Fuente: © European Parliament
http://www.europarl.eu.int/

EU: Women in international politics

/noticias.info/ Balanced participation by both sexes in decision-making is an essential condition for democracy, says the EP who has adopted a report focusing on the situation of women's participation in international and national politics and decision-making and proposing measures to promote women's participation.

The report (adopted by 377 votes in favour to 77 against with 31 abstentions) drafted by Ana Maria Gomes (PES, PT) "deeply regrets that in spite of a large number of political statements and recommendations, programmes of actions adopted worldwide and specific legislation introduced at national level, inequality and gender discrimination and under representation of women in politics still persist in Europe and worldwide."

Numbers are not encouraging, of all parliaments worldwide (lower house and upper house combined) only 16,4 % are women (or 7,195 out of 43,961) These percentages indicate "a fundamental democratic deficit both at European level and in the wider international context". In the European Parliament 30 % of 732 MEPs (222) are female. The low participation of women in politics "deprives Europe of a precious human potential", says the Parliament.

The Parliament notes that "recent elections have brought women to the highest functions as Heads of State and Government in some Member States and third countries and "congratulates the Head of Governments that have used objective and non-discriminatory criteria for the selection of the members of their cabinets".

Reconciliation of social, family and professional life

The low level of participation by women in centres of decision-making and governance is often linked to problems with combining work and family life, to the unequal distribution of family responsibilities and to discrimination at work and in occupational training, highlights the Parliament who calls on the Member States to put in place measures aiming at the reconciliation of social, family and professional life in line with the conclusions of the Barcelona European Council and the Lisbon Strategy.

The report proposes a number of measures on national, European and international level to come to terms with this issue and promote parity in politics, for example educational programmes. MEPs encourages the inclusion of female police, civilian and military officers in EU and UN peace-keeping missions in order to enhance communication with women in local communities and local communities in general.

The EP also calls on political parties across Europe to promote balanced participation of both sexes on their lists of candidates.

MEPs further stress the need to look beyond numbers, and actually focus on how women active in politics influence the shaping of governance and conflict resolution, and how they contribute towards ensuring that governance reforms, accountability and the rule of law are highly placed on the political agenda at national and international level.

Finally, the report emphasises that the future European Institute for Gender Equality will have an important role to promote women's representation in international politics. notas_de_prensa_archivo