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International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: A constitutional perspective to challenges and opportunities for women in Myanmar

By Annamari T. Salonen

Women in Myanmar are facing many challenges as a result of traditional perceptions, institutional barriers, and societal norms. These challenges range from a lack of equal job opportunities, to difficulties participating in nation building or the political arena1.

According to the 2014 national census, women make up 52% of the most economically productive age group (15-64). Guaranteeing equality for women is not just important for fulfilling the democratic norm of equality, but also for establishing lasting peace in the country and the development of the nation.

During the decades of civil war in Myanmar, women have been the victims of war crimes and continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in conflicts.  Since the quasi-civilian U Thein Sein administration was sworn in back in March 2011, peace negotiations have a top priority. In October 2015, the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was signed by 8 of the main 21 ethnic armed organizations. The NCA set a political roadmap for peace which includes constitutional change following a political settlement. The National League for Democracy-led government elected in 2015 has held two peace conferences, which in May 2017 resulted in the signing of the first part of the Union Accord. In every step of the peace negotiations, participation of women was critical to uphold the legitimacy and inclusivity of the agreement. It is even more important in setting up the political settlement process and constitutional frameworks to incorporate important issues for women and respect women’s rights.

Yet, participation of women in peace negotiations is still low2. Structural barriers, the 2008 Constitutional arrangements, the lack of inheritance rights in customary law, and religious norms make women a second sex in political and daily life. Challenges ahead for women in Myanmar lie not just in the national level political settlement process but also at the community level due to institutional constraints and the lack of capacity and awareness. Ma Soe Soe San, a regional coordinator of PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE, a local civil society organization based in the city of Sittwe in Rakhine State, says

“Back home, women’s involvement in politics is very low at around 1 %. There are some traditional perception barriers too. Some women vote male candidate rather than female candidate with the assumption that males can only govern well.”

International IDEA Myanmar’s MyConstitution programme aims to provide tools to support women in their ability to participate and analyze the constitution from the perspective of substantive gender equality. In February 2018, together with the Gender Equality Network and Triangle Women Support Group, International IDEA conducted a training on ‘Constitution Assessment for Women Equality’ (CAWE) for local trainers working on women rights and gender equality issues, as well as government representatives and university staff. The training was followed by an advocacy session which provided participants the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and discuss gender issues.

Ma Soe Soe San, reflected on her participation in the training:

“Before the CAWE training, when I read the Constitution, I just read it without fully understanding what it means. During the CAWE training, I came to realize the constitutional provisions related with women’s equality and learn how Constitutions of other countries protect women equality. I have found out that our Constitution is still very general and other Constitutions have specific provisions.”

It is essential for women in Myanmar to have a seat at the peace negotiations table, and assess the current constitutional frameworks to protect women’s rights and dignity. Women have the potential to be a great force in building peace and a democratic constitutional culture in Myanmar.

-- 

1. According to a report on “Women Political Participation in Myanmar” released by the Asia Foundation in April 2017, women occupy only 13.7 per cent of all elected MPs in the new Union Parliament. That number (13.7 per cent) doubled compared to 6 per cent of women MPs in the previous Union Parliament. At the state/region level, 84 women were elected, tripling the number of women parliamentarians from 3.8% to 12.7%. This data are calculated by putting aside the 25 per cent of seats still reserved for the military.

2. Only 7 per cent of the 700 attendees of the 2016 January union peace conference were women. The number slightly increased to 13 per cent of 663 attendees in the August 2016 conference and 17 per cent of 910 attendees in the May 2017 conference.

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: The Global State of Gender

By Adina Trunk

November 2017 saw the launch of International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy report, which provided a global health check on democracy, both from a long and short-term perspective. The International Women’s Day provides time for reflection on the achievements and challenges on gender and women’s empowerment issues. Putting the gains and threats together ultimately leads to the question, what can we say about the global state of gender? 

Gender equality is undoubtedly a corner stone of democracy and a prerequisite for sustainable development, as defined by the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #5. But how should one assess, the successes and obstacles on achieving gender equality today? 

International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Indices provides an overview on the trends on  gender equality globally by presenting the g data from 1975-2015 on women’s political and civil society participation and gender equality in schooling. Additionally, the Global State of Democracy report explores issues related to gender equality both in the form of the challenges to be addressed as well as mechanisms to strengthen and address threats to democracy itself.  

All the world’s regions have seen an improvements and progress towards gender equality since 1975. Some regions have had a quicker rate of improvement than others, such as Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, which have seen a rapid increase since the 1990s, with Africa reaching Asia’s level of Gender Equality by the late 2000s.  Stark regional differences do remain, with the Middle East notably lagging behind other regions. 

