An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004-2013 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004-2013
Prepared by Colleen Lowe Morna, Mukayi Makaya and Kubi Rama June 2013 For the 10th Women’s Affairs Ministerial Meeting (10WAMM), Dhaka, Bangladesh, 17-19 June 2013
For further information on the work of the Commonwealth Secretariat in this area please contact the Gender Section on [email protected] An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
Abstract
In 1996, the Fifth Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting (5WAMM) in Trinidad and Tobago recommended that member countries be `encouraged to achieve a target of no less than 30 per cent of women in decision-making in the political, public and private sectors by 2005.` This target is incorporated in the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality 2005-2015 (PoA). As a contribution to the End of Term Review (ETR) report (ETR) the Commonwealth Secretariat commissioned a trends analysis on Women’s Political Participation 2004 to 2013 to be considered at the Tenth Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting (10WAMM) in Bangladesh in June 2013. The trends analysis focuses on the proportion of seats held by women in parliament and local government. The analysis finds that overall, women constitute 20.9 per cent of members of parliament (upper and lower houses) of the Commonwealth, almost identical to the global average of 20.8 per cent. This represents a 4.1 percentage point increase from the 16.8 per cent representation of women in the baseline year (2004), slightly lower than the global increase of 5.1 per cent. Overall, the Commonwealth is still nine percentage points below the thirty percent target set in 1996. However, the number of countries attaining 30 per cent or more is steadily increasing, from the six in the Baseline Assessment Report of 2012 to eight now. The Commonwealth boasts among its membership the only country in the world (Rwanda) to have achieved gender parity in parliament. Women in countries with a Proportional Representation (PR) system (22.7 per cent) have a slightly higher level of representation in parliament than women in the 33 countries with a FPTP system (19.6 per cent). Women comprise 27 per cent of members of parliament in the 17 countries in the Commonwealth with quotas, compared to the overall average of 20.8 per cent. Of the 35 countries with elected local government (or for which data could be obtained), 11 (or almost one third) have a quota of some description. There is a roughly even split between countries where women’s representation is higher in local government than in parliament with Lesotho (49 per cent) leading the way; where the proportion of women is lower at local than at national level and where there are roughly the same levels of women’s representation at national and local level. The report recommends that the Commonwealth Secretariat conduct further research on women in local government, electoral systems and quotas, to deepen the understanding, peer learning and sharing of what works best in increasing women’s political representation. It further recommends more qualitative studies – beyond numbers – on the impact of women’s political participation.
3 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
1. Introduction
Gender equality is intrinsic to the core principles of democracy – representation, participation, transparency, accountability and responsiveness. Democracy is a fundamental Commonwealth value. Enhancing the capacity of women to lead and the mainstreaming of gender at all levels of decision-making forms part of the key themes of the Commonwealth affirmed by Heads of Government in the Harare Commonwealth Declaration of 1991. The report of the Fifth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting (5WAMM) in Trinidad and Tobago in 1996 recommended that member countries be ``encouraged to achieve a target of no less than 30 per cent of women in decision-making in the political, public and private sectors by 2005.`’ Heads of Government endorsed this target at their Meeting in Edinburgh in 1997. Ministers at the Seventh Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Meeting in Nadi, Fiji approved the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality 2005-2015 (PoA) in 2004, ahead of the Heads of Government meeting in Malta in 2005. The PoA theme on Gender, Democracy, Peace and Conflict commits Commonwealth countries to: • Put in place institutional structures, policies and supportive mechanisms to achieve full and equal participation of women in leadership in all sectors; and • Promote effective participation of women in conflict resolution, peace processes and reconstruction with all human rights for women and children protected. In 2009, under the supervision of the • With the exception of Rwanda, Commonwealth Gender Plan of Action Uganda, South Africa, New Zealand, Monitoring Group (CGPMG) the Secretariat Mozambique and Tanzania no other embarked on a Mid Term Review (MTR) Commonwealth countries have of the PoA from 2005 to 2010. A Baseline increased the representation of women Assessment report in 2012 identified 2004 legislators to more than 30 per cent. as the baseline year. The report found that • The proportion of female legislators there had been limited progress in advancing in parliament has not increased for women’s political participation and that data the majority of the Commonwealth is still lacking on several key indicators (see countries. box). • Data was not available for the other In June 2012 the Executive Committee of the four indicators under this thematic CGPMG agreed on a revised set of qualitative area and as such it was not possible to and quantitative indicators to guide the POA. establish the status and trends of these As a contribution to the End of Term Review indicators (Baseline Assessment Report (ETR) report in 2015, the Commonwealth report). Secretariat commissioned a trends analysis on Women’s Political Participation 2004 to 2013 to be considered at 10WAMM in Bangladesh in June 2013. The trends analysis focuses on the proportion of seats held by women in parliament and local government, based on desk top research. It presents comparative data and analyses on women in parliament from 2004 to 2013. The report also comments on the current position of women in cabinet and key
4 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
leadership positions. Despite concerted efforts to obtain data for women in local government in 2004 with the assistance of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) this could not be reconstructed (the CLGF began collection of sex disaggregated data on local government in 2008, and this is incomplete). The report assembles the most comprehensive data to date on the current representation of women in local government in Commonwealth countries, thanks to the improvement in CLGF data collection in recent years. However, as this is expressed in percentages without source data, it is not possible to draw regional and overall Commonwealth averages as is the case with parliament. Key data on women’s political participation is summarised at Annex A. Given the central importance of electoral systems and quotas for enhancing women’s political participation these are examined in detail, providing the first quantitative evidence of the significance of special measures to advancing women’s political participation in the Commonwealth. Where appropriate the analysis is complemented by examples and short case studies. However, in accordance with the Terms of Reference, the paper also suggests several areas and case studies for further research.
2. Parliament
The researchers used information on the Inter Parliamentary Union website to assemble comprehensive data on women’s representation in the upper and lower chambers of parliament in all 531 countries of the Commonwealth in the six official regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean and the South Pacific (see Annexes B to G) in 2004 and in 2013. Table 1: Women in Parliament: Commonwealth and Global 2004-2014
Commonwealth Variance Global comparison Variance 2004 2013 2004 2013 %women lower house 16% 21% +5% 15.9% 21.2% 5.3% % women upper house 20% 22% +2% 14.7% 18.6% 3.9% % women in parliament 16.8% 20.9% +4.1% 15.7% 20.8% 5.1%
Source: Data derived from IPU website; see detail Annexes B-G
2.1 Overview
Table one, summarising these findings shows that: • Overall, women constitute 20.9 per cent cent of members of parliament (upper and lower houses) of the Commonwealth, almost identical to the global average of 20.8 per cent.
1 This excludes Fiji, which is currently suspended from Commonwealth membership.
5 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
• This represents a 4.1 percentage point increase from the 16.8 per cent representation of women in the baseline year (2004), slightly lower than the global increase of 5.1 per cent. Similar to the global trend, the highest increase of women’s representation (five percentage points) has been in the lower house, and the lowest (two per cent) in the upper house.
Figure 1: WomenFigure Oinne: Commonwealth Women in Commonwealth Parliaments 2004 Parliaments -2013 2004 -2013
Rwanda
South Africa
Tanzania
New Zealand
Australia
Lesotho
Grenada
Singapore
Malawi
Barbados
Bangladesh
Mauritius
St Vincent and the… % Women in Parliament in The Bahamas 2013 % Women in Parliament 2004 Malta
Belize
Dominica
Zambia
Ghana
Kiribati
Gambia
St Kitts and Nevis
Maldives
Samoa
Papua New Guinea
Brunei-Darussalam
Nauru 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0%
6 6
An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
Figure one is a graphic representation of the statistics in Annexes A – G for women in parliament from 2004 to 2013. It shows that the Commonwealth has the country in the world with the highest representation of women in parliament – Rwanda, at 51.9 per cent is the only country in the world to have obtained gender parity in parliament. But the Commonwealth also has three of the countries in the world with no women at all (Nauru, Vanuatu in the South Pacific and Brunei-Darussalam in Asia). These marked disparities between countries point to the challenges and opportunities. Overall, the Commonwealth is still nine percentage points below the 30 per cent target set in 1996. However, the number of countries attaining 30 per cent or more is steadily increasing, from the six in the Baseline Assessment Report of 2012 to eight now (Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, New Zealand and Guyana). The graph shows that 40 Commonwealth countries posited increases in women’s representation during this period, some quite significant (for example women’s representation in Bangladesh increased from two per cent to 19.7 per cent). However, 13 Commonwealth countries registered a decline in women’s political participation over the period. For example women’s representation in the Bahamas declined by over ten percentage points, from 26.8 per cent to 16.7 per cent in the period under review.
2.2 Regional analysis
Table 2: Women in parliament in the Commonwealth by region
2004 2013 Variance The Americas 24.4% 27.2% 2.8% Africa 19.0% 24.6% 5.6% Europe 17.5% 21.7% 4.3% The Caribbean 19.7% 18.8% -0.9% South Pacific 14.9% 16.3% 1.4% Asia 10.8% 14.5% 3.7% Overall 16.8% 20.9% 4.1%
Source: Data derived from the IPU website, see Annexes B-F for detail. Table two shows that the region with the highest representation of women is the Americas (Canada, Guyana and Belize, at 27.2 per cent) followed by the 19 countries of Africa (24.6 per cent), Europe (the UK, Malta and Cyprus) at 21.7 per cent, the Caribbean, at 18.8 per cent, South Pacific at 16.3 per cent and Asia at 14.5 per cent. Compared to 2004, the Caribbean has moved from third to fourth place, and is the only country that overall registered a decline in women’s representation (-0.9 percentage points) in the period 2004 to 2013. Africa registered the highest increase (5.6 percentage points).
