Participation of the PABSEC International Secretariat in the IPU Meeting “What it will take to reach gender parity in political participation in a post COVID - 19 world?”, 23 March 2021
Mr. Daniel Dulca, PABSEC Deputy Secretary General, attended the online parliamentary meeting organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the UN Women, entitled ”What it will take to reach gender parity in political participation in a post COVID - 19 world”, on 23 March 2021.
The meeting was attended by MPs from different countries and by representatives of various international organizations, being chaired by Ms. Paddy Torsney, Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Head of the New York Office at the IPU. Introductory remarks were made by Ms. Susan Kihika, Senator of Kenya, Ms. Asa Regner, UN Women Deputy Executive Director and Mr. Martin Chungong, Secretary General of the IPU.
The Parliamentary Meeting offered a platform to take stock of the recent developments regarding the women’s participation in parliaments, explore the impact of COVID-19 on women’s access to parliaments in 2020 and identify priority parliamentary actions to further progress towards gender parity in political participation.
Participants tackled the priorities for parliamentary action for the next five years. During the discussion, the MPs had the opportunity to define transformative actions they can lead or promote, in order to: Introduce or enhance legislated gender quotas with effective enforcement mechanisms; Enhance the participation of underrepresented groups of women, including young women, women with disabilities and women belonging to national minorities.