Putting quotas on the political agenda

Regional Forum on “Equal Participation in Decision-Making”, Istanbul 15th November 2011

Andreea Paul (Vass)

1. State of fact. Where are we?2. Building the future3. Frontline regulations4. Why do we need more women in the

public decision-making?

Content

1. State of fact. Where are we?

“Women are the most powerful engine in the world economic recovery”.

“Yet even with their remarkable increase in market power, women continue to find themselves underappreciated at home, underestimated in the workplace and undervalued in the marketplace”.

Boston Consulting Group, 2010

Rank Country % Women in lower or

single House

1 Rwanda 56.3%

2 Andorra 53.6%

3 Sweden 45%

6 Iceland 42.9%

7 Finland 42.5%

8 Norway 39.6%

9 Belgium 39.3%

9 Netherlands 39.3%

13 Denmark 38.0%

14 Spain 36.6%

19 Germany 32.8%

23 Macedonia 30.9%

28 Austria 27.9%

31 Portugal 26.5%

World classification of women representation in upper or lower

House Rank Country % Women in

lower or single House

48 Czech Republic & UK 22.0%

51 Italy 21.3%

53 Bulgaria 20.8%

55 Latvia, Luxembourg & Poland

20.0%

56 Estonia 19.8%

58 Lithuania 19.1%

71 Bosnia and Herzegovina 16.7%

73 Slovakia 16.0%

80 Ireland 14.5%

81 Slovenia 14.4%

82 Turkey 14.2%

96 Romania 11.4%

98 Montenegro 11.1%

108 Hungary 9.1%

Data source: http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm

Parliament: 9.7% women as compared to the global average of 19.3%.◦ 11.4% women in the Chamber of Deputies, before Hungary (9.1% women)

and Malta (8.7%) in EU. ◦ 5.8% women in Senate (96 rank out of 137 countries)

Ministerial level: only 3 women ministers, out of 16 ministries. Local authorities: 3% women mayors Gender Gap Index 2011:

◦ Rank 68 out of 135 countries, with a score of 0.681.◦ Political empowerment: rank 112 out of 135 countries.

Women in parliament: rank 96 out of 135 countries

Current situation in Romania

A. Legislated gender quota

B. Voluntary gender quota, in political parties

C. Perfect gender balance in the media during elections campaign (50% female - 50% male)

D. Nothing

Forum for public consultation on improving the political representation of gender in Romania, www.femeileinpolitica.ro

◦ Out of 7258 votes, over 98%: for legislated gender quota.

2. Building the future

“If men were well suited for the industrial era, women are well suited for in Information-oriented era.”

“National development will be a function of how effectively woman power is applied and will depend on how well administrative systems are organized to utilize this potential.”

Jung-Sook Kim

3. Frontline regulations

Belgium◦ 2002 gender quota act: equal number of female and male

candidates on parties lists. ◦ Candidates of the same sex may not occupy the top two positions

on a list.

France◦ The “law on parity” of 2000 imposes a double rule:

50% of party candidates of each sex strict alternation of women’s and men’s names is mandatory from the

beginning to the end of the list.

A. Legislated gender quota

Slovenia◦ Local Elections Act (2005): each sex accounts for at least 40% of all

candidates listed, and that the candidates in the first half of the lists must alternate by sex

◦ Quota provisions are incorporated into the laws for elections at the local, national and European levels.

Spain◦ Gender quota law for public elections at all levels (2007): no sex can

be represented with more than 60% on the electoral lists. ◦ Quotas are applied to the whole party list and to every five posts.

A. Legislated gender quota (cont.)

Sweden◦ Special measures to increase the number of women in elected bodies:

voluntary party quotas & soft quotas (non-mandatory targets or minimum recommendations).

◦ Voluntary party quotas were introduced when the share of women parliamentarians already exceeded 30%.

Germany◦ Quotas work through the party lists (‘zipper system’ ).

Poland◦ Introduction of a quota system by some parties.◦ 2007 election: one of the three first positions on each candidate lists must be

held by a woman

B. Voluntary gender quota

The law regarding equal opportunities between men and women (2002): ◦ fair and balanced representation at party level of women and men, at all levels of

decision-making. ◦ positive actions for the under-represented sex in its internal regulations.

Law project launched in May 2011: introduction of a gender quota of 40% for political parties and political alliances, 50% for electoral alliances and 20% for citizens’ organizations belonging to national minorities

◦ Objectives: Increasing the representation of women in political life. Creating the mechanisms for ensuring equitable representation of women in public

decision-making.

◦ Sanctions: Loss of annual subsidy from the state budget for electoral competitors not meeting the

provisions of equity in gender representation.

Romania: Putting quotas on the political agenda

Women have their own interests and needs. They are in the best position to defend those interests.

Women are believed to have a proper style. An evenly participation of women and men may lead to a diversity of ideas, values and patterns of behavior that can only result in an enrichment.

4. Why do we need more women in the public decision-making?

For addressing specific issues of women, children or family life in Romania:◦ Support for families

The nurseries and kindergartens dropped with 85% since 1990.◦ The lack of baby-sitters law◦ Diminishing domestic violence: every 3 seconds, a woman is

physically abused◦ Increasing the education and health of family members.

For increasing the wealth of nation

4. Why do we need more women in the public decision-making?

The GDP level increases as gender gap closes

Data source: http://unctadstat.unctad.org/TableViewer/tableView.aspx http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GGGR11/GGGR11_Rankings-Scores.pdf

Luxembourg

Norway

Switzerland

0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.90

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

f(x) = 146488.75658892 x − 85504.9196941658

Gender Gap Index, 2011

GDP/capita (USD, nominal)

RO

The GDP level increases as women representation in Parliaments is

higher

Data source: http://unctadstat.unctad.org/TableViewer/tableView.aspx http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm

0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.500

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

f(x) = 48883.4151058592 x + 5021.4357826966

Women representation in Parliament, August 2011

GDP/capita (USD, nominal) Luxembourg

Norway

Qatar

Swe-den

RO

Corruption is lower in countries with reduced gender gap

Data source: http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/resultshttp://www3.weforum.org/docs/GGGR11/GGGR11_Rankings-Scores.pdf

0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.90

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

f(x) = 19.7313228055296 x − 9.05795979561902

Gender Gap Index, 2011

Corruption Per-ception Index

Yemen

RO

New Zealand

The next economic power will not be represented by China, nor India, but by

women.

Women are an "emerging market", with a high potential of education, ambition and

ingenuity.

Andreea Paul (Vass)State AdviserLecturer, PhDFaculty of International Business and Economics Academy of Economic StudiesTel: 0040-722-637-140E-mail: andreea.vass@gov.ro

Thank you!