" The achievement of democracy presupposes a genuine partnership between men and women in the conduct if the affairs of society in which they work in equality and complementarity, drawing mutual enrichment from their differences."

These few lines from the Universal Declaration on Democracy¹ concisely define the philosophy which has inspired the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in its work to promote the status of women in the last twenty years. While it seeks to examine all aspects of women's status in society, IPU focuses particularly on women's contribution to and impact on the political and parlia- mentary process - a relatively unexplored field prior to the mid-1980s and one in which IPU felt decisive progress needed to be made if democracy and sustained development were to be achieved.

Getting the Facts

Twenty to 30 years ago, the gender imbalance in politics anywhere in the world was even more flagrant than it is today. Anxious to find ways to redress the situation, the IPU decided first to take detailed stock of it, in its historical and cultural diversity. In this regard, it undertook what appeared to be a straightforward exercise but was in fact a complex and difficult process: collecting information on the dates on which women were granted the right to vote around the world and data on women's presence in national parliaments since the creation of the first sovereign national parliamentary assembly.

The findings cast a harsh spotlight on reality. What young generations of women and men in well-established democracies may consider an obvious part of their political rights, and may even view with a certain negligence, was not a right that women had less than a century ago.

In fact, these rights still remain elusive for women, hopefully not for long, in at least two countries with a national legislature (Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates).

In many cases, the rights to vote and stand for election were granted in stages.

The world chronology of women's suffrage reveals that it took women almost a whole century to gain recognition of their right to vote and their right to stand for elections. The chronology also reveals that for many countries women's political emancipation came hand-in-hand with emancipation from colonial rule, and that it has not been uncommon for women in the South to obtain the franchise before women in the North. In many cases, the rights to vote and to stand for election were granted in stages. In some isolated cases women were given the right to stand for elections before they were considered able to express their own electoral choice; for example, women in the U.S. were given the right to stand for elections in 1788, but were not given the right to vote until 1920.

In many countries, the right to vote for women was coupled with certain conditions, such as being a wife or a widow, being a member of armed forces, or having reached a certiain degree of education.

In many countries, the right to vote for women was coupled with certain conditions. These conditions were meant to highlight that, in the view of those in power, only certain women could share in what was still considered a highly elitist right: that of ruling others. IPU's surveys revealed that, in addition to the usual requirements of citizenship, age and residence, the restrictions (now abolished) imposed on women's suffrage included that a woman: be a wife or a widow; be the mother of a member of the armed forces; be literate or have reached a certain degree of education; have a certain level of income or social standing; or belong to a given racial group. Such conditions would have been inconceivable for men. The surveys reveal that a long time often elapsed between women being granted the right to vote and actually getting elected. There were also long delays between the formal recognition of women's right to stand for elections and the time when either women dared to run or parties dared to select them as candidates; and further delays until the time that electors actually placed their confidence in women and elected them as their representatives.

IPU's surveys, which have since diversified and expanded beyond just the collection of statistical and historical data, show that these issues need to be analysed in the light of historical, political, cultural and sociological developments throughout the world. They also highlight the fact that for men to accept women as equal partners in the paid labour force and as equal contributors to society's well-being and development, beyond their roles at home, still involve a major shift in values. This process is far from complete anywhere in the world, even in countries where a war or a struggle for independence has upset, at least temporarily, the traditional division of labour between men and women. Whatever a country's historical experience and the degree to which attitudes have evolved, the fact remains that men are reluctant to accept women as political partners. This only reinforces the fact that a great deal of awareness-raising still needs to be done.

Changing Atttitudes

Since the 1980s a strong network for women, IPU's Meeting of Women Parliamentarians, had developed within the organization. This group was able to convince a male dominated IPU that it should organize a special event to discuss women's participation in the political and parliamentary decision-making process. Despite the reluctance of some feminist hardliners, it was agreed that since politics was very much in the hands of men, no viable solutions could be found and applied unless men embarked with women on assessing the problem and were also involved in the search for solutions. In reality, it was not easy for the IPU to convince member parliaments to send male MPs to a meeting called upon to discuss women's political integration. While not always daring to confess this, many men felt that this was not their business or feared that they would be put on trial for holding onto the political decision-making process in contravention to democratic principles. In the end, 16 per cent of the men invited, mostly from the developing countries and some from very conservative cultural backgrounds, attended the meeting in Geneva in November 1989. Their very presence generated a unique and fresh debate, especially as it had been decided that pre-prepared speeches and country statements would not be allowed.

