(9 March 2009) The majority of regional leaders consulted by ECLAC perceive that gender parity in politics is an ongoing, vigorous and probably irreversible process. They also approve the objectives and instruments used to advance this process, including affirmative action and quota laws.
This is one of the main conclusions of the Survey of leaders in Latin America on present and future perspectives of women's access to political decision-making positions recently conducted by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) among over 400 opinion leaders and decision-makers in the region.
The majority of those polled -which included public employees, lawmakers, politicians, business leaders, academics, communicators and social and religious leaders of both sexes- said that over the past decade, women have gained greater access to representative positions in Parliament, government or municipalities in their countries.
In fact, the proportion of women in Parliament in Latin America rose from an average 8% in 1990 to 18% in 2008, while their participation in government cabinets during the last three presidential periods increased from 13% to 27% in late 2006. The percentage of women mayors in the region did not change significantly, from 5% in 1998 to 6.8% ten years later.
The ECLAC survey is based on two of the central issues in the Quito Consensus reached by governments in the region during the Tenth Regional Conference on Women: shared responsibility of women and men in the family and parity in access to political decision-making positions, as well as the actions needed to increase women's political participation through affirmative action policies, such as quotas.
The great majority of those consulted believes that women's participation will increase or remain unaltered in the future; that is, they don't expect any reversal in progress already achieved. They also agree that women's greater presence in Congress, government and municipalities has contributed to improve the representativeness in the democratic system.
A high number of those surveyed thinks that legislative measures should be adopted in order to achieve political parity between men and women (69% of men and 92% of women consulted). Quota laws are viewed as positive by three-fourths of all those surveyed (65% of men and 88% of women).
In terms of deadlines for putting in place affirmative action policies, most of those polled do not support a specific deadline, but 62% said that policies of co-responsibility between men and women in families and workplaces should be in effect in the short run so women may have more time and opportunities available to participate in public life.
The first results of the ECLAC survey will be released during the celebration of International Women's Day 2009, whose main slogan is "Women and men united to end violence against women and girls", and the first anniversary of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's campaign, "Unite to End Violence Against Women". In his message on March 5 at UN headquarters in New York, the Secretary-General stressed that the relationship between this violence and development is clear: domestic violence destroys lives and health, perpetuates poverty and impedes achieving women's equality and empowerment."
To commemorate this day, ECLAC will hold an event on Tuesday, March 10 at 12.30 p.m. at its headquarters in Santiago, Chile (Dag Hammarskjöld Av. 3477, Vitacura, west wing), which will be attended by government officials, representatives of the diplomatic corps, UN agencies and civil society.
The media is welcome to participate in the commemoration event of International Women's Day. For more information, contact ECLAC's Information Services. Email: dpisantiago cepal.org; telephones: (56-2) 210-2380/2149. |