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Table 3: Comparative analysis of highest and lowest performers 2004 and 2013 by region
2004 2013 Region Average Highest Country Lowest Country Ave Highest Country Lowest Country women % % women % % % % The 24.4% 30.8% Guyana 11.9% Belize 27.2% 31.3% Guyana 13.3% Belize Americas Africa 18.9% 45.3% Rwanda 4.3% Nigeria 24.4% 51.9% Rwanda 6.6% Nigeria Europe 17.5% 17.9% UK 9.2% Malta 21.7% 22.6% UK 10.7% Cyprus Caribbean 19.7% 28.8% Grenada 0% St Kitts 18.8% 26% Trinidad 6.7% St Kitts and and and Tobago Nevis Nevis South 14.9% 28.3% New 0% Nauru, 16.3% 32.2% New 0% Vanuatu Pacific Zealand Solomon Zealand Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu Asia 10.8% 20.6% Singapore 4.9% Sri Lanka 14.5% 24.2% Singapore 5.8% Sri Lanka
Table three shows persistent patterns with regard to ranges between highest and lowest performance in the different regions. These ranges serve as a reminder that there is considerable difference between countries within the same region that are often masked by average figures. Guyana (31.3 per cent) remains the highest performer in the Americas and Belize (13.3 per cent) the lowest. In Africa, Rwanda (51.9 per cent) is the highest and Nigeria (6.6 per cent) the lowest (this is the highest range of any region). In Europe, the UK (22.6 per cent) is highest and Cyprus (10.7 per cent) the lowest. In the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago (26 per cent) has taken over from Grenada as highest performer, while St Kitts and Nevis (6.7 per cent) is still lowest, although this is an improvement on no women in parliament on 2004. In the South Pacific, New Zealand continues to lead the way. The number of small islands with no women in parliament at all has decreased from four to one (Vanuatu) but this island experienced a decline in women’s representation in the period under review. In Asia, Singapore (24.2 per cent) remains the strongest performer while Sri Lanka (5.8 per cent) has the lowest proportion of women in parliament. While it is heartening that strong performers have maintained their momentum, it is unfortunate that countries with levels of below ten per cent women in parliament have made limited headway in the period under review.
8 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
3. Electoral systems
Table 4: Women in parliament and electoral systems in the Commonwealth
Electoral System Total women in Total number of % of Women in No of countries Parliament Parliamentarians Parliament with this system MIXED 297 1132 26.2% 7 PR 396 1745 22.7% 8 FPTP 1246 6366 19.6% 33 OTHER 28 191 14.7% 5 TOTAL 1967 9434 20.9% 53
By way of background, there are two main types of electoral system: The Proportional Representation (PR) or `list system’ and the FPTP or constituency system. According to world wide data women have In the Proportional Representation (PR) a slightly greater advantage under the PR or `list system` citizens vote for parties systems than under the FPTP system. A study that are allocated seats in parliament conducted by International IDEA in 2004, according to the percentage of vote women constituted 18.24 per cent of MPS in they receive. Individual candidates get in FPTP systems, compared to 27.49 per cent in according to where they sit on the list. In PR systems.2 an open list system, voters determine where candidates sit on the list. In a closed The reason for this is that in the latter case, list system, the party determines where candidates focus on the party and its policies, candidates sit on the list, although this is rather than on a particular individual. This usually based on democratic nomination works in favour of women - at least in getting processes within the party. their foot in the door- because of the in-built prejudices against women in politics (Lowe- In the constituency or `First Past the Morna, 1996). The chance of women getting Post` (FPTP) system, citizens vote elected is even higher when the PR system not just for the party, but also for the works in concert with a quota. candidate who represents the party in a geographically defined constituency. The data from Commonwealth countries Thus a party can garner a significant confirms these observations. Table four percentage of the votes, but still have no shows that women in the eight countries with representative in parliament, because in a PR system (22.7 per cent) have a slightly this system `the winner takes all`. higher level of representation in parliament than women in the 33 countries with a FPTP system (19.6 per cent). It is interesting however that women’s representation in parliament is highest in the seven countries with a mixed system (26.2 per cent).
2 Matland, RE (2005) Enhancing Women’s Political Participation: Lesgislative Recruitment and Electoral Systems` in Beyond Numbers, Second Edition (ed) Azzra Karam and Julie Balington, Stockholm, Sweden, IDEA Publishing.
9 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
New Zealand demonstrates the effects of electoral systems on women’s political representation. In the mid-1990s, New Zealand introduced a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system. In the general election in 2008, women gained 34 per cent of the seats in Parliament, compared to 29 per cent in local government. Local government representatives continue to be elected under a FPTP system.3
4. Quotas and electoral system
There are 114 countries globally that now make use of quotas of one kind or the other to advance women’s political participation. The United Nations has 192 members. This means that 59 per cent of UN member states now employ quotas of some description to advance women’s representation.4 Global quotas expert Drude Dahlerup comments: ‘`Even if quota provisions are often very controversial, the use of the quota tool to make historical leaps or jump starts in women’s representation is becoming a global trend’.5 Dahlerup distinguishes between the `fast` and `slow` tracks for achieving women’s increased participation in decision-making. The slow track is characterised by incremental changes, coinciding with greater participation in the labour force and educational opportunities. She cites Sweden as an example of a `slow track` country` that has taken 80 years to achieve over 40 per cent women in parliament and at local level.6 Dahlerup argues that this is no longer the model for other countries in the world, especially in Africa and Latin America that are choosing the `fast track.` The result is that quotas are fast becoming the accepted norm in emerging democracies, while the `older` democracies lag behind. Latin America is the leading region in the world with regard to the number and different kinds of quota systems adopted. But sub-Saharan Africa is the region in the world with the most rapid rate of increase in women’s representation in parliament over the last 40 years primarily through the use of quotas.7 The Key Data on Women’s Political Participation in the Commonwealth at Annex A shows that 20 Commonwealth countries (37 per cent) have quotas of some description at national and or local level. Compared to the global figure of 59 per cent, Commonwealth countries have been less adventurous in their use of quotas than the rest of the world. However, as is the case globally, there is a close correlation between electoral systems, use of quotas and high levels of women’s representation in parliament in Commonwealth countries.