In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - a set of rights for the advancement of women’s human rights towards gender equality was established, including representation in governance. This lay the foundation for many international efforts to address women and gender rights. 

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These trends are an encouraging sign that efforts to address gender equality do translate to impact.

The recognition of women’s movements as crucial actors in democratization efforts, are another key achievement. Women’s movements often work across lines of conflict, historical divisions and ethnic divides. As such, women’s civil society movements have been key actors fighting democratic backsliding, such as the recent Women’s Marches in 2016 and 2017, anti-abortion legislation protests in Poland or the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) movement during the drafting of the new Zimbabwean constitution. 

There is more widespread involvement of women in many post-conflict countries, such as Nepal, Rwanda and South Africa, than in countries with similar levels of development that have not experienced conflict. In this line, the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. It emphasizes women’s ability to affect change and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security.

While celebrating these steps towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, obstacles remain. SDG Target 5.5 calls for women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life. A healthy democracy is based on inclusiveness. Many parties are finding it harder to sustain this however, and evidence shows women’s exclusion from representative institutions. The percentage of women in parliament has increased from 11 per cent in 1995 to 23 per cent in 2017 worldwide, but at this rate it will take another 40 years to achieve true gender equality in legislatures. To address this, parties should have women’s chapters and caucuses, improve gender balance in party leadership and use all-women shortlists. Representative institutions should reflect the demographics of society by mentoring and recruiting more women into roles that lead to leadership positions.

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Another challenge to women’s representation and political influence is access to political finance funding. Cultural perceptions and expectations of women’s roles can work to limit women politicians’ networking and political finance potential. Formal structures to address this imbalance are often lacking: only 13.3 per cent of countries provide direct public funding to political parties that is contingent on gender equality among candidates, and 86.5 per cent of countries have no legislation offering financial advantages to encourage gender equality within parties. Regulations linking provisions for public funding and other financial advantages should be promoted and enhanced, to level the playing field between men and women.

Both men and women should take International Women’s Day as a moment to reflect on the global state of gender, the gains that have been made, and the challenges that remain. However, honouring the achievements gives hope to those advocating for change, showing the strengths of past women’s movements and battles. 

 

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: The Global State of Gender

By Adina Trunk

November 2017 saw the launch of International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy report, which provided a global health check on democracy, both from a long and short-term perspective. The International Women’s Day provides time for reflection on the achievements and challenges on gender and women’s empowerment issues. Putting the gains and threats together ultimately leads to the question, what can we say about the global state of gender? 

Gender equality is undoubtedly a corner stone of democracy and a prerequisite for sustainable development, as defined by the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #5. But how should one assess, the successes and obstacles on achieving gender equality today? 

International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Indices provides an overview on the trends on  gender equality globally by presenting the g data from 1975-2015 on women’s political and civil society participation and gender equality in schooling. Additionally, the Global State of Democracy report explores issues related to gender equality both in the form of the challenges to be addressed as well as mechanisms to strengthen and address threats to democracy itself.  

All the world’s regions have seen an improvements and progress towards gender equality since 1975. Some regions have had a quicker rate of improvement than others, such as Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, which have seen a rapid increase since the 1990s, with Africa reaching Asia’s level of Gender Equality by the late 2000s.  Stark regional differences do remain, with the Middle East notably lagging behind other regions. 

In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - a set of rights for the advancement of women’s human rights towards gender equality was established, including representation in governance. This lay the foundation for many international efforts to address women and gender rights. 

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These trends are an encouraging sign that efforts to address gender equality do translate to impact.

The recognition of women’s movements as crucial actors in democratization efforts, are another key achievement. Women’s movements often work across lines of conflict, historical divisions and ethnic divides. As such, women’s civil society movements have been key actors fighting democratic backsliding, such as the recent Women’s Marches in 2016 and 2017, anti-abortion legislation protests in Poland or the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) movement during the drafting of the new Zimbabwean constitution. 

There is more widespread involvement of women in many post-conflict countries, such as Nepal, Rwanda and South Africa, than in countries with similar levels of development that have not experienced conflict. In this line, the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. It emphasizes women’s ability to affect change and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security.

While celebrating these steps towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, obstacles remain. SDG Target 5.5 calls for women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life. A healthy democracy is based on inclusiveness. Many parties are finding it harder to sustain this however, and evidence shows women’s exclusion from representative institutions. The percentage of women in parliament has increased from 11 per cent in 1995 to 23 per cent in 2017 worldwide, but at this rate it will take another 40 years to achieve true gender equality in legislatures. To address this, parties should have women’s chapters and caucuses, improve gender balance in party leadership and use all-women shortlists. Representative institutions should reflect the demographics of society by mentoring and recruiting more women into roles that lead to leadership positions.