A vision, not just of politics but of society at large, emerged from the session. Although in practice politics was still a "no-woman's land", participants agreed that its conduct and outcome affected the lives of women as much as that of men and that it was the concern of both genders. They agreed that the more women are involved in the political decision-making process - in parties, elected bodies, governments and international bodies - both in numbers that reflect the percentage of the population which they constitute and as active players in the process, the more the concept of democracy would assume true and tangible expression. Internationally, this was the first time that an equation between democracy and women's involvement was established in a straightforward manner by both men and women together. Although many possible solutions had been discussed and some action identified, an overall strategy still needed to be devised to change a reality that contradicted the equation.

Men and Women in Partnership

In April 1992, the overwhelmingly male plenary policy-making body of the IPU, the Inter-Parliamentary Council, confirmed that "the concept of democracy will only assume true and dynamic significance when political policies and national legislation are decided upon jointly by men and women with equitable regard for the interests and aptitudes of both halves of the population". This opened the way to setting up a group of six men and six women, representing the six main regions and the various political systems and cultural backgrounds of the world, to work on a full-fledged Plan of Action to Correct Present Imbalances in the Participation of Men and Women in Political Life. The project was seen as a contribution to the Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW) in Beijing in September 1995 and was to place special emphasis on women's participation in political life.

To define pragmatic strategies which states and, more importantly, political parties and organizations could use as guidelines, the IPU decided not only to set up a parity group (this process alone took several months due to the reluctance of some regional groupings, particularly the Europeans), but also to carry out an in-depth consultation process with parliaments which would take into account the relevance of any proposed strategies vis-à-vis national diversity. The undertaking lasted almost two years: a first draft, based on the results of the consultation, was sent to all parliaments for analysis and amendment; in March 1994 the IPU reached a consensus on a Plan of Action that fits into its larger project of promoting representative democracy. This plan was one of the sources of inspiration for the Beijing governmental Declaration and Platform for Action.

IPU's plan of Action for the first time defined gender partnership as being the bedrock of democracy and the path to sustained developement.

The key feature of the Plan of Action was that for the first time it defined gender partnership as being the bedrock of democracy and the path to sustained development.
The Plan is particularly popular and practical for political actors because:

• It addresses the basic issues without disregarding the cultural, religious, social, political and institutional diversity of the different countries;

• It offers practical solutions to problems common to all countries while proposing a broad spectrum of options to meet the specific situations in different countries and regions;

• It tackles women's participation in politics while taking into account other indicators, such as the enjoyment of civil, economic, social and cultural rights;

• It interprets the interests and skills of women without causing a backlash from men, who had long held centrestage on the political scene.

Making a Political Commitment

Given the role of parliaments in states' affairs, it was natural to ensure that they were closely involved in the preparatory process for the Beijing Conference and in its decisions which, even if they were taken by governments alone, incur the responsibility of the state. The IPU thus urged parliaments to make arrangements for a number of their members to take part, both in the government conference and in the parallel non-governmental organizations (NGOs) forum. It also organized a Parliamentarians' Day which was hosted by the Chinese National People's Congress, chaired by the President of the FWCW and gathered some 500 MPs, both men and women, from 102 countries.

Noble principles and the best guidelines enunciated in internationally agreed documents after days and months of arduous negotiations can gather dust on a shelf if the political will, and the adequate budgetary appropriations, are not there to translate them into national legislation and programmes. For this reason, the Parliamentarians' Day concluded with the adoption by consensus of the Beijing Parliamentary Declaration, a text later endorsed by IPU's plenary governing body, which stated the commitment of parliaments and their members to take their share of the follow-up process of the FWCW and "to ensure that the necessary resources are made available for carrying out any measure" adopted in that context. The Declaration once more reiterated that "no country can any longer afford to overlook any portion of its human resources" and that "active partnership of both elements of society is indeed one of the surest, most lasting foundations of democracy and development, and urgently needed establishing through structural and legislative measures aimed at the equal participation of women and men in the political decision-making process".

