Women in decision-making: great strides but not great enough

By Stephania Constantinou

Over the last year, the world has witnessed an unprecedented number of extraordinary events that will be remembered as the most defining in recent history. One positive development is the encouraging and decisive growth in women’s political representation in leadership roles worldwide.

From countries such as Rwanda, Finland, Argentina and more recently the United States, the world is becoming increasingly more progressive with regard to female representation in the political sphere, though there is still a long road ahead. This shows that when it comes to creating national legislation, inclusion matters, and not just for the sake of quotas but because the real cost of not doing so is detrimental to all. Evidence shows that the impacts of crises are never gender neutral, and disasters such as conflicts or pandemics render the injustice of gender inequalities clear.

Social justice means ensuring that the institutional frameworks and structures in place include all segments of society, especially during mediation and conflict resolution processes. Women’s equal and meaningful participation in political negotiations and peace processes means that the gender dimension of substantive issues will be taken into account, and thus achieving more balanced and sustainable outcomes.

According to the World Economic Forum, peace talks are more likely to succeed if women are involved. However, despite progress in promoting gender equality, the problem of women’s exclusion from global mediation efforts persists. In the last three decades, only 13 per cent of all negotiators were women, and for the first time in six years, a woman is currently acting as chief mediator in a peace process.

More women in conflict mediation and leadership roles translate into more established and fairer democracies. As we move towards a post-pandemic world, we need to reverse the under-representation of women holistically. From local governments to national governments, women are rightful owners of such positions, which is why there is a need to institutionalise gender-inclusive norms by reconstructing broader cultural and societal structures. In Yemen, for instance, a country caught in a devastating civil war and humanitarian crisis, women have played an important role in the country’s Arab Spring. The revolution, combined with the emergence of a global feminist movement, encouraged women to participate in the dialogue about their country’s future.

Cyprus, despite being in one of the best performing regions with an overall reduced gender gap, is regrettably one of the poorest performing countries in Europe, with a gender gap more of 30 per cent. Globally it ranks 120th in achieving gender parity in the area of political empowerment.

International commitments help promote and improve the condition of women, and at the same time serve to monitor the achievements accomplished by individual nations. In 2015, the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development, a global development agenda based on the sustainable development goals, was adopted by the international community with all member states agreeing to protect the planet and committing to enable a more sustainable, inclusive, peaceful, and just world by 2030. The global character and multidimensional role of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) means that they are mutually reinforcing and that they can be integrated (localised) into national planning and development strategies. For instance, SDG number five, which addresses gender equality, has an immediate impact on SDG number 10, which focuses on reduced inequalities.

When addressing SDG five, consideration is given to various perspectives on why gender empowerment is vital at all levels of political and social life. Most countries, including Cyprus, fall behind in gender equality issues, and women’s under-representation in decision-making areas is a fault that needs to be remedied. The exclusion of women in leadership areas across all sectors and levels, including in security affairs and peace-making efforts, means that women will continue to be marginalised and endure social and financial impairment. Targets set out by SDG five include: the “proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments and local government”, and the “proportion of women in managerial positions”. With the guidance of such indicators national governments are tasked with monitoring their progress and being held accountable if they fail to do so.

The role of women in peace, conflict prevention and resolution, as well as overall development, is essential for the promotion of policies and reforms in legislation that would help accomplish equitable growth for all, establishing ultimately strong and inclusive institutions, justice and peaceful democracies – namely SDG number 16.

Stephania Constantinou is a member of the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network Cyprus