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Women Working Together in Parliament- Workshop2 June 5Th -7Th, 2015- Tunisia /Hammamet North - Hotel Radisson Blu Women Working Together in Parliament- Workshop2 June 5th -7th, 2015- Tunisia /Hammamet North - Hotel Radisson Blu P0245-02/ 2005 General report 1. Introduction 2. Comparative real –life experience on women parliamentarians working together through informal venues 3. Joint work between women parliamentarians in Tunisia since 2011 4. Training on team building 5. Recommendations Annexes Annex 1: Concept Note Annex 2: Attendance List Annex 3: Final Agenda Annex 4: Content of the training on team building 1 1. Introduction Within the framework of the International IDEA and NIMD "Respect for Women's Political Rights: Participation and Leadership of Women in Politics in Tunisia" (RWPR) project, International IDEA and IPU organized a second workshop on “Women working together in Parliament” on 6-7 June 2015 in Hammamet. International IDEA has organized on 29 December 2014, in partnership with CAWTAR and with the support of IPU, a first workshop on the collective work of women in Parliament in order to provide options for formal and informal strategies that women parliamentarians could adopt in order to better obtain influence in parliament (See: Concept Note- Annex 1). The objectives of the workshop are to: Build the spirit of teamwork among women parliamentarians Provide a forum for discussion, reflection and sharing of experiences among women MPs on parliamentary mechanisms for promoting gender equality and women’s rights (i.e. women’s caucuses and specialized committees). Provide comparative real–life experiences about strategies for women parliamentarians to work together in parliament. Promote discussion and reflection among women parliamentarians on informal cross– party forum for women parliamentarians to work together. 11 women MPs representing three Tunisian political parties (Nidaa Tounes, Ennahdha, National Front for Salvation) participated to the workshop, beside a parliamentarian from Senegal and a parliamentarian from Belgium (See: Attendance list- Annex 2). The participatory nature adopted in the four sessions of the workshop (See: Final Agenda- Annex 3) facilitated the achievement of the workshop’s objectives. This general report summarizes the main conclusions and recommendations of the workshop. 2. Comparative real –life experience on women parliamentarians working together through informal venues Mrs. Zeina HELAL, a member of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), pointed out in her presentation on the guidelines for women’s caucuses that the percentage of women in national parliaments all over the world is about 22 per cent and that means that women constitute a minority group within parliaments. It follows therefore, that if they wish to have an independent voice as women parliamentarians, get the voice of women in general heard, express solidarity with each other and gain influence in the parliament, they need to be 2 brought together under one structure or entity. There are 81 structures for women MPs currently functioning in the world. These structures aim at: - establishing a multi-party cooperation by uniting women from different political parties around issues where they explore common grounds, - supporting women in gaining influence in parliaments, - building the capacity of women parliamentarians and - integrating a gender approach into the work and structure of the parliament. It should be noted that there is a distinction to be drawn between parliamentary committees on gender issues and gender equality on the one hand and informal women’s caucuses. Committees are parliamentary structures, which are scrupulously regulated by the Rules of Procedure of the parliament and could have legislative powers whereas women’s groups are informal structures and have more flexibility in the conduct of their work. It is possible to establish both mechanisms in parallel and develop coordination between them. Creating a parliamentary women’s caucus goes through four stages: - The first stage: It involves the evaluation of the context which surrounds the creation of the caucus. To this end, it is important to choose the appropriate time at which it becomes clear how relevant it is to create such structure for women parliamentarians and where cooperation is possible between the various political parties regarding issues which allow women to share common grounds. It is to be noted that at this stage the support from within and outside the parliament for the structure to be established ought to be assessed. - The second stage: It consists in laying the groundwork for the creation of the structure. It is required at this stage to determine how to establish this structure and involve the largest possible number of women parliamentarians from across the political spectrum in the preparation process. In line with this, a restricted committee in charge of considering the various options for establishing this structure could be formed. It is also required at this stage to identify the mission, objectives, name of this structure and its relation with the Parliament. - The third stage: It covers the conduct of the work of the structure. At this stage, requirements for membership, the mandate and the method of selecting the governing body of the structure should be determined as well as setting out the procedures for the meetings and how to make decisions and get funds for the structure. 3 - The fourth stage: It consists in initiating the work. During this phase, the structure is expected to develop and implement an action plan through a number of activities. Mrs. Awa GUEYE, Vice-President of the National Assembly of Senegal and President of the "Collectif des femmes parlementaires", indicated that this caucus was formed more than 20 years ago and has provided a framework for the exchange of views and proposals between women parliamentarians from all parties. The caucus does not take any decision or propose draft laws for it is an informal body. This caucus aims to promote greater presence of women in the parliament, strengthen the capacity of women parliamentarians and foster the exchange of experience among them. This group also seeks to fight poverty suffered by women in Senegal and violence against women and achieve the Millennium Development Goals, particularly those related to gender equality. Mrs. Awa GUEYE noted that the percentage of women in the Parliament had never exceeded 22% until 2007. She added that the electoral law was amended in May 2010 to apply the principle of parity between men and women on candidate lists for the legislative elections with back up from Women’s Parliamentary Caucus and support from international and civil society organizations. The new law mandates parity among men and women on candidate lists as a requirement for candidate registration. Thanks to this amendment, the percentage of women in the Senegalese Parliament, following the legislative elections of 2012, rose to 42.7 % (64 out of 150 MPs). With regards to assigning duties within this group, the Vice-President of the National Assembly of Senegal was selected to preside over the caucus because she serves in an office which is the closest to senior decision-making positions. The Vice-President was chosen from the Opposition. Three committees from the caucus are chaired by the government coalition parties (the Training Committee, the Legislative Committee and the Institutional Relations Committee). The chairwomanship of the Social Committee and the Communication Committee was given to the Opposition. All these committees liaise with technical and financial partners and the Senegalese Association of Women Jurists which particularly contributes to the work of the Legislative Committee by preparing female members for committee and plenary sessions. As for funding, the committee relies particularly on the support of technical and financial partners in addition to the voluntary contributions of female members from the Social Committee. Between the years 2000 and 2015, the women’s caucus has accomplished a number of achievements, the most important of which have been reviewing the Tax Code to establish 4 tax justice ending gender inequality in this regard, developing a gender-sensitive national budget, reforming the Nationality Code so as to enable Senegalese women married to non- nationals the right to grant their nationality to their husbands and children and designating a genre focal point in each ministry. As for future projects of the caucus, these include reviewing parental authority to be exercised by both parents, preparing a draft law which extends real property rights granted to women, amending the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly of Senegal to expand women’s representation in the Bureau of the Assembly. Mrs. Olga ZRIHEN, a member of the Parliament of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels and the Senate of Belgium, explained that in each of the seven parliaments in Belgium (both at the provincial and federal levels) a special committee on equal opportunities for the two sexes and fighting violence against women is set up. The parliament provides these committees with the means to work. However these committees undertake tasks other than legislative and are thereby required to work through the standing committees to pass their decisions. For example, to adopt a law requiring equal pay between men and women in the Parliament of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels, the bill has to go through the Committee on Economy and on Finance. Mrs. Olga ZRIHEN holds the view that informal forums provide greater freedom of action and more effectiveness
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