Official documents and
statements of political parties often set normative and policy frameworks for
gender equality, as they provide a vision of the party and set the rules of
conduct. Political parties frequently include provisions on women’s
participation and gender equality in governing documents and other internal
legal regulations.[1] A
research carried out by International IDEA and the Inter-American Development
Bank in 2011 revealed that 70 percent of political parties in Latin
America referred to gender equality and non-discrimination in party documents, while
the remaining 30 percent failed to mention these principles.[2]
According to another 2013 study by International IDEA on political parties’
commitments in 33 African countries, 27 percent of analyzed parties had
included gender equality commitments in their constitutions and 58 percent in
their party manifestos, although there was a significant gap between these
written commitments and specific measures to implement them.[3]
According to
International IDEA’s 2016 “Framework
for Developing Gender Policies for Political Parties”, gender
policies can help political parties identify gender-based inequalities; provide
clear direction and policy measures to promote gender equality in politics;
integrate this issue into their strategic planning; establish specific
objectives, measurable targets and implementation strategies; and develop
accountability mechanisms for compliance with these goals. This framework sets
a model to “assist political parties and gender equality advocates in their
efforts to develop comprehensive policies to advance gender equality within
political parties.”[4] It
offers a reflection on key principles that should guide internal gender
policies for political parties, which comprise substantive equality as opposed
to mere formal equality; use of special measures to promote women’s
participation; consideration of marginalized groups among women; reconciliation
of personal and professional life; and collection of gender-disaggregated data
and statistics within the party. The document also outlines a number of
specific objectives that could be included in internal gender policies, such as
improving women’s participation at all levels in party governance; ensuring
adequate levels of power and resources for women’s groups within the party;
improving women candidates’ access to financial resources and media campaigns;
increasing the pool of women candidates; mainstreaming gender equality into the
party’s training strategy; and integrating gender in policy positions to
advance the rights of men and women. [5]
Example: In Sierra Leone, a number of political parties have adopted
internal gender policies. Through its gender policy, the All People’s Congress
(APC) commits to promoting women’s participation in its internal executive
structures and elected bodies. The People’s Movement for Democratic Change
(PMDC) gender policy sets the goal of ensuring women’s representation within
the party at all levels, as well as inclusive decision-making processes. The
Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) gender policy aims to increase women’s
representation at all levels of the party’s internal structure and also in the
legislature and local councils. One of the objectives of the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) gender policy is to promote gender sensitive policies
within and outside the party, in order to achieve a more balanced representation
of men and women, in light of the ICCPR and NDA’s party Constitution.[6]
Example: In El Salvador, the Farabundo Marti Front for National
Liberation (FMLN) included in its ethics code and mission statement a clause on
political equality for women. Within this party, the traditionally significant
presence of women among its members and leaders, as well as the active role of
the Women’s Secretariat, has allowed to develop a strong institutional
commitment with gender equality and women’s participation, which also
translates into inclusive internal rules.[7]
Example: In Costa Rica, the Citizens’ Action Party (PAC) addressed
gender equality in its statutes and regulations, and established a Prosecutor’s
Office on Gender Equality mandated to monitor, report and advise on the
implementation of the regulations. This party is particularly committed to the
principle of gender equality and ensures a gender-balanced composition of all
its internal structures, leadership positions and candidate lists.[8]
Example: In Kenya, Article 91 of the 2010 Constitution sets the
requirement for political parties to “respect the right of all persons to
participate in the political process, including minorities and marginalized
groups.” Furthermore, Section 7 of the Political Parties Act requires governing
bodies of political parties to reflect gender balance with no more than two
thirds of their members being of the same gender. All registered political
parties in Kenya have complied with these legal provisions, adapting their party
by-laws and internal regulations accordingly. For instance, the 2010 party
Constitution of the National Alliance included among its core values and
principles to promote equal participation and inclusivity of all people in
governance, equality before the law and equity in resource allocation. The
Orange Democratic Movement Party commits, in its 2007 Constitution, to support
women’s emancipation, fight sexism and make sure that women’s voices are heard
and that they are fairly represented in internal organs at all levels. The
Constitution and manifesto of the Wiper Democratic Movement includes the
commitment to promote freedom to participate in political decision-making
through recognition of equality before the law and equal opportunities for all,
including women and youth. The United Republican Party commits to promote full
participation of women, youth, persons with disabilities and other marginalized
groups through affirmative action and mainstreaming, while reserving a number
of position for women in its governing body. The United Democratic Forum Party,
in its 2013 Constitution, pledges to protect and defend the rights of all
Kenyan citizens, especially women, children, youth, people with disabilities
and other marginalized groups.[9]
[1] UNDP and NDI: op. cit.,
p. 15.
[3] International IDEA (2012): “Review of political parties’
commitments to gender equality: a study of 33 African countries” (unpublished).
[5] International IDEA
(2016): op. cit.
[7] UNDP and NDI (2012): op.
cit. p. 77.
[8] UNDP and NDI (2012): op.
cit., p. 17.
[9] International IDEA and
Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (2015): “Political parties’
internal rules from a gender perspective: comparative experiences.”
