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Ms. Carolyn Hannan is the Director of the Division for the Advancement of Women. She was formerly the Senior Policy Advisor on Gender Equality in the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Chair of the OECD/DAC Working Party on Gender Equality. Ms. Hannan is an Australian who has lived and worked for more than 10 years in Africa, and worked on gender and development in many other countries in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
UN Connections conducted an interview with Ms. Hannan about the issue of women and democracy:
What is the current situation of women’s participation in democratization, governance and decision-making? How is the UN working to improve the situation?
We are far from achieving the goals set in the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 in relation to women’s participation in decision-making. There has been progress but the pace of change is far too slow. A Map of Women in Politics 2008, just published last week by the Division for the Advancement of Women and Inter-Parliamentary Union, shows that only 17.7 per cent of parliamentarians world-wide are women and 16.1 percent of all ministerial portfolios are held by women. Rwanda has the greatest number of women in parliaments, with 48.4 per cent, followed by Sweden (47 percent), Finland (41.4 percent) and Argentina (40 percent). There are still eight countries with no women in parliament and 13 countries with no women running ministries.
We know very little about women’s participation in other areas, such as the judiciary, academia, trade unions, media, and economic institutions.
Here at the UN In New York , only 17 Permanent Representatives to the UN are women (the greatest number ever was 18). The current figures for Geneva and Vienna are 19 and 23, respectively.
The Commission on the Status of Women has reviewed the situation of women in decision-making twice since the Fourth World Conference in Beijing in 1995 and will revisit the issue again in 2009. Apart from efforts to increase statistics and information, such as through the Map of Women in Politics, entities in the UN provide training and other support to women wanting to participate in elections. Special efforts are being made to utilize the opportunities reconstruction processes in post-conflict situations provide to increase women’s participation in decision-making.
How are women today influencing and benefiting from the process of democratization around the world?
Apart from the fact that women are under-represented in decision-making positions compared with men, those women who do get into such positions often need support to be able to participate effectively. Women may not have the training they require or may lack access to the critical networks which men dominate. The fact that women in most societies still have the main responsibility for domestic work disadvantages them. They do not have the same free-time as men and have to fit their involvement in public affairs around their other responsibilities, including child-care.
Research shows that women tend to be found in the “soft” portfolios – health, education, and culture in political decision-making, and are under-represented in finance, foreign affairs and defense. Women may react negatively to the male-dominated “culture” in which they have to work. For this reason, it has been emphasized that there needs to be a “critical mass” of women in decision-making institutions (33 percent) for women to be able to make a difference and influence the working processes and procedures, and ultimately, also outcomes.
There has not been sufficient research on the benefits to development of increased participation of women. Some research on the impact of women’s participation in local government from a number of countries has shown that women have increased the focus on outcomes that benefit women and children’s rights, such as health and education. Other researchers, including in the World Bank, have suggested that women tend to be less corrupt than men and therefore increased participation of women would be potentially positive for men and women and society as a whole. However, it has also been pointed out that, given the extremely low representation of women in decision-making, it is difficult to make this claim. Further research is needed in this area.
What do you think about quota systems for women in decision making positions?
Based on the Map of Women in Politics 2008, of the 20 countries with 30 percent or more women in parliaments, half are from developing countries and more than three-quarters of them have an electoral quota for women in place. Given the huge gaps in access to decision-making, I believe quota systems are necessary and good. The experience in Latin America has shown the benefits of such systems. These are temporary measures to reduce inequalities and provide equal opportunities. At some point in the future, as women gain equal access, these measures will become unnecessary.
How do you evaluate the UN generally in promoting the advancement of women?
The UN has played a critical role at all levels in the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. It has provided important global policy and normative frameworks though the four World Conferences on Women from 1975-1995. The Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women continue to guide the work at global regional and national levels.
The biggest challenge faced today is in implementation of these frameworks at national level. All parts of the UN provide support to Member States in support of implementation. These efforts should, however, be significantly strengthened.
The UN has also provided support to the women’s movement – to NGOS and other civil society groups and networks which carry out critical advocacy, awareness-raising, service delivery and monitoring work at all levels.
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