representation

• #BEIJING25 : « Plus de femmes dans la fonction publique signifie un meilleur gouvernement et une démocratie plus forte »

  À l'occasion du 25e anniversaire duProgramme d'Action de Beijing, CIVICUS s'entretient avec des activistes, des dirigeants et des experts de la société civile pour évaluer les progrès accomplis et les défis qui restent à surmonter. Adopté en 1995 lors de la quatrièmeConférence mondiale des Nations Unies (ONU) sur les femmes, le Programme d'Action de Beijing poursuit les objectifs d'éliminer la violence contre les femmes, de garantir l'accès au planning familial et à la santé reproductive, d'éliminer les obstacles à la participation des femmes à la prise de décision et de fournir un emploi décent et un salaire égal pour un travail égal. Vingt-cinq ans plus tard, des progrès importants mais inégaux ont été faits, en grande partie grâce aux efforts incessants de la société civile, mais aucun pays n'a encore atteint l'égalité des genres.

  CIVICUS s'entretient avec Pakou Hang, directrice des programmes pour Vote Run Lead (Vote Candidate Dirige), une organisation dédiée à la formation de femmes afin qu’elles puissent se présenter aux élections et les remporter, augmentant ainsi la représentation des femmes à tous les niveaux de gouvernement. Créée en 2014, elle a déjà touché plus de 36 000 femmes aux États-Unis, dont près de 60% sont des femmes noires et 20% proviennent de zones rurales. De nombreuses formées à Vote Run Lead siègent désormais dans des conseils municipaux, des conseils de comté, des chambres d'État, des cours suprêmes et au Congrès des États-Unis.

  

  Un quart de siècle plus tard, dans quelle mesure la promesse contenue dans le Programme d’Action de Beijing s’est traduite par des changements concrets ?

  Beaucoup de progrès ont été réalisés depuis 1995, mais il reste encore beaucoup à faire et nous sommes encore loin de l’égalité. En termes de représentation politique, il y a eu des progrès, mais cela a aussi été lent : globalement, au début de 2019, 24,3% des membres des parlements nationaux étaient des femmes, contre 11,3% seulement en 1995. Seuls trois pays dans le monde ont atteint ou dépassé la parité dans leurs chambres basses ou législatures monocamérales, mais beaucoup d'autres ont atteint ou dépassé le seuil de 30%. Jusqu'à l'année dernière, il y avait également 11 femmes chefs d'État et 12 chefs de gouvernement ; et les femmes occupaient près de 21% des postes ministériels, souvent dans les domaines les plus associés aux problématiques des femmes, tels que l'action sociale et les portefeuilles liés à la famille, à l'enfance, à la jeunesse, et aux personnes âgées et handicapées. Les résultats sont donc mitigés - beaucoup de progrès ont été accomplis, mais les progrès ont été lents et sont loin d'être suffisants.

  Il y a également eu de grandes variations entre les régions et les pays, d'environ 16% de femmes parlementaires dans la région du Pacifique à plus de 40% dans les pays nordiques. La moyenne pour les Amériques est de 30%, mais les États-Unis sont en dessous de la moyenne. Le Congrès reste dominé de manière disproportionnée par les hommes. Bien que les femmes représentent plus de la moitié de la population, elles n'occupent que 24% des sièges. Le Congrès est également moins diversifié sur le plan racial que la population dans son ensemble, 78% de ses membres s'identifiant comme blancs, une proportion nettement supérieure au 60% de la population américaine composée de personnes blanches.

  Selon le Centre pour les Femmes et la Politique Américaine (Center for American Women and Politics), la situation n'est pas très différente au niveau des états : 29,2% des sièges législatifs des états et 18% des postes des gouvernants sont occupés par des femmes. Il y a moins de données sur les pouvoirs exécutifs locaux et l'essentiel des informations disponibles se réfère aux plus grandes villes, dont 60% des maires sont des hommes blancs, alors que les hommes blancs ne représentent que 20% de la population de ces villes. Bien que davantage de femmes aient accédé à la fonction publique locale en 2018, les conseils municipaux et les commissions de comté ont continué à n'inclure qu'une seule femme ou pas de femmes.

  D’autre part, malgré le nombre relativement restreint de femmes parlementaires, et en particulier de femmes noires, le Congrès actuel est le plus diversifié de l'histoire. Ainsi, le bassin de candidats pour des mandats législatifs en 2020 était également le plus diversifié de l’histoire. Bien entendu, ces candidats ont reçu de violentes attaques de la part des médias et de l'opposition politique. Mais je pense que nous devons changer notre perspective pour comprendre l'ampleur du changement qui s'est produit. J’ai certainement été déçue de voir que nous nous retrouvions avec deux hommes blancs d’un certain âge à la tête des deux principaux sièges présidentiels - mais désormais, nous comptons également une femme noire d’origine indienne comme vice-présidente élue, ce qui constitue sans aucun doute un progrès.

  Je me souviens que lorsque le triomphe de Joe Biden et Kamala Harris à l'élection présidentielle de 2020 a été annoncé, j'ai appelé ma nièce de neuf ans pour lui annoncer la nouvelle. Elle était extatique. Cela m'a rappelé qu'elle appartient à une nouvelle génération d'Américains née sous la présidence de Barack Hussein Obama. Quand elle grandira elle saura que Donald Trump a été président, mais elle saura également que Trump a été vaincu par une femme noire d'origine indienne. Pendant que nous parlions, ma nièce m'a dit : "Nous avons presque réussi, ma tante." Et j'ai pris conscience qu'elle avait raison : oui, nous y sommes presque.

  Pourquoi est-il important d'atteindre la parité homme-femme dans la représentation politique ? S'agit-il uniquement des droits des femmes et de l'égalité des chances, ou aura-t-elle également des effets positifs sur les institutions démocratiques et les politiques publiques ?

  L'une des principales raisons pour lesquelles nous avons besoin d'un plus grand nombre de femmes aux postes gouvernementaux est qu'elles ne gouvernent pas comme les hommes. Les femmes au gouvernement sont plus collaboratives, plus civiles, plus communicatives. Elles sont plus susceptibles de travailler avec des membres d'autres partis pour résoudre des problèmes. Elles obtiennent plus d'argent pour leurs localités, elles votent plus de lois et leurs projets sont davantage axés sur les populations les plus vulnérables telles que les enfants, les personnes âgées et les malades. Les femmes élargissent l'agenda politique, au-delà des questions qui concernent traditionnellement les femmes. Et cela produit de meilleures politiques pour tous, c'est-à-dire non seulement pour les femmes et les filles, mais aussi pour les hommes et les garçons. Enfin, dans la mesure où elles apportent un nouvel ensemble de perspectives et d'expériences de vie au processus d'élaboration des politiques, leur présence garantit que les perspectives des femmes ne soient pas négligées et que des questions telles que la violence sexiste ou les soins aux enfants ne soient pas ignorées. En bref, les femmes occupant des postes gouvernementaux ont tendance à être plus efficaces que les hommes. Et étant donnée la situation actuelle de stagnation politique et d'hyper-partisanerie, nous devons changer la façon de faire. Plus de femmes dans la fonction publique signifie un meilleur gouvernement et une démocratie plus forte.

  De plus, la nécessité de femmes au pouvoir et en politique est devenue d’autant plus essentielle dans le contexte de la pandémie de COVID-19. Lors du dernier cycle électoral, les bailleurs de fonds voulaient plus que jamais contribuer aux campagnes électorales des femmes candidates, étant donné que la pandémie les a sensibilisés non seulement aux nombreuses inégalités qui affectent notre société et le système de santé, mais aussi au travail remarquable que les femmes, et en particulier les femmes noires, entreprennent dans leurs communautés pour répondre aux besoins urgents, combler les lacunes des politiques inadéquates du gouvernement et résoudre les problèmes des communautés exclues qui ont été affectées de manière disproportionnée par la COVID-19 et la crise économique. Au cours de cette crise, les femmes ont joué un rôle essentiel en soutenant la connexion des communautés, en collectant et en distribuant de la nourriture et d'autres produits de base aux familles en difficulté, en trouvant des moyens de soutenir l'activité économique locale et en fournissant des services communautaires ad hoc, entre autres.

  Les recherches sur la manière dont divers pays ont répondu à la pandémie suggèrent que les pays avec des femmes au pouvoir ont tendance à avoir moins de cas et moins de décès dus à la COVID-19. Il semble que les femmes au pouvoir ont adopté un style de leadership transformateur qui peut être plus approprié pour la gestion des crises. Ce type de leadership se concentre sur les relations humaines profondes, l'investissement dans l'équipe de travail et l'échange de connaissances, l'action exemplaire et la motivation des autres. Cela représente des qualités très utiles dans notre contexte actuel.

  Pourquoi pensez-vous que la représentation politique des femmes aux États-Unis est encore si faible ?

  Il existe de nombreuses raisons pour lesquelles nous n'avons pas de parité entre les sexes dans la représentation politique. Tout d'abord, il y a encore trop de raisons structurelles pour lesquelles les femmes ne se présentent pas et ne sont pas élues. Les femmes effectuent encore une quantité disproportionnée de travaux ménagers et l'éducation des enfants, et la couverture médiatique reste sexiste, se concentrant sur les apparences et les personnalités des femmes plutôt que sur leurs positions politiques. En outre, les personnes qui occupent les structures des partis et qui ont des connaissances politiques, des réseaux et de l’argent sont encore des hommes, et ce sont souvent eux qui déterminent qui est politiquement viable. Par exemple, un jeune homme qui a étudié le développement communautaire à Harvard est considéré comme plus viable qu'une femme d'âge moyen qui travaille dans l'organisation communautaire depuis 20 ans.

  Paradoxalement, les femmes candidates remportent les élections dans les mêmes proportions que leurs homologues masculins et, selon les sondages, les électeurs sont enthousiastes face à la possibilité d'élire des femmes. Mais la deuxième raison pour laquelle les femmes ne sont pas élues est tout simplement qu'elles ne se portent pas candidates autant que les hommes, et évidemment, dès lors que vous ne concourez pas, vous ne pourrez pas gagner.

  Pourquoi les femmes ne présentent-elles pas leurs candidatures à des fonctions publiques ? La raison peut-être la plus répandue est que les femmes doutent d'elles-mêmes. Elles ne sont pas considérées comme qualifiées. Elles ne voient pas d'autres femmes qui leur ressemblent ou qui pensent comme elles dans ces positions de pouvoir, et c'est donc un cercle vicieux. Et non seulement les femmes doutent d'elles-mêmes, mais les observateurs extérieurs aussi. De ce fait, si une position de pouvoir particulière n'a jamais été occupée par une femme, la question qui se pose encore de façon répétée dans les médias, sur un ton de doute, est : une femme pourrait-elle être élue ? C'est une question que l'on entend beaucoup dans le cadre des primaires présidentielles démocrates de 2020.

  Il y a aussi le fait que certaines qualités considérées comme positives chez les hommes, comme l'assurance ou l'ambition, prennent une connotation négative lorsqu'elles sont appliquées aux femmes. Alors qu'il y a sans aucun doute eu des hommes en colère et vengeurs qui ont été élus président, les femmes qui sont perçues comme « en colère » ou « vengeresses » sont considérées comme désagréables et donc disqualifiées. Les femmes candidates sont soumises à des attentes beaucoup plus élevées, parfois de leur propre fait, mais plus souvent par les autres, et par conséquent nous manquons de parité entre les sexes dans notre représentation politique.

  Quand avez-vous réalisé que, contrairement aux hommes, les femmes avaient besoin d'une formation pour se présenter à des fonctions publiques ?

