and women in our societies. I encourage you all to persevere in the work We had fruitful discussions on parity democracy, being undertaken by your parliaments to build mechanisms to encourage greater representation more inclusive societies. in our parliaments, women’s labour rights, Sincerely, the empowerment of Indigenous women, and the great need for men’s involvement in the struggle for gender equality. The results of these exchanges are reflected in the concrete Marcela Guerra MARCELA GUERRA agreements that form the final declaration. Senator, Mexico This gathering presented a new opportunity President of ParlAmericas to confirm the unwavering commitment of ParlAmericas and its Group of Women Parliamentarians to overcome gender gaps. FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @MARCELAGUERRANL 4 ANNUAL GATHERING ORGANIZED BY THE GROUP OF WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE GROUP OF WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS Dear colleagues, Since 2003, the Group of Women strengthening the bold work being carried out to Parliamentarians of ParlAmericas has been achieve gender equality. working to promote initiatives within our I invite you to continue advancing on this path, parliaments aimed at strengthening the political to share this report, and to join us in our future empowerment of women, and to encourage activities. the inclusion of gender perspectives in our respective legislative agendas. Best wishes, We have developed relevant activities and resource materials to support the efforts being undertaken in each of our parliaments Gina Godoy GINA GODOY and created spaces for inter-parliamentary Member of the National Assembly, Ecuador collaboration on legislative best practices on President of the Group of Women Parliamentarians these topics. of ParlAmericas On this occasion, we had the privilege to welcome one hundred parliamentarians from FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @GINAGODOYANDRAD the Americas and the Caribbean to Quito, Ecuador, for our 8th Annual Gathering. Within this report you will find not only the main results of the working sessions, but also tools and resources that we hope will be useful in DIVERSIFYING POLITICAL POWER TO BUILD INCLUSIVE SOCIETIES 5 PARLAMERICAS THE GROUP OF WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS We are an INDEPENDENT FORUM that promotes PARLIAMENTARY DIPLOMACY The Group of Women Parliamentarians is a Composed of NATIONAL LEGISLATURES of the permanent working group of ParlAmericas member States of the OAS (North, Central and that promotes women’s political South America and the Caribbean) empowerment and the application of a gender lens on the legislative agendas of its member parliaments. We facilitate COOPERATIVE POLITICAL DIALOGUE Since its creation in 2003, the Group has organized numerous activities and initiatives Within a PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY in the to foster the exchange of knowledge and INTERAMERICAN SYSTEM legislative best practices within inter- parliamentary spaces. These activities We mainstream GENDER EQUALITY and convene legislators from the Americas and the LEGISLATIVE TRANSPARENCY Caribbean on topics of hemispheric relevance, including the promotion and strengthening of the leadership of women parliamentarians, Through FORUMS, TRAINING, DEBATES and FOLLOW UP eradicating gender-based political violence and harassment, facilitating dialogue with women’s organizations, and more in order to Enabling EXCHANGES OF EXPERIENCES and BEST advance public policy on gender equality. PRACTICES We are headquartered in OTTAWA, CANADA 6 ANNUAL GATHERING ORGANIZED BY THE GROUP OF WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS THE GATHERING: DIVERSIFYING POLITICAL POWER TO BUILD INCLUSIVE SOCIETIES It remains very “clear: [women] represent half of the In this parliament, women do not do politics world’s population; from the comfort of a desk; rather we make our “ therefore, we want half desks our trenches. Our words are not stray bullets; of the spaces of power MARCELA GUERRA, rather they show coherence and certainty of in our democracies. It is Senator (Mexico) GINA GODOY, purpose. Our bodies are not stationary instruments, our right.” and President of Member of the but rather the scene of a constant and committed ParlAmericas National Assembly battle with change as praxis.” (Ecuador) and President of the Reducing the democratic deficit involves eliminating Group of Women “the absence or under-representation of historically The struggle for women’s rights is the Parliamentarians excluded sectors, like Indigenous peoples, people of African struggle of our communities, a struggle “ descent, or women. These groups are part of all social for affirmation and a deepening of our collectives and represent half of humanity.” democracies in the face of everything that tries to cut them short, condition them, or subject them to particular interests." OTILIA LUX DE COTÍ, keynote speaker GABRIELA RIVADENEIRA, (Guatemala) President of the National Assembly (Ecuador) DIVERSIFYING POLITICAL POWER TO BUILD INCLUSIVE SOCIETIES 7 RESOURCES AND TOOLS Below are resources to guide legislative work on women’s political empowerment, the eradication of violence against women, and the struggle for gender equality. Convention of Belém do Pará on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women (Organization of American States) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (United Nations) Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (United Nations) Plan of Action for Gender-sensitive Parliaments (Inter-Parliamentary Union) Framework for the Consolidation of Parity Democracy (UN Women and Parlatino; in Spanish) 8 ANNUAL GATHERING ORGANIZED BY THE GROUP OF WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS SESSIONS Legislative advances to promote representative parliaments: Feminist perspectives We have made progress in “the recognition of women’s rights As key institutions for strengthening democracy, parliaments must LISBETH through a legal framework for aspire to reflect the diversity of the societies that they represent, both in HERNÁNDEZ gender equity and women’s descriptive terms (through the composition of their membership) and LECONA, empowerment. However, there are in substantive terms (through their political influence and the tangible Senator many pending issues that limit benefits in terms of public policies). (Mexico) women’s ability to fully exercise their rights, because they stem from cultural attitudes and education based on patriarchal models.” Since the creation of the Secretariat for Women’s “Policies, the number of secretariats and departments for women in states and municipalities across the country has continued to grow. In addition, three national policy plans for women have been designed, and the implementation of the Casa de la Mujer Brasilera

Load more