Gender Equality:

Women’s participation and leadership in local

government: Asia and the Pacific 2013 UNDP REPORT

FINDINGS

Mithulina Chatterjee

“Countries will need to start thinking of human capital

very differently – including how they integrate women into

leadership roles. This shift in mindset and practice is not a

goalpost for the future, it is an imperative today,”

Klaus Schwab, WEF founder and executive chair

Presentation Scope

1. What are the broader features/influences in Asia Pacific

region shaping women’s political status at sub-national

level?

2. What has been the role of international processes?

3. What are the emerging trends and issues for women in

the sub-national and national political space?

4. How is women’s agency changing politics and

development?

5. Do institutions make a difference for women’s political

participation?

6. How do we press ahead?

Caveats

Scope of the

study was large

Data gaps

Not all countries

have had

elections since

2010

Asia Pacific Broader Changes…

Political and economic transitions

Socio-religious changes

Historical factors influencing structure of public institutions

60% of global population lives here

International Processes

UN Electoral Assistance (2013)-Policy directive on women’s political and electoral participation

UN SG report (2013)-inclusive politics and data gaps in women’s political participation

Human Rights Council (2013)-favourable electoral systems for increasing women’s representation

UN GA resolution (2011)- women’s political participation

MDG (2000)-women’s representation in national parliament

ECOSOC resolution (1990)- 30 % target by 1995 and 50 % by 2000

CEDAW (1979) and General comments of their committee

Latest trends in women’s political

participation

Asia Pacific studies reveal women leaders practice a leadership style - participatory, inclusive, and

consultative leading to increased transparency in local governance and better service delivery;

Women are viewed as reliable, responsible and honest and are

advocating for change in Parliaments.

With different operating styles of women, anecdotal

proof suggests that male councillors are observing

and learning.

Representing over a half of the nation’s population, women on the national

and sub-national level are still under-represented

Where are we today?

2 countries at

national level and 5

countries at the

sub-national level

have reached 30%

target

Have we achieved the target?

Women’s descriptive

representation (30% target)

National: Timor Leste and

Nepal Sub-national:

South Asia: India

East Asia: China

Pacific: Australia, Nauru,

Niue

Change since 2010 in sub-

national governments

East Asia: 3% increase

South Asia: 2.3 % decrease

Pacific: 9.6% decrease

16.6 17.1

1.9

25.8

18.6

26.9

16.4

19.4

3.7

23.5

21.7

17.3

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

South Asia East Asia Pacific Islands

National vs. Sub-national Women’s Political Representation

National Women’s Representation 2010

Subnational Women’s Representation 2010

National Women’s Representation 2013

Subnational Women’s Representation 2013

Sub-national level representation

across the region

Women’s representation in urban councils has slightly gone up since 2010 but not in

rural and provincial councils.

Women in leadership positions (council chairs)

Maximum 8.1 % in provincial level

17.0

25.5

27.8

17.6

15.7

26.2

27.8

16.7

4.2

5.7

2.6

11.2

5.8

2.8 2.3

8.1

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

Rural Councils Urban Councils District Councils Regional Assemblies

Perc

enta

ge

Asia pacific

Women Elected Representatives 2010

Women Elected Representatives 2013

Women Chairs of Councils 2010

Women Chairs of Councils 2013

Closer look at women’s representation

at sub-national level

Across the three sub-regions, sub-national representation

of women is higher than national (proximity to the

community).

However, women are under represented in local

governments across tiers in all sub-regions (max. 28%).

No significant change and decrease in women’s

representation in rural and provincial councils as of 2013.

Unavailability and limited access of data is evident

across local government tiers and is of critical importance for correct approximation of the status and for tailoring

policy directions.

A. Picture behind the trends

• Gender Equality less or more – women’s political participation not effected except in East Asia

Gender Equality Indices

• Incomes grown but not women’s voice

Country economy

• More educated and working women seem to be getting into local governments in East Asia and Pacific but not in South Asia

Literacy and labour force

Constitutional Equality of Political Rights Countries with constitutional guarantees for gender parity support greater political

representation

Electoral Designs and their Implications for

Women’s representation

Party Functioning and Financing

B. Enabling Institutional factors?

Gender parity in electoral systems in the

region Correlation with electoral system: PR and women’s representation is positive at local and national levels

Asia Pacific – 6 countries have PR or mixed Electoral systems in local governments

Correlation with Quota/reservation policy in local governments

Asia Pacific- 8 countries have reserved seats, 2 use legislated candidate quotas

“without reservation women will not be there at all and with reservations – when we look at all the advantages that come out with it, we should take this as the first hurdle crossed and the

rest of the race is yet to be run.”

