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UNDP Roundtable “ Women and governance in Eastern Europe and CIS”

UNDP Roundtable “ Women and governance in Eastern Europe and CIS”. “A Survey of Political Participation of Women in BiH” Jasminka Džumhur Sarajevo, 11 N ovember 2008. Women and political leadership. Few female political leaders in BiH

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UNDP Roundtable “ Women and governance in Eastern Europe and CIS”

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  1. UNDP Roundtable“Women and governance in Eastern Europeand CIS” “A Survey of Political Participation of Women in BiH” Jasminka Džumhur Sarajevo, 11 November 2008

  2. Women and political leadership • Few female political leaders in BiH • This has a negative impact on the political activity of women, because, despite their gender-sensitivity, their minority status within both party structures and political bodies makes them liable to observing party discipline that is frequently unfavorable for the promotion of gender equalityprinciples. • Women constitute a minority in the party organsand • Most political parties in BIH have not included in their documents the principles ensuring gender equality.

  3. Representation of women in the political parties and decision-making positions • In the Party of Democratic Actionof BiH (SDA BiH),the president, deputy president, general secretary and all five vice-presidents are male, while only 12 or 11,22% out of 107 members of the party’s Main Board are female. • In the Main Board ofCroatian Democratic Union (HDZ),constituted at the X. jubilleeParty conventionheld onMay 11- 12 2007, only two or 7,15% out of 28 members are female.Men also prevail in the party leadership, holding the positions of the president, deputy president and two vice-presidents, against a single female vice-president in the party. Furthermore, only two out of 18 members of the Presidencyof HDZ BiH are female.

  4. Representation of women in the political parties and decision-making positions • In the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats BiH (SNSD BiH) the leading positions are chieflyreserved for men. The party’s president, the Executive Board president and the general secretary are male, while only one out of five party vice-presidents is female. Among 36 members of the party’s Executive Board there are only 6 womenor 17,65%. In contrast to other political parties participating in the political life of BIH, the SNSD BiH has a professional Women’s section. • Within the Social-Democratic Party of BIH (SDP BiH) all leading postions are taken by men (president, general secretary, three vice-presidents). Among 22 members of the Presidency of SDP BiH only 4 or 18,29%, are female and among 83 members of the party’s Main Board 26 or 31,33% are female. At the same time, the SDP documents guarantee a limited gender equality.

  5. Participation of women in the decision-making • It is beyond doubt that the most important decisions in BIH are not made by the regular legislative and executive bodies, but within political parties, which includes a strict observance of party discipline • Women participate in the decision-making bodies regardless of their gender-sensitivity and of cooperation with the non-governmental sector acting as a social corrective and a system capable of identifying social needs • Key political acteurs in the political decision-making in BIH are the leaders of the main political parties.

  6. Representation of women in the BIH Parliamentary Assembly • In the House of Representatives of the BIH Parliamentary Assembly only 5 or 11,9% of 42 representatives are female • Age structure in the House of Representatives shows that 57% of delegates are older than 50, without a single delegate younger than 30. • In the House of Peoples of the PABiH only 2 or 13,33% out of total of 15 delegates are female

  7. Representation of women in the Parliamentary commissions • In the Commission for Finances and Budget and the Constitutional Commission of the House of Representatives all commission members are male (100%) • In the Commission for Foreign Trade and Customs, Commission for Traffic and Communications, Commission for Gender Equality Implementation and Commission for the preparation of the election of the BIH Council of Ministers respectively there is only one female member (11,11%).

  8. Representation of women in the Parliamentary commissions • The most satisfactory situation is in the Commission for Foreign Affairs with the gender ratio of three womento six men (33,33%). • The commissions in the House of Peoples show a similar gender structure as that in the House of Representatives : • all members of the Constitutional Commission are male (100%); • there is a single female member in the Commission for Finances and Budget (16,66%); • the Commission for Foreign Trade, Customs, Traffic and Communications has only two female members (33,33%). • two commissions within the House of Peoples (Commission for Budget and Commission for Foreign Trade, Customs, Traffic and Communications) are chaired by women.

  9. Permanent parliamentary delegations of PA BiH • In the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council, BiH is represented by a delegation consisting of five members out of whom two are female (40%), • The delegation of the PA BiH in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) consists of three male members. • The same applies to the BIH delegations in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Central European Initiative (CEI) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) • The BIH delegationin the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) includes 11 members of whom two are female (18,11%).

  10. Participation of women in the executive power of BiH • In the Council of Ministers BIH, there is not a single woman on the ministerial position, while there are two female minister deputies (22,23%), and one female ministerial secretary (11,12%). • Two out of five permanent bodies within the Council of Ministers have no female members whatsoever. • The Council of Ministers of BIH includes the chairman and nine ministers.

  11. Representation of womenin the judicial system and the institutionsfor human rights protection • In the Court ofBosnia and Herzegovina,only 16 or 36,59% of 41 local judges arefemale. The Court of BIH has a femalepresident. • 14 or 37,83% of all prosecutors in the Prosecutor’s Office of BIH are female. • Onlythree of nine judges in the Constitutional Court of BIH are female, while one of them is simultaneously president of the Court. • Three of nine judges in the Constitutional Court of FBIH are female, beside a female president of the Court. • All judges in the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Srpska are male. • 8 or 38,1% of 21 judges in the Supreme Court of the Republicof Srpskaare female, while president of the Supreme Court is a man.

  12. Reasons for reduced representation of women in the decision-making bodies • Legal and other reforms have excluded social measures geared toward ensuring equal opportunities of participation in the decision-making; • Reduced duration of maternity leave; • Inadequate legislation concerning maternity leave payment; • Reduced accommodation capacity of infant nurseries and kindergartens; • Extended working hours in the service sector such as shops, restaurants, supermarkets without adequate securitymeasures and surveillance system have further removed women not only from the leading positions but also from employment in general, denying them economic independence.

  13. Communication betweenthe associations and women elected in the decision-making bodies • Communication unfolded in several phases : • Joint activities begun immediately after the war ended focusing on the building up of mechanisms ensuring participation of women in the decision-making; • Period of intense cooperation and partnership (1998 -2003)resulting in the passing of Gender Equality Law, introducing the gender mechanisms, adopting the Strategy of prevention of human trafficking and ensuring a relatively high representation of women in the decision-making; • The phase of ongoing yet less intensive and less strategically defined cooperation between the two groups;

  14. The most important political issues concerning women’s rights in BIH at present • Constitutional reform • Accession into EU • Constitutional reforms provide an opportunity of declaring the gender equality principle as well as the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sex a constitutional category of equal importance as the principle of national/ethnic representation.

  15. Pressures related to gender equality issues and political participation of women in BIH • The most severe pressure comes from the concept of ensuring rights of constitutive nations/ethnic groups • Acknowledging collective rights at the expense of individual rights of citizens has led not only to the marginalization of the individuals who are not members of constitutive nations but also of certain social groups such as women

  16. Responsibility of authorities in the area of gender equality • Has the responsibility for gender equality in BIH been entirely “transferred to gender mechanisms”? • Who is responsible for the implementation of UN recommendations and are the CEDAW recommendations exclusively the duty of gender mechanisms? • Is gender equality treated by the authorities as a “women’s issue”?

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