Week 2: Women in Parliament in Your Country Date: Mar 16, 2009 2:15:13 AM PDT Author: Brooke How many women parliamentarians have been elected to serve in your country? Does the number or proportion of women parliamentarians matter or is it really a question of the quality of those elected? Brooke Prater WBI Parliamentary Strengthening Program parliamentarystrengthening@gmail.com Last modified by Brooke on Mar 16 2009 9:37AM

Women in Parliament in Your Country Date: Mar 16, 2009 8:14:49 AM PDT Author: Moderator I am sure all participants will want to hear the experience of the others about this matter. Participants will want to consider the proportion of members who are women. The Commonwealth figures taken as a whole are not very impressive – they have been about 12 or 13 per cent for some time. The figures in legislatures taken singly vary very much of course. Could the reasons for small numbers of women in parliament be related to education levels or lack of access or traditional values playing a significant part? Some countries have taken action by law to increase the number and proportion. I believe Uganda requires that there be at least one woman MP per district and that one-third of local political positions be reserved for women. Ugandan participants may like to tell us whether this is the current situation and if so, about the success of this arrangement. Some political parties in certain countries require fixed percentages of women to be among their nominees. A lot will depend on whether the selected constituencies are safe seats for that party or not. What do we think of such quota arrangements? Have they helped to solve problems or have they created new ones? What do women think of (minimum) quotas for them? In a country I know well, Sri Lanka, there are no quota arrangements even though the number and proportion of women in politics is very small. There has in general been a reluctance for women to enter politics and a number who have done so have been from political dynasties, that is, families which have been immersed in politics. I don’t think educational levels or literacy problems matter in Sri Lanka as the literacy rates for both males and females are over 90% and there are almost equal numbers of men and women graduating from universities. Parliament has only some 5 per cent of women members at the current time but the significant thing for me is that almost all the women who enter parliament move up to high posts – this is not something new byt has been a regular feature over the years.

Week 2: Women in Parliament in Your Country Date: Mar 17, 2009 11:56:08 PM PDT Author: Asad Originally Posted by Brooke: How many women parliamentarians have been elected to serve in your country? Does the number or proportion of women parliamentarians matter or is it really a question of the quality of those elected? Ours is a bicameral legilature.The lower is called National Assembly with 342 members where as the Upper House is known a Senate with 100 members.Seats have been reserved for women in both the houses.17 seats have been reseved for women in the Senate and 60 in the National Assembly but there is no bar on women to contest elections on general seats. They participate very actively in the legislation process and have always made themselves felt. They palyed a commendable role in law making.

Women in Parliament in Your Country Date: Mar 18, 2009 12:14:44 AM PDT Author: Asad it submitted that there are different factors that contribute to bar women from participating in politics.these factors may vary from country to country and region to region.As far as South Asia is concerned, I would like to state that all educational background,culture and traditional approches are in the way.But to cite the example of Pakistan, a revolutionary change has occured. women have started participating in the politics.they are now being elected as MNAs and Senators and members of the provincial assemblies.Political awareness is there but there is room for improvement. The government is fully committed to their betterment to bring them in to the mainstream of policy making and national development