  Bien que j'aie étudié les sciences politiques à l'université, je sentais que la politique américaine était sale et corrompue et je ne me suis jamais impliquée dans la politique électorale. Mais en 2001 ma cousine aînée, Mee Moua, a décidé de se porter candidate pour un siège au Sénat pour le district de East Saint Paul lors d'une élection spéciale. Le district oriental de Saint-Paul devenait rapidement un district où les minorités étaient majoritaires, mais tous ses élus, de l'état au comté et au niveau de la ville, étaient des hommes blancs conservateurs. Ma cousine était diplômée d'une université prestigieuse, avait exercé la profession d'avocate, avait été présidente de la Chambre de Commerce Hmong, et avait décidé de se présenter après avoir fait du bénévolat pendant des années dans de nombreuses campagnes politiques. Cependant, comme c'est souvent le cas pour les femmes candidates, on lui a dit qu'elle devait attendre son tour. Et bien, elle a décidé de ne pas le faire, et comme aucun acteur politique pertinent ne l'a aidée, elle a rassemblé nos 71 cousins germains pour devenir son armée de volontaires et m'a recrutée comme directrice de campagne, car j'étais la seule à avoir étudié les sciences politiques. Contre toute attente, sans expérience politique et au milieu de l'hiver du Minnesota, nous avons frappé aux portes, passé des appels téléphoniques, mobilisé les électeurs à l'aide des radios communautaires, amené les gens aux urnes, et gagné. Nous avons marqué l'histoire en élisant le premier législateur d'état Hmong de l'histoire américaine et de l'histoire des Hmong.

  Rétrospectivement, je me rends compte que j'ai mené la campagne uniquement par instinct, alimentée par l'expérience de mon enfance d'aider mes parents non anglophones à se déplacer dans le monde extérieur. Et même si nous avons gagné, on aurait pu affronter un adversaire mieux organisé et perdu. Ce n'est que des années plus tard, après avoir suivi une formation politique au Camp Wellstone, que j'ai constaté que les femmes candidates avions besoin de quelque chose conçu spécialement pour nous, quelque chose qui nous interpellerait directement et nous préparerait aux vrais défis auxquels nous serions confrontées en tant que femmes candidates.

  Quel type de formation propose Vote Run Lead et comment contribue-t-elle à briser les barrières qui empêchent les femmes d'accéder au pouvoir ?

  Vote Run Lead est le programme de leadership des femmes le plus vaste et le plus diversifié aux États-Unis. Nous avons formé plus de 38 000 femmes pour se présenter à des fonctions publiques, y compris des femmes rurales, des femmes transgenre, des jeunes femmes et des femmes noires, autochtones et de couleur. Plus de 55% de nos diplômées qui ont participé à l'élection générale de 2020 ont gagné, et 71% de nos diplômées qui sont des femmes de couleur ont également été élues.

  Les femmes que nous formons décident généralement de se présenter aux fonctions publiques parce qu'elles identifient quelque chose de négatif dans leurs communautés et veulent y remédier. Mais elles ne voient pas beaucoup de personnes comme elles dans des positions de pouvoir. Vote Run Lead propose plusieurs modules de formation qui apprennent aux femmes tout ce qu'elles doivent savoir sur la campagne électorale, qu'il s'agisse de prononcer un discours, de constituer une équipe de campagne ou de rédiger un message, de collecter des fonds ou de motiver les gens à voter. Mais ce qui distingue notre programme de formation, c'est que nous formons les femmes pour qu’elles postulent telles qu'elles sont. Les femmes ont souvent besoin de soutien pour se considérer comme étant des candidates qualifiées, capables et dignes. Nous leur montrons qu'elles n'ont pas besoin de rechercher une autre promotion ou d'obtenir un autre titre puisque, en fait, leur histoire personnelle est leur plus grand atout. Notre programme de formation, Run As You Are, rappelle aux femmes qu'elles suffisent et qu'elles sont le genre de leaders que nous devons élire pour bâtir la démocratie juste que nous méritons.

  Quel est le profil « typique » de la femme que vous aidez à postuler ? Soutenez-vous une femme qui souhaite concourir quelle que soit son orientation politique ?

  Il n'y a pas de formée typique de Vote Run Lead. Nous sommes une organisation non partisane, nous formons donc des femmes des milieux les plus divers, de toutes les professions, de tous les partis politiques et quel que soit leur niveau de développement politique. Nos valeurs sont profondément liées à la promotion de femmes intersectionnelles et antiracistes engagées à construire une démocratie plus juste et équitable.

  Compte tenu du phénomène généralisé de suppression des électeurs aux États-Unis, le programme vise-t-il également à motiver la participation électorale ?

  Traditionnellement, Vote Run Lead n'utilise pas son propre programme pour motiver la participation électorale (GOTV, pour son acronyme en anglais) étant donné que la plupart de nos diplômées dirigent une élection ou travaillent sur une campagne. Mais en 2020, lorsque les niveaux déjà élevés de suppression des électeurs ont été alimentés par des campagnes de désinformation et des préoccupations en matière de sécurité sanitaire, Vote Run Lead a lancé un solide programme GOTV qui a mobilisé les femmes formées chez nous. Ce programme GOTV comprenait huit modules de formation spécifiques pour motiver la participation électorale, allant de la manière de répondre à l'apathie et au cynisme autour de l'élection, aux plateformes numériques et aux outils de communication à utiliser pour promouvoir la participation. Nous avons également contacté plus de 200 bénévoles, eu 3 000 conversations, effectué 30 000 appels téléphoniques et envoyé plus de 33 000 messages texte pour que nos diplômés et leurs réseaux votent.

  Avant l'été, nous avons également lancé une série intitulée « Votre armoire de cuisine », avec laquelle nous formons les femmes à la collecte de fonds, au contact direct avec les électeurs et même au lancement d'un plan numérique tout en maintenant une distanciation sociale. Ces guides et webinaires sont disponibles sur notre site Web et sur notre chaîne YouTube et offrent des conseils en temps réel et des informations factuelles.

  L'espace civique aux États-Unis est classé « obstrué » par leCIVICUS Monitor.
  Entrez en contact avec Vote Run Lead via sonsite Web ou sa pageFacebook, et suivez @VoteRunLead sur Twitter.

• #BEIJING25 : « Tous les efforts en faveur de l'égalité des genres doivent être fondés sur l'intersectionnalité et l’émancipation »

  À l'occasion du 25e anniversaire duProgramme d'Action de Beijing, CIVICUS s'entretient avec des activistes, des dirigeants et des experts de la société civile pour évaluer les progrès accomplis et les défis qui restent à surmonter. Adopté en 1995 lors de la quatrièmeConférence mondiale des Nations Unies (ONU) sur les femmes, le Programme d'Action de Beijing poursuit les objectifs d'éliminer la violence contre les femmes, de garantir l'accès au planning familial et à la santé reproductive, d'éliminer les obstacles à la participation des femmes à la prise de décision et de fournir un emploi décent et un salaire égal pour un travail égal. Vingt-cinq ans plus tard, des progrès importants mais inégaux ont été faits, en grande partie grâce aux efforts incessants de la société civile, mais aucun pays n'a encore atteint l'égalité des genres.

  CIVICUS s'entretient avecLyric Thompson, directrice des politiques et du plaidoyer au Centre international de recherche sur les femmes (ICRW), un institut de recherche mondial avec des bureaux situés aux États-Unis, en Inde, au Kenya et en Ouganda. La recherche de l'ICRW cherche à identifier les contributions des femmes, ainsi que les obstacles qui les empêchent de participer pleinement à l'économie et à la société, traduisant leurs conclusions en une stratégie d'action qui honore les droits humains des femmes, garantit l'égalité des genres et crée les conditions pour que toutes les femmes puissent s’épanouir.

  

  Dans quelle mesure la promesse contenue dans le Programme d’action de Beijing s’est-elle traduite par des améliorations concrètes ?

  La Déclaration de Beijing a marqué un grand pas historique vers l'égalité des genres, car elle a positionné les droits des femmes en tant que droits humains et renforcé le rôle de la société civile en tant qu'acteur clé. Elle a également contribué à mettre en évidence les réalités des femmes et des filles du monde entier.

  Des progrès tangibles ont été réalisés dans les domaines de l’éducation, de la santé maternelle et, de plus en plus, de l’abrogation des lois discriminatoires. Mais les progrès ont été lents et irréguliers, et il y a eu des revers importants. Cela se voit clairement aux États-Unis, qui ont adopté une position générale anti-avortement qui a eu un impact mondial en raison de sa règle du bâillon mondial. Cette règle interdit aux organisations de la société civile (OSC) étrangères qui reçoivent des fonds des États-Unis pour fournir des services de santé de fournir des services d'avortement légal ou même de faire des références envers d’autres services d’avortement, et leur interdit de plaider en faveur d'une réforme de la loi sur l'avortement, même si cela est fait avec les fonds propres des OSC, et non pas des États-Unis. Cette politique est en place depuis les années 1980, mais elle a été renforcée à maintes reprises et ne permet actuellement l'accès à l'avortement que dans des cas extrêmes : viol, inceste ou lorsque la vie d'une femme est en danger.

  Comme si cela ne suffisait pas, un certain nombre de défis nouveaux et dynamiques, de l'aggravation de la fracture numérique et de la crise climatique à la pandémie en cours, ont également un impact genré. Par conséquent, les promesses non tenues abondent, notamment en ce qui concerne l'accès à la santé, les droits sexuels et reproductifs et la prévalence de la violence basée sur le genre (VBG).

  Le manque de mise en œuvre des politiques et des lois, ainsi que le manque de ressources pour financer le mouvement des droits des femmes, rendent compte actuellement de la stagnation des efforts en faveur de l'égalité des genres. Mais même si toutes les lois étaient appliquées et toutes les politiques étaient mises en œuvre, il n'en demeure pas moins que la plupart des progrès réalisés jusqu'à présent ont été partiels. Bien qu’ils aient été importants et aient fait des progrès significatifs, ils se heurtent également à des limites, car peu d’efforts ont été consacrés à la lutte contre la nature multidimensionnelle et intersectionnelle des formes de discrimination qui affectent les femmes. Pour l'avenir, tous les efforts en faveur de l'égalité des genres et du changement social doivent être fondés sur une compréhension de l'intersectionnalité, de la transformation et de l’émancipation.

  La coordination et la collaboration entre des partenaires et des secteurs, y compris les gouvernements, la société civile et le secteur privé, seront également essentielles pour parvenir à un changement transformateur. Il sera également crucial de centrer la prise de décision sur les besoins et les priorités du mouvement des droits des femmes, des leaders féministes, des organisations de base et des jeunes femmes, telles qu'elles les perçoivent elles-mêmes.

  Quels sont les principaux domaines d'action sur lesquels il faut mettre l'accent pour que l'objectif de développement durable (ODD) 5 sur l'égalité des genre et l’émancipation des femmes soit atteint d'ici 2030 ?

  En nous appuyant sur les priorités énoncées par ONU Femmes, on pense que deux domaines d'action clés sont l'établissement d'un cadre de responsabilisation solide pour les ODD et l'intégration et la priorisation du genre dans tous les ODD, et pas seulement l’ODD 5, étant donné que l'inégalité des genres est un obstacle fondamental à la réalisation de tout objectif de développement mondial. Et en plus d'inclure un objectif spécifique pour atteindre l'égalité des genres, les ODD reconnaissent cette égalité comme un moteur pour obtenir des résultats dans d'autres domaines, notamment la santé, l'éducation et le développement économique.

  Étant donné que la mise en œuvre des ODD est principalement dirigée par les États membres, le Secrétaire général des Nations Unies (SGNU) devrait prioriser la participation de la société civile, en mettant un accent particulier sur les organisations féministes, de défense des droits des femmes et de base qui stimulent le changement aux niveaux local et régional.

   

  Comment la pandémie de la COVID-19 a-t-elle affecté les femmes et comment les organisations de défense des droits des femmes ont-elles réagi ?