3 Women in New Zealand Local government: The effects of reform on women’s presence in leadership by Jean Drage and Marianne Tremaine in `Women and Representation in Local Government: International Case Studies` (Routledge Research in Comparative Politics, 2011). 4 http://www.quotaproject.org/ 5 Dahlerup,D: Women, Quotas and Politics; Routledge, 2006 6 Balington, J (ed) (2004) The Implementation of Quotas: African Experiences, Quota Report series, IDEA, p 14. 7 Ibid p 161
10 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
Table 5: Quotas, electoral systems and top performers
COUNTRY % Women in CW ranking ELECTORAL Quota -Upper Quota - Lower Parliament SYSTEM House House
Rwanda 51.9% 1 MIXED Legislated Legislated Seychelles 43.8% 2 MIXED South Africa 41.1% 3 PR Voluntary Voluntary Mozambique 39.2% 4 PR N/A Voluntary Tanzania 36.0% 5 FPTP N/A Legislated Uganda 35.0% 6 FPTP N/A Legislated New Zealand 32.2% 7 FPTP Guyana 31.3% 8 PR Legislated Australia 29.2% 9 MIXED Voluntary Voluntary Canada 28.0% 10 FPTP Voluntary Voluntary
Source: IPU and Quota Project websites
Table five summarises key data for the top ten Commonwealth countries with regard to representation in parliament. It shows that eight of the ten countries have quotas of some description. The table also shows that the top four countries either have a mixed or PR electoral system. Table 6: Possible combinations of quotas and electoral systems
Type of quota PR system FPTP Advantages Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages Constitutional Guarantees high May be resisted Is obligatory. May not result in women’s or legislated levels of women’s by political increased representation quota representation especially parties that do unless women are fielded when accompanied by a not agree with in safe constituencies; zebra or `zipper system) quotas. or seats are reserved. alternating women and Reservation of seats in the men on lists. FPTP system can result in legal and constitutional challenges. An innovative solution is the distribution of seats reserved for women on a PR basis (for example in Tanzania). Voluntary Enjoys party support; May not result Enjoys party Is the least reliable of the party quota party takes responsibility in the desired support voluntary quotas because for putting women on the result if not all principle is often sacrificed lists. parties apply in the heat of elections and the quota the desire to field ‘known’ candidates with the best chance of winning. Source: Lowe-Morna (2003) 11 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
As illustrated in Table six, in addition to the two types of electoral system (PR and constituency) there are two main types of quota (voluntary as well as constitutional and/ or legislated). Briefly, voluntary party quotas have the advantage of party buy in, but they can only deliver large numerical increases in closed list PR systems where the party has a significant say on who gets onto the list. In constituency systems, voluntary party quotas can only succeed in delivering the numbers if women candidates are fielded in safe seats, which is often not the case. Constitutional or legislated quotas have the advantage that they guarantee the numbers. But in the case of the constituency system, where seats have to be `reserved` for women, this may have the disadvantage that such seats are regarded as second-class or token. The combination of the PR system and legislated quotas has the advantage that it delivers the numbers and gives the parties leeway to choose which women to go on the list as long as the quota is met. But some parties argue that any quota infringes freedom of choice. Table 7: Quotas and electoral systems in the Commonwealth
COUNTRY Total Total % Variance Electoral Quota CW Women in Parliament- Women in System region parliament arians Parliament Kenya 65 350 18.6% 11.4% FPTP Legislated Africa Tanzania 126 350 36.0% 14.6% FPTP Legislated Africa Bangladesh 69 350 19.7% 17.7% FPTP Legislated Asia Dominica 4 32 12.5% -6.9% FPTP Legislated Caribbean Uganda 135 386 35.0% 11.0% FPTP Legislated Africa Botswana 5 63 7.9% -3.2% FPTP Voluntary Africa Cameroon 25 180 13.9% 5.0% FPTP Voluntary Africa Malta 10 70 14.3% 5.1% FPTP Voluntary Europe Canada 115 411 28.0% 3.4% FPTP Voluntary Americas United Kingdom 318 1410 22.6% 4.6% FPTP Voluntary Europe Rwanda 55 106 51.9% 6.6% MIXED Legislated Africa Pakistan 94 446 21.1% 0.5% MIXED Legislated Asia Australia South 66 226 29.2% 0.9% MIXED Voluntary Pacific Guyana 21 67 31.3% 0.6% PR Legislated Caribbean Mozambique 98 250 39.2% 4.4% PR Voluntary Africa Namibia 26 104 25.0% -0.5% PR Voluntary Africa South Africa 186 453 41.1% 9.7% PR Voluntary Africa Total quota countries 1418 5254 27.0% 17
12 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
Summary table
Electoral system % women in No % women in No countries with countries with legislated quotas voluntary quotas PR 31.3% 1 38.4% 3 Mixed 27% 2 29.2% 1 FPTP 27.2% 5 22.2% 5 Overall by type 27.3% 8 26.8% 9 Overall countries 27% 17 with quotas Overall 20.9 53 Commonwealth
Source: Data obtained from IPU and Quotas Project websites Table seven and the summary table below it show that: • Women comprise 27 cent of members of parliament in the 17 countries in the Commonwealth with quotas, compared to the overall average of 20.8 per cent. • Overall, there is a slightly higher proportion of women (27.3 per cent) in countries with legislated quotas than in countries with voluntary quotas (26.8 per cent). The difference is however not significant, suggesting that in the absence of legislated measures there is considerable scope for parties to institute measures of their own to increase women’s representation. • The highest proportion of women (38.4 per cent) is in countries with a PR system and voluntary quotas, followed by 31.3 per cent in countries with a PR system and legislated quotas. • The mixed/voluntary is the next highest combination (29.2 per cent) followed by mixed/ legislated (27 per cent). • Countries with the FPTP system and quotas have the lowest representation of women. This is higher where the quotas are legislated (27.2 per cent) than when they are voluntary (22.2 per cent). • By far the largest number of countries experimenting with various kinds of quota (nine out the 17 Commonwealth countries with quotas, and almost half of the Commonwealth countries from that region) are in Africa. This concurs with global trends, where Africa and Latin America take the lead on quotas (there are no Latin American countries in the Commonwealth). The examples that follow demonstrate how quotas and electoral systems work together in a selection of Commonwealth countries to deliver sustained, higher representation of women in parliament.
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4.1 Legislated quota in a mixed (predominantly PR) system – the Rwanda example
Since the election of 2008, Rwanda is the first ‘The State of Rwanda commits itself country in the world to have a majority of women that women are granted at least 30 in legislature, taking over from Sweden that has percent of posts in decision making traditionally led the global table with close to organs’ (Constitution, Article 9 [4]). gender parity in its cabinet. After the genocide The 80 members of the Chamber of that killed 800,000 Tutsis in 100 days, women in Deputies are elected as follows: 53 legislature went from 18 per cent women before members elected by direct universal the conflict to 56 per cent in 2008. Two pieces suffrage through a secret ballot using of legislature enabled and supported women closed List PR; 24 women two from into leadership positions: the Security Council each province and from the city of Resolution of 1325 urged women to take part in Kigali by an electoral college with the post-conflict reconstruction and the 2003 a women only ballot; 2 members Rwandan Constitution included a mandated quota elected by the National Youth Council; of 30 per cent reserved seats for all women in and one member elected by the legislature. Federation of the Associations of the Disabled.` (Constitution, Article 76). Of the 24 women who gained seats directly after http://www.quotaproject.org/uid/ the quota implementation in 2003, many joined countryview.cfm?CountryCode=RW political parties and chose to run again. Rwanda shows that increased participation by women in democracy is conducive to progress in gender equal legislature and reform, but research must be careful not to immediately relate increased gender equality in politics to increased gender equality in policy. Powley (2012) points out that the representation of women in Rwanda’s Parliament can be seen in the larger context of two trends: the use of quotas in Africa; and the post- conflict situation. The rate of increase of numbers of women in Parliament has been faster in sub-Saharan Africa in the last 40 years than in any other region of the world, primarily through the use of quotas. The ten years since the Rwandan genocide have been ones of enormous change for all Rwandans, but most dramatically for women. Rwanda is still vastly underdeveloped and the great majority of Rwandan women are disadvantaged vis-à-vis men with regard to education, legal rights, health and access to resources. Despite these challenges, women are beginning to consolidate their dramatic gains. These successes were the result of the specific circumstances of Rwanda’s genocide, the quota system, and a sustained campaign by the women’s movement in Rwanda, in collaboration with women in government and with the explicit support of the Rwandan Patriotic Front. 8
8 Case Study: Rwanda; Rwanda: Women Hold Up Half the Parliament, Elizabeth Powley
14 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
4.2 Voluntary quota in a PR system – the South Africa example
In South Africa, national elections are conducted on a simple PR basis while local elections are conducted on a mixed system that involves both the PR and the FPTP system. The mixed PR and FPTP system in South Africa is designed to harness the best of both electoral systems (with the PR system more friendly to women and minorities and the FPTP enhancing individual accountability). South Africa does not have legislated or constitutional quotas. The ruling African National Congress (ANC) adopted a voluntary 30 per cent quota for women in 2002. Five years later in December 2007, the ANC took a decision to raise this to 50 per cent at both national and local level. The 2009 elections witnessed South Africa edge closer to the target set by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Gender Protocol for achieving gender parity in all areas of decision-making by 2015. As a result of the combination of the PR system and the ANC’s 50 per cent quota, women’s representation in parliament increased from 33 per cent to 44 per cent. A breakdown of the 2009 election results by party shows that the proportion of women in the ANC increased from 37 per cent in 2004 to 48 per cent in 2009. The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), led by a woman (Helen Zille) remained fiercely opposed to quotas, stating that it believed in `fitness for purpose.` However, the proportion of DA women increased from 21 per cent to 30 per cent in what has sometimes been referred to as the `snowball` effect of the ANC quota. Zille came under heavy fire from the media and gender activists for failing to appoint any women to the provincial cabinet of the Western Cape – the only province won by the opposition in the last elections. This added grist to those calling for a legislated quota on the basis that gender equality in decision-making is a Constitutional principle that cannot be left to the whims of political parties.
4.3 Legislated quotas in the First Past the Post System
Constitutional or legislated quotas in the FPTP system poses challenges because restricting a constituency to any group of people opens itself to challenge as undemocratic or unconstitutional (as happened in local elections in Lesotho, described later in this report). While the system of reserved seats still operates in some instances, notably at the local level in India (see later section of the paper) there are a number of new innovative approaches to legislated quotas in constituency systems. Given that the vast majority of Commonwealth countries have FPTP systems, these approaches are critically important. Tanzania has a FPTP system and a constitutional 30 per cent quota for women. The way this works is that women and men are free to contest all constituency seats. An additional 30 per cent of the seats in the assembly are distributed among women only from the different political parties on a PR basis (i.e. on the basis of the proportion of votes that the parties garnered in the elections).
15 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
In Kenya, the new constitution reserves 47 seats in the national assembly for women deputies to be each elected from 47 counties – each county constituting a single-mandate constituency. These seats are contested only by women candidates nominated by political parties in each county. In addition, women may contest seats for the 290 seats in the National Assembly (Article 97 of the Constitution of Kenya, adopted August, 2010). These amendments to the constitution account for the increase in women’s representation from 7.1 per cent to 18.6 per cent in the last election. In Bangladesh, the constitutional amendment (Fifteenth Amendment Act) passed by parliament on 30 June 2011, increased the number of seats reserved for women in parliament from 45 to 50, bringing the total number of seats to 350. As in Tanzania, the reserved seats are divided among the political parties based on the proportion of seats they won in the election.9 Bangladesh experience the highest percentage point increase in women’s representation in parliament in the Commonwealth from 2 per cent in 2004 to 19.7 per cent in 2013. This demonstrates Dahlerup’s point about the difference between the `fast’ and `slow’ track countries with regard to the use of quotas and their ability to bring about rapid or more gradual change.