[[{"fid":"13004","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"2"}}]] 

Another challenge to women’s representation and political influence is access to political finance funding. Cultural perceptions and expectations of women’s roles can work to limit women politicians’ networking and political finance potential. Formal structures to address this imbalance are often lacking: only 13.3 per cent of countries provide direct public funding to political parties that is contingent on gender equality among candidates, and 86.5 per cent of countries have no legislation offering financial advantages to encourage gender equality within parties. Regulations linking provisions for public funding and other financial advantages should be promoted and enhanced, to level the playing field between men and women.

Both men and women should take International Women’s Day as a moment to reflect on the global state of gender, the gains that have been made, and the challenges that remain. However, honouring the achievements gives hope to those advocating for change, showing the strengths of past women’s movements and battles. 

 

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: The Global State of Gender

By Adina Trunk

November 2017 saw the launch of International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy report, which provided a global health check on democracy, both from a long and short-term perspective. The International Women’s Day provides time for reflection on the achievements and challenges on gender and women’s empowerment issues. Putting the gains and threats together ultimately leads to the question, what can we say about the global state of gender? 

Gender equality is undoubtedly a corner stone of democracy and a prerequisite for sustainable development, as defined by the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #5. But how should one assess, the successes and obstacles on achieving gender equality today? 

International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Indices provides an overview on the trends on  gender equality globally by presenting the g data from 1975-2015 on women’s political and civil society participation and gender equality in schooling. Additionally, the Global State of Democracy report explores issues related to gender equality both in the form of the challenges to be addressed as well as mechanisms to strengthen and address threats to democracy itself.  

All the world’s regions have seen an improvements and progress towards gender equality since 1975. Some regions have had a quicker rate of improvement than others, such as Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, which have seen a rapid increase since the 1990s, with Africa reaching Asia’s level of Gender Equality by the late 2000s.  Stark regional differences do remain, with the Middle East notably lagging behind other regions. 

In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - a set of rights for the advancement of women’s human rights towards gender equality was established, including representation in governance. This lay the foundation for many international efforts to address women and gender rights. 

[[{"fid":"13003","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"1"}}]] 

These trends are an encouraging sign that efforts to address gender equality do translate to impact.

The recognition of women’s movements as crucial actors in democratization efforts, are another key achievement. Women’s movements often work across lines of conflict, historical divisions and ethnic divides. As such, women’s civil society movements have been key actors fighting democratic backsliding, such as the recent Women’s Marches in 2016 and 2017, anti-abortion legislation protests in Poland or the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) movement during the drafting of the new Zimbabwean constitution. 

There is more widespread involvement of women in many post-conflict countries, such as Nepal, Rwanda and South Africa, than in countries with similar levels of development that have not experienced conflict. In this line, the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. It emphasizes women’s ability to affect change and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security.

While celebrating these steps towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, obstacles remain. SDG Target 5.5 calls for women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life. A healthy democracy is based on inclusiveness. Many parties are finding it harder to sustain this however, and evidence shows women’s exclusion from representative institutions. The percentage of women in parliament has increased from 11 per cent in 1995 to 23 per cent in 2017 worldwide, but at this rate it will take another 40 years to achieve true gender equality in legislatures. To address this, parties should have women’s chapters and caucuses, improve gender balance in party leadership and use all-women shortlists. Representative institutions should reflect the demographics of society by mentoring and recruiting more women into roles that lead to leadership positions.

[[{"fid":"13004","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"2"}}]] 

Another challenge to women’s representation and political influence is access to political finance funding. Cultural perceptions and expectations of women’s roles can work to limit women politicians’ networking and political finance potential. Formal structures to address this imbalance are often lacking: only 13.3 per cent of countries provide direct public funding to political parties that is contingent on gender equality among candidates, and 86.5 per cent of countries have no legislation offering financial advantages to encourage gender equality within parties. Regulations linking provisions for public funding and other financial advantages should be promoted and enhanced, to level the playing field between men and women.

Both men and women should take International Women’s Day as a moment to reflect on the global state of gender, the gains that have been made, and the challenges that remain. However, honouring the achievements gives hope to those advocating for change, showing the strengths of past women’s movements and battles. 

 

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: The Global State of Gender

By Adina Trunk

November 2017 saw the launch of International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy report, which provided a global health check on democracy, both from a long and short-term perspective. The International Women’s Day provides time for reflection on the achievements and challenges on gender and women’s empowerment issues. Putting the gains and threats together ultimately leads to the question, what can we say about the global state of gender? 

Gender equality is undoubtedly a corner stone of democracy and a prerequisite for sustainable development, as defined by the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #5. But how should one assess, the successes and obstacles on achieving gender equality today? 