  La pandémie, comme d’autres crises et bouleversements sociaux tout au long de l’histoire, aggrave à tous les niveaux et dans tous les domaines les inégalités contre lesquelles le mouvement pour l’égalité des genres lutte depuis des décennies. Les femmes sont aux premières lignes de la lutte contre la pandémie ; en effet, environ 70% des travailleurs de la santé et des services sociaux dans le monde sont des femmes. Au même temps, l'accès des femmes aux services de santé non liés à la COVID-19 est susceptible de décliner ; si les impacts de la COVID-19 ressemblent à ceux de l'épidémie d'Ebola de 2014-2015, nous pourrions voir des réductions des naissances à l'hôpital, des visites de soins prénatals et du planning familial. Dans le cadre de la pandémie, les femmes supportent également des fardeaux supplémentaires liés aux tâches ménagères et à la garde et à l'éducation des enfants, ce qui peut avoir des répercussions négatives sur le marché du travail, où l'on pourrait voir des revers dans les progrès réalisés à travers les décennies. De même, les confinements imposés pour répondre au COVID-19 ont entraîné un risque accru de VBG.

  La société civile a travaillé sur ces questions à tous les niveaux, du local au mondial, pour répondre aux impacts négatifs de la pandémie sur les femmes. De nombreuses organisations de défense des droits des femmes ont saisi la pandémie comme une occasion de renforcer les liens de solidarité et de promouvoir le leadership des femmes dans les plans et politiques de relance. Par exemple, plus de 1 600 personnes et OSC de pays du sud et des communautés mal desservies du nord ont signé une déclaration exigeant une réponse féministe au COVID-19. La proposition identifie une série de politiques globales dans neuf domaines clés : sécurité alimentaire, santé, éducation, inégalités sociales, eau et assainissement, VBG, accès à l'information et abus de pouvoir.

  Au niveau régional, des mouvements allant dans le même sens peuvent être observés. En Afrique, par exemple, les OSC et les personnalités féministes ont envoyé une lettre ouverte à l'Union africaine pour exiger une reprise économique féministe coordonnée post-COVID-19. La société civile a également formé des coalitions nationales pour exiger des approches similaires dans chaque pays. Aux États-Unis, une Coalition pour une politique étrangère féministe a été formée pour promouvoir une politique étrangère qui promeut l'égalité des genres, les droits humains, la paix et l'intégrité environnementale. ICRW est membre du Comité directeur de la Coalition et, à ce titre, a contribué à cette innovation politique qui vise à introduire une approche transformatrice avec une perspective de droits dans la politique étrangère de notre pays, qui n'inclut pas les femmes comme un agrégat ex post, mais en intégrant le genre dans chaque politique et chaque initiative. Il existe des précédents pour l'adoption de cette approche dans plusieurs pays, dont la Suède en 2014, le Canada en 2017, la France et le Luxembourg en 2019 et le Mexique au début de 2020. Nous considérons qu’il est temps que les États-Unis la mettent également en œuvre.

  Afin de souligner à quel point cette politique est innovatrice il suffit de remarquer que depuis plusieurs décennies, les gouvernements ont traité l'inégalité de genre comme distincte et déconnectée de questions « dures » et importantes, telles que le commerce ou la sécurité nationale ; les questions de genre étaient considérées comme faisant partie de la diplomatie « douce ». Ce n'est qu'au milieu des années 1990 que l'ONU a publié une déclaration établissant officiellement l'égalité de genre comme une priorité mondiale et élargissant la perspective afin de la traiter comme faisant partie de systèmes inégaux plus larges, et la suite est Histoire. Une politique étrangère féministe n'est que la dernière version de cette approche évolutive, basée sur un nombre croissant de recherches académiques suggérant qu'une participation économique, politique et sociale accrue des femmes peut aboutir à un monde plus riche et plus pacifique, en établissant un lien direct entre l'égalité de genre et la sécurité nationale.

  Pourriez-vous nous parler de la Campagne pour une ONU féministe, dont l'ICRW fait partie ?

  On pense qu’un coup de pouce mondial est nécessaire : les gouvernements doivent prendre des engagements internationaux plus forts pour promouvoir l’égalité de genre. Cela signifie adopter une approche féministe dans l'élaboration des politiques, s'assurer que ce programme est financé de manière adéquate et créer des mécanismes de responsabilisation.

  La Campagne pour une ONU féministe, lancée en 2016, est un effort pour créer une proposition collective afin d’apporter un changement réel et significatif dans les droits des femmes et l'égalité de genre aux Nations Unies - dans toutes ses politiques et programmes - et évaluer chaque année les progrès dans cette optique. La campagne rassemble des penseuses et activistes féministes de premier plan de la société civile, de la philanthropie et du monde universitaire, ainsi que d'anciens responsables de l'ONU autour d'un programme commun. Cet agenda requiert non seulement du leadership visible et proactif du SGNU, mais aussi une réforme de l'ensemble du système pour surmonter les obstacles internes de l'organisation.

  Début 2017, la campagne a élaboré un « bulletin scolaire » en réponse aux déclarations du SGNU, António Guterres, lors de sa prise de fonction, dans lesquelles il s'est identifié comme féministe. Ce bulletin évalue la performance du SGNU dans six domaines :

  • Élaboration et mise en œuvre d'un programme féministe pendant le mandat du SGNU;
  • Mise en œuvre et responsabilité solides pour les ODD, liées aux instruments et forums sur les droits des femmes;
  • Financement transparent et responsable pour l'égalité de genre;
  • Le leadership des femmes au sein du système des Nations Unies et la protection des droits des femmes en son sein;
  • Institutions et forums des droits des femmes plus forts et plus féministes au sein des Nations Unies;
  • Une plus grande liberté d'information dans le système des Nations Unies.

  Pour évaluer les progrès et préparer des bulletins, la Campagne mène des entretiens avec des experts de l'ONU et des acteurs de la société civile, administre une enquête mondiale de la société civile et analyse des discours clés, des publications sur les réseaux sociaux, des rendez-vous, des voyages et d'autres initiatives. Les bulletins ont été publiés chaque année pendant ce mandat du SGNU et la campagne prépare actuellement sa quatrième édition.

  Le troisième bulletin publié par la Campagne a attribué au Secrétaire général une note médiocre. Pouvez-vous nous en dire plus sur les résultats et leurs implications ?

  Les réstultats du troisième bulletin ne sont pas aussi solides que nous le souhaiterions. Alors que le SGNU Guterres a bien performé dans quelques domaines - comme le plaidoyer pour la parité, par exemple, qui est devenu son thème privilégié - les progrès ont été moins prononcés dans d'autres domaines, tels que l’augmentation du financement des droits des femmes ou de la liberté d'information au sein du système.

  Selon le bulletin, les messages publics de Guterres sur les droits des femmes et l'égalité des genres ont en fait augmenté en 2019 : ses discours sur l'égalité des genres ont triplé et il a continué d'afficher des références « féministes ».

  Les progrès dans le sens de la parité entre les sexes au sein de l'ONU se sont poursuivis à un rythme ininterrompu, même si les réactions négatives à son encontre ont également augmenté. Les progrès ont été bloqués par l'inertie bureaucratique, les fonds limités et l'opposition interne.

  Il y a cinq domaines spécifiques dans lesquels nous aimerions voir plus de progrès. Premièrement, dans la prioriisation de l'implication de la société civile et du féminisme dans tous les processus mondiaux et dans les processus des Nations Unies. Deuxièmement, dans la favorisation d’une plus grande transparence dans les activités et les engagements financiers de l'ONU. Troisièmement, sur la politique de tolérance zéro pour le harcèlement sexuel dans tout le système des Nations Unies et la fin de l'exploitation et des abus sexuels dans tous les domaines, y compris les opérations de maintien de la paix des Nations Unies. Quatrièmement, la pleine mise en œuvre de l'ODD 5, c'est-à-dire la mise en œuvre de toutes ses composantes - y compris celles que les États membres sont les plus susceptibles de remettre en question, comme la santé et les droits sexuels et reproductifs - et l'intégration du genre dans tous les ODD. Et cinquièmement, dans l’établissement d’une plus grande responsabilité sur les questions liées à l'égalité de genre, au leadership intergénérationnel, à la solidarité, à la collaboration et à l'intersectionnalité, au financement de programmes, mouvements et initiatives sur les droits des femmes, au changement des relations de pouvoir et à la plus grande inclusivité et l’élargissement de la prise de décisions.

  Entrez en contact avec le Centre international de recherche sur les femmes via sonsite Web ou sa pageFacebook, et suivez@ICRW et@lyricthompson sur Twitter. 

• #BEIJING25: ‘All efforts towards gender equality must be built upon intersectionality and power-shifting’

  For the 25th anniversary of theBeijing Platform for Action, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the progress achieved and the challenges ahead. Focused on eliminating violence against women, ensuring access to family planning and reproductive healthcare, removing barriers to women’s participation in decision-making and providing decent jobs and equal pay for equal work, the Beijing Platform for Action was adopted at the United Nations’ (UN)Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. After 25 years, significant but unequal progress has occurred, not least as the result of incessant civil society efforts, but no country has yet achieved gender equality.

• #BEIJING25: ‘More women in public office translates into better government and a more robust democracy’

  For the 25th anniversary of theBeijing Platform for Action, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the progress achieved and the challenges ahead. Focused on eliminating violence against women, ensuring access to family planning and reproductive healthcare, removing barriers to women’s participation in decision-making and providing decent jobs and equal pay for equal work, the Beijing Platform for Action was adopted at the United Nations’ (UN)Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. After 25 years, significant but unequal progress has occurred, not least as the result of incessant civil society efforts, but no country has yet achieved gender equality.

  CIVICUS speaks to Pakou Hang, Chief Program Officer at Vote Run Lead, an organisation dedicated to training women to run for political office and win, increasing women’s representation at every level of government. Founded in 2014, it has already reached over 36,000 women across the USA, nearly 60 per cent of whom are women of colour, and 20 per cent of whom are from rural areas. Numerous Vote Run Lead alumnae are now serving on city councils, county boards, statehouses, supreme courts and the US Congress.

  

  A quarter century later, how much of the promise contained in the Beijing Platform for Action has translated into actual change?

  A lot of progress has transpired since 1995, but there is still a lot to be done, and we are still far from equitable. In terms of political representation, there has been some progress, but it has also been slow: globally, 24.3 per cent of all national parliamentarians were women in early 2019, compared to just 11.3 per cent in 1995. Only three countries around the world have achieved or surpassed parity in their single or lower houses, but many more have reached or exceeded the 30 per cent threshold. As of last year, there were also 11 women serving as heads of state and 12 serving as heads of government, and women accounted for almost 21 per cent of government ministers – often in areas most associated with women’s issues, such as social affairs and portfolios dealing with family, children, young people, older people and people with disabilities. So the bottom line is mixed: a lot of progress has been made, but it has been slow and it is far from sufficient.

  Also, there has been a lot of variation among regions and countries, from about 16 per cent female legislators in the Pacific to more than 40 per cent in Nordic European countries. The Americas averages about 30 per cent, but the USA is below average. Congress is still disproportionately male: although women make up more than half the population, we hold barely 24 per cent of seats. Congress is also less racially diverse than the overall population, with 78 per cent of members identifying as white, a much higher percentage than the population’s 60 per cent of white Americans.

  According to the Center for American Women and Politics, the situation is not very different in states across the country: 29.2 per cent of state legislative seats and 18 per cent of state governorships are occupied by women. There is fewer data about local executives, and the information mostly concerns major cities, 60 per cent of whose mayors are white men, although they make up just 20 per cent of the population of those cities. And even as more women ascended into local office in 2018, it was still not uncommon for city councils and county commissions to include just one woman or no women at all.