4.4 Voluntary quotas in the FPTP system
The Commonwealth has several examples of the `slow track’ approach – mainly the old established democracies with FTTP electoral systems that remain wary of quotas, but in which political parties have started to adopt quotas in response to pressure to increase women’s representation. As discussed earlier, this is the least full proof way of guaranteeing women’s representation in parliament, as it depends on women being fielded in safe constituencies, but some gradual improvements are taking place. In 2001 the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom adopted a 40 percent target of women candidates, and at the same time rejected all-women shortlists. Prior to the 2005 elections, the party placed women in 40 per cent of the `winnable seats’. They implemented a `zipping’ system on their candidate lists for the European election in 1999 which were conducted using List-PR, but did not use the zipping system in the European Parliament election of 2002.The Labour Party’s commitment is that 50 per cent of all winnable parliamentary seats will select from All Women Shortlists.10 In Canada, political parties at both the federal and provincial levels have often faced difficulty in boosting the number of women prepared to stand as election candidates. Political parties which take a strictly hands-off approach typically find themselves unable to put forward a slate of candidates that is more than 20 to 25 per cent female – but parties which implement more active strategies often risk being criticized as `anti-democratic` if their programs too closely resemble affirmative action. At various times, both federal and provincial parties have also been accused of tokenism, slotting a disproportionate number of women candidates in ridings their party has little chance of winning while doing little or nothing about the fact that
9 http://www.quotaproject.org/uid/countryview.cfm?CountryCode=BD 10 http://www.quotaproject.org/uid/countryview.cfm?CountryCode=GB
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the more competitive candidate selection process in `winnable’ seats still tends to favour men. The non-partisan organization Equal Voice, whose board consists of several prominent female politicians, works to assist women in running for public office through education, advocacy and professional networking.11 In Botswana, the Botswana Congress Party introduced a 30 per cent quota for women on electoral lists. The party has not always met this target. However, in the 2010 national congress elections the party managed to reach the 30 percent target. In 1999 the Botswana National Front (BNF) introduced a 30 percent quota for women on electoral lists. The party has not always met this target.12 Botswana reflects the general weakness of voluntary political quotas in a FPTP system: in the 2009 elections the percentage of women in parliament dropped from 11.1 per cent to 7.9 per cent.
4.5 Achieving targets without a quota – the Seychelles example
Seychelles is one of the few countries in the world that has consistently had at least one-third women in all areas of political decision-making without resorting to a quota. With 44% women in parliament, Seychelles currently comes second to Rwanda in the Commonwealth ranking of women’s representation in parliament. The fact that it has done so without special measures makes this island nation a subject of global interest, including a case study in Ringing up the Changes, Women in Southern African Politics conducted by Gender Links. The study found that participants in Seychelles varied from the norm in a number of areas. For example: • While 76 per cent of those surveyed said they believed in quotas, with women showing the highest level of positive responses, in Seychelles only 22 per cent said they believed in quotas. • Only 69 per cent of those interviewed in Seychelles said there are barriers to women’s participation in decision-making, compared to 83 per cent in the overall sample (although women, 72 per cent, were more likely to think so than men, 50 per cent). • While others in the region ranked culture as the biggest barrier to women’s participation in decision-making, those interviewed in Seychelles ranked this as the least important factor, with women’s lack of interest in decision-making scoring higher than culture. Participants cited education and confidence as the main barriers to women’s participation in decision-making. The comparison with Mauritius, Seychelles’ closest neighbour geographically and historically (and one that until the recent introduction of quotas at the local level had among the lowest representation of women) is telling. Seychelles and Mauritius had the same French and then English colonial history until 1903 when Seychelles decoupled from Mauritius to become a crown colony in its own right. While the majority population in Mauritius is of Indian origin and religion is a key factor in national life (including politics) most Seychellois are Creole (descended from French and
11 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Canadian_politics#Encouraging_women.27s_participation 12 http://www.quotaproject.org/uid/countryview.cfm?CountryCode=BW
17 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
British settlers and African slaves). One unusual consequence of Seychelles’ colonial and feudal history is that older women have a much higher level of education than men. While men were forced to work the land, women got jobs indoors and apparently relished being able to read. In stark contrast to literacy trends elsewhere in the region, 60.9 per cent of women 65 years and older in Seychelles are literate compared to 2.2 per cent of men. Literacy levels in the 12 to 29 year age bracket are almost at par.13 Seychelles inherited from its socialist past a strong system of free, compulsory education and health care. But, according to an official in the ministry of education, girls outperform boys. This too is at odds with trends in the region, where boys outperform girls, especially in secondary schools, as a result of the dual burden of domestic responsibilities and school that most girls still have to shoulder.14 One gender stereotype is real. More men than women go out to foreign lands in search of a better life (a bit like the migrant labour system from Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland to South Africa) leaving many women as heads of family, and creating a strong matrilineal culture. Women head 45 per cent of households. The power-relationship between men and women in Seychelles sometimes plays in favour of the women as there are quite a few women who are either the bread-winner or hold higher positions than their partners.
5. Political leadership
As noted in the GL study, Ringing up the Changes, Gender in Southern African Politics, cabinet is an important indicator of women’s political advancement, because of the power and profile of these posts; also because it is a sphere of governance in which it is relatively easy to `ring up the changes’ since these are appointed positions. They become a litmus test of political commitment to rapid change. Table 8: Top performers women in cabinet
COUNTRY % women CW Ranking % Women in CW Ranking ministers parliament South Africa 40.0% 1 41.1% 3 Lesotho 36.8% 2 26.8% 11 Uganda 32.1% 3 35.0% 6 Rwanda 32.0% 4 51.9% 1 Guyana 29.4% 5 31.3% 8 New Zealand 28.6% 6 32.2% 7 Nigeria 28.1% 7 6.6% 45 Mozambique 27.6% 8 39.2% 4 Tanzania 27.6% 9 36.0% 5 Cyprus 27.3% 10 10.7% 39
13 Seychelles Manpower Division (1998), `Women and Men in Figures.` 14 SADC Gender Monitor, Issue 2 (March 2001): p 54
18 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
Table eight provides data drawn from Annex A (Key data on women’s political participation in the Commonwealth) on the top ten performers with regard to cabinet. This data is compared with representation of women in parliament in these countries. In seven of the ten countries, there is a fairly close correlation between women’s representation in cabinet and in parliament. For example South Africa, the highest ranking SADC country with regard to women in cabinet (40 per cent) also ranks third with regard to women in parliament (41 per cent). Of the 13 women ministers, at least ten (or 76 per cent) head ministries that are heavily male dominated in other parts of the world. These include agriculture; communications; defence; energy; home affairs; foreign affairs; labour; mineral resources; public services and water. Three countries – Lesotho, Cyprus and Nigeria – demonstrate a high degree of divergence between women’s representation in parliament and cabinet. These examples show that women’s representation in cabinet is a choice that Heads of Government can make, despite the electoral constraints of rapidly increasing women’s participation in parliament. In Nigeria, women’s representation in parliament stands at 6.6 per cent, yet women comprise 28 per cent of President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet. An article in This Day Live Sunday 09 June, 2013 hailed this as a major victory for gender activists, led by First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan: ‘In the new cabinet led by Jonathan, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who is expected to run the Ministry of Finance and will be given more responsibilities to superintend the economy in an expanded role, has been cleared by the senate but she has not taken her oath of office, as she is yet to disengage finally from her job as the managing director of the World Bank. Other female members of the cabinet are Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke (Petroleum Resources), Prof Ruqayyatu Rufai (Education), Mrs. Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi (Aviation), Mrs. Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafa (Environment), Mrs. Omobola Johnson Olubusola, (Communication Technology) and Ms. Ama Pepple (Lands and Housing) Others are Mrs. Sarah Reng Ochekpe (Water Resources), Hajiya Zainab Maina (Women Affairs and Social Development) Hajiya Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi (Minister of State, Niger Delta Affairs), Prof. Viola Onwuliri (Minister of State Foreign Affairs), Erelu Olusola Obada (Minister of State, Defence) and Ms. Olajumoke Akinjide (Minister of State for FCT). Some of the appointees are not only leading lights in their chosen professions, they have impeccable pedigrees. Not only has Jonathan appointed more women into cabinet positions than his 13 predecessors, both military and civilian, in Nigeria’s 50 years of independence, he assigned them to some of the most critical ministries to the economy and his transformational agenda.’15
15 ‘President Jonathan’s 13 Women: Can They Deliver?’ By By Yemi Ajayi and Ahamefula Ogbu in This Day Live Sunday 09 June, 2013 Updated 12:25
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Top leadership positions are more elusive: an information brief on Women’s Political Leadership in the Commonwealth notes that seven of the 20 out of 193 women Heads of State and/or Government in the world come from Commonwealth countries: Prime Minister Julia Gillard of Australia, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed of Bangladesh, President Pratibha Patil of India, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago, and in 2012, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller of Jamaica, President Joyce Banda of Malawi, and President Monique Ohsan-Bellepeau of Mauritius. HM Queen Elizabeth II has been represented by women Governor-Generals in Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, New Zealand and St Lucia. The first female Chair of the Commonwealth, Prime Minister Persad Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago, handing over to another female leader, the Prime Minister Gillard of Australia. From 2010–2012, women leaders were re-elected and/or appointed as Deputy/Vice Presidents in Cyprus, The Gambia, Kiribati, Malawi, Mauritius and South Africa. A number of women were also appointed as Speaker or Deputy Speaker of Houses of Parliament, while many women also held Ministerial positions beyond Gender portfolios, such as Foreign Affairs, Finance, Defence, Environment, Public Service, Energy, etc., positions which have been traditionally held by men.16 These however still fall far short of gender parity in the most senior decision-making positions.
