Right Honourable Helen Clark

Public Lecture on

“Gender Equality for Inclusive Development”

Mauritius, Monday 6 November 2017.

I am delighted to be visiting Mauritius for the first time,

and I thank all those who have facilitated my visit to this

beautiful country: the Office of the Prime Minister, the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Gender

Equality, Child Development, and Family Welfare.

It has been a great pleasure for me to meet with the

Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Speaker

of the National Assembly, the Minister for Gender

Equality, Child Development, and Family Welfare, and

1

with business leaders, non-governmental organisations

dedicated to environmental protection, and social

enterprises.

I also greatly appreciate the support of outgoing UNDP

Resident Representative, Simon Springett, and his staff

for my visit. It has been of particular interest to me to

visit initiatives supported by the Global Environment

Facility Small Grants Programme administered by

UNDP, and to see the difference which the projects make

for local communities and the environment.

My topic today is “Gender Equality for Inclusive

Development” – this covers a range of issues which I have

worked on throughout my life, both as a parliamentarian

in New Zealand and, more recently, as Administrator of

2

UNDP which works around the world to support the

empowerment of women and gender equality.

But, first – let me say a little about me and my country. I

am a former long-time New Zealand Prime Minister, and

in that capacity attended four Commonwealth Heads of

Government Meetings with Mauritius Prime Ministers.

On this visit I have been pleasantly surprised to learn that

there is considerable knowledge in a number of quarters

in Mauritius about my small country on the other side of

the world.

People here have expressed interest in our extensive

public administration reform, our strict biosecurity

measures to protect both our very important primary

industries and our unique biodiversity, and in our

environmental and conservation management.

3

I find, for example, that Mauritius and New Zealand have

learned a lot from each other over the years about how to

bring rare bird species back from the brink of extinction.

I saw yesterday the Mauritius kestrel - its population

plunged to just four birds, but, thanks to dedicated

conservation partnerships, it now stands at 52 breeding

pairs. New Zealand has similar stories –for example, that

of the Chatham Island robin population which plunged to

just five birds, but now stands at around 250.

New Zealand has been a pioneer in many things. In 1867

it established parliamentary representation for

indigenous people. In 1894 it enacted the world’s first

industrial conciliation and arbitration legislation, and in

1898 the world’s first old age pension. It was one of the

first countries in the world to establish comprehensive

4

social security, free hospital care, and free education to

the end of secondary schooling – this happened in the

1930s. It also passed the most far reaching nuclear-free

legislation in the world in 1987, and has been at the

forefront of advocating for nuclear disarmament for

decades.

But, most relevant to my lecture today, in 1893, New

Zealand became the first country in the world where

women won the right to vote – legislation enfranchising

women was enacted in 1893. Next year marks its 125th

anniversary.

It took quite some time, however, for women to become

established as Members of Parliament – the first woman

was elected in 1933 - forty years after the passage of the

legislation.

5

When I entered Parliament in 1981, there were eight

women MPs out of a total of 92 MPs - or under nine per

cent. At that time, very few women had ever been

ministers, and having a woman Prime Minister would

have been seen as a very remote possibility. Indeed, I can

never remember it being discussed as a possibility at that

time.

A lot has changed since then. New Zealand now stands

out as the only nation state which I can identify which has

had three women Prime Ministers. The latest one,

Jacinda Ardern, took office just eleven days ago at 37

years of age.

For the second time in our history, three of the top four

constitutional positions within New Zealand are held by 6

women, as the Governor-General and the Chief Justice

are also female. For close to a year in 2005/6, all four of

the positions were held by women with the election of a

new Speaker of Parliament before the retirement of the

serving woman Governor-General. As well, in those

times, the Cabinet Secretary was a woman, along with the

head of the country’s largest company, and professional

associations like those for medicine and law were headed

by women.

In the New Zealand parliamentary elections on 23

September this year, the proportion of women elected rose

from the 34.2 per cent of the previous election to 38.3 per

cent.

Does this mean that all is well for women in New Zealand?

Not exactly. The law does not discriminate against

7

women, but the proportion of women in Cabinet and

Parliament stays below parity, there is a gender pay gap

in median hourly earnings of around twelve per cent, and

gender-based violence persists. Overall, however, the

Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum

ranks New Zealand in ninth best place, and it stood at

thirteen on the Gender Development Index in the UNDP

Human Development Report on 2015 data.

What this demonstrates is that New Zealand, like all

countries has work to do on gender equality. Despite

significant progress and good law and social provision,

inequality persists.

Why does this matter? Quite simply because as Hillary

Clinton once famously said: gender equality “is not only

the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.”

8

Gender equality is a right enshrined in the 1948 Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, and it is advanced through

what countries do to implement the United Nations

Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against

Women.

