ssgm research seminar
TRANSCRIPT
Stories from the Inside…
Analysis of Women Councillors’ Experiences & Lessons Learned
Dr Tess Newton Cain, PLP Knowledge Dissemination Adviser
Tess Newton Cain www.tncpac.com
KEY POINTSThe impacts of introducing TSM for municipal councils
in Vanuatu differ between locationsPolitical parties are important players & need to be
included in reform-focused activities‘Training’ needs to focus on ‘doing’ politics as well as
on how to be a successful candidateDynamic is slow to change from clientilism to policy-
led developmentPeer learning & support may overcome ‘critical mass’
deficiencies
Tess Newton Cain www.tncpac.com
Background to TSMIs TSM the best way to improve the level & quality
of women’s political participation in the Pacific (or anywhere else)? - open to debate
Evidence suggests that it can have an impact given an appropriate enabling environment (Newton Cain, 2013)
TSM effective in bringing about short-term change. Where political parties are weak but there is some political will, TSM likely to be the only fast track solution (Waring, 2011)
Tess Newton Cain www.tncpac.com
TSM in Vanuatu3 jurisdictions in the Pacific have used TSM:
Bougainville (since 2005 at the ABG level)Samoa (since 2014 for national elections)
Designed to achieve a quota of 30-34% over a period of 16 years (4 election cycles)
C.f. (National) TSM quotas introduced in 2003Jordan: 5%Rwanda: 35% (Krook, 2014)
Tess Newton Cain www.tncpac.com
MethodologyNovember 2015: PLP
interviewed Luganville women councillors
March 2016: PLP interviewed Port Vila women councillors
10 intervieweesAdditional material from
interviews with (male) party reps
Tess Newton Cain www.tncpac.com
6 lessons learned…Political context can vary significantly within a country Political parties will make strategic use of critical
junctures Clientilist nature of politics persists at local government
levelPolitical fracturing creates perception of political parties
being weak but this is too simplistic‘Women-only’ training can have negative impactsPre-election training needs to focus on ‘doing’ politics as
well as getting elected
Tess Newton Cain www.tncpac.com
Lesson 1: variable political contextLuganville:
“Getting into politics is like men’s work, we have to wait for them to approach us. 5 groups approached me and I had to decide”
Port Vila:
“I decided to approach the GJP leader if his political party can accept me to stand…in the coming municipality [elections]
Tess Newton Cain www.tncpac.com
Lesson 2: political parties grab opportunitiesLuganville – party machineries selected
candidates to contest reserved seatsLuganville – party people – men - brought in from
Port Vila to do the women candidates’ campaigning
“…we adopted it as it will give balance on the council and this year more women contested the elctions. We fielded five in the reserve seats, our candidate is now the Chairperson of the Finance Committee”
Tess Newton Cain www.tncpac.com
Lesson 3: the persistence of clientilism“Before being a councillor you help your family, and now more people come and you start wondering whether you wanted to be a councillor. I think we need to fund raise to pay for what the people need”
“…people ask me for school fees, [to] pay for electricity bill, water bill, even pay for the house rent. I pay cemetery fees. For example last year I didn’t enjoy Christmas because I pay [sic] for cemetery fees”
Tess Newton Cain www.tncpac.com
Lesson 4: ‘weak’ political parties?Luganville:Acknowledge that there are shared interests among women but political reality = party interests come firstPort Vila:“Yes we are working together, so if one of us finds an opportunity [we] bring it to the council then all of us are working on it…although we represent different political parties”
Tess Newton Cain www.tncpac.com
Lesson 5: ‘sequestered’ training may backfire
Port Vila:“The training that we women attended, our male councillors should also attend. That would help both of us male and female councillors to understand our role and work together. Now because only women councillors attended, when we say something our male councillors told us ‘where did I [sic] get that from?’ So it is important for our male councillors to also attend this training so that w can hold each other accountable”
Tess Newton Cain www.tncpac.com
Lesson 6: training requirements
“The training was very helpful but we recommend that there be ongoing training and also follow up with those who were trained and not wait for election years”
Tess Newton Cain www.tncpac.com
Please…Ask questionsTake copies of our Discussion Paper & Case Study
for more information & detail