The Hindu : The record elsewhere

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 18, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - News Analysis

The record elsewhere

IN SUB-SAHARAN Africa, women are better represented in the national legislatures than in most of the more `developed' world. And this includes the U.S. where only 14.3 per cent of the members of the lower house are women. In fact, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) ranks America 59th among countries vis-a-vis women's representation in legislatures.

The "Progress of the World's Women 2002" report of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), released this May 1, categorically states that "at least 13 countries in the Sub-Saharan region have higher rates of women's parliamentary participation than developed countries such as France, Japan, and the U.S."

Mozambique has 30 per cent representation for women; followed by Seychelles (29.4 per cent), Namibia (26.4 per cent), Rwanda (25.7 per cent), Uganda (24.7 per cent), Tanzania (22.3 per cent). Why, even Sierra Leone is a shade better than the U.S. with 14.5 per cent of its legislators being women.

Another telling statistic brought out by the biennial UNIFEM report pertains to the long-pending goal of 30 per cent representation for women in legislatures. Women account for about 14 per cent of the legislators the world over and only 11 countries had reached the 30 per cent benchmark: Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Norway, Iceland, The Netherlands, South Africa, Costa Rica, Argentina and Mozambique.

Significantly, all these countries have some form of quota. And five of them are Nordic countries where political parties opted for the quota system primarily because the women's movement mounted sustained pressure on their organisations to make space for them.

Though the more updated database of the IPU — March 28, 2003, being the cut-off date — puts the world average of women in legislatures at 15.2 per cent, and sees Cuba and Austria enter the 30-plus league, these statistics further substantiate the UNIFEM conclusion that substantial growth in women's representation in legislative mechanisms has taken place in countries with quotas for them.

For a nation born out of a struggle in which women marched shoulder-to-shoulder with men, the Indian Parliament and State legislatures do not reflect this historical fact. Women's representation in the Lok Sabha has only doubled from 4.4 per cent over the past 55 years. India, by electing 48 women to the Lok Sabha in 1999 stands 88th in the comity of nations whereas Pakistan occupies the 32nd position. If it is any consolation, in Japan women make up only 7.3 per cent of the Lower House. — A.J.

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