  On the other hand, despite the relatively small number of women legislators, and especially women of colour, the current US Congress is the most diverse in history. And the group of candidates who ran for Congress in 2020 were also the most diverse we have ever seen. Of course, these candidates received a lot of backlash from the media and their political opponents. But I think we need to shift our perspective to understand the amount of change that has taken place. I surely was disappointed that we ended up with two older, white men leading the two major presidential tickets – but now we also have a Black, Indian American woman as our Vice President-elect, so there is progress.

  I remember when the 2020 presidential election was called for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, I contacted my nine-year-old niece with the news. She was ecstatic. I was reminded that she belongs to a new generation of Americans who were born under President Barack Hussein Obama. And growing up, she will know that Donald Trump was the President, but she will also know that Trump was beaten by a Black, Indian American woman. As we were talking, my niece said to me, “We are almost there, Auntie.” And it dawned on me: yes, we are almost there.

  Why is it important to achieve gender parity in political representation? Is it only a matter of women’s rights and equal opportunity, or would it also have positive effects on democratic institutions and policymaking?

  A big reason why we need more women in public office is because they govern differently than men. Women in government are more collaborative, more civil, more communicative. They are more likely to work across the aisle to solve problems. They bring home more money for their constituents, pass more bills, and their bills focus more on vulnerable populations like children, older people and sick people. Women broaden the political agenda, well beyond traditional women’s issues. And the result is better policies for all of us, not just for women and girls but also for men and boys. Because they bring an entirely new set of perspectives and life experiences into the policymaking process, the presence of women also ensures that women’s perspectives are not sidelined, and issues such as gender-based violence or childcare are not ignored. All in all, women in public office tend to be more effective than their male counterparts. And given the current gridlock and hyper-partisanship in politics, we need to do things differently. More women in public office translates into better government and a more robust democracy.

  Moreover, the need for women in power and politics has become even more critical in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This past electoral cycle, donors wanted to contribute to female candidates’ campaigns more than before, because the pandemic brought awareness not just about the many inequities that plague our society and the healthcare system, but also of the outstanding work women, and in particular women of colour, are doing in their communities to respond to urgent needs, fill in the gaps left by inadequate government policies, and address the needs of excluded populations who have been disproportionately impacted on by COVID-19 and the economic downturn. During this crisis, women have played major roles in keeping communities connected, collecting and distributing food and other staples to needy families, finding ways to support local businesses and providing pop-up community services, among other things.

  Research that looks at the ways in which various countries have responded to the pandemic seems to show that countries with female leaders tended to have fewer cases and fewer deaths from COVID-19. It seems that women in power have embraced a transformative style of leadership, which may be better at handling crises. This type of leadership focuses on deep human relationships, investment in teams and sharing knowledge, and being a role model and motivating others. These qualities are very useful in our current context.

  Why do you think the political representation of women in the USA is still so low?

  There are many reasons why we do not have gender parity in our political representation. First, there are still too many structural reasons why women do not run nor get elected. Women still do a disproportionate amount of housework and child-rearing and there is still sexist media coverage that focuses on women’s appearances and personalities rather than their policies. Further, those in party structures and the people with political knowledge, networks and money still continue to be men, and often they determine who is politically viable; for example, a young man who studied community development at Harvard is deemed more viable than a middle-aged Black woman who has been a community organiser for the past 20 years.

  Paradoxically, female candidates win at roughly the same rates as their male counterparts, and according to polls, voters are excited about getting women elected. But the second reason why women don’t get elected is simply that women don’t run at the same rate as men – and of course, you can’t win if you don’t run.

  Why don’t women run for public office? Perhaps the most pervasive reason is that women are self-doubters. They do not believe they are qualified. They do not see other women who look like them or think like them in those positions of power, and thus it’s a self-fulfilling cycle. But it’s not just women who self-doubt. Outsiders do plenty of that too. In fact, if a woman has never filled a position of power, then a question that keeps coming up in the media, said in a doubtful tone, is: is a woman electable? We heard a lot of that during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race.

  There’s also the fact that certain qualities that are deemed positive in men are given a negative connotation when applied to women, like assertiveness or ambition. While angry and vindictive men have surely been elected president, women who are perceived as ‘angry’, or ‘vindictive’ are deemed unlikeable, and thus disqualified. Women candidates are held to much higher standards of competency, sometimes by themselves, but more often by others, and as a result we do not have gender parity in our political representation.

  When was it that you realised that, unlike men, women needed training to run for office?

  Even though I had studied political science in college, I felt that American politics was dirty and corrupting and I never got involved in electoral politics. That was until 2001, when my older cousin, Mee Moua, decided to run for a State Senate seat on the East Side of Saint Paul in a special election. The East Side of Saint Paul was fast becoming a district where people from minorities were in the majority, and yet all its elected officials from the state level to the county and the city were all white, conservative-leaning men. My cousin was Ivy League-educated, had been a lawyer and the president of the Hmong Chamber of Commerce, and she decided to run for public office after having volunteered on numerous political campaigns over many years. However, as often happens with female candidates, she was told she needed to wait her turn. Well she didn’t, and since no one in the mainstream political community would help her, she looked to our 71 first cousins to become her volunteer army and recruited me to be her campaign manager because I was the only one of us who had studied political science. Against all odds, without any political experience, and in the middle of a Minnesota winter, we knocked on doors, made phone calls, mobilised voters using ethnic radio stations, drove people to the polls and won, making history by electing the very first Hmong state legislator in US and Hmong history.

  Looking back, I realised that I managed that campaign purely based on instincts, honed from my childhood experience helping my non-English speaking parents navigate the mainstream world. And while we won, we could have just as easily been out-organised and lost. It was only years later, after having gone through a Camp Wellstone political training course, that I realised women candidates needed something for ourselves, something that uniquely spoke to us, and prepared us for the real issues we would face as female candidates.

  What kind of training does Vote Run Lead provide, and how does it help break down the barriers that keep women away from power?

  Vote Run Lead is the largest and most diverse women’s leadership programme in the USA. We have trained over 38,000 women to run for public office, including rural women, transgender women, young women, moms and Black and Indigenous women and women of colour. Over 55 per cent of our alumnae who were on the general election ballot in 2020 won their races, and 71 per cent of our alumnae who are women of colour won their races too.

  The women we train often decide to run for public office because they see something wrong in their community and they want to fix it. But they do not see a lot of people who look like them in positions of power. Vote Run Lead offers a number of training modules that teach women the basics about campaigns, from delivering a stump speech to building a campaign team or crafting a message, to fundraising and getting out the vote. But what makes our training programme different is that we train women to run as they are. Women often need support to view themselves as qualified, capable and deserving candidates. We show them that they don’t need to obtain another promotion or degree and that in fact, their personal story is their biggest asset. Our Run As You Are training curriculum reminds women that they are enough and that they are the fierce leaders we need to elect to build the just democracy that we all deserve.

  What’s the ‘typical’ profile of the women you help run for office? Do you support any women willing to run, regardless of their politics?

  There isn’t a typical Vote Run Lead alumna. We are a nonpartisan organisation, so we train women from all walks of life, all professions, all political parties, and in all stages of their political development. Our values are deeply embedded in promoting intersectional, anti-racist women who are committed to building a just and fair democracy.

  Given the widespread phenomenon of voter suppression in the USA, does your programming also focus on getting out the vote?

  Traditionally, Vote Run Lead does not employ our own get out the vote (GOTV) programme because most of our alumnae are either running or working on a campaign. But in 2020, with the high levels of voter suppression fuelled by misinformation campaigns and health safety concerns, Vote Run Lead did launch a robust GOTV programme with our alumnae. This GOTV programme included eight GOTV-specific training modules, from how to respond to apathy and cynicism around voting, to which digital field and communication tools to use to get out the vote. We also activated over 200 volunteers, had 3,000 conversations, made 30,000 phone calls and sent out over 33,000 text messages to get our alumnae and their networks to go vote.

  Prior to the summer, we also launched a series we called ‘Your Kitchen Cabinet’, where we trained women on how to raise money, do direct voter contact and even launch a digital plan while social distancing. Those guides and webinars can be found on our website and YouTube channel and offer real-time advice and fact-based information.

  Civic space in the USA is rated as ‘obstructed’ by theCIVICUS Monitor.
  Get in touch with Vote Run Lead through itswebsite orFacebook page, and follow@VoteRunLead on Twitter.

• #BEIJING25: ‘We are outraged at discrimination and are turning our claims into action’

  In the run-up to the 25th anniversary of theBeijing Platform for Action, due in September 2020, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the progress achieved and the challenges ahead. Focused on eliminating violence against women (VAW), ensuring access to family planning and reproductive healthcare, removing barriers to women’s participation in decision-making and providing decent jobs and equal pay for equal work, the Beijing Platform for Action was adopted at the United Nations’ (UN)Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. After 25 years, significant but unequal progress has occurred, not least as the result of incessant civil society efforts, but no country has yet achieved gender equality. 

  CIVICUS speaks to Viviana Krsticevic, Executive Director of the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) and a member of the Secretariat of the Gqual Campaign, a global initiative seeking to promote gender parity in the composition of international organisations.

  

  How much of the promise contained in the Beijing Platform for Action has been translated into actual improvements?

  We still have a long way to go to ensure that women can live autonomously without the burden of discrimination. Clearly, there are disparities and different effects among women due to age, economic situation, skin colour, ethnicity, migrant status, rural condition and several other situations that partly define our experience. Global figures for disparities in education, access to health, property and positions of power show the enormous disadvantage that women are at in most societies and the differential weight of inequality.

  For instance, according to data from UN Women updated to the first semester of 2020, only 6.6 per cent of heads of government worldwide are women, as well as 20.7 per cent of those in ministerial positions; likewise, women hold 24.9 per cent of all parliamentary seats. The under-representation of women is also reflected in other areas, such as access to education: globally, 48.1 per cent of girls are not attending school. It is also visible in the labour market, since women receive 23 per cent less income than men. The same can be said about the prevalence of gender-based violence: the UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that 87,000 women were victims of femicides worldwide in 2017, and that more than half – 50,000, or 58 per cent – were murdered by their partner or a member of their family.

  In other words, there is a long way to go, but we have made significant progress in the 25 years since the Beijing Conference. Some important examples are the progress, made both through legal channels and on the streets, in rejecting sexist violence and femicide, the recognition of the differential effects of violence affecting Afro-descendant women, the policy changes aimed at tackling maternal mortality, advances in gaining access to government or legislative positions, the greater valuing of care tasks and the development of legal frameworks to deal with workplace harassment, among others.

  In part, these advances were possible thanks to synergies between national-level change processes and international goal-setting and rights-recognition processes. In this sense, the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG5) on women's equality, agreed globally at the UN level, is one of the key tools to achieve respect for individual autonomy and the collective development of communities. To advance this goal agreed upon by governments, there are a series of institutional spaces that promote it at the international and regional levels.

  In addition, there is the fact that many women from various sectors, in Latin America and the world, are outraged at discrimination and structural violence and are turning our claims into action. Initiatives such as #NiUnaMenos, #SayHerName and #LasTesis, among many others, have been examples of this. Engaging in analysis, protesting and making proposals are key to ensuring that discriminatory structures are overcome.

  Why is equal gender representation important, and what is the situation in international institutions?

  One of the most significant arguments of women and other movements in search of representation is that of equality, since often the absence of women in decision-making sites is not the result of their own choice but the effect of glass ceilings, implicit discrimination and the segmentation of labour markets, among other factors. On top of this, there is the argument of the impact of equal participation in terms of enriching debate, innovation and due diligence in decision-making and improving the legitimacy and sustainability of certain processes, among other possible beneficial effects of the inclusion of women in decision-making spaces. In the same spirit, several innovative international conventions have included clauses to promote gender equality and representation. UN General Assembly Resolution 1325 on peace and security also includes language on the need for women’s participation in peace processes.

