Putting quotas on the political agenda

Putting quotas on the political agenda Regional Forum on “Equal Participation in Decision-Making”, Istanbul 15th November 2011 Andreea Paul (Vass)

Content • State of fact. Where are we? • Building the future • Frontline regulations • Why do we need more women in the public decision-making?

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

World classification of women representation in upper or lower House Data source: http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm

Current situation in Romania • Parliament: 9.7% womenas 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

2. Building the future • Legislated gender quota • Voluntary gender quota, in political parties • Perfect gender balance in the media during elections campaign (50% female - 50% male) • 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.

3. Frontline regulations “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-SookKim

A. Legislated gender quota • 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 2000imposes 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 (cont.) • 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.

B. Voluntary gender quota • 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 • Quotaswork 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

Romania: Putting quotas on the political agenda • The law regarding equal opportunities between men and women (2002): • fair and balanced representation at party levelof 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.

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

The GDP level increases as gender gap closes Luxembourg Norway Switzerland RO Data source: http://unctadstat.unctad.org/TableViewer/tableView.aspx http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GGGR11/GGGR11_Rankings-Scores.pdf

The GDP level increases as women representation in Parliaments is higher RO Data source: http://unctadstat.unctad.org/TableViewer/tableView.aspx http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm

Corruption is lower in countries with reduced gender gap New Zealand Data source: http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GGGR11/GGGR11_Rankings-Scores.pdf

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!

Putting quotas on the political agenda