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STORY: UN / WOMEN POLITICS MAP
TRT: 02:50
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 15 MARCH 2017, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
15 MARCH 2017, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Chungong, Secretary-General, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU):
“When we look at the chart of women’s representation in parliament, we see that the countries that are doing well are the younger democracies of Latin America, Africa, and when it comes to Europe, for instance, it is Nordic Europe that is holding the fort; the other mainstream European countries are not doing that well. The United States, for instance, is not doing that well; the UK is not doing that well. Greece, the cradle of democracy is not doing well when it comes to women’s representation in parliament. So there is something that we need to do to rethink democracy.”
4. Med shot, journalist asking question
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women:
“It is clear from the map that leadership and political will is critical. It is particularly when it comes to the composition of cabinets because cabinets are handpicked by one person, the Head of State. If more Heads of States were passionate about this issue, we could easily solve of representation of women in cabinets.”
6. Wide shot, podium
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women:
“Yes, there is overall stagnation and there are reversals which are warning bells, and there is the persistent missing voice of women where it matters most. And we are hoping that this data that we are presenting today will encourage all of you to help us to address all of these issues that are quite troubling.”
8. Med shot, journalist asking question
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Chungong, Secretary-General, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU):
“Whether you are the ruling parties or the opposition parties, you all have the responsibility to promote gender equality in politics. So this is the message that goes out there, that political parties should be encouraged because they are the gateway to institutions of governance. If they are not willing to play the game, then we lose some of the momentum so we are educating political parties, whether they are ruling or opposition, that it is important and critical to include women as candidates.”
10. Close up, women in politics map
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women:
“The fact that you are seeing so many men and boys who are becoming feminists and dedicating their life resources and energy to fight for women, that shows that we are extending and expanding the constituency of feminist agenda activists.”
12. Zoom out, press room
UN Women chief Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told reporters today (15 Mar) women’s representation in parliaments and governments worldwide has seen “overall stagnation” citing reversals in some countries, and “the persistent missing voice of women where it matters most.”
“Women in Politics” map for 2017, was launched today by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women. The map presents global rankings for countries in terms of the percentage of women in the executive and parliamentary branches of government as of 1 January 2017. It showed that the number of women in executive government and in parliament worldwide has stagnated, with only marginal improvements since 2015. Mlambo-Ngcuka said it was clear from the map that “leadership and political will is critical” as only five Heads of States were passionate enough to provide gender balanced cabinets. She said if more Heads of States were “passionate about this issue, we could easily solve of representation of women in cabinets.”
The Executive Director said there was still a place for optimism as some progress was not quantifiable. She said some areas of greater involvement by societies in supporting women even if that did lead to more women in political offices, adding that “the fact that you are seeing so many men and boys who are becoming feminists and dedicating their life resources and energy to fight for women, that shows that we are extending and expanding the constituency of feminist agenda activists.”
IPU Secretary-General Martin Chungong said despite some gains in women’s representation, the setbacks showed that this could not be taken for granted if more robust measures were not taken to maintain the momentum. He said the countries that were doing well are the “younger democracies” in Latin America and Africa, while some European countries and the United States were “not doing that well.” He said something needed to be done to “rethink democracy.” Chungong stressed that ruling parties and opposition parties alike had the responsibility to promote gender equality in politics.
Data from the map showed that the global average of women in national parliaments increased just slightly from 22.6 per cent in 2015 to 23.3 per cent in 2016. Rwanda, Bolivia, Cuba, Iceland, and Nicaragua rounded out the top five countries with the highest percentage of women parliamentarians while the United States ranked 104th. Bulgaria, France, Nicaragua, Sweden and Canada have surpassed the 50 percent mark of women in ministerial positions which could largely attributed to a clear political commitment at the highest decision-making level as well as a genuinely gender-sensitive political culture.