Women in Parliament in Your Country Date: Mar 18, 2009 10:46:29 PM PDT Author: karoli Article Article 78(1) of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda prescribes the composition of Parliament as follows: 1. Parliament shall consist of : a). Members directly elected to represent constituencies; b). One woman representative for every district; c). Such numbers of representatives of the army, youth, workers, persons with disabilities and other groups as Parliament may determine; and d). The Vice-President and Ministers who, if not already elected Members of Parliament, shall be ex-officio members without the right to vote on any issue requiring a vote in Parliament. 2. Upon the expiration of a period of ten years after the commencement of this Constitution and thereafter, every five years, Parliament shall review the representation under paragraph(s) (b) and (c) of clause (1) of this article for the purposes of retaining, increasing, or abolishing any such representation and any other matter incidental to it. 3. The representatives referred to in paragraph (a) of clause (1) of this article shall be elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage and by secret ballot. 4. Parliament shall, by law prescribe the procedure for elections of representatives referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c) of clause (1) of this article. The 8th Parliament of Uganda comprises of:215 Constituency Representatives, 80 District Woman Representatives, 10 Uganda People's Defence Forces, Representatives, 5 Representatives of the Youth, 5 Representatives of Persons with Disabilities and 5 Representatives of Workers plus 13 Ex-officio Members Our system like has been pointed out by the moderator requires that each district must have a women member of Parliament and current we have 80 women members of parliament representing the 80 districts of uganda, this however does not block women contesting in the constituencies. Even at the local levels one third of the district local government executive council must filled by women. we are still a long way to emancipating our women, there are still bottlenecks like education, cultural and religious factors but our government and political parties are working towards solving these problems. we are aware it is an uphill task but i know together we can!

Women in Parliament in Your Country Date: Mar 19, 2009 12:57:53 AM PDT Author: Tina Parliament of the Republic of Uganda derives its existence, composition, functions and mandate from the Constitution of Uganda. Article 77 (i) of the Constitution provides as follows: There shall be a Parliament of Uganda. Clause (iii) of the same Article states thus: “The composition and function of Parliament shall be prescribed by this Constitution”. The current Parliament of Uganda which is a unicameral type is the Eighth Parliament since Uganda attained independence in 1962. It was sworn-in on the 16th and 17th May 2006 and therefore its term will end on the 18th May 2011. It has 333 members with the following composition: 215 Constituency Representation, 80 District Women Representatives, 10 Army Representatives, 5 Workers’ Representative, 5 Youth Representatives, 5 Representatives of People with Disabilities, 14 Ex-Official Members (these are ministers who were not elected as Members of Parliament but sit in Parliament by virtue of being Ministers) In terms of gender balance, there are about 100 female Members of Parliament broken down as follows: Female – 100 Members; 80 District Women Representatives, 14 Directly elected Constituency Representatives, 2 Army Representatives, 1 Youth Representatives, 2 Workers’ Representatives, 1 Representative of People with Disabilities, 1 Ex-Official Member. So generally, in term of percentage, Uganda has an average of 33.3% women representatives, not forgeting that we also have women ministers. And at local levels, a 1/3 portion of the local governement executive councils is for women. With this, women representation are not purely directed by the education since the are all already structures governing the composition of our institutions. We can not rule out the fact that for some cases the cultural and religous norms are still affecting this arrangment, but soon will get there! The number or proportion of women parliamentarians matter alot in terms directing views and ideas towards gender relating isues. so as Parliamentarians, they will be able to advocate for laws, rights and opportunities towards women emancipation.

Women in Parliament: Does the number matter? Date: Mar 19, 2009 6:29:58 AM PDT Author: Tumu Tina has articulated the numbers of legislators in Uganda. I have nothing to add, except to discuss whether the number of women matters or the quality of those elected (meaning what?). Of course the quality thing is problematic. quality of what, when and where? But I am intervention is really on the issue of representation by gender. If democracy is a question of numbers, then, the number of women in parliament matters even irrespective of their quality (whatever it means). If we are saying that interest groups like the army, Persons with the disabilities, workers; and groups are considered for ministerial appointments, it goes without saying that women should participate in numbers commensurate with their population contribution. Gender participation should be on a pro-rata basis. That to me is the first principle. It is their right to have sufficient numbers, even more than men because of previous marginalization and domination. Two, even before considering the quality of their deliberation, mere presence of more women in parliament has an implicit effect on the type of policies, arguments and political statements that are made on the floor of parliament. Even before a matter is brought, some 'answer' will already have been crafted should the women raise 'dust'. Thus, mere numbers increase sensitivity to gender issues. Three, women in Parliament, and better when they are many, tend to discuss and focus on 'soft issues' like maternal health, schools, nutrition, peace, environment, sanitation, water etc, and to me, this is the meat. In that way, they humanize politics. They make politics relevant to the needs of the common people. Lastly, and this point is likely to be contraversial, more women in parliament tend to make male legislators calm, focussed and reasonable because of love relationships in Parliament. Good, cool, researched submissions by male legislators endear male legislators to female colleagues. While the cool legislators get loved, the general public gets better products. Lastly, the situation becomes better when the majority women are also cool and seasoned legislators. But it will take time before such a scenario is achieved given the fact that there are alot of obstacles that prevent majority women from being effective legislators. In a nutshell, if we want democracy, we need more women in Parliament. The benefits are immense whether or not the women legislators are of 'quality'.