6. Local government
Local government is a complex web of levels, structures and electoral systems in many Commonwealth countries. In a recent global collection of studies on gender and local government Wendy Stokes writes: ‘The first-past-the-post, single-member constituency system of central government may be flawed, but it is at least easy for the voter to understand. Local government in the UK has been shaped by history and historical enmities into what can only charitably be called a system. In different parts of England there may be one, two or even three layers of local government – all subordinate to the central Parliament. These are voted in on different timetables and, although the single-member ward (constituency) dominates, some jurisdictions have multi- member wards. Furthermore, local government boundaries do not coincide with parliamentary constituencies. It is little wonder that voters turn out in low numbers for local elections, and that there is no surplus of people wanting to stand for office.’17 The most comprehensive source of information on local government in the Commonwealth is gathered by the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) which since 2008
16 Information brief: Gender and Political Development: Women and political leadership in the Commonwealth (2012)
17 ‘Missing from the picture Women’s initiatives in English local government,’ Wendy Stokes in `Women and Representation in Local Government: International Case Studies`: Routledge Research in Comparative Politics, 2011.
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has sought out data on women’s representation. However, comparative data on women’s representation in local government in the Commonwealth is sketchy at best. As such this paper focuses on the current period (see introduction). Even then, data could not be obtained for four countries (these are tagged NAv = Not Available in Annex A). According to the CLGF year book, 14 Commonwealth countries do not have elected local government. These are mostly small island states where local government and parliament would seriously overlap and possibly clash if they ran concurrently. The paper thus analyses information that could be gleaned on the 35 relevant countries, or countries for which some gender disaggregated data is available. This is still the most comprehensive comparative data to date on women in local government in the Commonwealth. The most complete data set is for Southern Africa where the regional NGO Gender Links has conducted pioneering research on gender in local government, and has started a programme of Centres of Excellence for Gender and Local Government being cascaded to the South Pacific. Scholars have long questioned the lower representation of women and the lower status of local government generally in gender and governance discourse. Briggs (2000), for example, used in-depth qualitative interviews with 26 female councillors from Hull in England and Montreal in Canada to reveal that across disparate local government authorities, women representatives are subjected to a very similar culture in which sexism and discrimination are rife. Also cited as significant barriers to participation for women is the lack of female role models and networks to which women typically have access. Tremaine (2000) points out that this situation is aggravated by the existence of `old boys’ networks’ which have tenaciously survived within the local government sector. These practices include conducting council business in informal contexts such as pubs and male clubs where women are typically not present, ignoring and discrediting women’s input and allocating women to committees which are allegedly focused on stereotypically `feminine’ concerns.18 The International Union of Local Authorities argues in a position paper on women in local government that: ‘From a gender perspective local government is the closest and is the most accessible level of government to women. Local governments traditionally provide services utilised by individual households such as electricity, waste disposal, public transport, water, schools, health clinics and other social services. The decisions of local government therefore have a direct impact on the private lives of women, because they are traditionally responsible for providing for and caring for the family and home in many countries. Women also have important unique contributions to make to the appropriate management of these services. They must be fully part of the local democratic system and have full access to the decision-making structure. Until the interests of women have been represented at the local level, the system is not fully democratic’. 19
18 Pini, Barbara Pini and McDonald, Paula (ed): `Women and Representation in Local Government`, International case studies: Routledge Research in Comparative Politics, 2011 19 IULA (1998) p.1
21 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
Figure Two: Women in local government and parliament in the Commonwealth Figure 2: Women in local government and parliament in the Commonwealth
Lesotho Namibia South Africa India Mozambique Dominica Tanzania Gambia Trinidad and Tobago New Zealand Mauritius United Kingdom Malta Cyprus Canada Bangladesh % Women in Local Government Botswana 2013 Jamaica % Women in Parliament 2013 Swaziland Malaysia Sierra Leone Ghana Papua New Guinea Nigeria Solomon Islands Zambia Kenya Guyana Kiribati Tuvalu Sri Lanka Cameroon Vanuatu Tonga
0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0%
Source: Commonwealth Local Government Handbook, Inter Parliamentary Union website Source: Commonwealth Local Government Handbook, 22 Inter Parliamentary Union website
22
An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
Figure two illustrates women’s representation in local government in the Commonwealth from highest to lowest, and compares this with representation in parliament for 2013. The graph shows that there is almost even three-way split between countries that have a higher representation of women at local than national; countries with roughly similar proportions of women and countries with a significantly lower proportion of women at local than national level. In 13 countries, women’s representation is higher in local government than in parliament with Lesotho (49 per cent) leading the way. These countries may be divided into those where women’s representation at the local level has traditionally been higher than at the national level (such as the UK), and more recent cases of representation at the local level suddenly increasing as a result of quotas, leading to a sharp disparity between women’s representation at the local and national level. Examples include India, Mauritius and Lesotho.
6.1 Countries with a traditionally higher proportion of women’s in local government
There is a centuries-long tradition of women’s local engagement in the United Kingdom, an arena where women gained access to the franchise some 50 years before the national. Once women in Britain could vote and run for Parliament, a consistent disparity emerged between the local and national: a greater proportion of female representatives were elected to local office than to Parliament. While in the early 1980’s only five per cent of Members of Parliament were women, rising to 19.8 per cent at the 2005 general election, the proportion of women holding office locally ran at about 25 per cent in the closing decades of the twentieth century, rising to around 30 per cent in 2008. Moreover, while numbers of women in leadership positions in the national Parliament have always been low – only improving slightly since 1997 – 15.7 per cent of council leaders across the UK are women and, where the post exists, 20.1 per cent of deputy leaders: up from 10 per cent in 2001 (Bochel and Bochel 2008: 430; Centre for Women and Democracy 2010).20
6.1.1 Quotas leading to a dramatic increase in women at the local level
Table 9: Quotas at the local level in the Commonwealth
Total no of countries Legislated quota Voluntary quota FPTP 24 6 PR 7 2 1 Mixed 2 1 Other 2 1 TOTAL 35 9 2 11
20 Quoted in: Missing from the picture Women’s initiatives in English local government Wendy Stokes, `Women and Representation in Local Government`, International case studies: Routledge Research in Comparative Politics, 2011.
23 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
Table nine shows that of the 35 countries with elected local government (or for which data could be obtained), 11 (or almost one third) have a quota of some description. This is a similar proportion to national level (17 out of 53, or 32 per cent). However, there is a much higher proportion of countries with a legislated quota (9 out of 11) than at the national level where there is a more even split between voluntary and legislated quotas.
