LIU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 70: Henvendelse af 16/4-2020 fra IPUs generalsekretær om internationalt arbejde med ligestilling

Ligestillingsudvalget 2019-20
LIU Alm.del Bilag 70
Offentligt

To all IPU Members

Geneva, 16 April 2020

Dear President,

Dear Madam President,

It is my pleasure to share with you information about recent activities carried out by the

Inter-Parliamentary Union in March 2020 to mark International Women’s Day and the

25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. These activities

contribute to the overall objective to promote and achieve gender equality, in and

through parliaments.

We have published our annual flagship report

Women in parliament: 1995–2020, 25

years in review

. This publication provides detailed information on women’s

participation in parliament around the world since the adoption of the Beijing

Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995. The publication analyzes regional trends

and country developments, recaps key lessons learned and proposes a way forward.

Over a 25-year span, the overall percentage of women in parliaments has more than

doubled, reaching 25 per cent in 2020, up from 11.3 per cent in 1995. However,

looking at the past five years, progress has slowed down as compared to the previous

5-year spans. The IPU will be using this publication to support parliaments and inform

action towards gender equality in parliament. You can find the report in English,

French and Spanish at

https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/reports/2020-03/women-in-parliament-1995

-2020-25-years-in-review.

We have also released the 2020 edition of the

Map on Women in Politics

prepared in

partnership with UN Women. The

Map

provides a snapshot of women’s participation in

parliament, in the executive and in the highest spheres of political leadership among

heads of State and/or government and Speakers and deputy Speakers of parliament.

The

Map

was launched via a video by the IPU President, Ms Cuevas Barron, and the

Executive Director of UN Women, Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka. The video is available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDmBA_kbFgQ.

The Map is intended to raise

awareness of progress as well as gaps in women’s representation in politics. By

allowing countries and parliaments to compare each other, it triggers political interest

and opens doors to questioning and action. The Map is available in English, French,

Spanish and soon in Arabic and can be accessed at:

https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/infographics/2020-03/women-in-politics-20

Should you wish to receive hard copies of the

Women in parliament

publication and of

the

Map

, we will gladly mail these to you as soon as possible.

./..

LIU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 70: Henvendelse af 16/4-2020 fra IPUs generalsekretær om internationalt arbejde med ligestilling

In partnership with the State University of Arizona, UN Women, the World Bank and

others, we have launched a first series of videos on Sustainable Development Goal 5

(SDG 5) on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The videos

provide ready-to-use tools for parliamentarians to build knowledge and awareness on

SDG 5 and to inform parliamentary action towards its implementation. They are

available on the IPU website at:

https://www.ipu.org/news/news-in-brief/2020-03/video-five-things-you-can-do-improve-

gender-equality-in-leadership

and

https://www.ipu.org/news/news-in-brief/2020-03/video-women-peace-and-security.

International Women’s Day was also an opportunity to renew publicly political

engagement in support of gender equality. The IPU President and the President of the

European Parliament, David Sassoli, issued a joint statement reaffirming their

commitment to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls

(https://www.ipu.org/news/statements/2020-03/statement-presidents-ipu-and-ep-intern

ational-womens-day)

Political messages were also sent through the IPU e-Bulletin of

March 2020 with its two press releases available at:

https://www.ipu.org/news/press-releases/2020-03/25-years-after-beijing-ipu-analysis-s

hows-gender-parity-possible

and

https://www.ipu.org/news/press-releases/2020-03/in-2020-world-cannot-afford-so-few-

women-in-power.

In times of crisis as the current COVID-19 pandemic, gender equality must remain

high on the global, national and individual agenda. The response to Covid-19 must

therefore be gender sensitive. This is why, in my capacity as Secretary General of the

IPU and as Chair of the Global Board of the International Gender Champions, I have

released an Opinion Piece titled

COVID-19: What does it mean for gender?

The

opinion piece is available at:

https://www.ipu.org/news/voices/2020-03/covid-19-what-does-it-mean-gender.

We have also actively carried out a global campaign on Parliaments in times of

pandemic (https://www.ipu.org/parliaments-in-time-pandemic). Through this campaign,

the IPU provides regularly updated information on action taken by parliaments in

response to the crisis and to continue to function (virtually or physically) thereby

continuing to fulfil their mandate – a prerequisite to democracy and good governance.

This campaign has been complemented with additional guidance for parliaments,

including on human rights and on gender-responsiveness facing Covid-19. You will

find enclosed the “

Gender and COVID-19: A guidance note for parliaments

”. This note

is available on the following link:

https://www.ipu.org/gender-and-covid-19-guidance-note-parliaments

I am sure you will be interested in sharing these resources and tools widely in your

Parliament/Organization and among your networks. I am hopeful that you will find the

data, analysis, guidance and appeals contained in these documents useful as you

pursue efforts to further gender equality.

I would welcome receiving information on how you have used or will use these

resources so that we can duly reflect your actions in future reports and amplify the

message through social media and other means of communication.

LIU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 70: Henvendelse af 16/4-2020 fra IPUs generalsekretær om internationalt arbejde med ligestilling

As gender equality and women’s rights and empowerment are an all-time priority, the

IPU will continue its work towards these critical objectives beyond the special occasion

of International Women’s Day and throughout 2020 and the years to come.

I look forward to doing so in continued cooperation with you.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Chungong

Secretary General