Women in Parliament in Your Country Date: Mar 19, 2009 7:36:03 AM PDT Author: Moderator Tina, Tumu and Karoli have taken this discussion forward by helping us with the details of the situation in Uganda and commented on the quality/numbers debate if I may put it that way. Similarly Asad has commented on the situation in Pakistan and mentioned the figures obtaining there. What about our other colleagues? What do you think of current representation - what is the number of women representatives: is it inadequate (or does 'inadequate' have no meaning in this context) or are quotas perhaps being promoted as the solution to inadequacy? Any data and views you give will help us all to understand the overall Commonwealth situation.

Week 2: Women in Parliament in Your Country Date: Mar 20, 2009 2:13:03 AM PDT Author: NAMAYANJA Women and Parliamentary Democracy in Uganda Uganda has achieved tremendous progress towards women participation in politics and the democratization process. This has been done through a number of both legal and institutional reforms. Among the legal reforms is the constitution of the republic of Uganda. It provides a platform for active participation of women in parliament. For instance Article 78(1) of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda provides the election one woman representative for every district. This implies that for every district in the country there is a woman representative. However it is important to note that even in other constituencies, women are free to compete with men and indeed in the current parliament over 14 women were able to defeat men in hotly contested mult-party elections. Therefore in terms of gender balance, there are about 100 female Members of Parliament broken down as follows: Female – 100 Members; 80 District Women Representatives, 14 Directly elected Constituency Representatives, 2 Army Representatives, 1 Youth Representatives, 2 Workers’ Representatives, 1 Representative of People with Disabilities, 1 Ex-Official Member. So generally, in term of percentage, Uganda has an average of 33.3% women representatives, not forgetting that we also have women ministers. To further strengthen women parliamentary participation, although not established in the law, the practice is that either the speaker or deputy speaker at least one should be a woman and the current parliament, the deputy speaker is a woman who has performed t her work successfully. Such is the level of participation that has also seen many women chairing powerful house committees including defense and internal affairs, Agricultural committee, the Budget Committee among others. Recently a cabinet reshuffle too place and for the first time, a woman was named minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. The number and the level of education may not matter much but the committment to the women cause. in Uganda some of the most vibrant and active women MPs are not the ones with highest education. Though it matter especially when it comes to chairing some technical committees, it is important one has to posesses some tehcnical knowlgde like the legal committee. However much as women have such big representation in parliament, it does not follow that all other women in the country are well off. There is still need for more affirmative action to break through the cultural and religious values that constrain women and undermine their full participation in the development process of the country. There is need for more economic empowerment so that women can have access and control over productive resources. One can therefore concluding by asserting that though political representation has been achieved in Uganda, it is not sufficient enough to say that the women struggle has been accomplished. Much more need to be done

Women in Parliament in your country Date: Mar 20, 2009 9:33:02 AM PDT Author: Jackée Ours is a bicameral legislature. The Lower House is comprised of 41 elected representatives (26 government and 15 opposition), 11 of whom are women, that is 9 government and 2 opposition. The average being 26.8%. The Upper House is known as the Senate which is comprised of 31 senators (appointed). Our Senate is made up of three benches: government, opposition and independent senators, 13 of whom are women. The average being 41.9%. An average of 33.3% for both Houses combined. Our Women Parliamentarians play an active role in the law-making process. I perceive a promising future for women who which to be parliamentarians in this country, with the numbers greatly increasing.