Resolution 1489 (2006)1
Mechanisms to ensure women’s
participation in decision making
1. In spite of the progress being made in Europe in terms
of improving equal opportunities and rights for women and men, the
Parliamentary Assembly notes a persistently low level of participation by
women in decision-making processes. Women remain under-represented in Europe
in national and regional parliaments, municipal councils, governments and
posts of responsibility in political parties, the civil service and
industry.
2. The Assembly considers that balanced participation by
women and men in decision making is a precondition for improving the
functioning of democracy and society, as are respect for women’s rights,
their financial autonomy and their education, in a context of shared
responsibilities between women and men. Ongoing under-representation of
women in political and economic decision making reflects a basic democratic
deficit in both the member states of the Council of Europe and the broader
international context.
3. The adoption of legislation or action plans or the
introduction of institutional mechanisms aimed at equal opportunities
between women and men seldom result in any real increase in female
participation at the highest national and international decision-making
levels. Many European countries fail to prioritise gender equality and even
where the prohibition of discrimination against women is enshrined in
legislation it is not always implemented in practice. This means that
legislation on equality or gender balance has only very seldom achieved the
anticipated results.
4. Persisting stereotypes and traditions or discrimination
in terms of access to the labour market or political life – and “career
progression” within one’s chosen profession – are so many obstacles to
female participation in the decision-making process. Few member states have
achieved the objective set out in Committee of Ministers Recommendation
Rec(2003)3 on balanced participation by women and men in political and
public decision making, namely that “the representation of either women or
men in any decision-making body in political or public life should not fall
below 40%”.
5. The Assembly is now convinced of the need to make up
for lost time. In view of the under-representation of women in
decision-making bodies, it is a matter of urgency to promote positive
measures because those adopted hitherto to promote women’s participation in
decision making have had but limited impact. The Council of Europe and its
member states must therefore identify the requisite mechanisms and good
practices to promote the implementation of Recommendation Rec(2003)3 and
alert the European decision-making bodies and public to the need for female
participation in decision making.
6. The Assembly therefore invites Council of Europe member
and observer states to:
6.1. set the objective of achieving a gender balance in
decision-making processes, with the initial target of a critical mass of
at least 40% women in all governmental and elected bodies;
6.2. with this in mind, prioritise the implementation of
Committee of Ministers Recommendation Rec(2003)3, which cannot be
successfully put into practice without creating or reinforcing national
and international mechanisms for promoting balanced participation of women
and men in the decision-making processes and making this a priority in all
ministries by implementing gender mainstreaming;
6.3. ensure gender-balanced participation in
international delegations;
6.4. monitor and assess progress by regularly
collecting, analysing and disseminating quantitative and qualitative data
on women and men at all levels in the various public and private sector
decision-making posts, and making public the number of women and men
employed at the various civil service levels on an annual basis;
6.5. raise the awareness of the media on the issue of
gender equality in order to prepare them for the role which they play in
forming public opinion of the place of women in society and the impact of
the media image of women on their level of participation in public and
political life;
6.6. associate non-governmental organisations with the
implementation of these information campaigns;
6.7. encourage access by women to decision making in all
spheres of public life by smashing the “glass ceiling”;
6.8. reinforce institutional mechanisms;
6.9. revise the rules, procedures and, if necessary the
electoral systems, in order to include the gender equality dimension with
a view to achieving, by 2020, a minimum 40% representation of women in
parliaments and other elected assemblies by urging early preparation of
the charter for electoral equality proposed by the Assembly in its
Recommendation
1676 (2004) on women’s participation in
elections;
6.10. give financial incentives to those political
parties which achieve the aim of a minimum 40% representation of women in
the party’s decision-making bodies and amongst candidates elected;
6.11. take account of the equality dimension when
adopting national, regional and local budgets;
6.12. ensure the appropriate implementation of existing
legislation on gender mainstreaming strategy;
6.13. adopt a framework law and a governmental programme
on gender equality and introduce machinery to assess the implementation of
the law and the programme and provide for their decentralised
implementation;
6.14. appoint a specialist on gender equality issues to
any existing mediation bodies;
6.15. ensure that public institutions set the reasonable
objective of ensuring a proportional number of 40% of women in top posts
in order to remedy any imbalance in representation of women and men;
6.16. promote participation by representatives of civil
society, particularly by those who show a keen interest in gender equality
issues, in all political debate, thus creating a “bridge” for women
between civil society and political life.
7. The Assembly invites all national and regional
parliamentary assemblies to set up committees on equality between women and
men.
8. The Assembly decides to ensure full implementation of
the principle of balanced participation by women and men in decision-making
processes in the Council of Europe and its organs and bodies, and therefore
decides to:
8.1. reaffirm its
Resolutions
1366 (2004) and
1426
(2005) on candidates for the European Court of
Human Rights, in which it decided not to take account of lists of
candidates that do not include at least one candidate of each sex, except
where the candidates belong to the sex under-represented in the Court,
that is, representing less than 40% of the total number of judges;
8.2. prepare a report, in consultation with those
involved in the respective election procedures, on how the representation
of both sexes can be realised for candidates to the European Committee for
the Prevention of Torture, the posts of Human Rights Commissioner,
Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe
and Secretary General of the Assembly;
8.3. continue implementing Resolution 1348 (2003) on
gender-balanced representation in the Parliamentary Assembly and reinforce
it with binding provisions, amending the Assembly Rules of Procedure if
necessary;
8.4. encourage female parliamentarians to work together,
above and beyond any national and political divisions, within the informal
group of female Assembly members, in order to increase their
representation in such posts of responsibility as committee, sub-committee
and national delegation chairs and encourage them to put their names
forward for rapporteurships and to add their names to lists of speakers;
8.5. invite the Bureau of the Assembly to propose
solutions to problems identified by the Committee on Equal Opportunities
for Women and Men, notably the under-representation of women in the
bureaux of political groups, national delegations and committees, and the
shortage of female rapporteurs;
8.6. encourage its political groups to take account of
the gender equality principle in appointing the members of committee
bureaux and speakers taking the floor on their behalf during debates;
8.7. encourage the national delegations to appoint more
female Vice-Presidents of the Assembly and chairs of the national
delegations themselves;
8.8. encourage the committees to appoint more female
rapporteurs.
1
Text adopted by the Standing Committee acting on
behalf of the Assembly on 17 March 2006 (see
Doc.10743,
report of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, rapporteur:
Mrs Cliveti).