But it also stands to reason that if the full contribution of

women to economies and societies isn’t realised, countries

won’t realise their full potential.

Last year UNDP published a Human Development Report

for Africa titled “Gender Equality and Advancing

Women’s Empowerment in Africa”. It revealed that, on

average, a shocking $95 billion every year is lost to Sub-

Saharan African GDP as a result of gender inequality.

The loss peaked at $105 billion at 2014 – equivalent to 9

around six per cent of the region’s GDP. It is simply a “no

brainer” for countries to address gaps of this size.

So, you may ask: are the gaps reducing as we near the end

of the second decade of the 21st century?

Sadly, they are not.

In the past week, the World Economic Forum has

released its 2017 Global Gender Gap Report. It shows a

widening gap on all four dimensions measured:

educational attainment, health and longevity, and

economic and political empowerment.

On current trends, it would take 100 years to close the

overall gender gap, 217 years to achieve economic parity,

10

and 99 years to achieve equal numbers of women and men

elected to parliaments.

The global economic gains from reducing gender

inequality are considerable – projected at $5.3 trillion by

2025 even if there were only a 25 per cent reduction.

So how is Mauritius doing?

I’ve mentioned the global state of affairs at length so that

the state of gender equality here can be put in its context.

Mauritius has work to do –as does every country. The

upside is that all countries can share experiences about

what works for them. The experiences of others can then

be considered for adaptation to a national context.

11

On women elected to the national legislature, Mauritius

stands well below the current global average of 23.6 per

cent. The proportion here is twelve per cent currently.

This matters – a critical mass of women in parliaments is

necessary for the perspectives of women to be well

reflected in legislation – and even just to get issues on the

national agenda as high priorities. International evidence

suggests that when the numbers of women

parliamentarians reach significant numbers, issues

previously unaddressed will come to the fore.

On the participation of women in the economy.

Here too, Mauritius has some significant issues to

address. The proportion of women of working age in the

12

work force is 46 per cent – as against 74 per cent of men. I

am told that the unemployment rate for women is around

eleven per cent, and that the pay gap with men could be

as high as fifty per cent. Overall this means that not only

are women poorer than men, but that Mauritius itself has

less income than it would have if women were in the

workforce in the same numbers and with the same

earnings as men.

So, what to do?

Mauritius has put in place important mechanisms and

frameworks to advance gender equality. It has the

Gender Unit in its Ministry for Gender Equality, Child

Development, and Family Welfare, and it has a National

Gender Policy Framework. There is also a detailed and

13

measurable National Action Plan for 2017-2020 to end

Intimate Partner Violence.

I was delighted to learn that a Parliamentary Gender

Caucus has been established with the Speaker in the

chair. The objective will be to sensitise MPs to gender

issues in their important roles as legislators, advocates,

and monitors of government policy and spending.

The most recent report I saw from the UN Committee on

the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

identified a number of areas where Mauritius could

usefully change its laws, policy, and practice. I am sure

that the Government of Mauritius like all governments

will have studied these carefully and been taking the

Committee’s recommendations forward.

14

Let me share from my own experience and knowledge

some thoughts on what might be useful in the areas of

increasing the numbers of women legislators and the

participation rate in the economy.

On political participation:

Five years ago, UNDP released an excellent Guidebook to

Promote Women’s Political Participation. It was based on

case studies of what had worked around the world to

boost the numbers of women elected. It took a “whole of

electoral cycle approach”, looking at what could be done

to boost the numbers of women selected and then elected,

and then looking at support for women when elected,

especially when the entry of women into such positions

had been relatively rare.

15

There is little doubt that the nature of the electoral

system can have an impact on the numbers of women

elected. The First Past the Post, single member

constituency system of, for example, the United States, the

United Kingdom, and – until 1996 – New Zealand seems

to be the least conducive to electing women. This may

relate to the traditional occupants of constituencies being

male with their spouses playing a support role.

New Zealand changed its voting system in 1996 to a

Mixed Member Proportional Representation System

modelled on that of Germany. Now only half the

parliamentarians are elected from constituencies; the

other half come from party lists. In general, the parties

have made efforts to ensure that their lists are more

representative of women – after all, they do want women

to vote for them…. In the first MMP election in 1996, the

16

proportion of women elected jumped from the twenty per

cent of 1993 to thirty per cent. That was a fifty per cent

increase in just one parliamentary term.

The UNDP Guidebook highlights the critical importance

of political parties with respect to women’s representation

– without their support, the numbers simply will not rise,

as most people are elected to most parliaments with the

backing of a political party. So, the parties need to be

convinced that boosting the numbers of elected women is

the right thing to do. That becomes easier with party list

systems, where women can be placed in electable

positions. Some parties rank their lists by alternating the

names of women and men on each list.