6.1.2 India leads the way in reserving seats for women at the local level
India is a well-known global pioneer of quotas Constitution: Not less than 33% at the local level. In an effort to increase (including 33% of the total number of women’s participation in politics in India, a seats to be reserved for women belonging 1993 constitutional amendment mandated to the scheduled castes and tribes) of the that a randomly selected third of leadership total number of seats to be filled by direct positions at every level of local government elections in local bodies in each panchayat be reserved for women. These political and municipality shall be reserved for reservation quotas randomly choose one women. third of cities to implement a women-only Electoral law: Among 28 states in India, election. In these cities, parties are forced to some have raised the quota to 50% for either give a ticket to a women candidate or both panchayats and municipalities, e.g. choose to not run in those locations. Due to Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, the randomised selection of cities who must and Tripura, while others did it only enforce the reservation for women each for panchayats, e.g. Assam, Bihar, election year, some cities have implemented Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya the quota multiple times, once or never. Pradesh, Manipur, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, This addresses the political discrimination of and West Bengal. women at various levels: parties are forced http://www.quotaproject.org/uid/ to give women the opportunity to run, the countryview.cfm?CountryCode=IN. women candidates are not disadvantaged by a male incumbent or general biases for male over female leadership, and the pool of women candidates is increased because of the guaranteed opportunity for female participation. The effects of the quota system in India have been studied by various researchers. In Mumbai, it was found that the probability of a women winning office conditional on the constituency being reserved for women in the previous election is approximately five times the probability of a women winning office if the constituency had not been reserved for women`. Furthermore that even when the mandates are withdrawn, women were still able to keep their positions of leadership. Given the opportunity to get a party ticket, create a platform and obtain the experience to run for a political position, women are much more likely to be able to overcome these hurdles in the future, even without the quota system in place. The quota system has also affected policy choices. Research in West Bengal and Rajasthan has indicated that reservation affected policy choices in ways that seem to better reflect women’s preferences. In terms of voter’s perception
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of female leaders, reservation did not improve the implicit or explicit distaste for female leaders—in fact, the relative explicit preference for male leaders was actually strengthened in villages that had experienced a quota. However, while reservation did not make male villagers more sympathetic to the idea of female leaders, it caused them to recognize that women could lead. Moreover the reservation policy significantly improved women’s prospects in elections open to both sexes, but only after two rounds of reservation within the same village. Political reservation for women has also impacted the aspirations and educational attainment for teenage girls in India. 21
6.1.3 Lesotho’s amended quota system delivers results and buys goodwill
The proportion of women elected in Lesotho’s October 2011 local government elections decreased from 58 per cent (2005 elections) to 49 per cent.22 However, the result is considered by many a more representative reflection of the aspirations of voters after amendments to the country’s quota system were implemented for the vote. Further, Lesotho remains in the lead as far as women’s representation in local government in the SADC region. Lesotho’s bold local level experiment with quotas in a FPTP electoral system offers many lessons for the region in the countdown to 2015, the target date for the attainment of the SADC Gender Protocol target of gender parity in all areas of decision-making. In 2005, Lesotho adopted a system whereby 30 per cent of all constituencies were reserved for women – in other words, only women could contest in these constituencies. Women and men could both compete on a winner-takes-all basis in the remaining 70 per cent of seats. The Electoral Act made provision for this system to rotate to different constituencies for at least three elections, at which time it would be evaluated and assessed. Along with their guaranteed 30 per cent, women also won 28 per cent in the openly contested constituencies. This resulted in 58 per cent women’s representation – at the time it was the only SADC country in which women held a majority of decision-making positions at any level of government. But this success came at a cost. Litjotjela farmer Tsepo Molefe challenged the legislated 30 per cent quota for women on the grounds that it infringed his constitutional rights. The Court ruled in favour of the electoral law as `justifiable discrimination’. Unhappy with this decision, political parties lobbied the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to investigate and initiate a law more favourable to all. Political parties argued that they needed to be free to field candidates in any constituency. The IEC then embarked on a fact-finding trip to Tanzania. The group included members of political parties and the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy (MLGC). Borrowing from the Tanzania model, Lesotho amended its electoral legislation ahead of the 2011 elections. The new system did away with reserved seats. However, it introduced 30 per
21 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_government#India 22 Mapetla, M. 2012. `Gender Parity in Local Government Representation`. Lesotho 2012 Local Government Elections.
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cent seats reserved for women above and beyond the original constituencies. These were distributed between parties using proportional representation. In order to ensure the new system delivered gender parity, civil society organisations, including Women in Law Southern Africa and Gender Links, worked with the Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sports and Recreation on a 50/50 campaign. The campaign sought to equip women politicians with knowledge and skills on gender, issues of governance, electoral laws and how to run political campaigns. GL’s Centres of Excellence training for gender in local government includes developing and implementing a campaign. GL worked with women politicians in ten COE councils to develop their campaigns. Women won 282 out of 823 FPTP seats (34 per cent). These women successfully contested elections in the `winner take all’ system. This is a significant achievement and an increase from 28 per cent in 2005. Altogether women won 49 per cent of the seats, giving Lesotho the highest representation of women at the local level in the Commonwealth.
6.1.4 Mauritius quadruples women in local government through gender neutral quota
The increase in women’s representation from 6.4 per cent to 26.2 per cent in the November 2012 elections follows the amendment of the Mauritian Constitution to allow for affirmative action, and the Local Government Act of 2011 that requires that political parties field a minimum of one third of candidates of either sex for the municipal and village council elections. The Local Government Act imposes a condition that at least one-third of all candidates standing for a political party in any electoral ward must be of a different sex. While one alternative would have been to impose a specific quota for women candidates, the new legislation has adopted a gender-neutral approach. Not only is this approach more elegant than the imposition of a quota (in fact the word `quota’ does not appear once in the new legislation), it also safeguards the possibility of a complete domination of women in politics in years to come. Various players including religious and social groups as well as the opposition voted with the ruling party to ensure that a Constitutional amendment be passed at the same time as the main legislation, guaranteeing the changes. Of the 90 councillors needed in municipal councils, 33 women (36.6 per cent) won seats. In the 130 villages, 3984 candidates, including 1183 women stood for election for the 1170 village council seats. 297 women (25.4 per cent) and 873 (74.6 per cent) men won. Overall, out of the 1260 seats contested for in municipal and village elections, 330 women (26.2 per cent) made it into local government after the December 2012 elections. From second lowest, Mauritius now occupies sixth position in SADC region after Lesotho (48 per cent), Namibia (42 per cent), South Africa (38 per cent), Mozambique (36 per cent) and Tanzania (34 per cent). The local elections in Mauritius mark the first time in the SADC region that a quota in a FPTPS has dramatically increased women’s representation without constituencies being reserved for women. Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique have a PR or list system. The PR system coupled with legislated or voluntary party quotas works well in increasing women’s representation.
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Lesotho and Tanzania have FPTPSs But in these countries, 30 per cent of the seats are reserved for women, and these are distributed on a PR basis. When Lesotho tried the alternative method of reserving constituency seats for women candidates in an earlier election, this met with resistance and backlash. What distinguishes the Mauritian elections from others in the region is that parties had to field one third either women or men, but with no guaranteed or reserved seats for them. The danger with such an arrangement is that voters can decide not to vote for women – however many stand as candidates. What is unique about these elections is that voters affirmed women candidates. This reflects a high degree of mobilisation, conscientisation and political commitment by all. Cehl Meeah, a Member of Parliament and leader of the Mauritian Solidarity Front (FSM), commented at a political meeting at Vallée Pitot on 27 November: `Citizens are moving away from such blatant stereotypes towards a more affirming position that women make a difference in politics by voting for them’.
6.2 Countries where women in local government lower than national
In eleven Commonwealth countries, the proportion of women is lower at local than at national level. This may be because a quota has been applied at national but not local level, for example in Guyana where women’s representation in local government is five per cent compared to 31 per cent in parliament. Almost all the South Pacific islands (Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tonga and Vanuatu) fall in this category. A few African countries (Zambia and Kenya) also fall in this category. In her paper on ‘Decentralising Government and Centralising Gender in Southern Africa: Lessons from the South African Experience’ Beall makes the following pertinent observations about the contradictions at a local level that help to explain the very low representation of women in local government in some countries: ‘Local government is in an ambiguous position. It is the part of the state that is located closest to the people and to organised civil society. As such it has the potential to engage more effectively with women who are often confined through their domestic responsibilities to public engagement close to home, but because of its closeness to society the local state can also become too close to social institutions. In Africa, the latter can be deeply patriarchal, illustrated for example by the role of traditional authorities both in everyday life at the community level and in local government. When local government is impervious to progressive social change it may be an unreliable site for the pursuit of gender equity, particularly in contexts where women are making gains without the formal institutions of state. As such it tends to be a litmus test not only for democratic decentralisation but for engendered democracy more generally’. 23
23 Beall, J (2005) Decentralising Government and Centralising Gender in Southern Africa: Lessons from the South African Experience, United Nations Institute for Social Development, Occasional Paper 8 p1.
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6.3 Women equally represented at local and national level
Eleven Commonwealth countries have roughly the same levels of women’s representation at national and local level. This is often because voluntary quotas by parties have been applied equally at national and local level (for example in South Africa, Canada and Australia). Commenting on such countries in the Pacific, UNIFEM stated: ‘generally it seems that despite the differences between national and sub-national elected bodies, other factors are contributing to a stable representation of women across all levels of government.’ Australia declared 2010 The Year of Women The year- long campaign aimed to address in Local Government to raise awareness on these gender gaps by: gender disparities across local government including women comprising: • Recognising and promoting the value of women in senior roles. • Less than 30 per cent councillors; • Increasing participation by women at • 20 per cent senior managers the highest echelons. • Five per cent CEO’s and general • Addressing nationwide skills shortages. managers. The campaign generated a high profile political response with over 100 Australian councils and professional associations investing financial and in-kind support. The campaign resulted in the launch of the 50:50 Vision: Council’s for Gender Equity initiative that includes Centres of Excellence for Local Government.
7. Conclusions and recommendations
This report provides a comprehensive bench marking of progress made by the Commonwealth towards achieving its target of 30 per cent women in political decision- making especially at the national level. The range of examples extends from best performers globally (Rwanda for parliament and Lesotho for local government) to countries that still have no women at all in their parliaments or at local level. It provides compelling evidence around the use of quotas and the impact of electoral systems in increasing women’s political representation. The 13 Southern African members of the Commonwealth have moved beyond the Commonwealth target. The SADC Protocol on Gender and Development sets a target of gender parity in all areas of decision-making by 2015. In the countdown to 2015, the Commonwealth is called on to accelerate its efforts to achieve the original 30 per cent target and to move beyond this to gender parity. Further research is needed on: • Women’s representation in local government, where data is still incomplete. • The use of quotas and the impact of electoral systems for fast tracking women’s political representation, both voluntary and legislated. In particular research needs to probe whether concerns about tokenism in the application of quotas have indeed been borne out in reality. 28 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
• The impact of women in political decision-making, to move the discourse beyond numbers. Tools need to be devised for measuring the difference that women make, including on the attitudes of men in politics. • Women in the public service and as employees in local government. These women have a major role to play in moving the focus beyond numerical representation, towards gender responsive governance.