International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Indices provides an overview on the trends on  gender equality globally by presenting the g data from 1975-2015 on women’s political and civil society participation and gender equality in schooling. Additionally, the Global State of Democracy report explores issues related to gender equality both in the form of the challenges to be addressed as well as mechanisms to strengthen and address threats to democracy itself.  

All the world’s regions have seen an improvements and progress towards gender equality since 1975. Some regions have had a quicker rate of improvement than others, such as Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, which have seen a rapid increase since the 1990s, with Africa reaching Asia’s level of Gender Equality by the late 2000s.  Stark regional differences do remain, with the Middle East notably lagging behind other regions. 

In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - a set of rights for the advancement of women’s human rights towards gender equality was established, including representation in governance. This lay the foundation for many international efforts to address women and gender rights. 

[[{"fid":"13003","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"1"}}]] 

These trends are an encouraging sign that efforts to address gender equality do translate to impact.

The recognition of women’s movements as crucial actors in democratization efforts, are another key achievement. Women’s movements often work across lines of conflict, historical divisions and ethnic divides. As such, women’s civil society movements have been key actors fighting democratic backsliding, such as the recent Women’s Marches in 2016 and 2017, anti-abortion legislation protests in Poland or the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) movement during the drafting of the new Zimbabwean constitution. 

There is more widespread involvement of women in many post-conflict countries, such as Nepal, Rwanda and South Africa, than in countries with similar levels of development that have not experienced conflict. In this line, the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. It emphasizes women’s ability to affect change and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security.

While celebrating these steps towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, obstacles remain. SDG Target 5.5 calls for women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life. A healthy democracy is based on inclusiveness. Many parties are finding it harder to sustain this however, and evidence shows women’s exclusion from representative institutions. The percentage of women in parliament has increased from 11 per cent in 1995 to 23 per cent in 2017 worldwide, but at this rate it will take another 40 years to achieve true gender equality in legislatures. To address this, parties should have women’s chapters and caucuses, improve gender balance in party leadership and use all-women shortlists. Representative institutions should reflect the demographics of society by mentoring and recruiting more women into roles that lead to leadership positions.

[[{"fid":"13004","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"2"}}]] 

Another challenge to women’s representation and political influence is access to political finance funding. Cultural perceptions and expectations of women’s roles can work to limit women politicians’ networking and political finance potential. Formal structures to address this imbalance are often lacking: only 13.3 per cent of countries provide direct public funding to political parties that is contingent on gender equality among candidates, and 86.5 per cent of countries have no legislation offering financial advantages to encourage gender equality within parties. Regulations linking provisions for public funding and other financial advantages should be promoted and enhanced, to level the playing field between men and women.

Both men and women should take International Women’s Day as a moment to reflect on the global state of gender, the gains that have been made, and the challenges that remain. However, honouring the achievements gives hope to those advocating for change, showing the strengths of past women’s movements and battles. 

 

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: The Global State of Gender

By Adina Trunk

November 2017 saw the launch of International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy report, which provided a global health check on democracy, both from a long and short-term perspective. The International Women’s Day provides time for reflection on the achievements and challenges on gender and women’s empowerment issues. Putting the gains and threats together ultimately leads to the question, what can we say about the global state of gender? 

Gender equality is undoubtedly a corner stone of democracy and a prerequisite for sustainable development, as defined by the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #5. But how should one assess, the successes and obstacles on achieving gender equality today? 

International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Indices provides an overview on the trends on  gender equality globally by presenting the g data from 1975-2015 on women’s political and civil society participation and gender equality in schooling. Additionally, the Global State of Democracy report explores issues related to gender equality both in the form of the challenges to be addressed as well as mechanisms to strengthen and address threats to democracy itself.  

All the world’s regions have seen an improvements and progress towards gender equality since 1975. Some regions have had a quicker rate of improvement than others, such as Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, which have seen a rapid increase since the 1990s, with Africa reaching Asia’s level of Gender Equality by the late 2000s.  Stark regional differences do remain, with the Middle East notably lagging behind other regions. 

In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - a set of rights for the advancement of women’s human rights towards gender equality was established, including representation in governance. This lay the foundation for many international efforts to address women and gender rights. 

[[{"fid":"13003","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"1"}}]] 

These trends are an encouraging sign that efforts to address gender equality do translate to impact.

The recognition of women’s movements as crucial actors in democratization efforts, are another key achievement. Women’s movements often work across lines of conflict, historical divisions and ethnic divides. As such, women’s civil society movements have been key actors fighting democratic backsliding, such as the recent Women’s Marches in 2016 and 2017, anti-abortion legislation protests in Poland or the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) movement during the drafting of the new Zimbabwean constitution. 