  This recognition stands in contrast with the limited participation of women in decision-making sites, both nationally and internationally. The norms and mechanisms established in most of these spaces do not ensure the participation of women in conditions of equality or equal representation.

  At the international level, in the spaces where decisions are reached on war and peace, the evolution of international criminal law, the scope of human rights, economic law and environmental law, and various other key issues, women are underrepresented at extreme levels. For instance, the International Court of Justice currently includes only three female judges (19 per cent) and historically it has only included four women out of a total of 108 magistrates (3.7 per cent). Only one of the seven current members of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights is a woman (14.3 per cent), and in the International Criminal Court there are only six women out of a total of 18 members (33 per cent). Finally, 10 of the 56 special mechanisms of the UN to date have never been led by a woman.

  In other words, women are on the fringes of the decisions that are made on most of the issues that are most significant for the future of humanity in the areas of politics, justice and peace. This reality contrasts with the recognition of the right to participation in the international arena under conditions of equality enshrined in Article 8 of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, widely ratified worldwide, and with the aspirations of balanced or equal participation proposed in various spaces of the UN system and other institutions.

  How did the Gqual Campaign originate, what are its goals and what has it achieved so far?

  Taking into account the reality of glass ceilings and the drastic regressions that have occurred recently in the composition of some bodies, a group of women and men convinced of the value of gender-balanced and diverse spaces joined in an initiative to promote gender parity in justice and monitoring institutions at the international level. With this objective in mind, we launched the Gqual campaign in September 2015. From this platform we promote individual and institutional commitments to gender parity in international representation, the development of research, standards and mechanisms to promote gender equality in international monitoring and justice institutions, vibrant and timely debate on the issue to advance the equality agenda, and the creation of a community of discussion and action around the issue.

  Among the campaign’s actions are the monitoring and distribution of information on available positions in the sphere of international justice. We send letters and post information on networks calling attention to opportunities and disparities, we promote academic research, and we make proposals to modify the procedures for the nomination and selection of those who occupy positions in justice and monitoring institutions at the national and international level. Among our most interesting initiatives is a ranking that includes the number of men and women in these positions, by country. We also hold meetings of experts to contribute to the development of specialised documents. Additionally, we create synergies with selection processes in judicial spaces at the national level and participate in debates on representation at the national and international levels, in order to advance the broader agenda of political and social change towards equality.

  I would like to invite you to join the online campaign and to follow and interact with it on social media. Since the launch of the campaign, we have made progress in debating the issue and have had several significant achievements, including resolutions by the UN and the Organization of American States on gender balance in the composition of international bodies, the systematisation of information on the composition of positions at the UN level disaggregated by gender, and excellent research that supports the international obligations of states and international organisations, among several others. By working for women's access to international spaces in conditions of parity, the Gqual Campaign promotes several of the commitments expressed in the SDGs: equality, access to justice, the fight against poverty and commitment to peace.

  What support from international civil society is needed to continue promoting the campaign?

  The greatest support that international civil society could give to the campaign would be to join the debate on the importance of ensuring women’s equal participation in international monitoring and judicial institutions. Depending on their possibilities, each person, organisation or institution might help advance more specific agendas at the local or international level in synergy with the campaign’s objectives. They can do so, for example, by encouraging their country’s government to monitor its nationals who occupy elected positions, doing field research on selection processes, writing about constitutional obligations or those derived from international law to guarantee equal access to international representation, running public awareness campaigns, or contributing to the campaign’s blog or writing about it in local newspapers. Given the structural inequality and the inertia that makes some governments reluctant to act, civil society and citizens must demand that the authorities ensure that women are nominated and considered for decision-making positions at the international and national levels. Civil society can also help drive the debate by collecting data and publishing analyses and studies.

  I want to emphasise that due to the nature of the campaign – which arose from the initiative of women who advocate for equality and who mostly donate their time to move it forward – we are grateful for any contribution of time or donation aimed at supporting the campaign’s work and initiatives. We want a more just, equal and peaceful world, and for that we need women to intervene on an equal footing in making the decisions that concern us all.

  Get in touch with Gqual Campaign through itswebsite orFacebook page, and follow@GqualCampaign,@cejil and@mundopenelope on Twitter.

• BAHRAIN: ‘The government uses public relations to mask human rights violations’

  CIVICUS speaks withDrewery Dyke of Salam for Democracy and Human Rights (Salam DHR) about closed civic and democratic space in Bahrain as the state prepares to host the Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The IPU Assembly takes place in the capital, Manama,from 11 to 15 March 2023.

  Salam DHR is a human rights civil society organisation (CSO) founded in 2012 to undertake research and advocacy for the advancement of democracy and human rights, mainly in relation to Bahrain, and also in the wider Gulf and Middle East and North Africa regions.

  We last spoke on the eve of the parliamentary election held in November 2022. How has civic space in Bahrain evolved since?

  The government of Bahrain held the November 2022 parliamentary election under the same, highly restrictive, 2018 Political Rights Law used in the 2018 elections. It banned scores of people from being able to vote or stand for election on spurious grounds such as affiliation to a banned political party or having a criminal record.

  Bahrain’s international partners, United Nations (UN) human rights bodies and civil society all decried the banning of political parties, as it flew in the face of international standards and simply deprived many people of having a voice. The court cases, too, dating from the 2011 unrest, were grossly unfair. In November 2018, the UN Human Rights Committee denounced both the Political Isolation Law and the Law on Associations

  And yet there seems to be a small opening for civil society and greater freedoms. The regional mood music appears to be changing, with the governments of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates normalising relations with Qatar, and the Bahraini government having set out a 2022-2026 National Human Rights Plan.

  Bahrain’s government appears to have signalled that it is minded to undertake some reform but civil society remains highly sceptical. Many of us are concerned that the government is once again using public relations initiatives to project an image of the country that masks longstanding, unresolved human rights violations for which there has been no accountability.

  Is change possible? Yes, to some degree, it appears so. But civil society needs to remain vigilant and sceptical. Action will speak louder than words. An amendment of existing laws on political and civil society organisations is now a must.

  How does Salam DHR manage to work in such a restrictive environment?

  Current legislation makes it impossible for our organisation to register and openly carry out any research or advocacy in Bahrain. That has been the case since 2013. And yet at least one woman human rights defender who is linked to Salam DHR and other human rights CSOs has remained active inside Bahrain. She walks a tightrope on a daily basis, taking action to support individuals, notably prisoners of conscience. Lawyers, political and civil society activists and others from all walks of life continue to contact us but we cannot discuss their identities to protect their safety. It is a challenge.

  In November 2022, however, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights obtained accreditation to the UN’s Economic and Social Council, which means it can now formally participate in UN meetings and events. This important step could help prise open the space for civil society just that little bit more. We will see.

  Why do you think the Bahraini government offered to host the IPU Assembly?

  The Bahraini government invited the IPU to hold its 146th Assembly in order to project an image of a democratic country and boost its international standing. The IPU’s catchphrase on its website is ‘For democracy. For everyone’. The government seeks to own this message in a situation where democracy does not exist.

  The theme of the 146th Assembly is ‘Promoting peaceful coexistence and inclusive societies: Fighting intolerance’. Yet by limiting freedoms of association and assembly and the right to peaceful religious expression, Bahrain’s government promotes exclusion and intolerance.

  Possibly to foster its mission, the IPU accepted the Bahraini government’s offer to hold its meeting in Manama. Is that problematic? In some ways, yes. But it is upon us to promote – peacefully – democratic change that advances adherence to international human rights standards. And parliamentarians from around the world attending the IPU Assembly could help chip away at deeply rooted discrimination and the fact that so many in civil society are deprived of having a voice or are afraid to use it.

  Links between Bahraini parliamentarians and civil society are uneven. Some have few if any links while others have better connections and communication with their electorate, including civil society. Some seek to hold government action to account, albeit timidly.

  The IPU Assembly may be an opportunity for Bahraini members of parliament to learn how their counterparts in other parts of the world engage with their electors and effectively represent their concerns. Parliamentarians are a building block of a free civil society. We need them to step up during the Assembly to make that a reality in Bahrain.

  How could this whitewashing attempt become an advocacy opportunity?

  The IPU Assembly will be a pivotal opportunity for advocacy. Visiting parliamentarians must make it so. They must reject baseless hype and propaganda depicting Bahrain as a land of freedom and democracy.

  In a recently published brief, Salam DHR is urging attending parliamentarians to join with other parliamentarians from across the globe to call on the government of Bahrain to rescind all provisions that restrict parliamentary life and freedom of expression and association of Bahraini members of parliament. We want them to call for the government to resolve two outstanding cases the IPU’s Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarianshas lodged with the government of Bahrain, and examine the cases of 15 former parliamentarians targeted with arbitrary arrest and detention, unfair trial and imprisonment and arbitrary stripping of citizenship. We’re also asking parliamentarians to urge the government to implement all recommendations arising from human rights treaty obligations and as many as possible of those made by UN Special Procedures and arising from Bahrain’s 2022 UN Universal Periodic Review.

  We urge visiting parliamentarians to inform themselves of other widely shared human rights concerns in relation to Bahrain, including the denial of political rights and women’s rights, the use of the death penalty and the tactic of revoking citizenship as punishment, and to meet with human rights activists and others in civil society while in Bahrain.

  How can the international community better support Bahraini civil society and activism for democracy?

  Civil society in and engaged with Bahrain needs the international community to listen and speak with us, to hear our experiences and work with us. There is a narrative and experience that differs from the public relations whitewashing by the government.

  We are saying that there are longstanding problems that need to be addressed, in terms of law, practice and accountability. But we are also saying that we believe that Bahrain’s international partners – from varying states, including European Union member states, the UK and USA, and the UN and its human rights bodies – and now parliamentarians can all work together, in unison, to erode the climate of repression that denies respect for human dignity, in order to empower Bahraini civil society and gradually build a more open and rights-respecting country.

  Civic space in Bahrain is rated ‘closed’ by theCIVICUS Monitor.

  Get in touch with Salam DHR through itswebsite and follow @SALAM_DHR and@drewerydyke on Twitter.

• COP28: ‘To truly end the fossil fuel era, bold visions must now turn into historical action on the ground’

  CIVICUS speaks with Kaisa Kosonen, Senior Policy Advisor at Greenpeace Nordic, about the outcomes of theCOP28 climate summit and the vital role played by civil society in setting the agenda for fossil fuel phase-out. Kaisa was Greenpeace International delegation’s lead at COP28.

   

  What were the opportunities for civil society to influence the negotiations at COP28?

  I think the biggest influence civil society made was in agenda setting. Fossil fuel phase-out was never an official agenda item at this COP, but we managed to make it the number one topic for the global stocktake, and the main benchmark for success.

  Within the United Nations (UN) space at COP28 civil society was guaranteed a certain level of participation and access. However, areas dedicated to civil society, such as side event and press conference rooms and pavilions for civil society organisations, were noticeably separated from negotiation areas, government press conferences and media zones.

  On top of this, a unique aspect of COP28 was the record number of fossil fuel lobbyists who participated, securing more passes than all delegates from the 10 most climate-vulnerable nations combined. This influx of lobbyists introduced a different dimension of economic influence to the summit.

  Were climate activists, both local and international, able to exercise their right to protest?

  Greenpeace chose to focus its activities exclusively within the UN area, known as the blue zone. Within this area, protests were allowed if prior permission had been sought and granted. However, we encountered increased constraints and a lot of back-and-forth this time, with some unfounded wordsmithing on banner texts. Other groups also mentioned that their protests were redirected to less relevant locations and some activists experienced an atmosphere of intimidation.

  It is crucial that the UN Secretariat and security safeguard civil society spaces in COPs. Freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly should not be subject to negotiation with the host country’s presidency.

  What’s your assessment of the COP28 final declaration?