Mongolia: PR effect on 2012 elections–increase

from 3 to 15 % (national) and 22 % (local)

Cambodia: PR effect on 2012 elections – party

list favourable to women nomination - 18 % of

26% who contested were elected in

commune/sangkat elections with 95 commune

chiefs

South Asia- leads in reservations- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan – 25 to 37% compared to 2-8.5 % without quotas Pacific-Vanuatu has reserved seats (11%)

Institutional provisions

Quotas: Different voices

For: ensures equity; addresses statistical discrimination

which will also address quality of representation over

time; create role models, women’s interest

Against: undemocratic (appointment/than truly elected?);

generates inefficiency; strengthens elite class of women;

lead to tokenism; caste inequality needs to be addressed

within the reserved seats of women; men argue for

religious and ethnic minority representation

Considerations: UN Electoral assistance advise- political

ramifications, harmonise with electoral systems, penalties

for non-conformity, increase tenure of reserved seats

Party functioning and campaign

financing for gender parity

Closer look at party funding

culture in the region

Women enter the political arena with less campaign resources and are not seen to have power and connections, which acts against them.

In South Asia: Situation of women candidates is complicated becoz of limited integration in powerful political and economic networks which are essentially male dominated.

In East Asia: Minimal efforts on campaign funds for women

In Pacific Islands: Prevalent ‘Big man’ culture.

Public-private divide

Gender based violence

Intersectional discrimination

C. Structural Issues behind the

trends

Contributing socio-cultural factors to sparse

women representation across Asia

Pacific(1/1)

Social hierarchies emerging from cultural norms govern women’s identities and roles. Traditional norms and values underline gender stereotypes across the region.

Religious sentiments promote that women’s role in the family. Multiple identities of women due to their class, ethnicity, religions, political identity, age multiplies their burden.

In South Asia, dominant perception is that women women’s place should be restricted to the private sphere.

In East Asia (Thailand) saying goes: “Men are the front legs of the elephant and women are the back legs” (private/public divide).

In Pacific women in the political arena were accused of being acting ‘above themselves’

Contributing factors to sparse women

representation across Asia Pacific (1/2)

Religious influence: Some Buddhist sects have rules where only men can be monks and women nuns with assigned tasks of care giving reinforcing popular perception of women’s role in private sphere.

Absence of a critical mass of women leaders as role models at the national and local levels acts as an impediment for women to view the political space as an avenue for participation.

With few female role models close at hand, this lack of self-confidence often results in women’s retreat from formal politics.

Public-private divide widens with gender-based violence (GBV). Women political candidates have faced multiple forms of violence.

How women’s representation and

participation transforms society?

In Vietnam, an NGO evaluation showed that women contributed to poverty reduction, increased budget allocation to their locality, and provide transparent and good governance.

In Philippines research showed when women are elected in the local governments, women citizens are better represented in village meetings and more involved in local processes.

India survey of women in local governments indicated that elected women effectively addressed the issues such as drinking water infrastructure, sanitation, education and health as well as issues of alcohol abuse and domestic violence problems in villages.

From Fiji, woman councillor challenged to win, initiated clean-up campaign with CSO- being adopted in other municipalities.

Studies have shown that politically empowered women are more responsive

to citizen needs and make a difference to living standards of people:

Do institutions make a difference for

women’s political participation?

Advocacy and

Lobbying

• Global advocacy platform to urge national government and development partners for increasing commitment for women’s participation

• Working with political parties and governments to advocate for seat reservation

• Working with EMB for PR with candidate quota to achieve equality of result

Capacity Development

• Toolkits for political parties for greater inclusion of women, quotas

• Preparing candidates, mobilizing religious leaders, men

• Capacity Development for transformational politics

• Cross-country exchanges of women local government leaders

Regional and inter-

governmental

cooperation

• Association of South East Asian Countries (ASEAN Ministerial meeting on women’s political participation)

• ASEAN Women Parliamentarians (Learning from different country experiences)

• Pacific Island Forum (mock Parliaments, TSMs)

• South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (gender infobase, gender policy advocacy group)

Moving from political to practical:

Exploring the way forward

THANK YOU