Strasbourg/Kyiv, 28 November 2016:A new study identifying key barriers to women’s political representation in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine will be presented at a conference organised by the Council of Europe in co-operation with Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Sub-Committee on gender equality and non-discrimination on Thursday, 1 December 2016, in Kyiv.
The event will be opened by Iryna Suslova, Chair of the Parliamentary Sub-committee on gender equality and non-discrimination. Other high-level representatives from the Ukrainian authorities and Council of Europe are expected to take part in the event.
Members of Parliament, representatives of local and regional administration, political parties, Central Election Commissions, NGOs, as well as independent gender experts from these countries will examine good practices, support measures and possible strategies to enhance women’s political representation in the region. The participants will also plan priority actions to be implemented in the following three years with the Council of Europe technical assistance to achieve this goal.
While balanced political representation is crucial for the political, economic and social wealth of a country, the new study demonstrates that in all the countries surveyed women are less likely to run for political office and to be elected both to the national Parliaments and to local government bodies. The study shows that women hold less than 20% of seats in parliament in all the countries with the exception of Belarus where 30% of parliamentary seats are held by women. Stereotypical views and assumptions about the role women should play in society are among major barriers to women’s political representation in all the countries examined.
The event is organised under the regional project on “Reforming electoral legislation and practice and developing regional co-operation” conducted by the European Union/Council of Europe Programmatic Co-operation Framework for Eastern Partnership countries. The project is implemented by the Directorate General of Democracy of the Council of Europe.
The conference will take place at the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Kyiv, ul. Grushevskogo, 5), it will start on 1 December at 9h00. To cover the event, journalists should be accredited with the Press Service of Verkhovna Rada, and have a valid accreditation badge. Information on media accreditation with the Verkhovna Rada is available here.