Remarks delivered by Ziad Sheikh, UN Women Nepal Representative

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Good Morning and Namaste.

UN Women is pleased to partner with the Centre for Social Research, under the leadership of Dr. Ranjana Kumari on this critical women’s rights issue.

Nepal is passing through a potentially transformative period, politically. The 2008 Constituent Assembly elections in Nepal was a milestone in women’s representation in parliament, with women securing 33% of the seats; a significant step forward from less than 7% in previous elections.^[1] This is a measure we should move forward from, not back. All efforts must be made to ensure that the impressive gains are sustained and further expanded on. Now that the rest of the world looks at Nepal as a leading example, let us not fall back and lose that advantage. ^[2]

Women are increasingly asserting themselves as voters. In growing numbers they are running for public office. We know, where women’s representation has increased, change has followed. Progressive laws have been passed—to secure land rights, to tackle violence against women, and to improve health care, reproductive rights and employment.^[3]

I can’t help but think of what Saadia from northwestern Pakistan said after she voted for the first time during their recent general elections held in May.  For  Saadia it was “a life-time experience to cast my vote for the first time. It renewed my hopes for the nation”. Saadia was one of the 15 million women who ventured out to vote, despite wide spread violence and intimidation by those who would challenge democracy.

Today, I would like to highlight THREE important messages.

We know that women have made remarkable progress, but this progress has not yet been matched by women’s participation in political and public life. Women constitute 51 per cent of the world’s population, and yet they are grossly under-represented in the institutions that make key decisions affecting their lives. Only 20.9 per cent of national parliamentarians were female as of 1 July 2013, a slow increase from 11.6 per cent in 1995.

As of June 2013, 8 women served as Head of State and 13 served as Head of Government. On average about 1 in 5 of parliamentarians worldwide is a woman.

South Asia too lags far behind in terms of participation of women in governance. Only 7 % women are members of political parties in South Asia. According to UN Women’s Progress of the World’s Women 2011-12, on an average, till mid 2008, there were only 15 per cent women parliamentarians in South Asia.  The region also accounted for less than 5 percent women police personnel and less than 10 percent women judges. The Committee for the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has repeatedly in their concluding observations expressed concern about women’s continued low representation in the most high-level decision-making positions, including public service, the judiciary and at the local level.

Secondly, the voices of too many women continue to be stifled through exclusion, discrimination, and violence. It is a reality faced by women around the world, and it is a reality that is holding back progress for women and for all of society.^[4]  The 2011 UN General Assembly resolution on women’s political participation noted, “Women in every part of the world continue to be largely marginalized from the political sphere, often as a result of discriminatory laws, practices, attitudes and gender stereotypes, low levels of education, lack of access to health care and the disproportionate effect of poverty on women.”

A UN Women study in Bhutan showed that household responsibilities, illiteracy and fewer role models prevent Bhutanese women from actively participating in local politics.

The 5 C”s often cited as challenges to women’s participation (childcare, cash, culture, confidence, candidate selection) does not include competence. Women do not lack interest, voice or agency to participate and lead decision making processes.  They have just not got the same opportunities and tend to face many more challenges, both cultural and practical. Therefore, questioning women’s quality and capacity is unfair. Certainly nobody seems to question men’s capacities, even when their performance is less than stellar.

Violence against women is a major deterrent to women’s active engagement in politics. Take the case of Manjulata Sahoo, the first woman village head of Nadhara Village Council in India’s eastern state of Odisha. She endured brutal physical assault, blackmail and threatening calls from villagers when she tried to report corruption by local officials. Intimidation, character assassination, humiliation, and sexual harassment of women in politics is a sad but true representation of reality. It is unacceptable. An environment of zero tolerance must be created.

Thirdly, evidence has shown that temporary special measures for women as well as extended support can make a critical difference in facilitating women’s active engagement in politics.

As the first Executive Director of UN Women, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, in her remarks on “Women and Political Decision-Making” in Ireland highlighted earlier this year - UN Women has often been asked the question whether numbers per se count and whether we err in working on numbers. She reiterated that the reality is that numbers matter. In critical processes and decisions, there must be a critical mass of women. This is where the numbers come in and that is why the brave advocates at the Fourth World Women’s Conference in Beijing identified the critical mass as being at least 30 per cent.

Since UN Women was created over two years ago, we have worked with some 28 countries to break down the barriers to women’s political participation through temporary special measures and quotas. Half of all countries in the world have implemented some form of electoral quota in the past 20 years. And of the 33 countries that have reached the critical mass of 30 per cent, 28 have achieved this by implementing gender quotas. Quotas have helped women in South Asia to prove their abilities as leaders, as agents of change and to exercise their right to participate equally in democratic governance.

The positive examples from Nepal, Pakistan and India demonstrate that with the appropriate support and resources, women can claim their fundamental right as voters, candidates, and decision-makers without the fear of violence and discrimination.

UN Women is conducting a research to understand the current situation of violence against women in politics in Nepal, Pakistan and India. All three countries will soon hold elections; this effort is both timely and relevant. We hope that discussions today will provide answers to some of the questions for the study that is being conducted by the Center for Social Research.

We all know that there can be NO equality, NO peace and NO sustainable and inclusive development if we continue to exclude women and girls. We know this requires changing deep rooted attitudes and addressing the economic, social and political exclusion of women as structural causes of violence and discrimination. The full and equal participation and representation of women in all spheres is non-negotiable. It is the smart choice to make, if we want peace, justice and equality for all.

Thank you.