There is more widespread involvement of women in many post-conflict countries, such as Nepal, Rwanda and South Africa, than in countries with similar levels of development that have not experienced conflict. In this line, the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. It emphasizes women’s ability to affect change and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security.

While celebrating these steps towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, obstacles remain. SDG Target 5.5 calls for women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life. A healthy democracy is based on inclusiveness. Many parties are finding it harder to sustain this however, and evidence shows women’s exclusion from representative institutions. The percentage of women in parliament has increased from 11 per cent in 1995 to 23 per cent in 2017 worldwide, but at this rate it will take another 40 years to achieve true gender equality in legislatures. To address this, parties should have women’s chapters and caucuses, improve gender balance in party leadership and use all-women shortlists. Representative institutions should reflect the demographics of society by mentoring and recruiting more women into roles that lead to leadership positions.

[[{"fid":"13004","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"2"}}]] 

Another challenge to women’s representation and political influence is access to political finance funding. Cultural perceptions and expectations of women’s roles can work to limit women politicians’ networking and political finance potential. Formal structures to address this imbalance are often lacking: only 13.3 per cent of countries provide direct public funding to political parties that is contingent on gender equality among candidates, and 86.5 per cent of countries have no legislation offering financial advantages to encourage gender equality within parties. Regulations linking provisions for public funding and other financial advantages should be promoted and enhanced, to level the playing field between men and women.

Both men and women should take International Women’s Day as a moment to reflect on the global state of gender, the gains that have been made, and the challenges that remain. However, honouring the achievements gives hope to those advocating for change, showing the strengths of past women’s movements and battles. 

 

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: The Global State of Gender

By Adina Trunk

November 2017 saw the launch of International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy report, which provided a global health check on democracy, both from a long and short-term perspective. The International Women’s Day provides time for reflection on the achievements and challenges on gender and women’s empowerment issues. Putting the gains and threats together ultimately leads to the question, what can we say about the global state of gender? 

Gender equality is undoubtedly a corner stone of democracy and a prerequisite for sustainable development, as defined by the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #5. But how should one assess, the successes and obstacles on achieving gender equality today? 

International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Indices provides an overview on the trends on  gender equality globally by presenting the g data from 1975-2015 on women’s political and civil society participation and gender equality in schooling. Additionally, the Global State of Democracy report explores issues related to gender equality both in the form of the challenges to be addressed as well as mechanisms to strengthen and address threats to democracy itself.  

All the world’s regions have seen an improvements and progress towards gender equality since 1975. Some regions have had a quicker rate of improvement than others, such as Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, which have seen a rapid increase since the 1990s, with Africa reaching Asia’s level of Gender Equality by the late 2000s.  Stark regional differences do remain, with the Middle East notably lagging behind other regions. 

In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - a set of rights for the advancement of women’s human rights towards gender equality was established, including representation in governance. This lay the foundation for many international efforts to address women and gender rights. 

[[{"fid":"13003","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"1"}}]] 

These trends are an encouraging sign that efforts to address gender equality do translate to impact.

The recognition of women’s movements as crucial actors in democratization efforts, are another key achievement. Women’s movements often work across lines of conflict, historical divisions and ethnic divides. As such, women’s civil society movements have been key actors fighting democratic backsliding, such as the recent Women’s Marches in 2016 and 2017, anti-abortion legislation protests in Poland or the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) movement during the drafting of the new Zimbabwean constitution. 

There is more widespread involvement of women in many post-conflict countries, such as Nepal, Rwanda and South Africa, than in countries with similar levels of development that have not experienced conflict. In this line, the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. It emphasizes women’s ability to affect change and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security.

While celebrating these steps towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, obstacles remain. SDG Target 5.5 calls for women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life. A healthy democracy is based on inclusiveness. Many parties are finding it harder to sustain this however, and evidence shows women’s exclusion from representative institutions. The percentage of women in parliament has increased from 11 per cent in 1995 to 23 per cent in 2017 worldwide, but at this rate it will take another 40 years to achieve true gender equality in legislatures. To address this, parties should have women’s chapters and caucuses, improve gender balance in party leadership and use all-women shortlists. Representative institutions should reflect the demographics of society by mentoring and recruiting more women into roles that lead to leadership positions.

[[{"fid":"13004","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"2"}}]] 

Another challenge to women’s representation and political influence is access to political finance funding. Cultural perceptions and expectations of women’s roles can work to limit women politicians’ networking and political finance potential. Formal structures to address this imbalance are often lacking: only 13.3 per cent of countries provide direct public funding to political parties that is contingent on gender equality among candidates, and 86.5 per cent of countries have no legislation offering financial advantages to encourage gender equality within parties. Regulations linking provisions for public funding and other financial advantages should be promoted and enhanced, to level the playing field between men and women.