In other systems where women’s representation has been

slow to grow, legislation for quotas has been enacted.

17

There are many examples of this approach in Sub-

Saharan Africa - and it does work. Rwanda is the

standout example, with 64 per cent of those elected to its

House of Representatives in 2013 being women.

Women standing for election need ongoing support from

their parties. In general, old girls’ networks do not have

the same financial resources as old boys’ networks, so

funding for women candidates is an issue. As well, in

some countries, women are exposed to greater danger

when campaigning, and need support for their physical

security.

Post-election, cross-party groupings of women

parliamentarians can ensure that women support each

other. These become especially important where elected

women MPs are either few in number, and/or where

18

there are many new women MPs who are looking for

support to do their job to the best of their ability. UNDP

supports a number of such women’s parliamentary

caucuses.

On increasing the participation of women in the economy:

I referred earlier to the potential to expand the size of

economies by advancing gender equality in the world of

work. In my time as New Zealand Prime Minister, we

identified that one significant factor behind our country

having lower GDP per capita was the lower participation

rate of women. Prime Minister Abe in Japan has in recent

years been tackling a similar issue – Japan’s economy has

struggled to grow, and increasing the participation of

women in it has become an important government

priority.

19

For Mauritius, it is a national aspiration to move out of

middle income status to high income status. Many factors

will play a part in that, including strengthening

institutions and embracing a culture of growth through

innovation. Mauritius has shown a remarkable capacity

to reinvent itself in the face of economic shocks, and

therefore can plan for and take the steps towards

breaking out of the middle-income trap if it so

determines.

Gender equality in the workforce will be conducive to

that, so, the question is, what policies to follow to make it

possible.

My own government took a number of practical steps to

make paid work a real option for women, and in recent 20

years I have observed Japan putting a number of similar

measures in place. The model for my government was

Scandinavia, with its excellent early childhood education

and care services, paid parental leave for parents, and

extended annual holidays enabling parents to have more

time with their children during school vacations.

Accordingly, in New Zealand we:

- made early childhood education available free of

charge for twenty hours a week for all three and

four-year odds;

- introduced paid parental leave as a right in law for

the first time; and

- extended annual holidays an extra week to a

statutory entitlement to four weeks.

21

Globally, three of every four hours of unpaid work are

done by women. These pressures will increase as our

populations age, as it is women who do most of the unpaid

elder care work, as they do for children and for family

members who are ill or have disabilities.

So, for women to be able to be in and stay in the paid

workforce, our social services need to be operating well to

lift the unpaid care work burden which is such an

obstacle to participation for many women.

As well, there may be cultural barriers to women going

outside the home to work. These may take time to

overcome, but overcome they can be - and have been in

many societies. Governments can also play a role in

tackling the harassment and social norms which continue

to exclude women from paid work.

22

Addressing the gender pay gap should also be a priority –

and in Mauritius the gap is a large one. On average

globally, women earn 24 per cent less than men do.

Women tend to be disproportionately employed at lower

levels of the workforce. Much can be done to ensure equal

consideration for women to be employed at all levels of

responsibility, not least through hiring and promotion

policies.

Currently the world of work is subject to major disruption

– as globalisation deepens, as the pace of technological

change speeds up, and as the need to tackle climate

change and prioritise the environmental sustainability of

our economies and societies forces change in industry

sectors, transport, and energy generation.

23

The transition from old economies to the new will require

continual adaptation and innovation. Governments will

need to prioritise:

- Upskilling and access to lifelong education;

- Supporting the development of more

entrepreneurial skills, as more people are likely to

have to create their own jobs;

- facilitating the movement of people from declining

sectors to growth sectors.

In planning for the world of work of the future, it’s

important to plan with a gender lens - to ensure that the

disadvantage women already suffer in the world of work

is not expanded by the way we respond to today’s

challenges.

In conclusion:

24

Gender equality is not just an idea whose time has come.

It is long overdue in coming, and women, families, and

whole countries are not maximizing their potential

because of that.

Achieving inclusive development requires gender equality

to be a top priority.

It means removing the persistent and pervasive barriers

to the full participation of women in all spheres of

national life.

These barriers may lie in law, policy, practice, custom,

and culture, and in a failure to provide the range of

services which help lift the burden of unpaid care work

from women.

25

Let us also acknowledge the heavy toll on women and

their health, physical safety, and self-esteem of domestic

violence – that scourge must be tackled decisively.

All these issues are identified in the new global agenda –

the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

There is a standalone goal on gender equality and

empowering all women and girls – SDG Five. Gender

equality is also mainstreamed through the other sixteen

goals.

The new global agenda is universal – and all countries are

expected to work to achieve it That gives extra impetus to

the efforts here in Mauritius, in New Zealand, and in all

other countries to advance gender equality.

26

27