  The COP28 outcome delivered a long-awaited signal on ending the fossil fuel era, along with a call to massively scale up renewables and energy efficiency this decade. But it fell short in some aspects, containing potentially dangerous distractions and loopholes. The lack of sufficient means to achieve the proposed goals raises questions about the practical implementation of the commitments. Real progress will be determined by actions taken on the ground.

  Civil society played a crucial role setting the agenda at COP28, successfully steering the focus of world governments towards the urgent need for a fossil fuel phase-out aligned with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degrees warming limit. This shift in attention, sustained for almost two weeks, marked an unprecedented achievement during a UN climate summit. There’s no way back now.

  Despite its weak language, the declaration sent a clear signal that the fossil fuel era will come to an end. The practical requirement for ‘transitioning away from fossil fuels’ to achieve ‘net zero by 2050’, if implemented sustainably, would mean a near-complete phase-out of fossil fuels within the next three decades. To truly end the fossil fuel era, bold visions must now turn into historical action on the ground.

  The call for countries to contribute to the phase-out in a ‘just, orderly, and equitable manner’ emphasises the responsibility of wealthy states to take the lead and support global south countries in their transition.

  The operationalisation and initial capitalisation of the loss and damage fund also mark a turning point for global climate action – but only if it is built on.

  In the year ahead, the fund must be set up so that funding can start flowing to those who need it. Permanent, predictable funds must be established to meet the growing needs, flowing from the countries and corporations that have contributed most to the climate crisis towards those that have contributed less but are disproportionately impacted on by its effects. We must prevent further losses and damages through a fast and fair fossil fuel phase-out.

  What further steps need to be taken for the COP28 outcomes to have a tangible and positive impact?

  With this COP28 outcome we now have new global benchmarks for aligning action with the Paris Agreement 1.5 degrees limit and climate justice. This crucial roadmap includes accelerating global emission cuts, increasing reliance on renewables and energy efficiency, expediting the transition away from fossil fuels, putting an end to deforestation and fostering the growth of climate finance. Focus must now shift to real action on the ground.

  Over the next year, states face a critical period where they must formulate new national climate targets and plans to deliver their fair contributions to all these global goals. Simultaneously, countries need to collaboratively design the future landscape of international climate finance, moving beyond existing commitments to fill the growing gaps.

  What are your thoughts on the choice of Azerbaijan as COP29 host?

  The choice of Azerbaijan as the host for COP29 raises many concerns, given its economy’s very high reliance on oil and gas exports, and poor track record on human rights. The upcoming COP should primarily focus on delivering climate finance to those made vulnerable and lacking capacity, and on redirecting financial flows away from problems and towards solutions. Key to this is holding the fossil fuel industry and major polluters accountable for the damage they have caused, which won’t be easy with a host that’s highly invested in fossil fuels.

  That said, as the history of this process shows, when a determined group of progressive countries come together to drive change, and they are supported by the global climate movement, breakthroughs can happen. So the priority now is to ensure that by COP29 next year, countries will have taken key steps to accelerate the fair and swift transition away from fossil fuels on the ground, and that they’re ready to take the bull by the horns and make polluters pay.

   

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  Get in touch with Greenpeace through itswebsite,Instagram andFacebook accounts, and follow@Greenpeace and@kaisakosonen on Twitter.

  The opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views of CIVICUS.

• CSW66: ‘Grassroots environmental defenders are highly underrepresented in decision-making’

  CIVICUS speaks about women’s rights and the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) with Joy Hayley Munthali and Dorothy Kazombo Mwale of the Green Girls Platform.

  Founded in 2018, the Green Girl Platform is a female-led civil society organisation (CSO) that advocates for climate justice for women and girls in Malawi by building capacity, providing leadership skills and promoting sexual and reproductive health rights.

  What are the main women’s rights issues in Malawi, and how does Green Girl Platform work to address them?

  In Malawi, women and girls are highly affected by the effects of climate change and environmental degradation due to their role in society. Girls are expected to help fetch firewood and get clean water for their households. Due to the effects of climate change, including erratic rains and depletion of natural resources, women and girls often have to walk long distances to find clean water and firewood. Because of these challenges, most girls are forced into early marriages and some drop out of school.

  The vulnerability of women and girls to environmental degradation, as well as to sexual violence and exploitation and gender-related violence, is on the rise. This is happening due to a lack of understanding of the implications of climate change for their lives, lack of information, lack of leadership skills, low participation in governance structures, limited women-led climate-related platforms and a lack of understanding and application of their rights.

  Women and girls are left out of decision-making processes although they are the ones who are most affected. The Green Girls Platform was founded to address the violence against women and girls that emanates from climate change and increase the number of women and girls engaged with climate change issues.

  The Green Girls Platform is working to ensure that gender and women’s rights are placed on the local, national and global environmental and climate change agendas by advocating for gender-responsive governance and policies. We conduct capacity-building workshops and training on climate change to equip girls with skills and knowledge on climate justice and all it encompasses. Through our initiatives, we have been able to reach around 5,000 young women and girls in Malawi, increasing their active participation in addressing climate change.

  What issues did you try to bring into the CSW agenda this year?

  As an organisation we noticed that there is underrepresentation of young women and girls in decision-making processes. Their participation and active engagement in climate change governance structures is minimal. Structural changes are needed so that more women are included in decision-making bodies.

  Climate change is affecting young women’s access to education, and we need to come up with adaptation strategies that work for girls and young women in their specific contexts. Strategies have to be sustainable and demand-driven to build the adaptive capacity of women and girls and enhance their access to education.

  We are aware of the violence that girls and young women environmental defenders face either within their homes or in their communities. We would like to see the adoption of measures to protect the rights of adolescent girls and young women from climate-related violence. Civil society donors could help us navigate these challenges.

  What were your expectations, and to what degree were they met?

  Our expectations were that our concerns would be listened to and we would collectively come up with solutions to some of the overarching challenges. Although our needs were met to a good degree, we were not highly impressed by the output. But we are positive that things will improve.

  In terms of access, we faced some challenges. Only one of our staff was able to attend the CSW sessions in person, and she did so for only three days due to insufficient funding. We also attended some online events, mainly side events, but we had issues accessing main events due to time differences and late notices, and because some of them were not open to civil society.

  Do you think that international bodies, and specifically the UN, adequately integrate women in their decision-making processes?

  UN Women has taken steps in the right direction in terms of integrating women into decision-making spaces. However, we still have challenges getting all voices represented at the table. Women and girl environmental defenders working at the grassroots level are highly underrepresented in decision-making spaces, even though they are the ones working at the local level and facing the adverse impacts of climate change. Access to climate financing for girls and young women working on climate issues is still minimal and inaccessible, leading to more issues falling through the cracks and not reaching decision makers.

  Civic space in Malawi is rated ‘obstructed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor.
  Get in touch with the Green Girl Platform through itsFacebook page and follow@GirlsPlatform on Twitter.

• CSW66: ‘Women need more access to real political decision-making power’

  CIVICUS speaks about women’s rights and the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) with Terry Ince, founder, and convenor of the CEDAW Committee of Trinidad and Tobago (CCoTT), a civil society organisation (CSO) focused on advocacy, education, and public awareness on and for the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

  The CCoTT seeks to ensure the mandates of the CEDAW are upheld and the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women are implemented. To do so, it partners with a wide range of stakeholders in the government, private sector, and civil society.

  

  What do you see as the main women’s rights issues in Trinidad and Tobago?

  On the surface, you see women in high-profile positions in every area of society in Trinidad and Tobago. However, when you scratch beneath the surface, you realise these women are not the real decision makers.

  In 2010 we elected our first woman prime minister. Women make up 38 per cent of the current cabinet. We currently have a woman president for the first time in the history of the country. There are women in the positions of speaker of the House, president of the Senate and Ombudsperson. There are women assisting the Superintendent of Commission of Police. Women lead ministries including trade and industry, planning and development, housing and urban development, public administration, education, gender and child affairs, social development and family services and sports and cultural affairs, and Legal Affairs in the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs. And this is just in the public sector. In politics, you find women on the ballot; political parties actively recruit women to run for political office.

  However, women are still not getting enough support. They certainly do not get the required support to run for political office. They may be selected as candidates, but the road to success is often steep and filled with deterrents. Women candidates are often asked to run in districts their parties find particularly difficult to win, so they are almost guaranteed to lose. Women are running but not necessarily winning. To win, they would need financial and coordination support.

  On top of this, many of these women are often mothers, wives, care givers, so they have additional duties that nobody is helping them with either. They are playing all these roles simultaneously and expected to be successful at all of them. 

  Women need more access to political decision-making power. It is not just about being in the room, but at the table, contributing, being listened to, and having their ideas examined, pushed forward and implemented.

  It is not enough to have a woman on the ballot. It is also not enough to elect a woman without providing an enabling environment which values her unique perspective on issues. 

  There continue to be barriers, but I think women can leverage their positions to make headway. I also think that women can and should support other women more within their capacity.

  How does the CCoTT work to address these issues?

  The CEDAW Committee of Trinidad and Tobago advocates for sustained implementation of CEDAW, a convention that Trinidad and Tobago signed in 1985 and ratified in 1990. More generally, we advocate for women’s development and empowerment. CCoTT’s work is grounded in human rights and CEDAW. We focus on advocacy, public awareness, sensitisation, and education on the Convention, with the overarching mission of achieving the implementation of its mandates and all the recommendations made to the state by CEDAW’s monitoring body.

  CEDAW addresses all aspects of women and development, including political engagement, so we work on the understanding that our government’s obligation is to ensure that the appropriate policies and laws are in place for women to have an equal opportunity to access political office. Our citizens, and particularly women, need to know and understand this. And governments must honour its responsibility for having signed this Convention and held accountable. Achieving substantive equality is the goal and CCoTT collaborates with stakeholders to achieve that goal.

  So, among other things, we campaign to improve female participation and representation at all levels of governance. We focus on preparing women to claim those spaces and offer training for female candidates. We collaborate – locally, regionally, and globally – with other organisations to bring good global practices to women in Trinidad and Tobago. For example, we have collaborated with the Women’s Human Rights Institute to bring CEDAW training to Trinidad and Tobago.

  What issues did you try to bring into the CSW agenda this year? 

  Not only did we bring the issues I just mentioned, but also climate-related issues – the climate crisis, disasters, and risk mitigation. This was the first time that CSW focused on the nexus between women’s empowerment and climate change, climate justice and disaster management. As a Caribbean country, we are acutely aware of the impacts of climate change and disaster, as we have recently witnessed a volcanic eruption in St Vincent and the Grenadines and floods in Dominica and other countries, which wiped-out whole communities.

  In Trinidad and Tobago, we have seen unprecedented levels of flooding. How are women prepared for this? How are women empowered to navigate these kinds of crises when they occur? How are we ensuring that girls’ and women’s needs are addressed appropriately? For example, when disaster hits, how do you ensure their safety in shelters? Do your emergency kits include menstrual products? Who is thinking about these things? These are the kinds of questions we are bringing to the table. Therefore, it is so important that women have a voice when decisions around these issues are made.

  We also need to assess how emergencies are managed after the initial cause has been assessed – because the fact that a volcanic eruption has ended, for example, does not mean everything goes back to normal. What happened to the communities most impacted by the eruption? How are they coping? We must rethink the mechanisms we use to ensure people get back on their feet.

  What were your expectations, and to what degree were they met?

  Fortunately, we were able to have meaningful discussions of all these issues at this year’s CSW. CCoTT hosted a parallel event examining women’s empowerment in times of crises – climate crisis and Covid-19.

  Our expectations included gaining access to a wide variety of discussions, hosted by other Caribbean and Latin American countries as well as cross-sectional discussions with countries from other parts of the world – because climate change and climate justice impacts all of us, and we all need to understand this. If something is happening in Latvia, for example, it does not mean it may not happen in Trinidad. We can learn from how the issue is/was addressed in Latvia. Whatever the climate action is, we can use it as a mitigating factor to prevent or better manage adverse effects. 