A New Social Contract

In addition to suggestions aimed at governments, parliaments, political parties and organizations, non-governmental organizations and the media regarding ways to correct the gender imbalance in the daily running of public affairs, the Plan of Action provided for the continuation of IPU's world surveys and comparative studies on women's issues, for structural changes within the IPU itself to render it consistent with this vision of democracy, and for a periodical review of achievements, nationally and internationally. It also provided for the holding of another meeting around the concept of gender partnership in politics. Thus, as part of the follow-up process of the Beijing FWCW, an international specialized conference was organized by the IPU in February 1997 on the theme Towards Partnership Between Men and Women in Politics.

Hosted by the Indian Parliament, the event gathered, perhaps for the first time on the international scene, an equal number of men and women. During four days, participants departed from the usual ritual of international conferences, refrained from making pre-prepared speeches, and instead carried out a dynamic and creative brain-storming session on ways to correct the current democratic deficit. Their discussions covered the link between democracy and gender partnership, practical ways to further women's political and electoral training, the controversial technique of quotas, and ways to ensure the adequate funding of women's electoral campaigns. The programme of events also included a second stimulating round table with the media on the image of women politicians in the media (the first one had been held in Geneva in 1989). To facilitate participants' reflections and comments, the IPU had produced a world comparative study based on a survey carried out with all existing national parliaments and covering the various aspects of women's participation in political parties, their involvement in the electoral process both as electors and as candidates, and their presence, role and functions in parliament. Accompanied with a poster presenting the situation on a world map, the study contained both statistical and substantial data and was entitled, Men and Women in Politics: Democracy Still in the Making.

Modern democratic society must develop a new social contract in which men and women work in equality and complementarity.

The New Delhi Declaration and the publication, Towards Partnership Between Men and Women in Politics, convey the creative spirit that inspired the discussion. Speaking from their personal experience, men and women participants identified concrete measures likely to generate a change. They concluded that "what is basically at stake is democracy itself". They asserted that "what has to be developed, in modern democratic societies, is nothing less than a new social contract in which men and women work in equality and complementarity, enriching each other mutually from their differences". They felt that "to address the current deficit, a major shift in the mind-set of both men and women is needed", stressing that "this would generate a positive change of attitudes towards women and lead to a new balance in society at large and in politics in particular".

In analysing the outcome of the conference two months later, the IPU Council urged governments, parliaments and political parties to take inspiration from the concrete suggestions made by the New Delhi Conference "so that politics may better reflect and interpret the national population in its dual composition and is carried out in a spirit of partnership, a consolidating factor of democracy". Further, it decided to establish within the IPU a Gender Partnership Group aimed at securing the implementation of the principle advocated at large.

Women's Political Input and Impact

This is the current "state of the art" at the IPU on the issue of women's political participation. Having started its work on the basis of numbers some 20 years ago, it has since gone beyond numbers to analyse the root-causes of the problem and its various forms and consequences, and to design remedies.

IPU has elaborated proposals for concrete strategies to enable women to enhance their political input and impact on the political processes of their countries and world-wide. IPU's own findings endorse what has been elaborated in this handbook with regard to the importance of education, electoral systems, quotas, sharing responsibilities and relieving women of their double burden, networking, mentoring and setting up specialized national machinery.² IPU has several additional suggestions, outlined in Box 6.

At a time when many tend to deny that women's emergence on the political scene has had any positive impact, IPU is initiating work to collect direct testimonies of women parliamentarians on their input and impact on daily politics. This survey should enable the international community to assess to what extent women's participation has affected both the work of political parties and the running and political outcome of parliamentary work. Like previous IPU world comparative surveys, it may reveal unexpected realities, dispel prejudices, generate a re-adjustment of men's and women's visions of their respective input in politics, help developing self-confidence among women and, hopefully, demonstrate that democracy is gaining in strength.