Both men and women should take International Women’s Day as a moment to reflect on the global state of gender, the gains that have been made, and the challenges that remain. However, honouring the achievements gives hope to those advocating for change, showing the strengths of past women’s movements and battles. 

 

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: The Global State of Gender

By Adina Trunk

November 2017 saw the launch of International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy report, which provided a global health check on democracy, both from a long and short-term perspective. The International Women’s Day provides time for reflection on the achievements and challenges on gender and women’s empowerment issues. Putting the gains and threats together ultimately leads to the question, what can we say about the global state of gender? 

Gender equality is undoubtedly a corner stone of democracy and a prerequisite for sustainable development, as defined by the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #5. But how should one assess, the successes and obstacles on achieving gender equality today? 

International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Indices provides an overview on the trends on  gender equality globally by presenting the g data from 1975-2015 on women’s political and civil society participation and gender equality in schooling. Additionally, the Global State of Democracy report explores issues related to gender equality both in the form of the challenges to be addressed as well as mechanisms to strengthen and address threats to democracy itself.  

All the world’s regions have seen an improvements and progress towards gender equality since 1975. Some regions have had a quicker rate of improvement than others, such as Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, which have seen a rapid increase since the 1990s, with Africa reaching Asia’s level of Gender Equality by the late 2000s.  Stark regional differences do remain, with the Middle East notably lagging behind other regions. 

In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - a set of rights for the advancement of women’s human rights towards gender equality was established, including representation in governance. This lay the foundation for many international efforts to address women and gender rights. 

[[{"fid":"13003","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"1"}}]] 

These trends are an encouraging sign that efforts to address gender equality do translate to impact.

The recognition of women’s movements as crucial actors in democratization efforts, are another key achievement. Women’s movements often work across lines of conflict, historical divisions and ethnic divides. As such, women’s civil society movements have been key actors fighting democratic backsliding, such as the recent Women’s Marches in 2016 and 2017, anti-abortion legislation protests in Poland or the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) movement during the drafting of the new Zimbabwean constitution. 

There is more widespread involvement of women in many post-conflict countries, such as Nepal, Rwanda and South Africa, than in countries with similar levels of development that have not experienced conflict. In this line, the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. It emphasizes women’s ability to affect change and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security.

While celebrating these steps towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, obstacles remain. SDG Target 5.5 calls for women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life. A healthy democracy is based on inclusiveness. Many parties are finding it harder to sustain this however, and evidence shows women’s exclusion from representative institutions. The percentage of women in parliament has increased from 11 per cent in 1995 to 23 per cent in 2017 worldwide, but at this rate it will take another 40 years to achieve true gender equality in legislatures. To address this, parties should have women’s chapters and caucuses, improve gender balance in party leadership and use all-women shortlists. Representative institutions should reflect the demographics of society by mentoring and recruiting more women into roles that lead to leadership positions.

[[{"fid":"13004","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"2"}}]] 

Another challenge to women’s representation and political influence is access to political finance funding. Cultural perceptions and expectations of women’s roles can work to limit women politicians’ networking and political finance potential. Formal structures to address this imbalance are often lacking: only 13.3 per cent of countries provide direct public funding to political parties that is contingent on gender equality among candidates, and 86.5 per cent of countries have no legislation offering financial advantages to encourage gender equality within parties. Regulations linking provisions for public funding and other financial advantages should be promoted and enhanced, to level the playing field between men and women.

Both men and women should take International Women’s Day as a moment to reflect on the global state of gender, the gains that have been made, and the challenges that remain. However, honouring the achievements gives hope to those advocating for change, showing the strengths of past women’s movements and battles. 

 

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: The Global State of Gender

By Adina Trunk

November 2017 saw the launch of International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy report, which provided a global health check on democracy, both from a long and short-term perspective. The International Women’s Day provides time for reflection on the achievements and challenges on gender and women’s empowerment issues. Putting the gains and threats together ultimately leads to the question, what can we say about the global state of gender? 

Gender equality is undoubtedly a corner stone of democracy and a prerequisite for sustainable development, as defined by the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #5. But how should one assess, the successes and obstacles on achieving gender equality today? 

International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Indices provides an overview on the trends on  gender equality globally by presenting the g data from 1975-2015 on women’s political and civil society participation and gender equality in schooling. Additionally, the Global State of Democracy report explores issues related to gender equality both in the form of the challenges to be addressed as well as mechanisms to strengthen and address threats to democracy itself.  