  Were you able to participate fully, or did you experience any access issues?

  The virtual nature of this year’s CSW made it possible for more people and CSOs to attend. It was different from past editions because there were none of the usual barriers involved in getting visas, traveling to the USA, and gaining access to the UN’s headquarters – which you cannot do if you are not an organisation accredited to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

  Those barriers were eliminated this year. From this perspective, virtuality made it much more accessible. CSW66 opened many doors and raised several questions that now must be answered. The UN should assess its own barriers to women’s access, such as the need to have ECOSOC accreditation to get inside UN headquarters during CSW.

  Because CSW66 was virtual, participants had the opportunity to hear about different solutions, network with global peers, learn from their stories and share globally what is occurring in Trinidad and Tobago and how we have successfully addressed issues at a local level. In this regard, CSW66 met my expectations.

  However, having access to high-level discussions was not easy. Even though they were virtual. Often this required registration which closed at certain number of attendees. Time zones were also a challenge. Events hosted by countries that are 12 hours ahead required some creativity. These were specific challenges of a virtual event, which would normally not be an issue during in-person gathering.

  Overall, it was remarkably successful. If it continues to be virtual, we will learn how to navigate the challenges based on this years’ experience.

  Do you think that international bodies, and specifically the UN, adequately integrate women into their decision-making processes?

  In 2020 the UN acknowledged it was behind in terms of women’s integration in leadership and aggressively implemented changes. However, in 2021, when it had the opportunity, a woman was not elected as its Secretary-General, despite qualified candidates. 

  With recognition comes responsibility. Global eyes are on the UN, so it needs to set an example throughout its bodies, divisions, and units. However, as I already said, just selecting women is not the answer. We also hear ‘get youth more involved,’ but young people should be prepared, mentored, encouraged, and supported. Similarly, we need to help women along the way and ensure that when they occupy a space where they can contribute, their contributions are valued. The gap is shrinking.

  This is a work in progress, and the UN is trying. One way to ensure this happens properly is to involve civil society more – and not just lawyers or PhD holders. Learning does not only occur in the classroom. Application takes place on the ground in communities often led by community organisers or members of organisations. We need the academics collaborating with the community and others to strengthen capacities. Making room for grassroots, women and youth led initiatives. In this regard, there is more work to be done.

  Civic space in Trinidad and Tobago is rated ‘narrowed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. 
  Get in touch with the CEDAW Committee of Trinidad and Tobago through itswebsite or itsFacebook page, and follow@CCoT_T on Twitter. 

• GLOBAL GOVERNANCE: ‘Every person on the planet should have an equal opportunity to participate in decision-making’

  CIVICUS speaks with Andreas Bummel, co-founder and Executive Director of Democracy Without Borders (DWB) and the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly, about the deficits of the current global governance system and civil society’s proposals for reform.

  Founded in 2017, DWB is an international civil society organisation with national chapters and associates across the world, aimed at promoting global governance, global democracy and global citizenship.

  What’s wrong with existing global governance institutions?

  Global governance has rightly been described as a spaghetti bowl, and that’s because there is too much fragmentation, overlap, incoherence and opacity, with many parallel and siloed processes going on at the same time, involving who knows how many institutions, initiatives and projects.

• GLOBAL GOVERNANCE: ‘It may take a crisis as big as the one that originated the system to produce the reform it needs’

  CIVICUS speaks with John Vlasto, Board Chair of the World Federalist Movement (WFM), about the deficits of the existing global governance system and civil society’s proposals for reform.

  Founded in 1947, WFM is a non-profit, nonpartisan organisation seeking a just, free and peaceful world where humanity and nature flourish in harmony, through the creation of more effective, transparent and accountable global governance.

  What are the biggest shortcomings of the existing system of global governance?

  The main problem is that decisions are made in defence of the national interest rather than to serve the common good of humanity. This means we get the lowest-common denominator compromises rather than the profound changes that humanity needs.

  The way decisions are currently made is absurd. Take the ongoing COP28 climate summit: it’s a circus, a clear symptom of dysfunctional global governance. We are driving the planetary ecosystem over a cliff because although it’s clearly in humanity’s best interest to reduce carbon emissions straight away, it’s in no nation’s interest to move to do so first.

  Decision making is dysfunctional because of the nature of our global governance institutions. The United Nations (UN) is basically a congress of ambassadors tasked with defending each country’s national interest as perceived by their governments. The dynamic is of competition rather than collaboration, so you end up with the lowest-common denominator compromises.

  How could this problem be tackled?

  To tackle global challenges we need global governance. We are taking enormous risks with our planetary home – but we don’t have to. We know how to create a legitimate and accountable decision-making process that serves the common good – through carefully implemented democracy.

  We could think of global governance as a well-functioning Europe – or a well-functioning USA, for that matter – extended to the global scale.

  What the world is missing that Europe has is a parliament. There is a longstanding proposal for creating a parliamentary assembly at the UN. There’s a big difference between a parliament and a congress of ambassadors such as the UN General Assembly. As explained by Edmund Burke, a British philosopher and politician of the 18th century, a parliament isn’t a collection of ‘ambassadors from different and hostile interests, which interests each must maintain’ – it is ‘a deliberative assembly… with one interest, that of the whole’.

  In a federal system like the USA, Congress has two chambers, one representing the people and another representing the states. This is a model that could be followed on a global scale. For the USA it would make no sense to have only one chamber representing the states – but that’s what we currently have at the UN, with all nations, regardless of size, having one seat at the General Assembly, an organ that consequently has little real power.

  As Carlos Romulo of the Philippines said after the 1945 San Francisco conference that established the UN, ‘as a spokesman for a small nation, I want to make it very plain that my nation... would be very happy indeed to trade the fiction of equality in a powerless Assembly for the reality of a vote equal to our actual position in the world in an Assembly endowed with real power’.

  If it followed the federal model, the UN would still have a General Assembly representing the interests of nations. But it would also have a parliamentary assembly, representing the people, making decisions to serve the common good of humanity.

  I believe that ultimately representatives to such body should be elected on the basis of the ‘one person, one vote’ principle, but I don’t believe we should do that tomorrow. Right now, the principle ‘one nation, one vote’ means a range from one vote per 1.4 billion people to one vote per 12,000. If we were to establish a world parliament tomorrow we should use degressive proportionality, as does the European Parliament, which means that although more populous nations elect more representatives than smaller nations, smaller nations are allocated more seats than they would strictly receive in proportion to their population. This is an intermediate solution between one nation one vote and one person one vote.

  Is there anything else that can be done?

  We need profound changes, the most profound being a UN parliamentary body, but in the meantime, there’s a whole bunch of lower-hanging fruit. In particular, WFM has two projects that I would like to mention.

  One of them is MEGA – Mobilising an Earth Governance Alliance, (or ‘Make Earth Great Again’!). MEGA is a coalition of civil society organisations that will be working in cooperation with like-minded states to strengthen existing environmental governance mechanisms and institutions and establish additional ones. It will be officially launched in January 2024 and will offer a forum for environmental organisations, experts, like-minded governments, legislators, campaigners and other stakeholders to engage, share information and strategies and support advocacy for better global environmental governance. It will produce a wide range of reports, proposals and campaigns – some managed by MEGA itself, others by partner organisations. MEGA as a whole provides a comprehensive solution to the environmental crises we face, and a basis for global governance more broadly.

  MEGA is promoting the implementation of the recommendations of the Climate Governance Commission’s 2023 report. To that end, we will be mobilising ‘smart coalitions’ of state and non-state actors – a proven method for the reform of global governance, the International Criminal Court and the landmines ban treaty being cases in point. Countries least responsible for climate change and suffering the greatest impact are potential leading members of such coalitions.

  Another WFM project, launched in October, is LAW not War. This doesn’t seek to change the institutions of global governance, but to make better use of the ones we already have. It proposes to enhance the jurisdiction and use of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) so that international disputes can be resolved peacefully rather than through recourse to the threat or use of force.

  Specifically, the objectives of the campaign are to increase the number of states accepting the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ; encourage more frequent use of the ICJ as a dispute resolution mechanism provided in international treaties; appeal to states to make use of ICJ jurisdiction through mutual agreement for specific disputes; support UN bodies to request ICJ advisory opinions on critical issues; and encourage states to adopt constitutional amendments or legislative measures to affirm the UN Charter’s prohibition of war and the obligation to resolve international disputes peacefully, including through recourse to the ICJ.

  Do you think global governance would benefit from greater civil society access and participation?

  The dysfunction of global governance is not fundamentally about civil society having poor access. That’s a symptom of the core dysfunction, which is about decision making and legitimacy. If there were a world parliament, by virtue of its role it would give a voice to civil society – not only to civil society but also to business, Indigenous peoples and everyone else. A system allowing greater access to more voices would be better informed, more representative and more legitimate. But the solution is not simply giving civil society more access, because what would be the point in giving civil society the most wonderful access to a broken system? But if you created a parliament, civil society access would follow.

  What would it take for the reforms that you propose to materialise?

  This decision making and legitimacy dysfunction goes back to the very origins of the current system when the winners of the Second World War gave themselves a veto. It may take a crisis as big as the one that originated the system to produce the profound reform it needs. As Milton Friedman noted, what’s done in a crisis depends on the plans that are lying around at the time, so part of WFM’s role is to write the plan and keep it alive in the minds of policy makers until the crisis occurs and the politically impossible becomes the politically inevitable.

  Exactly what such a crisis will be is unknowable, but I don’t think we’ve had a catalyst anywhere near the scale necessary yet. It took the Second World War to produce the current system, and it could take a third to produce a new one – though of course, it might be too late for that if as a result of this crisis we have been incinerated. The big question then is whether there will be sufficient catalyst for change before we pass some catastrophic tipping point.

  If one takes the view that catastrophe is inevitable, or on the other hand that everything will work out in the end, then there would be no point in advocating for better global governance. In my view it could go either way, so there remains a realistic path to a just, free and peaceful world, where humanity and nature flourish in harmony, and there is no better use of time than doing what one can to help steer humanity onto this path.

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  Get in touch with the World Federalist Movement through itswebsite orFacebook page, and follow@worldfederalist on Twitter.

  This interview was conducted as part of the ENSURED Horizon research project funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

• SERBIA: ‘People are concerned that a critical tool to hold political elites accountable is being taken away’

  CIVICUS speaks about the results of Serbia’s recent elections and subsequent protests with Raša Nedeljkov, Programme Director of the Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA).

  Founded in 2002, CRTA is a Serbian civil society organisation that works to develop a democratic culture and promote civic activism through civic education campaigns, electoral observation and the development of public policy proposals.

   

  What are civil society’s concerns about the recent Serbian elections?

  The most critical concerns revolve around the municipal elections in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade. CRTA has concluded that the announced results didn’t reflect the freely expressed will of the city’s voters. Our findings revealed that electoral engineering, particularly through organised voter migration, crucially influenced the outcome of the closely contested race for the Belgrade City Assembly.

  Organised voter migration is neither legal nor legitimate. Falsely registering residence for the purpose of voting in local elections outside one’s jurisdiction violates the law, undermines democratic representation and violates citizens’ right to local self-government.

  Local elections were strategically staggered and held in only a third of the local jurisdictions to enable temporary voter migration and secure the victory of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SPP) in Belgrade, where the opposition Serbia Against Violence party had strong chances of winning. As a result, Belgrade is now on the verge of being governed by people largely elected by non-residents who won’t bear the consequences of the decisions they make.

  The SPP also gained significant unfair advantage in the parliamentary elections thanks to intensified political pressure on voters, misuse of public resources and institutions, and control of the most influential media. The national election wasn’t nearly fair, but this was overshadowed by the massive manipulation used to prevent political change in Serbia’s largest city.