29 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
References
Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality 2005–2015: Baseline Assessment Report Commonwealth Local Government Handbook 2013/2014 Dahlerup, D (ed): Women, Quotas and Politics: Routledge, 2006 Pini, Barbara Pini and McDonald, Paula (ed): `Women and Representation in Local Government’, International case studies: Routledge Research in Comparative Politics, 2011 Karam, A. `Women in parliament: Beyond numbers’. IDEA, Stockholm. Lowe-Morna C and Tolmay S (ed), `At the Coalface, Gender and Local Government in Southern Africa’. Lowe-Morna C (ed): `Ringing up the Changes: Gender and Local Government in Southern Africa’. Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Gender Plan of Action Monitoring Group Report Information brief: Gender and Political Development: Women and political leadership in the Commonwealth. Women’s representation in Local Government in Asia –Pacific: Status Report 2010, UNIFEM, UNDP, Commonwealth Local Government Forum.
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Annex A
Key data on women’s political participation in the Commonwealth
% % Women Quota Women in CW % Women Women in local Electoral Quota - - sub Country Parliament ranking Ministers leaders government system national national Rwanda 51.9% 1 32.0% N/Av MIXED Legislated Legislated Seychelles 43.8% 2 22.2% N/A MIXED South Africa 41.1% 3 40.0% 38.4% PR Voluntary Voluntary Mozambique 39.2% 4 27.6% 35.6% PR Voluntary Voluntary Tanzania 36.0% 5 27.6% 34% FPTP Legislated Legislated Uganda 35.0% 6 32.1% N/Av FPTP Legislated Legislated New Zealand 32.2% 7 28.6% 30% FPTP Guyana 31.3% 8 29.4% 5% PR Legislated No Australia 29.2% 9 20.7% PM 30% MIXED Voluntary Voluntary Canada 28.0% 10 26.9% 25% FPTP Voluntary Lesotho 26.8% 11 36.8% 49% MIXED No Legislated Trinidad and Tobago 26.0% 12 18.4% PM 30% FPTP Namibia 25.0% 13 22.7% 41.8% PR Voluntary Legislated Grenada 25.0% 14 21.4% N/A FPTP Singapore 24.2% 15 0.0% N/A OTHER United Kingdom 22.6% 16 17.2% 23% to 31% FPTP Voluntary Malawi 22.3% 17 21.1% President N/A FPTP Swaziland 21.9% 18 23.8% 14% FPTP Barbados 21.6% 19 11.8% N/A FPTP Pakistan 21.1% 20 10.0% N/A MIXED Legislated Bangladesh 19.7% 21 14.3% PM 23% FPTP Legislated Legislated Antigua and Barbuda 19.4% 22 11.1% N/A FPTP Mauritius 18.8% 23 8.0% President 30% MIXED Legislated Kenya 18.6% 24 15.4% 5.9% FPTP Legislated No St Vincent and the Grenadines 17.4% 25 18.2% N/A FPTP St Lucia 17.2% 26 15.4% N/A FPTP The Bahamas 16.7% 27 0.0% N/Av FPTP Jamaica 15.5% 28 20.0% PM 19% FPTP
31 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013
% % Women Quota Women in CW % Women Women in local Electoral Quota - - sub Country Parliament ranking Ministers leaders government system national national Malta 14.3% 29 22.2% 26.8% FPTP Voluntary Cameroon 13.9% 30 14.0% 1.5% FPTP Voluntary Belize 13.3% 31 0.0% N/A FPTP Malaysia 13.2% 32 6.5% 13.1% FPTP 30% town, 43% rural, 37% Dominica 12.5% 33 13.3% urban FPTP Legislated Legislated Sierra Leone 12.4% 34 7.7% 11.8% PR Zambia 11.5% 35 11.8% 6.2% FPTP Ghana 10.9% 36 18.4% 11% FPTP India 10.9% 37 9.8% President 36.8% FPTP N/A Cyprus 10.7% 38 27.3% 25.4% PR Kiribati 8.7% 39 20.0% 3.5% FPTP Botswana 7.9% 40 21% 19.3% FPTP Voluntary Gambia 7.5% 41 N/Av 33.3% FPTP St Kitts and Nevis 6.7% 42 11.1% N/A FPTP Tuvalu 6.7% 43 14.3% 2% OTHER Nigeria 6.6% 44 28.1% 10% PR Maldives 6.5% 45 21.4% N/Av FPTP Sri Lanka 5.8% 46 N/Av 1.9% PR Samoa 4.1% 47 7.7% N/A OTHER Tonga 3.6% 48 8.3% 0% OTHER Papua New Guinea 2.7% 49 0.0% 10% FPTP Legislated Solomon 2.0% 50 0.0% 8.3% Islands FPTP Nauru 0.0% 51 0.0% N/A FPTP Vanuatu 0.0% 51 0.0% 0% FPTP Brunei- 0.0% 51 0.0% N/A Darussalam OTHER N/A = Not applicable; N/Av = Not available Source: Inter Parliamentary Union website; Gender Links; Commonwealth Local Government Handbook, 2013-2014
32 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013 2009 2012 2009 2008 2009 2011 2012 2010 2011 2012 2008 2011 2011 2007 2007 2010 2012 2009 2008 LAST YEAR OF ELECTION Legislated Legislated Legislated Voluntary Legislated Legislated Legislated Voluntary Legislated Voluntary Quota Local Voluntary Quota National Voluntary Legislated Voluntary Legislated Legislated Voluntary Voluntary Legislated Voluntary SYSTEM ELECTORAL ELECTORAL MIXED PR FPTP MIXED PR FPTP FPTP FPTP FPTP MIXED PR PR MIXED PR FPTP FPTP FPTP FPTP FPTP N/A N/A N/Av N/Av 1.5% 5.9% 49.0% 35.6% 38.4% 34.0% 11.0% 27.0% 10.0% 41.8% 11.8% 14.0% 6.20% 19.2% 33.3% Local Govt % Women 8.0% 7.7% % 36.8% 21.1% 27.6% 32.0% 40.0% 27.6% 32.1% 14.0% 18.4% 28.1% 22.7% 22.2% 15.4% 23.8% 11.8% Women Ministers 1 8 5 39 59 12 74 20 21 96 49 76 98 111 127 103 108 124 125 Global Ranking 9.8% 6.6% 0.0% 8.3% 4.4% 9.7% 2.3% 5.0% 5.0% -2.1% -0.6% -3.2% -5.7% -0.5% 5.6% 13.1% 14.6% 11.0% 14.3% 11.4% VARIANCE 6.6% 7.9% 7.5% in 18.8% 36.0% 35.0% 26.8% 51.9% 12.4% 10.9% 22.3% 39.2% 11.5% 41.1% 25.0% 43.8% 13.9% 18.6% 21.9% 24.6% Parliament % Women 69 63 53 32 96 350 386 153 106 121 275 193 250 157 453 104 469 180 350 and Total 3860 Upper Upper Lower House 5 4 13 41 55 15 30 43 98 18 26 31 14 25 65 21 126 135 186 951 AFRICA and Total upper upper Lower house Women 9 0 7 7 0 10 17 12 62 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 2013 Upper Upper House Women 0 0 26 33 53 26 30 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 109 277 Total Upper Upper House 5 4 9 13 45 30 32 43 98 15 18 19 14 25 65 24 126 135 169 889 Lower House Women 69 80 63 53 78 32 66 275 120 193 250 121 350 386 157 400 180 350 360 Total 3583 Lower House 5.7% 8.9% 7.1% 4.3% in 10.9% 17.0% 14.0% 34.8% 45.3% 14.5% 21.4% 23.9% 12.0% 31.3% 11.1% 13.2% 25.5% 29.4% 16.8% 19.0% Parliament % Women 63 53 70 98 34 95 180 230 224 153 193 250 469 106 124 295 305 158 670 and Total 3770 Upper Upper Lower House 7 7 4 16 25 16 26 27 87 25 20 48 10 18 16 63 73 19 210 717 and Total Lower House Women in Upper Upper in 9 7 3 9 12 13 53 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 2004 Upper Upper House Women 30 26 26 33 69 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 109 293 Total Upper Upper House 7 7 4 7 18 39 10 16 25 16 14 27 87 17 18 63 73 19 197 664 Lower House Women 63 53 70 72 80 34 65 180 230 224 120 193 250 360 124 601 295 305 158 Total 3477 Lower House Sub Total Botswana Cameroon Gambia Ghana Kenya Lesotho Malawi Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Nigeria Rwanda Seychelles Sierra Leone South Africa Swaziland Tanzania Uganda Zambia Annex B: political participation 2004 and 2013 - women’s Africa Region Commonwealth Handbook, 2013-2014 Government Local Gender Links; Commonwealth Union website; Parliamentary Inter Source:
33 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013 2011 2013 2009 2013 2010 2008 2009 LAST YEAR OF ELECTION Quota Local Legislated Legislated Quota National Legislated Legislated N/A SYSTEM ELECTORAL OTHER OTHER FPTP FPTP MIXED FPTP PR FPTP 1.9% 13.1% 23.0% 36.8% Local Gvt % Women N/A N/A N/Av N/A 6.5% 0.0% 0.0% 9.8% % 21.4% 10.0% 14.3% Women Ministers 51 58 71 114 128 131 110 Global Rating 0.1% 8.3% 0.5% 0.9% 0.5% 1.6% 3.6% 17.7% VARIANCE 6.5% 5.8% in 13.2% 24.2% 19.7% 21.1% 10.9% 14.5% Parliament % Women 77 99 287 350 225 446 790 and Total 2274 Upper Upper Lower House 5 38 24 69 13 94 86 ASIA 329 and Total upper upper Lower house Women 15 17 26 58 N/A N/A N/A 2013 Upper Upper House Women 66 N/A N/A N/A 104 245 415 Total Upper Upper House 5 23 24 77 69 60 13 271 Lower House Women 77 99 221 342 350 545 225 Total 1859 Lower House 6.0% 2.0% 9.3% 4.9% in 13.1% 16.0% 20.6% 10.8% Parliament % Women 50 94 300 289 225 787 442 and Total 2187 Upper Upper Lower House 6 3 15 38 11 73 91 237 and Total Lower House Women in Upper Upper in 18 28 18 64 N/A N/A N/A 2004 Upper Upper House Women 70 N/A N/A N/A 242 100 412 Total Upper Upper House 6 3 15 45 20 73 11 173 Lower House Women 50 94 300 545 219 342 225 Total 1775 Lower House Sub Total Bangladesh Brunei- Darussalam India Malay sia Maldiv es Pakistan Singapore Lanka Sri Annex C: political participation 2004 and 2013 - women’s Asia Region Commonwealth Handbook, 2013-2014 Government Local Commonwealth Union website; Parliamentary Inter Source:
34 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013 2011 2013 2010 LAST YEAR OF ELECTION Quota Local Quota National Voluntary Voluntary SYSTEM ELECTORAL PR FPTP FPTP 26.8% 25.4% Local Gvt % Women 31.0% 31.0% England; 24.3% Scotland; 26.0% W ales; 23.0% North Ireland. % 17.2% 22.2% 27.3% Women Ministers 58 93 112 Global Rating 4.6% 5.1% -5.4% 4.3% VARIANCE in 22.6% 14.3% 10.7% 21.7% Parliament % Women 70 56 1410 and Total 1536 Upper Upper Lower House 6 10 318 334 EUROPE and Total upper upper Lower house Women N/A N/A 172 2013 172 Upper Upper House Women N/A N/A 760 760 Total Upper Upper House 6 10 146 162 Lower House Women 70 56 650 776 Total Lower House 9.2% in 17.9% 16.1% 17.5% Parliament % Women 56 65 1366 and Total 1487 Upper Upper Lower House 9 6 245 260 and Total Lower House Women in Upper Upper in N/A N/A 126 126 2004 Upper Upper House Women N/A N/A 707 707 Total Upper Upper House 9 6 119 134 Lower House Women 56 65 659 780 Total Lower House Sub Total Cyprus Malta United Kingdom Annex D: political participation 2004 and 2013 - women’s Region Europe Commonwealth Handbook, 2013-2014 Government Local Commonwealth Union website; Parliamentary Inter Source:
35 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013 2010 2010 2008 2010 2009 2009 2012 2011 2011 2008 LAST YEAR OF ELECTION Quota Local Legislated Quota National N/A Legislated SYSTEM ELECTORAL FPTP FPTP FPTP FPTP FPTP FPTP FPTP FPTP FPTP FPTP 30.0% 45.0% 19.0% Local Gvt % Women N/A 30.0% 30.0% town; rural; 43.0% 37.0% urban councils N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.0% % 18.4% 18.2% 11.8% 11.1% 13.3% 11.1% 20.0% 15.4% 21.4% Women Ministers 33 80 84 84 23 127 102 113 100 101 Global Rating 1.2% 0.7% 6.7% 5.6% 3.9% 1.9% -6.9% -3.4% -3.6% -0.9% -10.1% VARIANCE 6.7% in 12.5% 26.0% 17.4% 19.4% 21.6% 16.7% 15.5% 17.2% 25.0% 18.8% Parliament % Women 15 32 73 23 36 51 54 84 29 28 425 and Total Upper Upper Lower House 1 4 4 7 9 5 7 19 11 13 80 and Total upper upper Lower house Women THE CARIBBEAN THE 7 5 6 4 5 2 2 31 N/A 2013 Upper Upper House Women 31 17 21 16 21 11 13 N/A 130 Total Upper Upper House 1 4 2 4 5 5 8 3 5 12 49 Lower House Women 15 19 23 42 30 38 63 18 15 32 295 Total Lower House 0.0% in 17.6% 26.8% 13.6% 20.7% 28.6% 19.4% 13.9% 22.7% 25.4% 19.7% Parliament % Women 51 56 31 28 81 29 36 67 15 22 416 and Total Upper Upper Lower House 9 6 8 6 5 0 5 15 11 17 82 and Total Lower House Women in Upper Upper in 5 7 4 4 4 3 10 37 N/A 2004 Upper Upper House Women 21 16 13 21 11 17 31 N/A 130 Total Upper Upper House 4 8 6 4 7 2 2 0 5 7 45 Lower House Women 30 40 31 15 60 18 19 15 22 36 286 Total Lower House Sub Total Antigua and and Antigua Barbuda Barbados The Bahamas Dominica Grenada Jamaica and Kitts St Nev is St Lucia St Vincent the and Grenadines and Trinidad Tobago Annex E: political participation 2004 and 2013 - women’s Caribbean Region Commonwealth Handbook, 2013-2014 Government Local Commonwealth Union website; Parliamentary Inter Source:
36 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013 2012 2011 2011 LAST YEAR OF ELECTION Quota Local Quota National Voluntary Legislated SYSTEM ELECTORAL FPTP FPTP PR 5.0% 25.0% Local % Women N/A Government 0.0% % 26.9% 29.4% Women Ministers 29 46 135 Global Rating 0.6% 1.4% 3.4% 2.8% VARIANCE in 31.3% 13.3% 28.0% 27.2% Parliament % Women 67 45 411 523 and Total Upper Upper Lower House 6 21 115 142 and Total upper upper Lower house Women THE AMERICAS THE 5 39 44 2013 Upper Upper House Women 13 103 116 Total Upper Upper House 1 21 76 98 Lower House Women 32 67 308 407 Total Lower House in 11.9% 30.8% 24.6% 24.4% Parliament % Women 65 42 398 505 and Total Upper Upper Lower House 5 20 98 123 and Total Lower House Women in Upper Upper in 3 33 36 2004 Upper Upper House Women 12 90 102 Total Upper Upper House 2 20 65 87 Lower House Women 30 65 308 403 Total Lower House Sub Total Belize Canada Guyana Annex F: political participation 2004 and 2013 - women’s Americas Region Commonwealth Handbook, 2013-2014 Government Local Commonwealth Union website; Parliamentary Inter Source:
37 An Illustrative Trends Analysis on Women’s Political Development in the Commonwealth 2004 – 2013 2010 2011 2011 2010 2010 2012 2010 2011 2013 2012 LAST YEAR OF ELECTION Quota Local Legislated Quota National Voluntary SYSTEM ELECTORAL MIXED OTHER FPTP OTHER OTHER FPTP FPTP FPTP FPTP FPTP 8.3% 3.5% 0.0% 2.0% 0.0% 30.0% 30.0% 41.8% 10.0% Local Gvt % Women N/A 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 8.3% 7.7% 0.0% % 20.7% 28.6% 20.0% 14.3% Women Ministers 46 27 137 138 120 141 134 127 133 141 Global Rating 0.9% 2.0% 3.9% 0.0% 3.9% 3.6% 6.7% 1.8% -2.0% -3.8% 1.4% VARIANCE 8.7% 0.0% 4.1% 3.6% 6.7% 0.0% 2.0% 2.7% in 29.2% 32.2% 16.3% Parliament % Women 46 18 49 28 15 52 50 226 121 111 716 and Total Upper Upper Lower House 4 0 2 1 1 0 1 3 66 39 117 and Total upper upper Lower house Women SOUTH PACIFIC SOUTH 29 29 2013 Upper Upper House Women 76 76 Total Upper Upper House 4 0 2 1 1 0 1 3 37 39 88 Lower House Women 46 18 49 28 15 52 50 111 150 121 640 Total Lower House 4.8% 0.0% 6.1% 0.0% 0.0% 3.8% 0.0% 0.9% in 14.9% 28.32% 28.33% Parliament % Women 42 18 49 30 15 52 50 109 226 120 711 and Total Upper Upper Lower House 1 2 0 3 0 0 2 0 64 34 106 and Total Lower House Women in Upper Upper in 27 27 2004 Upper Upper House Women 76 76 Total Upper Upper House 1 2 0 3 0 0 2 0 37 34 79 Lower House Women 42 18 49 30 15 52 50 109 150 120 635 Total Lower House TOTAL Australia Kiribati Nauru ZealandNew Papua New Guinea Samao Solomon Islands Tonga Tuv alu Vanuatu Annex G: women’s political participation 2004 and 2013 Region - Pacific South Commonwealth Handbook, 2013-2014 Government Local Commonwealth Union website; Parliamentary Inter Source:
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