All the world’s regions have seen an improvements and progress towards gender equality since 1975. Some regions have had a quicker rate of improvement than others, such as Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, which have seen a rapid increase since the 1990s, with Africa reaching Asia’s level of Gender Equality by the late 2000s.  Stark regional differences do remain, with the Middle East notably lagging behind other regions. 

In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - a set of rights for the advancement of women’s human rights towards gender equality was established, including representation in governance. This lay the foundation for many international efforts to address women and gender rights. 

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These trends are an encouraging sign that efforts to address gender equality do translate to impact.

The recognition of women’s movements as crucial actors in democratization efforts, are another key achievement. Women’s movements often work across lines of conflict, historical divisions and ethnic divides. As such, women’s civil society movements have been key actors fighting democratic backsliding, such as the recent Women’s Marches in 2016 and 2017, anti-abortion legislation protests in Poland or the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) movement during the drafting of the new Zimbabwean constitution. 

There is more widespread involvement of women in many post-conflict countries, such as Nepal, Rwanda and South Africa, than in countries with similar levels of development that have not experienced conflict. In this line, the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. It emphasizes women’s ability to affect change and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security.

While celebrating these steps towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, obstacles remain. SDG Target 5.5 calls for women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life. A healthy democracy is based on inclusiveness. Many parties are finding it harder to sustain this however, and evidence shows women’s exclusion from representative institutions. The percentage of women in parliament has increased from 11 per cent in 1995 to 23 per cent in 2017 worldwide, but at this rate it will take another 40 years to achieve true gender equality in legislatures. To address this, parties should have women’s chapters and caucuses, improve gender balance in party leadership and use all-women shortlists. Representative institutions should reflect the demographics of society by mentoring and recruiting more women into roles that lead to leadership positions.

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Another challenge to women’s representation and political influence is access to political finance funding. Cultural perceptions and expectations of women’s roles can work to limit women politicians’ networking and political finance potential. Formal structures to address this imbalance are often lacking: only 13.3 per cent of countries provide direct public funding to political parties that is contingent on gender equality among candidates, and 86.5 per cent of countries have no legislation offering financial advantages to encourage gender equality within parties. Regulations linking provisions for public funding and other financial advantages should be promoted and enhanced, to level the playing field between men and women.

Both men and women should take International Women’s Day as a moment to reflect on the global state of gender, the gains that have been made, and the challenges that remain. However, honouring the achievements gives hope to those advocating for change, showing the strengths of past women’s movements and battles. 

 

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: The Global State of Gender

By Adina Trunk

November 2017 saw the launch of International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy report, which provided a global health check on democracy, both from a long and short-term perspective. The International Women’s Day provides time for reflection on the achievements and challenges on gender and women’s empowerment issues. Putting the gains and threats together ultimately leads to the question, what can we say about the global state of gender? 

Gender equality is undoubtedly a corner stone of democracy and a prerequisite for sustainable development, as defined by the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #5. But how should one assess, the successes and obstacles on achieving gender equality today? 

International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Indices provides an overview on the trends on  gender equality globally by presenting the g data from 1975-2015 on women’s political and civil society participation and gender equality in schooling. Additionally, the Global State of Democracy report explores issues related to gender equality both in the form of the challenges to be addressed as well as mechanisms to strengthen and address threats to democracy itself.  

All the world’s regions have seen an improvements and progress towards gender equality since 1975. Some regions have had a quicker rate of improvement than others, such as Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, which have seen a rapid increase since the 1990s, with Africa reaching Asia’s level of Gender Equality by the late 2000s.  Stark regional differences do remain, with the Middle East notably lagging behind other regions. 

In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - a set of rights for the advancement of women’s human rights towards gender equality was established, including representation in governance. This lay the foundation for many international efforts to address women and gender rights. 

[[{"fid":"13003","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"1"}}]] 

These trends are an encouraging sign that efforts to address gender equality do translate to impact.

The recognition of women’s movements as crucial actors in democratization efforts, are another key achievement. Women’s movements often work across lines of conflict, historical divisions and ethnic divides. As such, women’s civil society movements have been key actors fighting democratic backsliding, such as the recent Women’s Marches in 2016 and 2017, anti-abortion legislation protests in Poland or the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) movement during the drafting of the new Zimbabwean constitution. 

There is more widespread involvement of women in many post-conflict countries, such as Nepal, Rwanda and South Africa, than in countries with similar levels of development that have not experienced conflict. In this line, the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. It emphasizes women’s ability to affect change and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security.