  How has CRTA worked to document electoral manipulation?

  On election day CRTA deployed almost 3,000 observers and analysts. And for the first time, a CRTA observer team suffered a physical attack. Its members were attacked with bats while sitting in their parked car in the police station courtyard in Odzaci, a town in Vojvodina province. They were there to report criminal activity related to carousel voting – where people go from place to place to cast multiple voters – at a polling station. This case poignantly illustrates the tense atmosphere the elections took place in.

  Our observers had a very dynamic day in Belgrade, the epicentre of electoral irregularities. They took numerous photos and videos showing buses transporting voters to Belgrade from other towns and countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. They also identified several logistical centres used to coordinate the voter migration operation, which directed and transported people to polling stations across the city.

  Voter migration was facilitated by manipulation of the voter register, which our team also extensively documented. Prior to the elections, we received information from various sources pointing to illegal actions by local governing bodies and the highest state authorities, all aimed at shaping election results in Belgrade in favour of the SPP. Further analysis, which we’re currently conducting, indicates that significant alterations to the voter register were made over the course of a year.

  How have people reacted to election irregularities?

  Tens of thousands took to the streets shortly after the results were announced. Protests were sparked by the issues we’ve denounced. Protesters are angry about electoral engineering involving illegal manipulation of the voter register and organised voter migration. They urge the state to protect the integrity of elections by prosecuting those involved in illegal manipulation.

  Protesters are not necessarily supporters of opposition parties but rather citizens concerned that a critical tool to hold political elites accountable and drive change is being taken away from them. Their core demand is that fresh elections be held at all levels, contingent upon significant revisions to electoral conditions.

  How has the government responded to protesters’ demands?

  The government has responded with repression and defensive aggressiveness, denying all allegations, including those from international observers, and disregarding evidence of massive irregularities and criminal activities. The regime continues to assert that the elections were the cleanest ever.

  The government is also violating protesters’ human rights. Over 30 people, primarily university students, have been arrested during the protests and faced pressure to confess to crimes they didn’t commit, such as receiving bribes from the opposition to engage in violent activities during protests.

  Public officials have also accused CRTA of destabilising Serbia, and our staff members have been labelled as liars and subjected to hate speech by pro-regime media.

  What should the international community do?

  We urge the international community to look beyond immediate geopolitical considerations and consider the consequences that could follow if democracy in Serbia continues to erode. Further democratic backsliding would only bring it closer to the non-democratic part of the world.

  Serbian civil society is actively proposing solutions for the challenges of a captured state and diminishing democratic standards, and our international allies should give more serious considerations to these recommendations. The international community must act soon to prevent Serbia becoming an outright dictatorship

  What are civil society’s concerns about the recent Serbian elections?

  The most critical concerns revolve around the municipal elections in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade. CRTA has concluded that the announced results didn’t reflect the freely expressed will of the city’s voters. Our findings revealed that electoral engineering, particularly through organised voter migration, crucially influenced the outcome of the closely contested race for the Belgrade City Assembly.

  Organised voter migration is neither legal nor legitimate. Falsely registering residence for the purpose of voting in local elections outside one’s jurisdiction violates the law, undermines democratic representation and violates citizens’ right to local self-government.

  Local elections were strategically staggered and held in only a third of the local jurisdictions to enable temporary voter migration and secure the victory of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SPP) in Belgrade, where the opposition Serbia Against Violence party had strong chances of winning. As a result, Belgrade is now on the verge of being governed by people largely elected by non-residents who won’t bear the consequences of the decisions they make.

  The SPP also gained significant unfair advantage in the parliamentary elections thanks to intensified political pressure on voters, misuse of public resources and institutions, and control of the most influential media. The national election wasn’t nearly fair, but this was overshadowed by the massive manipulation used to prevent political change in Serbia’s largest city.

  How has CRTA worked to document electoral manipulation?

  On election day CRTA deployed almost 3,000 observers and analysts. And for the first time, a CRTA observer team suffered a physical attack. Its members were attacked with bats while sitting in their parked car in the police station courtyard in Odzaci, a town in Vojvodina province. They were there to report criminal activity related to carousel voting – where people go from place to place to cast multiple voters – at a polling station. This case poignantly illustrates the tense atmosphere the elections took place in.

  Our observers had a very dynamic day in Belgrade, the epicentre of electoral irregularities. They took numerous photos and videos showing buses transporting voters to Belgrade from other towns and countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. They also identified several logistical centres used to coordinate the voter migration operation, which directed and transported people to polling stations across the city.

  Voter migration was facilitated by manipulation of the voter register, which our team also extensively documented. Prior to the elections, we received information from various sources pointing to illegal actions by local governing bodies and the highest state authorities, all aimed at shaping election results in Belgrade in favour of the SPP. Further analysis, which we’re currently conducting, indicates that significant alterations to the voter register were made over the course of a year.

  How have people reacted to election irregularities?

  Tens of thousands took to the streets shortly after the results were announced. Protests were sparked by the issues we’ve denounced. Protesters are angry about electoral engineering involving illegal manipulation of the voter register and organised voter migration. They urge the state to protect the integrity of elections by prosecuting those involved in illegal manipulation.

  Protesters are not necessarily supporters of opposition parties but rather citizens concerned that a critical tool to hold political elites accountable and drive change is being taken away from them. Their core demand is that fresh elections be held at all levels, contingent upon significant revisions to electoral conditions.

  How has the government responded to protesters’ demands?

  The government has responded with repression and defensive aggressiveness, denying all allegations, including those from international observers, and disregarding evidence of massive irregularities and criminal activities. The regime continues to assert that the elections were the cleanest ever.

  The government is also violating protesters’ human rights. Over 30 people, primarily university students, have been arrested during the protests and faced pressure to confess to crimes they didn’t commit, such as receiving bribes from the opposition to engage in violent activities during protests.

  Public officials have also accused CRTA of destabilising Serbia, and our staff members have been labelled as liars and subjected to hate speech by pro-regime media.

  What should the international community do?

  We urge the international community to look beyond immediate geopolitical considerations and consider the consequences that could follow if democracy in Serbia continues to erode. Further democratic backsliding would only bring it closer to the non-democratic part of the world.

  Serbian civil society is actively proposing solutions for the challenges of a captured state and diminishing democratic standards, and our international allies should give more serious considerations to these recommendations. The international community must act soon to prevent Serbia becoming an outright dictatorship.

  ---

  Civic space in Serbia is rated ‘obstructed’ by theCIVICUS Monitor.

  Get in touch with CRTA through itswebsite orFacebook page, and follow@CRTArs and@rasaned onTwitter.

• YEMEN: ‘Women are completely absent from decision-making bodies; politically we don’t exist’

  CIVICUS speaks about gender inequalities in Yemen and the role of Yemeni civil society in tackling them with Bilkis Abouosba, founder and chairperson of the Awam Foundation for Development and Culture, a civil society organisation (CSO) founded in 2008 to support women’s political participation. Bilkis Abouosba is former vice-chair of the Supreme National Authority for Combatting Corruption in Yemen.

  

  What impact has the COVID-19 pandemic had on women and girls in Yemen?

  Yemeni society had been going through a terrible humanitarian crisis since 2015, when war broke out, resulting in unprecedented numbers of casualties and refugees and millions of displaced people. The pandemic only added fuel to the fire. The war had already had a catastrophic effect on the education and healthcare sectors, among others, and the pandemic made the situation worse. It impacted on society at large, but specifically on women.

  Due to the war, women’s political participation in decision-making bodies decreased; for the first time, relevant political bodies had no female representatives at all. Politically, Yemeni women do not exist, as they are completely absent from the decision-making process. This preannounced a bleak future for Yemeni women.

  Many female political leaders had to flee the country. On the positive side, it has been noted that women’s participation in online events has risen despite Yemen’s poor internet infrastructure and frequent power cuts. The internet has offered Yemeni women, especially those living in rural areas, a venue to participate and express their views around peacebuilding. First, it helped break down societal barriers on women’s participation in political events, and then it helped bypass pandemic-related restrictions on gatherings. The internet brings the world closer to Yemeni women and Yemeni women closer to the world.

  On the economic front, after war began many women became their families’ primary breadwinners, but when the pandemic broke out many lost their jobs or could not go to their workplaces. Moreover, enforcement of COVID-19 regulations was selective and discriminated against women. For instance, hair salons for women had to close but their counterparts for men remained open, which negatively affected female owners of small businesses.

  How has civil society, and Awam Foundation more specifically, supported Yemeni women during the pandemic?

  In the absence of government policies to help people cope with the pandemic – especially in the north of Yemen, where public officials didn’t even acknowledge the reality of COVID-19 – many lost their lives. But CSOs immediately stepped in and played a significant role. Many women-led CSOs, including Awam Foundation, launched COVID-19 awareness campaigns and distributed facemasks among locals and people living in rural areas.

  In the early months of the pandemic, CSOs shifted their focus into combatting COVID-19. They relied heavily on online communication to reach affected communities. I was part of an international group fighting COVID-19 that registered available Yemeni doctors for consultation inside the country as well as abroad.

  What are the main women’s rights issues in Yemen? What would need to happen for them to be tackled effectively?

  In my opinion, our biggest loss is in the area of political rights and participation in political decision-making processes and opinion formation. For the first time in 20 years, the current Yemeni government was formed with a total absence of women. Women’s exclusion has spread further across sectors, including in peacebuilding efforts.

  Political negotiations between rival groups have been held without female representation. Only one woman took part in the last round of negotiations in Stockholm, which resulted in an agreement brokered by the United Nations (UN) between the Yemeni government and the Houthi group Ansar Allah.

  But public opinion polls on the peace process have in fact included a small sample of Yemeni women, and since 2015 both UN Women and the office of the UN special envoy have created mechanisms for Yemeni women’s inclusion, such as the Yemeni Women’s Pact for Peace and Security (known as ‘Tawafuq’), a consultative mechanism consisting of a group of 50 women consultants, and a group established in 2018 comprising eight women, among them me, also aimed at channelling female voices to international society. However, neither the current nor former UN special envoys have made use of these groups to bridge gender gaps, as planned. Women are still not part of UN-supported peace negotiations.

  Despite this, several feminist coalitions have been formed during the transition period, including the Women Solidarity Network, which I played a key role in establishing. These coalitions succeeded at transmitting women’s voices to international organisations, including the UN Security Council. We advocate for the implementation of UN Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in the Yemeni context. This means that women must be included as equal partners in any upcoming round of peace negotiations.

  The government just made a step forward concerning the implementation of UN Resolution 1325. On 8 March the Minister of Social Affairs and Labour announced the institutional structure and terms of reference of a national plan to implement the Resolution. 

  But overall, we are still concerned about setbacks on women’s rights in Yemen. Women cannot move freely anymore; they’re required to have a male companion to move from one place to another or to apply for a passport.

  What would need to happen for gender inequality to reduce in Yemen?

  International organisations can significantly help narrow the gender gap in Yemen by bringing Yemeni women to the negotiation table. As a result, women’s participation in the political process will grow in the post-conflict period.

  As CSOs we are doing our part by holding workshops on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security. In 2021, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women discussed Yemen’s report – a report Awam Foundation contributed to, and which revealed huge gender inequalities. We are now developing mechanisms aimed at narrowing these gaps.

  Although political rivals continue to refuse to integrate women until after the war ends, we continue working in this regard. On International Women’s Day, we highlighted the need to include women in the peace process and shed light on the toll of gender-based violence on Yemeni women. I am sure our efforts will finally start to pay off.

  Civic space in Yemen is rated ‘closed’ by theCIVICUS Monitor.
  Get in touch with Awam Foundation for Development and Culture through its website or its Facebook page, and follow @FoundationAwam on Twitter.