While celebrating these steps towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, obstacles remain. SDG Target 5.5 calls for women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life. A healthy democracy is based on inclusiveness. Many parties are finding it harder to sustain this however, and evidence shows women’s exclusion from representative institutions. The percentage of women in parliament has increased from 11 per cent in 1995 to 23 per cent in 2017 worldwide, but at this rate it will take another 40 years to achieve true gender equality in legislatures. To address this, parties should have women’s chapters and caucuses, improve gender balance in party leadership and use all-women shortlists. Representative institutions should reflect the demographics of society by mentoring and recruiting more women into roles that lead to leadership positions.

[[{"fid":"13004","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"2"}}]] 

Another challenge to women’s representation and political influence is access to political finance funding. Cultural perceptions and expectations of women’s roles can work to limit women politicians’ networking and political finance potential. Formal structures to address this imbalance are often lacking: only 13.3 per cent of countries provide direct public funding to political parties that is contingent on gender equality among candidates, and 86.5 per cent of countries have no legislation offering financial advantages to encourage gender equality within parties. Regulations linking provisions for public funding and other financial advantages should be promoted and enhanced, to level the playing field between men and women.

Both men and women should take International Women’s Day as a moment to reflect on the global state of gender, the gains that have been made, and the challenges that remain. However, honouring the achievements gives hope to those advocating for change, showing the strengths of past women’s movements and battles. 

 

view
International IDEA's International Women's Day 2018 Series: The Global State of Gender

By Adina Trunk

November 2017 saw the launch of International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy report, which provided a global health check on democracy, both from a long and short-term perspective. The International Women’s Day provides time for reflection on the achievements and challenges on gender and women’s empowerment issues. Putting the gains and threats together ultimately leads to the question, what can we say about the global state of gender? 

Gender equality is undoubtedly a corner stone of democracy and a prerequisite for sustainable development, as defined by the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #5. But how should one assess, the successes and obstacles on achieving gender equality today? 

International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Indices provides an overview on the trends on  gender equality globally by presenting the g data from 1975-2015 on women’s political and civil society participation and gender equality in schooling. Additionally, the Global State of Democracy report explores issues related to gender equality both in the form of the challenges to be addressed as well as mechanisms to strengthen and address threats to democracy itself.  

All the world’s regions have seen an improvements and progress towards gender equality since 1975. Some regions have had a quicker rate of improvement than others, such as Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, which have seen a rapid increase since the 1990s, with Africa reaching Asia’s level of Gender Equality by the late 2000s.  Stark regional differences do remain, with the Middle East notably lagging behind other regions. 

In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - a set of rights for the advancement of women’s human rights towards gender equality was established, including representation in governance. This lay the foundation for many international efforts to address women and gender rights. 

[[{"fid":"13003","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"1"}}]] 

These trends are an encouraging sign that efforts to address gender equality do translate to impact.

The recognition of women’s movements as crucial actors in democratization efforts, are another key achievement. Women’s movements often work across lines of conflict, historical divisions and ethnic divides. As such, women’s civil society movements have been key actors fighting democratic backsliding, such as the recent Women’s Marches in 2016 and 2017, anti-abortion legislation protests in Poland or the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) movement during the drafting of the new Zimbabwean constitution. 

There is more widespread involvement of women in many post-conflict countries, such as Nepal, Rwanda and South Africa, than in countries with similar levels of development that have not experienced conflict. In this line, the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction. It emphasizes women’s ability to affect change and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security.

While celebrating these steps towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, obstacles remain. SDG Target 5.5 calls for women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life. A healthy democracy is based on inclusiveness. Many parties are finding it harder to sustain this however, and evidence shows women’s exclusion from representative institutions. The percentage of women in parliament has increased from 11 per cent in 1995 to 23 per cent in 2017 worldwide, but at this rate it will take another 40 years to achieve true gender equality in legislatures. To address this, parties should have women’s chapters and caucuses, improve gender balance in party leadership and use all-women shortlists. Representative institutions should reflect the demographics of society by mentoring and recruiting more women into roles that lead to leadership positions.

[[{"fid":"13004","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-media-original","data-delta":"2"}}]] 

Another challenge to women’s representation and political influence is access to political finance funding. Cultural perceptions and expectations of women’s roles can work to limit women politicians’ networking and political finance potential. Formal structures to address this imbalance are often lacking: only 13.3 per cent of countries provide direct public funding to political parties that is contingent on gender equality among candidates, and 86.5 per cent of countries have no legislation offering financial advantages to encourage gender equality within parties. Regulations linking provisions for public funding and other financial advantages should be promoted and enhanced, to level the playing field between men and women.

Both men and women should take International Women’s Day as a moment to reflect on the global state of gender, the gains that have been made, and the challenges that remain. However, honouring the achievements gives hope to those advocating for change, showing the strengths of past women’s movements and battles. 

 

view